Olivia Atwater

Thousand Stitches

"A hugely enjoyable take on the Regency. . . I wolfed this down with great pleasure." --KJ Charles Euphemia Reeves seems to have found herself a faerie godfather. Unfortunately, he has no clue what he's doing. Effie has most inconveniently fallen in love with the dashing Mr Benedict Ashbrooke. There's only one problem: Effie is a housemaid, and a housemaid cannot marry a gentleman. It seems that Effie is out of luck until she stumbles into the faerie realm of Lord Blackthorn, who is only too eager to help Effie win Mr Ashbrooke's heart. All he asks in return is that Effie sew ten thousand stitches onto his favorite jacket. Effie has heard rumors about what happens to those who accept help from faeries, but life as a maid at Hartfield is so awful that she is willing to risk even her immortal soul for a chance at something better. Now, she has one hundred days - and ten thousand stitches - to make Mr Ashbrooke fall in love and propose. . . if Lord Blackthorn doesn't wreck things by accident, that is. For Effie's greatest obstacle is proving to be none other than Lord Blackthorn's overwhelmingly good intentions. From the author of Half a Soul comes a whimsical fantasy romance with heaps of heart set in an enchanting world reminiscent of Regency England.

Ten Thousand Stitches

Lord Blackthorn laughed. “Own land in faerie?" he asked incredulously. "The nerve of it! Not at all, Miss Euphemia. In faerie, the land owns you. Blackthorn suffers my presence only because it hasn't any hands of its own, and because I do a passable job of serving its interests with mine!" 

Lord Blackthorn nodded seriously. “I would not dare to lay claim to the title of maid," he assured Effie. "I have not worked nearly hard enough to do so.”

Lord Blackthorn blinked. “But of course I am trying to help,” he said.

A Regency-era Cinderella makes a bargain with a particularly inept faerie godfather. If she doesn't soon win the man of her dreams, her well-intentioned godfather may well ruin her life.

Elena M.

I think there’s better reasons to marry someone than the fact they’ll look you in the eyes instead of at the wallpaper

All of life is absurd, to some extent or other

You can think all of the angry thoughts you want, but they’ve got to stay inside your head!

the LONGING!! the YEARNING!!! atwater’s regency fairy tale retellings are so phenomenal. the characters are all so flushed out and even for such short books i find myself so attached to the whole cast. lord blackthorn,,, iwould die for him. i adore the spin on cinderella and how anger is used as a motivator instead of something to fear and hide <3 such a good book !

Honestly, it was just a very delightful, lighthearted, whimsical fantasy romance. Nothing too deep happened, and that’s what I went into it wanting. It was supposed to be a palate cleanser after some more intense reads, and it did its job. I had such a fun time reading this, hence the 4⭐️

Nik ✨

Christine

enjoyable i enjoyed it

incredible i haven't read a book for well over a month and i choose a romance novel first thing. alright then

Much better and more realised than the first book, though the romance was much less compelling. This felt like leaned much heavier into the fairytale aspect - it felt like a retelling of several stories at different times. But it was very funny and a lot of fun.

The world that Atwater has created with this trilogy is both enchanting and addictive. The characters are so fun and full of life (even the villains), and the romance is seamlessly woven in. 

Floofyflower

While I didn’t find this one as unique as Half a Soul, Ten Thousand Stitches is still very sweet and charming. With the upstairs-downstairs dynamics of Downton Abbey and a hint of a Rumplestiltskin retelling, Atwater continues to expand her Regency Faerie Tale world!

Liz Griffin

Colleen

3 Stars
 
*A cute, fluffy Regency fairytale that was entertaining but nowhere near as good as the first book*


Half a Soul came as a total surprise to me when I read it this year. I expected the typical fluffy Regency Romance with some faeries thrown in. But to my joy, it was perfectly delightful, and I loved every minute of it. Which made me instantly nervous to read the next book in this series of interrelated-but-standalone books. This first book blew my expectations out of the water, and I just didn’t see how the next one could live up to my now much higher expectations. Sadly, as much as I tried to love Ten Thousand Stitches like its predecessor, my feelings remained ambivalent. 

This installment has the same Regency England setting with a fairytale twist. Ten Thousand Stitches takes on the well-worn tale of Cinderella. Euphemia Reeves (Effie for short) is a maid in an abusive lord’s household. Though on the outside she acts like a dutiful servant, her heart is full of rebellion and hope for a better future. When she unexpectedly acquires the help of the fairy godfather Lord Blackthorne, Effie makes a deal with him to help her marry a member of the nobility who showed her a kindness. But like any faerie bargain, there is a cost. Should she fail in her goal, she is bound to be a servant forever in the land of Faerie. But as Effie discovers more about herself and spends more time with Lord Blackthorne, she begins to doubt her choice.

