15 great fantasy and science fiction books from 2020 you may have missed

8. The Midnight Bargain by C.L. Polk

The Midnight Bargain marks C.L. Polk’s first book outside their popular Witchmark trilogy, and it’s a step into a subgenre that we don’t see a whole lot of: Regency Romance meets magical fantasy. This book has the kind of breathlessly romantic elements you’d expect out of Bridgerton or Pride & Prejudice, except with a sweeping undercurrent of magical repression.

I’ll let the back-of-book do the talking here, because it fills in all the details really well and sums up this tale far better than I could:

"Beatrice Clayborn is a sorceress who practices magic in secret, terrified of the day she will be locked into a marital collar that will cut off her powers to protect her unborn children. She dreams of becoming a full-fledged Magus and pursuing magic as her calling as men do, but her family has staked everything to equip her for Bargaining Season, when young men and women of means descend upon the city to negotiate the best marriages. The Clayborns are in severe debt, and only she can save them, by securing an advantageous match before their creditors come calling. In a stroke of luck, Beatrice finds a grimoire that contains the key to becoming a Magus, but before she can purchase it, a rival sorceress swindles the book 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?"

The Midnight Bargain converses with other Regency Romance works in a really fresh way, using its magic to highlight the issues with its blatantly sexist society. The story’s heroine is forced to chose between love and learning magic, knowing that she can never have both…unless the whole system comes crumbling down.