Adored this story so much!! Such a cute little story, loved all the characters! Weenie and Willy had the best banter, Daffy is the most adorable pine marten, Zane and Monty are so delightfully cheeky!

It was also so great to travel around Faerwyvae and see all the different courts and the different reactions to Weenie and Will’s fans in each place.

Interesting twist to the plot which I won’t go into here, but love that there are other books written in the same world! And can’t wait for book 2! This one set up that upcoming relationship so well!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this arc.

Wow! This is my favorite romance I’ve read so far this year! I loved everything about this book from the writing, the plot and the characters, down to the spicy scenes. I loved the dynamic between William and Edwina (Weenie) from the tension at first to being cute with each other without the being cheesy. I can’t wait to read more cozy romantansies from this author!

I requested this one from NetGalley kind of on a whim. On one hand, it sounded like the kind of book that would be right up my alley: historical fantasy with a hefty dose of humor and romance! But on the other hand, I’ve been burned by the “cozy” subgenre of fantasy/romance many times in the past, so I’m always fairly apprehensive, especially when reading a new-to-me author. But this book is proof that it’s good to still go out on a limb with these things! Not only did I enjoy this book, but now I have an author with a back catalog that I can’t wait to check out!

There was so much to like about this book that I’m not quite sure where to start! I guess what it often comes down to with books like this, for me, is tone. How well does the author manage to capture the voice of her characters and do these inner voices translate into the cozy nature of the story itself. And on both counts, the answer is definitely yes! The banter was excellent, often leaving me chuckling aloud. And each main character perfectly balanced their growing interest in the the other character alongside a more meaningful personal arc. While the narrative was sweet and funny throughout much of it, this added level of heart helped balance out the book into a well-rounded finished product.

I also really liked the way the romance itself played out. This was very much a rivals-to-lovers scenario, but the author wisely didn’t draw out the rivals aspect of it beyond the point of reason (something that I often see in other romances like this, the same with enemies-to-lovers). Importantly, while their “rivalry” starts out in the typical “bad first impression” manner, as the story progresses, each character is given real stakes behind why they must compete with the other. I also enjoyed the “he falls first” aspect of this romance, especially given William’s unique backstory with regards to forming attachments and affection.

For her part, Edwina was an excellent leading character. I’d have to go back and check, but I believe we get more chapters from her perspective than Will’s, and this makes sense as she’s the avatar for the reader, also experiencing the land of Fae for the first time. I also enjoyed the overlay of Edwina’s life in the human world with all of the historical outfittings that come with that now travelling through the land of Fae that has very different fashions and cultures.

This was a blast of a read in pretty much way! This is definitely a spicy romance, so keep that in mind if you pick it up. That said, I think these scenes were done well, being both romantic and, notably, not off-putting with weird word choices and out-of-character actions. The plot is fairly straight forward, as you might expect. But the lovely characters, sweet romance, and bright sparkling world more than made up for it! Plus, we are introduced to the next couple in line to get a story, and I’m definitely going to check out that book the second it comes out!

Rating 8: Whimsical and romantic, this is a great book for any cozy fantasy fan looking for their next spicy read!

(Link will go live on June 29 on The Library Ladies)

All is fair in love and writing.

💗 Gaslamp Fae Fantasy
💗 Rivals to Lovers
💗 Cozy and Spicy Romance
💗 He Falls First
💗 Magical Bet of Seduction
💗 Forced Proximity
💗 Dual POVs
💗 Quirky FMC

This is a delightful and enchanting first book in the Fae Flings and Corset Strings series that is filled with witty banter, spicy romance, and fantastical characters. Edwina Danforth is a romance author who travels to the Isle of Faerwyvae for a month-long book tour. She soon finds herself entangled in a bet of seduction and sales with another author on the tour, William Haywood, as they both hope to win a coveted publishing contract. As their tour continues, they battle not only their sales and emotions, but also their hearts.

This is one of my new favorite rivals-to-lovers romances! Edwina and William have such a captivating chemistry filled with everything you want in a hate to love trope – comical quips, glowers, and undeniable attraction where everyone can see it but them. Their banter and antics had me laughing out loud and I never knew what to expect from Edwina in her pursuit of the next smutty idea. In addition to these two, we have a few quirky and lovable side characters that add to the story’s charm and intrigue me on what’s to come in the series!