Like Half a Soul, this book included social commentary rather than being just a romance. Ten Thousand Stitches dealt with classism and the precarious situation of any working class person dependent upon the whims of the upper class to make a living. I did like the characters overall and enjoyed watching them find the courage to rebel against their terrible working conditions. The story highlighted many important issues. But they just did not feel as solid as they did in the first book. And the social issues felt included for the sake of it sometimes. 


  “There aren’t any facts when it comes to opinions,” she said. “There’s only people who like things an’ people who don’t.”

But where this one really fell flat for me was the romance. I was not invested in the romance AT ALL. Honestly, for most of the book, I hoped the romantic interest would lean a different direction. I understand why Effie would daydream over Ashbrooke after he was the only uppercrust person to ever show her a kindness. So even though it was instalove, it at least made sense. But her feelings for Blackthorne – while just as instant – didn’t feel remotely genuine. It didn’t help that I couldn’t imagine Blackthorne as a suitable love interest. As an inept faerie causing disaster with every attempt to help? Sure, he was entertaining in that role. But the swoon factor for him hovered somewhere in the… geez, I can’t even think of a funny metaphor. He’d definitely be stuck in the friend zone. Blackthorne, whose real name is Juniper Jubilee, most reminded me of Gilderoy Lockhart post memory loss. Bumbling, inept, and annoyingly cheerful. But what I missed most of all was the witty banter from Half a Soul which made me literally giggle out loud in delight. There was no banter in Ten Thousand Stitches. And I mourned the lack. Obviously the characters couldn’t be carbon copies of those from the first book, but I still yearned for some banter. Blackthorne’s continuous state of bamboozlement would have made it impossible for him to ever banter. 

I also expected more humor from the faerie hijinks, but that part veered towards serviceable-but-underwhelming as well. The whole story was cute but a bit hollow.

One random side note I will add is that I never understood why Effie always referred to Lord Blackthorne as an elf when everyone else called him faerie. And all the other people from that realm where called faeries. Where those suddenly supposed to be interchangeable terms? If there was a distinction made, then I missed it.

I do feel a little bad. Despite trying to temper my expectations, I’m not sure Ten Thousand Stitches ever had a chance of living up to its predecessor. This isn’t a bad book by any means. It is truthfully what I expected from the first book: an entertaining Regency Romance with a hint of magic that I enjoyed well enough while reading but will easily forget afterwards. Going from such a high to solidly in the middle, I will now try to rein in my expectations for the third book to somewhere in-between the first two books. Let’s aim for a nice, study four stars. Once I’ve had a minute to sulk over this one…


RATING FACTORS:
Ease of Reading: 4 Stars
Writing Style: 3 Stars
Characters and Character Development: 3 Stars
Plot Structure and Development: 3 Stars
Level of Captivation: 3 Stars
Originality: 2 Stars

Although I had a moment of hesitation at the start of this book as far as pairings and pacing, in retrospect, I should have trusted Olivia Atwater implicitly. Another delightful story with a simple concept masterfully told. I have so much affection for Effie and love the idea of stitching your emotions into the pieces that you embroider. I also like the book focusing on the emotion of anger. It is such a overlooked and underrepresented emotion viewed in this way. Always framed as either a problem or more violent than necessary. It’s refreshing to see it framed as righteous and helpful. Lord Blackthorn was one of my favorite parts of the first book so I was so pleased to have him back again. And even more pleased when I realized the slow burn was between him and Effie rather than Effie and the bland Benedict (Prince Charming). Atwater has such a knack for describing Faerie and I always find myself picturing the lands vividly. 

Emma Miller

Caroll-Ann

Honestly I went into this book with no expectations, didn‘t even know what it‘s about before starting it. But I‘m pleasantly surprised with this one. I loved the story, even though it‘s a quite short one BUT that makes it the perfect quick read. It isn‘t the best book I ever read but I like it nonetheless.

Given my love of regency romance and fantasy, you would think I'd eat this series up. Sadly, I can't help but feel completely underwhelmed by it. I enjoyed the first book but felt it was lacking something, and the same can be said for this one, too. It was as if the plot was never fully formed. Maybe it's because the length is so short, but everything felt glossed over. The characters were one-dimensional, the relationship between Effie and Lord Blackthorn was flimsy, and the plot was boring. Lord Blackthorn was like a dopey golden retriever, and it did make for some cute moments, but that was it. I enjoy the cozy vibe, but I think it would've benefitted by having more magic and a more cohesive plotline.

Heather Harrington

Maria Arc

amazing amazing amazing. I LOVE BLACKTHORN

B. K.

4 stars. Solid audiobook narration by Rafe Beckley, who also narrated Half a Soul. I liked both Effie and Lord Blackthorn, and appreciated the theme that in certain situations, anger can be righteous and motivating. It started to feel a bit repetitive near the end ("No, I get it, rich people can be awful, that's been established"), but overall it was a quick, enjoyable read.

Editing to add a spoilery detail I loved: (view spoiler)[A dog's love for its human broke a curse! As an asexual, aromantic person, I always enjoy when a non-romantic love is shown to have power. (hide spoiler)]

Thousand Stitches

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