4.5 stars!!

Oh my GOODNESS this was so cute this was so delightful this was so heartwarming this was just sheer loveliness!

After just getting out of a 4 year relationship with a man with the personality of white bread with the crusts cut off, Gemma, her kooky maybe witchy Aunt Livi, reliable older sister Kiersten , and hot best friend Daxon who she decidedly does not have a crush on decide to do a little ~love cleanse~ that results in a parallel universe where Gemma and Dax never became bffs which is going to make it hard for her to unbreak the curse!

Gemma swears her and Dax are just friends (because of course, sure they are), and parallel universe Dax is certain that Gemma’s former bff was definitely in love with her (because he for sure was). Gemma uses her alternative life to understand both her impact on the people around her, but also their impacts on her and on the world she’s come to love. But what is better- a world where she gets her dreams or a world where everyone she loves keeps theirs?

This book was so delightfully adorable and an alternate/parallel trope will get me every single time!!! I don’t always love friends to lovers but is it really that trope if one doesn’t remember being friends?? Maybe it’s just a slip of a tongue, but I love Gemma McGuire…I mean Wilde :)


Thanks to NetGalley RandomHouse Publishing and Kate Robb for the chance to read an ARC of this book before it comes out on December 5 in exchange for an honest review!

This book was so darn cute🥰🥰 Friends to lovers, he falls first, a little 90s era reminiscent magic, and a sweet HEA… how can you go wrong?! I also liked the writing style and felt like it was a quick easy read that kept me hooked from start to finish! And honestly this would make the cutest romcom… I would watch it the second it came out!

I would have liked a little more to the ending, it felt a little abrupt, so its not quite a 5 star read for me, but pretty darn close!

What a fun read! I've really gotten into magical realism lately and this book was delightful. I loved Gemma and Dax and the romance aspect of the book, and I also loved Gemma's relationship with her sister and her aunt. I loved the book's exploration of the concept of "what if?" and how the people we meet and choices we make an drastically alter our lives. Definitely recommend!

This Spells Love by Kate Robb is about twenty-eight-year-old Gemma who is deeply mourning the end of her four-year relationship with predictable, safe Stuart. In the company of her sister Kiersten, Aunt Livi, and best friend Dax, drunk Gemma decides to try a love cleansing spell to erase Stuart from her memory. Well, low and behold the spell works. Now she's in an alternate realty where she's never met Stuart. Yay! Unfortunately, she finds out while erasing Stuart from her life she's also erased her best friend Dax, whom she met the same night she met Stuart. To reverse the spell and get back to her own reality she needs to get her best friend back in her life and convince him to kiss her again, but she finds this alternate reality isn't so bad for her. Her life is pretty great. Does she even want to go back to her own reality?

This was an entertaining debut book by Kate Robb. Kiersten is the best sister anybody could hope for. Aunt Livi is the cool, eccentric, and clairvoyant aunt. I really enjoyed the scenes where they were present. Dax is a delicious cinnamon roll. I loved his "slip of the tongue" moments. The majority of the story took place in the alternate reality. Kiersten and Aunt Livi are the same in both realities, but we get alternate reality Dax for 95% of the book which made me feel like I didn’t get to truly know him. Due to that I felt a disconnect in how quickly he becomes close with Gemma seeing as how he doesn’t know her at all. I kind of didn’t want any spiciness to take place in this alternate reality because I wanted the real Dax to experience these things first instead of his other self. I mean this dude’s been quietly in love with Gemma for four years while being the most amazing best friend. He deserves all the firsts!

I enjoyed reading about Gemma and Dax’s friendship through Gemma’s recollection. It's a treasure to feel a connection with someone where you can communicate without words; having a ride or die. I would’ve loved to have some detailed flashbacks scenes where we could see how Gemma and Dax grew so close, and/or moments in their friendship where Dax’s true feelings were on display, but Gemma was oblivious.

Gemma is smart, kind, and a great person, but she is also a little self-absorbed. Although it’s wonderful she has people she can lean on, she leans on them a lot. For literally everything. And she expects Dax and Kiersten, especially Kiersten, to drop whatever they are doing and be there for her instantly. She is dependent upon others when it comes to making decisions, and she doesn’t pick up on social cues well. She was a little frustrating to me, but she does experience growth so that was satisfying.

In my opinion, this book is truly about how it's not too late to change our lives if it's not going as we hoped. It's about finding the positive in our regrets. It's about taking risks because even though all we can focus on are the ninety-nine ways something can go wrong, what if it actually turns out to as amazing as our one little optimistic hope dreamed it would be? I wish I could go back to moments in my life and see what would've happened if I said "yes" instead of "no" or turned left instead of right. Sadly, I can't, but it's fun to wonder about and it was fun to read about in This Spells Love.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House for this ARC!

