This book had me hooked early on. I loved everything about it and didn't even care about the miscommunication trope (that I normally can't stand). I loved all the characters and I need me a Mr. Tennessee in my life. Add this book to your TBR if you love family dramas, sisterly bonds, witches, magic, magical gifts, second chance romance and some spice. This is a perfect food for the fall weather and spooky season. It was so so good.

I honestly don't often love rom-coms or adult romance or the like, but THIS BOOK IS FABULOUS. It's just the perfect blend of witchy, funny, romantic and real. And the touches of magical realism felt perfectly done. Loved this book so much.

The Flores sisters have magical gifts. Sage is gifted with a connection to plants: she can talk to them, identify, and make them grow. Her sister Teal can affect the weather, and her youngest sister Sky gifted with a connection to animals.

Sage is back home, at her Aunt Nadia’s, after being laid off from her job. Things are tense with her younger sister, Teal, as she blames her for the death of their youngest sister, Sky. To add to the drama, Sky’s ghost appears to Sage, talking to her.

Sage lands a job with her old employer, Cranberry Rose Company, the local nursery and is teamed up with her teenage crush, Tennessee Reyes, the man who broke her heart, unbeknownst to him. They’re paired together to find rare plants with a history and a story, to cultivate for sale. I love plants and gardening, so I thought Sage’s gift and her job was so neat!

I got a Practical Magic vibe here (the movie, not the book) picturing the beautiful old house as Nadia’s. Loved the descriptions of the setting and surrounding area!

The romance was lovely, even though I wasn’t a fan of Sage not coming clean with her prior AOL interactions with Tennessee, the blowback from it wasn’t long and overdrawn. I feel like Sage’s relationship with her sisters and Aunt Nadia were equally important to the story. They had past hurts that needed to be mended. Didn’t care for the way Teal or Aunt Nadia treated Sage. Teal was awful to her sister with no cause. It came from guilt and grief, but definite groveling was needed from both her sister and aunt. There’s some mystery around Sky’s death and I was thrilled over how that was all resolved!

Witch of Wild Things was a beautifully written, magical delight! Some romance, some family reconciliation, and cool magical gifts!

This was a total fluffy book to me. Magic and smooching.

I LOVED the plant magic and was just sitting breathing it in.

Now the sisters [I never did figure out why Sage was blamed by her WHOLE family for Sky's death. Even after it was explained I was like that sucks balls. She didn't do anything wrong. She was pretty much a punching bag for everyone. Then Sky coming back from the dead. WTH? Even in a magical book that could have been done a bit better. (hide spoiler)]

Booksource: Netgalley in exchange for review.

This is an interesting story about coming home, dysfunctional family, forgiveness, sisters, romance, and finding one's self. And if that isn't enough, there's a bit of a mystery as well as some very intriguing magical realism.

The characters are well developed, drawing me into the story almost immediately and eliciting a variety of emotions. There are a lot of layers to sift through for more than one of them, especially within Sage's family. It's never easy coming home and the circumstances of Sage's departure and return make it less so. A boring reunion, this is not!

I enjoyed the AOL instant messenger flashbacks between Tenn and Sage. It was a clever and effective way to dig into some of those layers (of both characters) and give readers a more complete understanding of their personalities, motivation, and feelings both past and present.

Overall, the story moves at a steady pace and maintained my interest with a good balance of humor, character evolution, conflict, and emotional depth. Parts of the magical realism are easy to buy into while others require significant suspension of disbelief (I have many questions). It has me wondering if Gilliland is planning more books for this family.

If you enjoy coming of age novels with magical realism, family dysfunction, and a touch of romance, give this one a try. It's an intriguing read.

ARC received from publisher. Fair and unbiased review.

Sage comes from a line of women who all posses a “gift”. For Sage, she can control plants. Her sister can control the weather. After their other sister died, the family has been at an impasse and Sage moved away. Now she’s back home and working at the same place she used to work – Cranberry Rose Company. She partners with Tennessee to hunt down wild plants that can be cultivated. Working with Tenn has brought Sage’s high school feeling to the surface. Sage hid behind her computer to get to know Tenn, and he never knew it was her. Now as they’ are growing closer and things are heating up, Sage wonders if the past should stay in the past or if they can move on from it.

