4.25 🌟

If you had the chance to wish away an ex boyfriend, would you?

This Spells Love was such a cute romcom. I am normally kind of iffy on books with dual timelines/chose your destiny sort of thing but this was done so well. I loved Dax and Gemma in this story... both as friends and maybe more. 🤐

Also, the title may make you believe this is best read during spooky season and you'd be wrong. This book can be enjoyed year round!

Thanks, Netgalley for the ARC of this book!

I absolutely loved this book! One of my favorites Ive read. The chemistry between Gemma and Dax in both timelines was amazing. I loved their dynamic and personalities. Also who knew curling could be sexy?? Dax makes it sexy. I enjoyed the build up to and within the spicy scenes. The author wrote those scenes really well. My only other feedback is some places read weird, I’d have to reread them to understand what was said. Otherwise, obsessed with this book and I’d recommend it to anyone. I’m definitely ordering a physical copy.

Brimming with quirky prose and a unique premise, This Spells Love is an exciting debut from Kate Robb! Her authorial voice is a delight and this book has the same energy as watching your favorite rom-com movie. Timeline plots are always a huge challenge to take on, but this one does so without making it too complicated or convoluted and allows the reader to enjoy the romance. Excited to see what she does next!

We've all been there, right? We date someone for what seems like forever, and we plan our lives around them, then BOOM. One day, they break up with you, and you're navigating life as a newly single person with no plan anymore. We wish we never met the person who had the audacity to break our heart.

After a night of wallowing and one too many margaritas with her aunt, sister, and best friend in the whole world, Dax, Gemma's wish comes true in the form of a love-cleansing spell from an old book donated to her aunt's bookshop.

When she wakes up the next day in a stranger's bed, can't get into her apartment, and her typical barista says some extremely odd things, she knows something is off. But it gets even worse. When she goes to get Dax's help to figure out why everything is so weird, she's shocked to discover he has no clue who she is and claims they've never met.

Consulting with her sister and aunt, they determine they have to redo the spell exactly how they did it the first time to undo this crazy alternate reality Gemma woke up in. But there's two issues with that plan: they have to wait for the next waning gibbous moon phase (1 MONTH AWAY!!!) OH, and she has to get Dax, her best friend who no longer knows who she is, to kiss her!!!! Easy peasy lemon squeezy, right? RIGHT?

Along her journey in the alternate reality, Gemma learns things about herself and her relationship with Dax that change everything. As her relationship with alternate reality Dax blooms into something she would have never imagined, she's uncertain she can take the leap back to the way things were in her original reality. She also learns that things that didn't happen in this new reality due to her wish have some pretty big consequences on the people she loves in the only reality they know.

This book was laugh-out-loud funny and heartwarming, with a wonderful lesson tied in: that everything happens in our lives for a reason. Incredible things can happen when we learn to trust ourselves and our choices. And that's exactly what Gemma learns throughout her journey.

If you love friends to lovers and enjoy a little magical twist, definitely add this book to your winter TBR!

This book was so fun, funny, and adorable! It made me laugh out loud too many times to count! The friends to lovers trope was perfectly done and the slow burn was just slow enough. The characters were so fun. It’s the perfect feel good rom-com you need in your life.

Thank you so much to Net-Galley for the ARC!

This book definitely benefits from the fact I was meeting up with my guy best friend I was dumbly in love with for most of my 20s, the same day I started reading it.
What a cute book though and I kind of love the "what if you just take that chance" message behind it. Not just with her friendship but with her career too. Only so long you can play it safe

4.5 stars

This Spells Love was an absolute delight. After a string of meh books in September and October, this book was the perfect way to kick off a new month.

I’m a sucker for the friends-to-lovers trope, and books like this cement my love for it. I adored the friendship between Gemma and Dax, and watching it blossom into more brought me so much joy. Dax was so swoonworthy (added bonus trope: he falls first), and I loved the way he cared about Gemma and would do anything for her. They had great chemistry, and I enjoyed their banter and inside jokes.