Thank you to Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op, and Tessonja Odette for an advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

This book was so delightful. Beautiful banter and the tension!!! Edwina is a romance author going on tour if she can get there to start. Arriving very late, she is now sharing the book tour. William is a pretentious poet with his own agenda. Thus, a beautiful rivalry begins. Academic and, as the title reveals, of hearts. As the tour progresses, a bet is made. The bet may be the best and worst thing to happen. There’s spice, there are fantastic side characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

DNF 40%

This started off so promising. I enjoyed the writing, very easy and fun to read. I liked that they both were actual rivals, competing for something that is important for both of them.
Plus, she disliked him and had a very good reason to. So i tought the story could deliver some good angst.
However, this was left behind fairy quickly? But what really made me dnf this is that they started to have feelings for each other when I didn't feel like they knew each other that well yet. Unfortunately this has become a deal breaker for me, since I'm having a hard time with romance books lately.

I think this will work for a lot of people though and I still want to try other books by the autor!

This book delivered in terms of tension. If you want a slow burn, read this!! The scene where he locks eyes with Edwina while kissing another woman? Fantastic scene, loved that!!
I did have a hard time connecting with the main character. I felt that she was more of a surface level character, which made it hard to connect with her. I also couldn’t tell if sometimes she was acting unaware for comedic effect, or we were supposed to dislike her because of it. But I do appreciate the author showcasing Edwina’s flaws. So I’m a bit conflicted.
I really loved William’s character honestly. I felt he was more developed than Edwina, and I really felt for him, especially with his backstory more developed.
Overall, I did enjoy this story and will probably read the next one, but I thought it could’ve been shortened a tad. Appreciated being able to read it!

Thank you for the ARC! This will be published on goodreads on May 28th.

A Rivalry of Hearts is the first novel in the Fae Flings and Corset Strings series and I am hooked. The book was so sweet and the rivalry between Edwina and William was done so well.

The novel is told in first person mostly by Edwina though we do get a few chapters narrated by William which I loved. Edwina is visiting the faelands to promote her latest romance novel that while was not a hit in the human world is incredibly popular in the world of fae. She is joined on her book tour by William, a poet whose good looks do most of the work for him in terms of attracting an audience. This is unfortunate as Edwina learns the publishing contract she thought was hers is actually up for grabs and the two must compete to determine the winner. To make the competition a little spicier Edwina proposes a bet: whoever sleeps with the most people (or fae) while on the book tour wins the contract. Her growing attraction to her rival and discovering he's a real person (tragic backstory and all) complicates matters. What will happen?

There's fantasy, there's spice, there's feelings, there's fun side characters who we will probably see in book two. I highly enjoyed and would definitely read more of Odette's work.

I would highly recommend to fans of fantasy, romance or any combo of the two.

I was provided a free copy of this book through NetGalley.

One of the first ARCs I have read that was impressively good. Loved the characters, however, I believe the male protagonist should’ve had more of a strong personality. A very interesting view and imagination for the rest of the characters. The writing is smooth and easy to follow, I have laughed and indeed it kept me going.
It is romantic and SEXyyy!! It does contain a 18+ scenes in case you want to recommend it to somebody younger.
A good read

Delightful cozy fantasy romance. This was my first time reading this author and it won’t be my last of her books! I really enjoyed the world of Faerwyvae, the coziest faerie universe I’ve had the pleasure of reading.

The story of Edwina and William is classic rivals to lovers but has a lower amount of angst that one normally experiences in these stories. I liked the supporting characters just as much as the leads (if not more for some!) and like the fact that we know they will soon be getting their own stories.

Definitely recommend for a light enjoyable read!

They say never bargain with the fae. They also say don’t get drunk on fae wine. Yet romance author Edwina Danforth has managed a blunder with both on her first visit to the infamous faelands. Now she's trapped in a magic-fueled bet she barely remembers with a man she’d be happier to forget. The terms? Whoever can bed the most lovers during their month-long dueling book tour wins a coveted publishing contract.