Very cute novel! Really wonderful read and love the cover. Would definitely recommend this sweet friends to lovers rom com

What a delightfully Canadian romance!! I loved everything about this book, from the curling to the alternate timeline, to the exploration of self and what it means to take control of your own life. I loved the banter between Gemma and Dax, I loved exploring their relationship as both friends and as a couple. I was smiling and laughing the entire way through!

Gemma gets a second chance at....everything when she, along with her sister Kiersten and her Aunt Livi place a spell on her. She's had a tough time so it's meant to help her but it turns out, everything, everything has changed, including her relationship with her BFF Dax, who doesn't know her. Fans of this familiar plot know that she's going to rebuild her career and slowly her friendship with Dax will turn to love (and a bit of spice). And she'll get out of the basement. It's a cheery book with good characters. Thanks to nergalley for the ARC. An easy read.

When Gemma is dumped by her long term boyfriend, she gets drunk on margaritas with her male best friend, her older sister, and her kooky aunt and proceeds to perform a love cleansing spell - complete with a platonic kiss from said best friend. When she wakes up, she’s stunned to discover that when she erased her ex with the spell, it totally changed the way the rest of her life looks. The worst part - her best friend also has no idea who she is. To reverse it, she’ll have to befriend him so she can get another kiss. But soon she finds herself falling for him, confronting feelings that have been lingering below the surface for years. Now she must decide if she even wants to go back to her reality, but her life isn’t the only one that looks different here, and not necessarily for the best.

I thought this was one of the better friends to lovers stories I’ve read, especially with the unique twist of alternative realities. It was thought provoking and the supporting characters in the quirky aunt and fun loving sister were my favorite! Definitely recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the opportunity to read an early copy!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me access to the E-Arc.

4.75*

I love the whole concept of this novel. The romance was raw, swoon-worthy, and frustrating. I really enjoyed the side characters as well. It’s all about choices not taken. What would you do if you were given a chance to change things? I liked how we watched the main character grow through the novel. I’m so glad that I was given an opportunity to read this arc. It was such a refreshing romance.

I highly recommend this novel.

This Spells Love was such a fun and cute read! As someone who has read many Groundhogs Day/alternative reality books, I've found that authors can easily mess up the story. I was pleasantly surprised by how well this book was crafted! I thought the main and secondary characters were relatable and well-developed. I adored Gemma and Dax's relationship. I liked how vulnerable and sweet Dax's character was. I also liked that this story was more than just a romance. It was nice to see Gemma's confidence grow throughout her experience. I'm excited to see what Kate Robb comes up with next. Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the ARC.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️️⭐️️
🌶️🌶️

𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗲𝗻𝗷𝗼𝘆:
- Parallel Universe
- Best Friends to Lovers
- Sisterhood
- Magic Spells

This book was absolutely perfect to me! This Spells Love is a classic rom-com that is packed with banter, warm/fuzzy moments and will pull at your heart strings.

Gemma and Dax are the best of friends and I am LIVING for their friendship. They are one of my favorite couples that I have read recently. They had me giddy and smiling the entire book. Gemma steals the show with how she develops and grows while in this alternate/parallel universe. You really feel the big emotions that she feels whether it’s good or bad.

Don’t go into this one thinking it is going to be a very witchy read. There is a spell involved but that is the extent of the witchiness.

The heart of this book certainly reminds you that sometimes playing it safe won’t fulfill all your dreams. The risks are worth taking. Which is something that I deeply and frequently need to be reminded of.

This Spells Love is now a go-to rec for me and I hope you all enjoy it as much as I did!

A spell to erase meeting ex-boyfriend leads to Gemma Wilde having a life far better than the one she was living. The problem? The consequences of her actions mean that other people in her life are different, including her best friend Dax who now doesn't know her because she met him the same night as her ex. Will Gemma learn the lessons she needs to learn, and will she want to go back to her old timeline?

Kate Robb crafts a compelling 'what if?' butterfly effect time travelling tale with some fabulous banter, blistering chemistry and scene stealing supporting characters, Aunt Lily and sister Kiersten that made this book an easy, enjoyable read. Refreshingly this book is set in Canada, which made me want to add Hamilton to my visit list.

I've been reading a spate of time-travel, magic realism romances lately and I can't get enough of them as they have all approached the idea differently. This Spells Love is another thoroughly enjoyable one to add to your TBR pile.

Thanks to Random House and NetGalley for the ARC.