This was such a fun witchy read. I read this one in July, and I was already starting to think about the spooky season. My husband never lets me decorate for holidays very early – he’s such a bummer. Even though I read this one in the height of summer, it wasn’t so witchy that it didn’t fit. It was the perfect amount of magical realism that just made me fall in love. I enjoyed the romance within the story. This was also a book about dysfunctional families. Sage has dealt with so much in her life. I originally thought that this was written for a younger audience, but I had failed to realize Sage’s age. It wasn’t until later in the book that I realized she was almost thirty and the topics covered were fairly heavy. This book grabbed my attention from the start and didn’t let it go.

If you are looking for a delightful witchy second chance closed door romance, then I hope you check this one out.

Thank you to the publisher, Berkley @BerkleyPub, and Netgalley @Netgalley for this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Publication Date: September 12, 2023

Witch of Wild Things is a story of sisterhood, family, magic, and love. Three sisters, Sage, Teal, and Sky grow ups in Cranberry Virginia with their Aunt after their mother abandons them for a man. Each has a magical gift - Sage, the oldest, can speak to plants, Teal's emotions bring extreme weather, and Sky has the gift of communicating with animals. When Sky disappears on a hike, the remaining sister's relationship is fractured. Sage leaves Virginia to go to Philadelphia to create jewelry and teach, but a terrible lapse in judgement leaves her jobless and headed back home - with Sky's ghost in tow. When Sage gets a job at a garden center where she used to work, she comes face to face with her high school crush - Tennessee, a boy that she "IM"ed with and fell in love with online. Of course, he broke her heart, and of course, they are going to fall back into love. The book was entertaining, and a quick read - parts were more than a little implausible, and the setting baffled me - mountains? Lakes, forest? ocean? its' all there. Despite the flaws I kept reading and was glad for a happy ending. Thank you Netgalley for an advanced reader copy.

Witch of Wild Things was an excellent and super cozy read. Definitely would recommend adding this to your fall TB, the vibes are perfect for the season! If you like Practical Magic, this is a great book rec for you!

I enjoyed this book. The characters were well thought out and the plot was paced in a way that made sense. I would recommend this book to others and would enjoy reading other novels by this author.

I started my spooky season reading with vampires and now it’s time to bring some witches into the mix. I chose Witch of Wild Things by Raquel Vasquez Gilliland as my first witchy read of the season, in part because of that gorgeous cover and also because it features elemental magic, which I love. It also features a romance that is complicated by secrets, as well as a family dynamic that is complicated by grief. If you’ve followed me for a while, you know that all of those elements are like catnip for me!

At the center of this story are the women of the Flores family. Legend has it that many years ago a Flores woman offended the old gods and caused all of her female descendants to be cursed with magical powers. Sage Flores is the protagonist of the story and her magical abilities are tied to plants. Nicknamed the “Plant Whisperer,” Sage can identify any plant and not only that but she can actually communicate with them. Sage’s sister, Teal, has powers that tie her emotions to the weather — extreme emotions equal extreme weather conditions. Lastly, younger sister Sky’s magic allowed her to communicate with animals.

When the story opens, we meet Sage as she has just been fired from her job and is headed back to her hometown. Sage is not looking forward to this because she has been estranged from Teal ever since the death of Sky eight years earlier. Teal holds Sage responsible for their sister’s death and wants nothing to do with her. What we also learn about Sage in these opening scenes is that Sky is actually haunting her, following her around and leaving her gifts of coffee. Sky is trapped here and wants Sage to find a way to mend fences with Teal, in hopes that will allow her spirit to move on. Needless to say, emotions run high between the two remaining sisters as they come face to face after so many years apart.

Sage isn’t just being haunted by her sister though. She’s also being haunted by her past, in the form of Tennessee Reyes, a boy she had a crush on in high school who broke her heart. When Sage takes a job with the Cranberry Rose Company to hunt for unique plant specimens, she ends up partnered with Tennessee. Being with Tennessee brings back so many memories for Sage and as she starts to grow closer to him all over again, she knows she has to tell him a secret that she has kept from him for nearly a decade. I loved how the author has their relationship unfold, through the use of both present day scenes and through flashbacks from their high school days.

