Erewhon Books presents Canadian National Bestseller The Midnight Bargain, now available in hardcover, trade paper, and audio.
Add it on Goodreads. Available now from Owl’s Nest Books, ChaptersIndigo, Waterstones, IndieBound, Barnes & Noble, Kobo. Audio narrated by Moira Quirk; available on Libro.FM.
“You have four riding habits,” Harriet said. “you have twenty day dresses and as many gowns for dinner and balls. You havea two dozen hats, sixteen pairs of gloves, the best cosmetics from all over the world, seven parasols, thirty-two pairs of shoes, and they all cost money.”
Beatrice shifted in her saddle. “Well, naturally, but–“
“Father mortgaged Riverstone to pay for it.”
Beatrice’s heart flipped over. Riverstone? It was their home! “We shouldn’t have come, then. We shouldn’t be here at all.”
“Don’t you understand this yet? You’re our only hope, Beatrice. You have to get married.”
Beatrice Claybourne’s has staked everything to equip his eldest daughter for Bargaining Season, when young men and women of means descend upon fashionable, seaside Bendleton to negotiate the best marriages. Beatrice’s potential as a magician is worth her weight in rubies to a suitor who wants sons to be magicians…and daughters, of course, to marry off and bear more.
Women of childbearing age cannot perform magic, lest it affect her unborn child. So a married woman of magical power is known by the enchanted collars that protect any children she bears, but it denies her access to her powers until it is removed.
Beatrice wants to be a magician. Her indebted family needs her to be a wife. But when she finds the coded grimoire that contains the key to becoming a Magus, she can solve her family’s money woes and keep her freedom. But a rival sorceress, also drawn to the book’s presence, swindles it right out of her hands.
Beatrice summons a spirit to help her get it back, but her new ally exacts a price: Beatrice’s first kiss . . . with her adversary’s brother, the handsome, compassionate, and fabulously wealthy Ianthe Lavan.
The more Beatrice is entangled with the Lavan siblings, the harder her decision becomes: If she casts the spell to become a Magus, she will devastate her family and lose the only man to ever see her for who she is; but if she marries-even for love-she will sacrifice her magic, her identity, and her dreams. But how can she choose just one, knowing she will forever regret the path not taken?
Read Publisher’s Weekly’s Starred Review: “Polk expertly balances propulsive pacing, a rich multicultural world, and a vivid and subversive cast of characters. Readers will be swept away by this powerful and passionate fantasy.”
Read Kirkus’ Starred Review: “An expertly concocted mélange of sweet romance and sharp social commentary.”
Read Library Journal’s Starred Review: “Fans of romantic fantasy set in a multicultural world will find this a fascinating read.”
Finalist in the 2021 Canada Reads Competition and the Nebula, Ignyte, Locus, and World Fantasy Awards. Winner of The Subjective Chaos Kind of Award for Best Fantasy Novel.