Cosy - YES
Spicy - YES
Enemies to Lovers - YES
Banter - YES

It ticks all of the boxes, it hits all of the right spots, this book was quippy and paced perfectly. I highly recommend this to anyone, heck EVERYONE!

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange for honest feedback.

My new favorite genre is now “cozy romantasy smut”. Seriously, I’m not big into fae or fantasy and yet I loved this book. Edwina and Will are such a great enemies-to-lovers couple. Usually in that type of trope it feels like they absolutely loathe each other but this one was mainly just flirty banter so when they do finally get together it was more believable. Also, I loved that the author didn’t draw out the “3rd act” drama too much. It was refreshing to not have 4 chapters of them not speaking to each other and just resolving their issues like real adults.

The book sounds like it’s set in regency times there are a lot of things in it that are real modern so if you’re a stickler for historical accuracy this one might grind on you. I thought it added to the charm of the book but that’s just me.

5 stars…now just give me book 2 please!

📚 TROPES & THEMES 📚
✔️ nicknames
✔️ rivals to loverssss
✔️ he falls first
✔️ the best banter omg
✔️ fae bargains, the hit kind tho
✔️ standalone with hea
✔️ romantacy romcom
✔️ spicyyyy
✔️ pet names

I’m blasting the alarms, right now!! DEAR READER, READ THIS BOOK!! I couldn’t put it down. This story was all the best kind of vibes: cozy, whimsical, hilarious, tension filled… just delicious.

Edwina is our FMC and she set sails from her human home in Britton to Faerwyvae for a book signing tour with her publisher. Unfortunately she is late from reasons not her own, and shows up to find that they signed another author on there will be sharing the tour with William Haywood, a devastatingly handsome fae male and poet.

The forced proximity and immediate chemistry between these two characters had me giggling and kicking my feet the entire time. This is the kind of story that will live rent free in my head for many moons to come. 🤣

The main story arch was easy to understand and follow, and I really loved seeing the life of an author through the characters’ eyes. And learning what makes them tick. It’s so hard to pick a favorite scene, when really I just adored this entire book.

This one right here is a MUST read for all my romantacy friends out there. I loved this book so much!

Thank you to NetGalley for the arc in exchange of an honest review

This was adorable. A cute cozy romantasy with fae and a romance-writer. Moreover a romance-writer who gets entangled in a bet where her skills in the bedroom is far poorer than her writing. It was funny, sweet and spicy. Enemies to lovers is my favorite trope and this didn't fail me! Would highly recommend!

⭐ 5 !

This is adorable. I do not usually enjoy rom-coms but the charm of this book is undeniable. I found the main couple and their banter together so cute, I couldn't put the book down. William surprised me with how truly swoon-worthy he was! Now, that being said, the premise is unrealistic and a tad silly but that comes with the genre. If you think you can suspend your disbelief, you'll really enjoy the character interactions and the sugary-sweet world they live in. If you're in need of an easy and romantic book in-between a darker, more intense fantasy series, I highly recommend. I will definitely pick up more of this author's work!

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for an honest review!

A Rivalry of Hearts was a very cozy and light-hearted read, and something I am very not used to. I think with this book I discovered that low-stakes books are just not for me.

The premise is simple, a human girl writes a fiction book about fae, the book is super popular in the fae world but not as popular in the very stuck-up 1950's-esque human world. She goes on tour in the fae world to promote the book only to find out that she's been paired with a fae poetry writer. Then they both discover that there's a writing contract for whoever has the better sales, so they take things into their own hands and form a bet. Whoever loses the bet has to turn down the contract if offered so the other one can take it. The terms are whoever was "intimate" with more people behind a bedroom door at the end of the tour wins the bet.

I think this book was well-written, I felt characters experienced growth, although since it was so low-stakes it wasn't much. I found that Edwina annoyed me a lot of the time but it was more because I hate being late for anything and she was late for literally everything. The one big negative of this book was that I felt the fae part of the book was completely unnecessary. If you're looking to dip a tippy toe into fantasy, this is a great place to start, but I didn't think it was even needed in this story. Otherwise, I wish the magic system had been beefed up a little bit. There just wasn't any kind of story-changing element that them being fae altered except for the effect fae have on humans' lives and the fact that they can extend a human's lifespan just by being important to them. It also wasn't really explained, you're just kinda made to accept it with no reason behind it.