I really loved everything about this book. The story grabbed my attention from the opening scenes and I flew through it in just a couple of sittings because I was so invested in Sage’s journey. She’s a messy and flawed character, but she grows so much throughout the course of the book, both in terms of her relationship with her sister and her relationship with Tennessee. The writing was also just so gorgeous. I loved all of the nature vibes and the descriptions of the magic. It was truly an enchanting read!

Unfortunately decided to DNF this one at 40%. The vibes just aren’t working for me and it’s a lot heavier than I expected. Plus there’s a lot of casual language and writing that took me out of the story, and I’m not liking the main characters at all. Bummer!

This was a fun book as much about the love between sisters and family as it is about romantic love. Raquel Vasquez Gilliland has an amazing voice, and her book drew me in with its expansive love, its quirky cast of characters, and its wonderfully imaginative and vivid writing. There is banter and fighting between sisters and family that reminds me so much of my own, and a humorous yet compelling nod to the power of the past that kept me glued to the pages way past bedtime. It was very original to begin many chapters with flashbacks to when Sage and Tennessee were young teens on AOL Instant Messenger. It was fun to see how this was followed up fifteen years later to show that time and age never really changed either of these two young lovers. I felt like I had stepped back into my own past with late night IM Chats when I was too young to be out that late. This is all part of what made Witch of Wild Things such a powerful book to me. Although the Flores women are “Witchy Women” and have supernatural powers, they feel just like friends that you already know. And Sage’s personal story made me cheer for her as she grew closer to her family, sad for everything that was placed upon her, and sigh as she finally got the man that she deserved and who deserved her as well… is there anything as sweet as a second chance romance with your first true love?

This book had everything that I look for in a great work of fiction. There was just enough romance to make my heart go pitter patter but not so much that this is a standard romance. There was a perfect blend between family drama and mystical magic to show that the two are not entirely separate. All of which are drawn together around a beautifully crafted story that has at its heart a mystery that compels you on from chapter to chapter.

This is a wonderful weekend read if you are looking to remind yourself why you love reading… it's an escape into a new world, a chance to meet new friends, and a wonderful way to remember all the reasons why life, even when bitter in the moment, will be balanced by sweetness soon enough.

Thank you Raquel Vasquez Gilliland, Berkeley Press, and NetGalley for sharing an Advanced Copy of this book with me. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

What I really liked:
✨Magic: I love the magical gifts each sister possesses. This story focuses on Sage Flores’s gift. She communicates with plants. Her gift helps her land a job at the local nursery to help locate plants with unusual heritage. I loved the wealth of plant information and Mexican folklore written into the story! Hopefully, this book will become a series and explore each of the Flores sisters’ magical gifts.
✨Romance: Second Chance Romance between Sage and Tennessee ❤️ Tennessee is absolutely swoon-worthy; he's gentle, kind, thoughtful, and, at least in my mind, absolutely hunky. As teenagers, Sage and Tenn unknowingly chatted on AOL. I love IM messages chapters (total throwback!). These add a bit of historical context to their relationship.
✨Narration: Krysta Gonzales does a terrific job with the narration, adding emotional range to the story!

Witch of Wild Things is a perfect book for October if you don't like spooky! Pick this up if you love Witches, Mexican folklore, magical realism, sister relationships, and/or romance (steam included). I definitely recommend this one!

Perfection!
Nothing needs to be changed in this book.
In fact it needs to be made into a movie.

I love a hot mess heroine that makes mistakes and at her core we see her true colors. The small town is so cozy. The magical elements are dreamy. The romance perfection.

This is the perfect cozy, witchy read with a sprinkle of magic and romance for this spooky season.
Sage and her sisters have magical gifts. Sage’s gift is being able to identify and communicate to plants. She’s been estranged from her family for years but has returned for a new job that lets her work alongside her high school crush, Tennessee. While she tries to mend her relationships with her family members and deals with her old crush, she’s also being haunted by her dead sister’s ghost.