This was a fun twist on best friends to lovers where Gemma gets to live an alternate reality of her life and see how things could be different. It’s fun to get to see them fall in love when he doesn’t have all the best friend memories she does so we get to see his real feelings for her. I mean it’s obvious the whole time that Dax is in love with her in the original world and when she returns all she has to do is talk to him. There were definite moments I wanted to shake Gemma for how she was acting or for not realizing things but sometimes it’s hard to see the forest for the trees or whatever. It was a cute story and definitely an improvement on the friends to lovers trope since that isn’t a favorite of mine. This definitely allowed for more spice to be in the book. I just got frustrated by Gemma and how thick she was sometimes. I love her Aunt Livi and sister though. Her Aunt’s clairvoyance was very fun.

This story reminded me of a Canadian 13 Going on 30 in all of the best ways. I adored Gemma and Dax, until about 2/3 through, at which time Gemma’s forgetfulness and selfishness honestly became a bit tiresome. But overall, this was SO cute and I can definitely see this appealing to a lot of romance readers. I mean, some of those spicy scenes had me clutching my pearls.

This is a fun romcom and a quick read. Gemma was a little hard for me to like as she tended to come across as selfish, but she grew on me as the book advanced. Dax is the ultimate hot best friend. Aunt Livi is fantastic and Kiersten is a good sister/confidante. The idea of messing with the time continuum has been explored but this seemed like a fresh take.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for advanced copy in exchange for my honest review

This Spells Love by Kate Robb
Narrator: Khaya Fraites
Rating: 4.5 stars
Steam: 2 chilis
Pub date: 12/5

Am I here to review another time travel/alternate dimension romance? Why yes, I am! It’s starting to look like these books are my kryptonite because, once again, I loved this one!

Gemma is heartbroken after getting dumped by her long-term boyfriend, Stuart. After weeks of moping, she goes out with her sister, aunt, and best friend, Dax, to get drunk and trash-talk her ex. Her eccentric aunt suggests they try a love-cleansing spell, and Gemma wishes she never met Stuart. When she wakes up the next day, she realizes that the spell worked! And while she’s living in an alternate reality where she never dated Stuart, that’s not the only thing that’s different, and not in a good way.

This book was so cute! I instantly loved these characters and could feel the tension building between Gemma and Dax from the start. The chemistry is palpable, and watching them go from strangers to friends to lovers was truly a delight. The steam was extra steamy and just the right amount to move the story along. Gemma is highly relatable, and her personal growth was a joy to witness. Friends to lovers, where the guy falls first, are two of my favorite tropes, and Dax plays the part perfectly.

The pacing is perfect, with the story moving steadily while allowing for some slower moments of introspection. Gemma’s career and family members' struggles are different in this reality, and Gemma needs time to decide which timeline she wants to stay in.

Overall, this was a delightful read that combines humor and heart with a dash of magic. I listened to this on audio while reading along, and the narrator did an amazing job bringing all the characters to life.

This feel-good read is full of witty banter and loveable characters, and I’m so excited for everyone to get their copies on 12/5.

Read if you like:
*magical realism
*strangers to friends to lovers
*single POV
*open door spice
*tight-knit family

This book is pure magic, no pun intended. I was enchanted from the start. First, Kate Robb is a great writer. Second, the story is fun and engaging—making even the cliched plot points feel fresh. This bewitching tale centers around Gemma, who gets dumped by her long-term boyfriend and—after a night of drinking and weeks of moping—decides to perform a love- cleansing spell, which promises to erase her ex from her memory. When Gemma wakes up, she realizes that the spell has worked, but her life is largely unrecognizable. As she endeavors to win back her best friend, she realizes her feelings for him go beyond just that. And this journey will grip you til the end.

A perfect mix of witchy and swoon-worthy. I was rooting for Gemma and Dax from the very first page to the last.

Favorite quote:
“I realize two things. This very moment, here, might be the happiest of my entire life. And in my other one, it never would have happened.”


📚Thank you NetGalley and Kate Robb for the ARC of This Spells Love.

Cute idea but a little too unbelievable and saccharin for my taste. The main character was just too overwrought and clueless to me.

Such a sweet and fluffy low-stakes romcom!

If you’re looking for a cute and cozy story that gives major 90s romcom vibes with a touch of magic then look no further. This Spells Love is a friends-to-lovers story where Gemma, the FMC, in an attempt to get over her ex, performs a spell and accidentally jumps into an alternate reality where she never meets him in the first place. Which, of course, has unintended consequences.

My favorite part of this book was definitely her older sister, Kiersten. Almost everything I highlighted are quotes of their conversations. They’re absolutely hilarious and as an older sister their relationship was so relatable!

There was some parts in the middle that dragged a bit for me but overall a very fun and easy read.