It is a retelling of the Brothers Grimm's fairy tale "King Thrushbeard," where a princess's pride incites the anger of the queen, who then banishes her to live in poverty. She must live with a young bard for one year, and then she may return to the palace and assume her title.

Princess Alexandra's character undergoes significant development as she learns humility, compassion, and the value of selflessness. Tom, the young bard (wink, wink), plays a crucial role in Alexandra's transformation. His lighthearted nature and hidden depth make him an endearing character. Alexandra's transformation is central to the story's moral message. The novel explores the stark differences between the lives of nobility and commoners, highlighting struggle and duty across social classes. It is very relevant to the current social climate and wage gaps. It also illustrates the responsibility and empathy needed for leadership. Overall, it is a story of the impact of how compassion and love change us, encouraging readers to reflect on their values and actions.

I received an Advanced Readers Copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review. Thank you, Netgalley and Vanessa Green.

I had a fun time reading this and I liked the writing. Based on the premise I was hoping to love this book, but something kept me from doing so. I couldn’t figure it out until I saw other reviews where people mentioned the pacing and the movement of time in the book and I fully agree!

I’ll definitely read more from the author, and I did like this book, but this didn’t quite meet the expectations I had going in!

Honestly, i thought i’d love this book. everything about it seemed up my alley and i was super excited. but i was slightly disappointed. the writing was amazing and so was the story telling but i just felt as though it was going in circles. the book itself isn’t bad at all, just not for me! i love the characters within the book and how they’re portrayed. the pacing is odd, but it does make sense for the setting it’s in. overall, not a bad book, just not the style i’m used to. i still enjoyed it!!

I love that this book was based on the story of King Thrushbeard. I had never heard of the tale, but I love an opportunity to learn of classic fairytales via new, adult retellings. It is a great story and the morals and lessons are abundant!

I adore a morally grey character, so even at her most selfish and naive, I warmed towards Princess Alexandra. The characters were rich and numerous. I also loved the romance between Tom & Alexandra. It was raw and passionate. The spice was sizzling!

Having said this, the book didn’t flow quite as well as I’d of liked. However, I cannot quite put my finger on why. If I had to hazard a guess, I would say that I struggled with the pacing. It felt like we would be in a single day for chapters, before skipping months and months in single sentences. I also felt like Alexandra would have struggled more with the change in circumstances. Surely even Tom would have struggled to some extent?

Finally, I am slightly confused as to why this is a series starter. I feel it would have benefitted from being a standalone.

This wasn't a book for me. The premise and blurb sounded interesting so I took a chance, but I did not enjoy the read pretty much at all. The biggest issue I had was that I despised all of the characters, especially Alexandra. This isn't a problem that everyone will have, I fully admit, because it is also true that she grows a lot through the story. However, she was completely insufferable for a good portion of the book, and I personally just don't want to spend time reading about terrible people. It also made Tom's attraction to her baffling to me. There is an attempt to play it off like he could see the potential in her to not be a spoiled brat, but it falls flat. Tom's strong physical attraction to her even while she was being super insulting and selfish and terrible actually made me dislike him a little. My guy, please have some self respect.
Also I just don't like the "have to 'fix' the love interest" angle it gave everything. I think I would have liked it if Alexandra had been exiled or something by her mother to force her to learn the lesson, and she met Tom organically as he was doing something else. You know, instead of making it Tom's job to make her not awful.
Third-act-breakups are a common trope in romances, but they're almost always bad and unnecessary, and that held true here. Alexandra's reaction to Tom's revelation was melodramatic and immature. I get being hurt you were lied to, but come on, you were literally wishing for something like this to happen a few scenes ago.
There's an audience out there for this book, but unfortunately it's not me.

A fun romantic fairytale.
A story that has everything you want in that genre.
Compeling setting and characters.
Loved it

3.5 stars

Vanessa Green's "The Bard's Bargain" follows the privileged, bratty, and downright spoiled Princess Alexandra of Lenwen who is being punished by her mother for rejecting all the suitors at her debut. Her punishment is to live as a peasant for an entire year with a bard named Tom. Alexandra gets a taste of the real world and gains some self awareness during her time away from the palace.

Although the romance was quite childish, the journey that Alexandra has during her time with the bard and the connections she makes with the villagers along the way are quite enjoyable -- along with the spice. I will admit that I found the fantasy to be lacking and wouldn't label this as a romantasy myself.

I am not sure I would continue with this series, but I would be interested in reading other works from the author.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

I loved this book. I was not expecting to love it as much as I did. Instantly I was hooked about this spoiled rotten princess and her journey to learn that money truly isn't everything. That being a ruler is more than about land and war, it's about the kingdom and the people in it that make it work. While I do say I felt like the ending needed a little work but I can feel a second book in the works. I really do love how resilient Alexandra was when they were first traveling together to Norwen and I feel like that part could have lasted a little longer because her realizing that her own troops were harassing people traveling as well as high prices to pass from certain towns was very clever of a way for her to realize what she needed to do once she came back to court. Kind of predictable ending and I really didn't like the way that Alexandra left the town without saying anything to the new friends she made. Felt like she never went through those hardships with the townfolk. But other than that this was a great book. Just some more editing at its a solid 5 star read.

3.5 stars

The Bard’s Bargain is an enjoyable story about a spoiled princess who must prove that she can live in poverty for a year in order to become regent. Apparently this is a retelling, but I can’t say I’m familiar with the story of King Thrushbeard.

Alexandra was definitely bratty and unlikable at first, but the author did a nice job with her character growth. Tom the bard was a sweetheart and I liked him right away. The romance was (mostly) believable and there was a good amount of spiciness.

