Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you.

Castle of Dusk and Shadows 
By Rachel L. Schade
🎧 Narrated by: Savvy Des-Etages
Fae of Brytwilde, Book 1
Book 19 of 2024

My toxic trait as a bookstagrammer is that I will sometimes save books on a special mental TBR I like to think of as my “oh no I feel a slump coming on I need something PERFECT right now” shelf.  When my friend @alexs_book_hoard told me about A Castle of Dusk and Shadows – a Pride and Prejudice fantasy retelling with Fae – it ended up on that mental shelf. 

But when I had my most recent Long Covid crash, I decided it was time to give it a try and Alex, you were SO right. I absolutely devoured this book. It delivered exactly what I was looking for.

I tend to like my Pride and Prejudice retellings to hit all of the beats of the original, and this gave the vibes without matching the plot, which I had a lot of fun with. I especially liked the play on Elizabeth having “fine eyes.” 

Read if you like:
✨ strong female characters
✨ villainous-seeming love interests (kinda reminded me of Rhys from ACOMAF)

Elle spends a good portion of the book looking for the ghost of her late father, and y’all…Mr. Bennett WISHES he was half the dad Mr. Blackford. 

If you are a P&P fan but wish that Mary, Lydia, Kitty, and Mrs. Bennett got better treatment, you’ll love this one. Everyone got to keep so much of their original character without being ridiculed for it. 

KU subscribers – add this one to your shelf!! (And everyone else.) 

QotD: (pick one)
-What’s a favorite retelling that you’ve read?
-Favorite villain? (to love or hate!) 

[book synopsis]

She’ll do anything to save her family—even marry a fae and face the dead.

Years ago, Elle Blackford’s parents made a desperate deal with the fae kingdom of Ashwood. While her mother and sisters reconciled themselves to a future among dangerous immortals, Elle and her father studied forbidden magic, hoping to find a loophole.

Until Elle’s father dies, forcing Elle’s sister to marry Prince Fitz, heir of Ashwood.

But Elle has a plan to change their fate. For she knows that ghosts wander Ashwood Forest until the royal family sends them into the afterlife. Ghosts that can be returned to life. And she’s determined to save her father from his premature death.

All she needs is powerful magic—magic Prince Fitz possesses.

Taking her sister’s place, Elle marries Prince Fitz to steal his power. But in a world of bloodthirsty fae and vengeful ghosts, being a mortal comes with constant risks. As Elle navigates a kingdom of monsters and tragic secrets, she realizes she might not survive to save her family.

And the key to her salvation might be her arrogant, cold husband—the one she’d planned to rob and abandon. If only she can trust him.

Pride and Prejudice meets Gothic fae fantasy in this loose retelling, full of plenty of romantic tension (not spice).

Pre-order today and prepare to immerse yourself in Brytwilde, a series of standalone fantasy romance novels all set in the same fae world and loosely inspired by Jane Austen’s novels.