This was such a unique read. There was romance but there was also a lot of focus on the complex dynamics and relationships of Sage’s family. Sage’s magical gift also played a big role in the story with her new job and relationship with Tennessee which was interesting. I loved that Sage and Tennessee’s high school relationship started over AOL messaging and there were flashbacks of their conversations. My only issue with their new relationship was the miscommunication. Other than that I really enjoyed it.

- Magic
- Family Drama
- Second Chance

This was the perfect break from the darker romances I have been reading lately. There is a good chunk of romance in this book, but I found the family drama to be more intriguing. And I can't believe I am saying this, but the few spicy scenes felt a bit out of place for me. I think I would have preferred this one to be a clean romance. Overall I thought this book was really cute and I enjoyed the story.

The Witch Of Wild Things has the perfect witchy vibes for spooky season and is just right for those who don't like scary.

Sage and her two sisters were born with witchy abilities. Sage had been estranged from her family for years since her younger sister, Sky, died.
She finally returns home and can use her power to talk to plants and secures her job at a nursery. Meanwhile she is continually haunted by he sister's ghost.

This story was about a broken family, one seemingly beyond repair. I enjoyed watching the family rebuild, uncover old wounds and address the problems.

Sage came across as abut too young for her age, making the whole story seem YA which was unexpected.

Thank you NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review!

I’ve long loved Raquel Vasquez Gilliland’s books, and her adult debut is no exception! With complicated family dynamics, a swoony love interest, and plenty of gorgeous and powerful magic, everything about this book was perfect to me! Easily will become a reread whenever I start to miss the Flores sisters!

I was deeply and quickly engrossed in this story of Sage, one of three sisters who has been blessed with the gift of communicating with plants.

Sage has returned to her childhood home after losing her job and must deal with her sister, Teal, who continues to blame adage for their sister, Sky’s, death; their aunt Nadia who raised them; and Sage’s high school crush, Tennessee, who has also returned to their hometown.

Sage uses her gifts with plants to find heritage and native species for the garden nursery she works for to grow and sell. Working alongside Tenn, they grow closer and closer, but they have a history that needs to be addressed.

Sage is also trying to mend the relationship with Teal, while trying to avoid falling into the same habits and expectations of her younger years of being the surrogate mother and responsible for her younger siblings.

This is a beautiful story of love and loss, of being forced to grow up too soon, if forgiveness, friendship, family, and a reminder to us all how connected and reliant we are on our beautiful Earth.

There is also a twist that I really didn’t see happening but really impressed with how it was explained, leveraging details planted throughout the book.

I hope this will be the first in a series as there is definitely set ups for other characters in the book.

Thanks to @berkleyromance @berkleypub for the eARC of this wonderful book!

What a special book! I started this one late one night and told myself I'd just read a couple chapters to get into it and then pick it up again the next day. That did not end up happening and I ended up reading close to 50% that night because I was hooked! I then read any chance I could during the following work day because I was so invested in Sage and her relationship with her sisters, aunt, friends, and long-time crush.

This had some really interesting magical realism where each woman in Sage's family has a gift - Sage's is being able to speak to and identify any plant, granting her the nickname "Plant Whisperer". This plays a part throughout the entire story and I loved how it was done as someone who isn't huge into fantasy.

As a result of moving back to her home town, Sage is confronted with a lot of feelings she's been burying. Of course once she's back in town everything comes back all at once, including taking a job at the farm she used to work at and being stuck with Tennessee. The boy who broker her heart in high school without even knowing it.

There were moments where, right along Sage, I was mad at how people were treating her without realizing how much of an impact it was having on her. She's had so many things happen from her mom abandoning her and her sisters when they were young to the death of her youngest sister 8 years ago which resulted in her leaving town. I wanted to give her a big ol' hug so many times. I was happy to see how all things played out at the end.

If you are looking for a super cozy read for the fall, this is it!

Tropes:
🌿 magical realism
🫶🏼 second chance romance (in a way)
❤️ lovely representation on all fronts
👥 forced proximity

single POV
4.5/5 stars ⭐️
1/5 spice level 🌶️