All-in-all I think this was a pretty decent read. I did have to push through to finish it but that had nothing to do with the writing or the pacing and everything to do with the fact that I like higher stakes books. I would recommend this to people for sure, but wouldn't continue the series myself.

Thank you very much to the publisher and the author for an opportunity to read such a cute story as an ARC reader.

My rating: 3.5⭐
Read if you enjoy:
- Cozy fantasy
- Jane Austen inspired Regency romance
- Real world mixed with fantasy world
- Rivals to lovers
- Drunken bets with fae
- Open doors spice
- Mysterious secondary characters

My thoughts:
Regency romance isn't usually my type of go-to genre but I wanted to try something different for a change, and I was lucky enough to get a copy of this book.

First I'd like to highlight how impressed I am with the beautiful mashup of real and fantasy the author has crafted, and the depths we're gifted in terms of world building, magic systems, societal constructs and cultural references.
That alone deserves all the praise.
And the little easter eggs and nods to Jane Austen's works? They had me smiling all the time.

Sadly, there were certain parts I found were dragged for too long and made me lose interest. Also, and unfortunately, by the end I was a little annoyed with Edwina and I'm afraid it didn't improve in the final chapters but turned into full eye-rolling.

In general I did enjoy the story and the author is clearly talented. However, I believe I might had enjoyed it more had I been younger or had had a more romantic view of life.

4 Stars!

This book is a fun mix of humour, fantasy, and steamy romance that keeps you hooked the whole way through. The story—two writers in a magical bet—puts a fresh spin on the enemies-to-lovers trope. Super entertaining!

Quirky...Cute...Chaotic...

Someone bring me a plate of crackers because this was delightfully cheesy and I ate. it. up!

Okay before you come in you're going to have to leave your serious shoes at the door. Seriously, unserious vibes only! Now that that's out of the way...

This was the first book of Tessonja's that I have read but her catalog has been on my radar, it definitely won't be my last. This was cozy, steamy, and had me cackling! This fluff was just what I needed to get me out of a reading slump!

The characters are likable, their motivations are clear, the pacing is steady, and the world is built out just enough with side characters that have their own distinct voices! It usually takes me a minute to get into the groove of first-person POV and I'll admit the first chapter is a bit bumpy with quirk but it settles down quickly and gets rolling. William's POV in particular had me kicking my feet! Our main characters aren't without their flaws and sometimes they make questionable decisions but it's all a bit of a relatable hot mess and you can't help but to cheer for both of these people and even the side characters.

While this is super steamy and spice is subjective, I thought it was well-balanced. This leans more on the cozy romcom side than a spice-driven book. The slow burn does indeed slow burn even if our characters lust after each other pretty quickly, watching them fall for each other...swoon!

If I had to relate this to something that I'm familiar with I would say it's like if you took Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Faeries, took ALL the dry academic tone out of it, all the danger and the stuffiness and replaced it with a ton of romcom, quirk, and just unseriousness in general. I caution against relating it to that because it's like it but...in an upside-down kind of way.

PS. I'm going to need y'all to take a look at the hardcover edition of this book! It is so stunning!

Big thanks to NetGalley and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for the ARC! A Rivalry of Hearts is out June 12, 2024!

"Give me a reason not to go (...). Give me one reason, Edwina. Just one".

It's been quite a while since I last read what I like to call "one of my silly romance novels". And what a way to get back into them. Absolutley every thing in this books is worth it.
The rivalry? Reminds me of my highschool hypercompetitive self throwing shit at my clever friends just for fun.
The "oh shit! I'm in love, what do I do now?" That's William, that's Edwina and that's me now that I've finished the book.
The story is so funny, quirky and brings such a sense of comfort and softness that it was very hard to put it down (I only did so because I needed to sleep). I haven't read anything from this author, but I certanly will read more of her books because they trully are worth the full atmosphere change from my usual horror/high fantasy books.