A couple things that could have been better - this was labeled a fantasy but there were hardly any fantasy elements. I also thought there was a little too much back and forth/hot and cold between the characters at times. Overall this was a decent story, I’m not certain if I would read the next book but I would consider it.

Thank you to the author for the ARC!

I think I wanted to like this one more than I did. It was a cozy fantasy romance, but with limited fantasy - it was more similar to historical romance. (This was not the issue for me - I love historical romance.) It lagged a little in the middle and I wish more time had been spent on the last third of the storyline instead - everything wrapped up rather suddenly.

That said, if you like quieter historical/fantasy romance, you'll still enjoy this. Sometimes it was giving Alice Coldbreath vibes.

The epilogue seemed to set up a sequel, which I will be picking up.

(I received an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.)

Thank you netgalley for the chance to read and review this book. This was a refreshing fairytale retelling that puts its own twist on the story of king thrushbeard.

To start the cover is stunning, I know this shouldn't be a make or break for a book but this cover definitely catches your eye. The artwork is beautiful and I am gutted that I don't have a physical copy for my shelf!

I fell in love with Alexandra and there are valuable life lessons about learning to see past your own nose and care for others. With plenty of spice adult romance lovers, this book is for you.

This was a decent read, not in my top for the year, but not in last place either. It was a compelling story.

I randomly came across this book in the read now section and thought “why not” 🤷🏼‍♀️

This story was SO GOOD. It’s a retelling of a fairytale I had never heard of (King Thrushbeard), basically a spoiled princess is forced to live with peasants to become a not-spoiled princess.

There is romance, family & found-family, a little bit of magic, an FMC who isn’t afraid to poison people and a sweet MMC that is a musician.

The pacing and the character growth are perfect. I don’t think I have any complaints. The romance is so sweet and getting to watch the princess grow from a spoiled brat to someone who thinks first of others and isn’t afraid to get her hands dirty is inspiring.

So naturally, immediately after finishing this book, I went down a rabbit hole and discovered there is a second book coming out on July 11th! I am so excited to get to be in this world again. (And I already ordered a hard copy of The Bard’s Bargain).

Please go read this book and give it the hype it deserves!!

Thank you NetGalley and Vanessa Green for an eARC!

Thank you so much to Netgalley for having The Bard’s Bargain available to read! I really enjoyed this retelling of King Thrushbeard, I think Vanessa Green did an incredible job of enhancing the tale. The ending indicated that this book could have a sequel and I very much hope that’s the case!

First of all the cover of this book is beautiful and it hooked me into the story right from the beginning. And the story was so good! And the writing was so beautiful.

This book is based on Grimm's fairy tale of King Thrushbeard. It's about a princess named Alexandra who is spoiled and defiant. She rejects every suitor she encounters and her mother the queen can no longer get through to her. So, Alexandra is banished from the kingdom to live a life of a peasant. She must learn the ways of living a different life than the one she was so privileged to. She meets a man named Tom. Alexandra learns how to take care of others and learns valuable lessons about life outside of the palace. This book is an adult romance with spice. If you like enemies to lovers, one bed, fairy tale retellings you will like this book.

I loved this book a lot! The cover is stunning and was the first reason I gravitated to the book and it fits the story so well!
Overall I liked the plot and writing style. The characters were great and I quickly built a connection to them. The only thing I struggled with a little was that the story and writing felt very ya and we suddenly get a spicy scene (I know it’s marketed as NA and that’s correct and I like it but it just doesn’t flow together as good as in other books).

An enchanting fantasy love story filled with passion and heart. The author weaves a tale that is both emotional and uplifting. I couldn’t put it down. And patiently waiting for book 2.

A retelling of the Grimm Brothers’ King Thrushbeard. Remembering many snowy days rereading the (indeed!) Grimm stories as a child and really liking the cover, I looked forward to reading this.

I enjoyed my time reading The Bard’s Bargain - the writing style worked well for me, I enjoyed Alexandra’s, the MFC character, evolution as a character, Tom (MMC), and the relationship growth between the two. The ending was a little rushed, but not enough to seriously detract from my reading happiness.

I would happily read a sequel to this if one is forthcoming, and will definitely read more of the author’s work.



Thanks to author Vanessa Green, publisher Joan Anderson, and NetGalley for the DRC

Tried my chances on an Indie pub, which I normally don't read, and was surprised. The cover is by the same artist who did Saft's Far Wilder Magic and I admit I'm a sucker for a pretty cover. This is like a reverse Cinderella, based on Grimms' King Thrushbeard.

Definitely New Adult - the writing style is YA with a lot of sex throughout. I felt the relationship, especially sexual, built up too fast, but it looks like this author normally writes erotica -- where plot doesn't matter -- so I'm not surprised. Honestly...I wished this had just been YA. I experienced whiplash from reading a YA story to suddenly his fingers are in her. It didn't feel like a story to expect sex much sex as there is in this. Don't get me wrong, I desperately want more sexy fairytales in the world, but this combination of youthful/young writing with sex didn't work for me.

It's hard to maintain the tension of attraction once sex has occurred and it's the case here, all sex after they broke through their tension was exorbitant. Alexandra is a privileged asshole, and that comes across fairly well (although at times a little too after-school-special and clunky.) And she stays an asshole for months, so it was hard for me to understand their almost immediate attraction after only a day or two with each other and so early on. I couldn't tell you about who Alexandra and Tom are, as individuals, outside of their relationship.

The dialogue, when not between Alexandra and Tom -- especially between Alexandra and her mother!!! -- is uncanny and unnatural. Queen Morgause' dialogue is very robotic until she's sarcastically dying at the end and is funny.

This is a lot of criticism but the prose is really good!! I am very, very picky about my prose and storytelling, so it's a high compliment from me. It drew me into the story and kept me reading. There are good bones here.