Gemma was realistically and relatably flawed, and it made me like her and appreciate her growth even more. Her aunt and sister were wonderful characters, and I loved how her relationship with her sister evolved and became such an important part of the story.

Another thing I loved about this book: the fact it’s set in Canada (Hamilton, Ontario to be exact)! I knew Kate Robb was Canadian, but I expected the book to be set in the States, like so many other books written by Canadians. I was absolutely thrilled that it was set just a few hours away from where I live.

If you’re looking for a charming, magical, whimsical read that will make you laugh out loud and also tug on your heartstrings, be sure to pick up a copy of This Spells Love when it comes out in December.

I received an ARC of this book through NetGalley, however all opinions are my own.
This Spells Love by Kate Robb was such a sweet love story for Gemma, as she grew on her own and in a relationship. This Spells Love includes a time jump of Gemma living another life that she wishes for, and thanks to her Grandmother's assistance with a spell, gets to try out another time realm of what her life could look like if there were some changes. She has similar and different relationships in each set of time, and has to understand how the changes she makes could affect those around her. This Spells Love was a sweet story that I would recommend to anyone who enjoys a romance book with some spice, somewhat of a friends to lovers story, a time jump, and a happy ever after.

I’ve been dying to get my hands on a copy of Kate Robb’s debut, THIS SPELLS LOVE! Let me tell you, it was everything and more! Thank you to netgalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

After getting dumped, Gemma does the only logical thing: get wasted with her sister, aunt, and best friend, Dax, and jokingly complete a spell to cleanse her past relationship. To her shock, she wakes to realize it worked. Her life looks completely different, including the fact that Dax has no idea who she is.

To get her life back, she’ll need to repeat the spell exactly, including that kiss she shared with her best friend who doesn’t even know her now. But starting fresh with Dax—and without the barrier of her ex to stop them—is complicated, and their relationship shifts. When her new life starts to settle into everything she’s ever wanted, Gemma will have to decide if going home as she planned if worth losing it all.

GOD, THIS BOOK! First, let me say how brilliant the tension is between Gemma and Dax 😚🤌 We get just enough of them before the spell to see just how much potential there is for their friendship, and then he suddenly doesn’t know her! It leads to plenty of antics while Gemma tries to win back his friendship without looking like a crazy stalker. It’s funny and heartbreaking at the same time, perfectly balanced in Kate’s witty and unique voice.

The side characters, especially Gemma’s sister, are so brilliantly done, too. Kate somehow balances an interesting and complex sister relationship without letting it dominate the story. And as a mom, I related so much to her side plot!

I loved every second in this story, and I can’t wait to read whatever she gives us next!

I LOVED this book.

Not only was it written amazingly and such a good story, but it also had some great life lessons as well. The things we go through in life are all part of how we got where we are today, change one single thing and we could be living a whole other life.

The story telling was phenomenal, the characters were fun and so easy to relate to. I also really enjoyed the secondary characters, they really added to the story and helped build the plot.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for sending me this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thank you to the publisher for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

After breaking up with her boyfriend of 4 years, Gemma is regretting ever meeting him. After a few margaritas (or a lot), her aunt suggests doing a love cleanse spell from a book that she had found. Along with her sister and her best friend Dax, who she happened to meet the same night as her ex-boyfriend, they complete the spell. But when Gemma wakes up, her entire world is different, and even though she never met her ex-boyfriend, she also finds she never met Dax either. Determined to have Dax in her life, she tried to woo her way into a friendship with him in this new life, but maybe it’s not just friendship that is between them.

This book was utterly adorable. I love the subtle magic in it, and the whole wake up in an alternate reality plot line. Dax is dreamy, and sweet, and hot. My favorite character has to be Aunt Livi who is so subtly witchy, she’s just the coolest all knowing aunt ever. I loved Gemma and Dax’s friendship and then alternative relationship. I also loved Gemma’s growth. It was just a really cute romcom filled with love, coffee, and donuts. 4/5 ⭐️

I believe this was a debut? It was a pretty solid story. I'm a sucker for witchy romance and it was open-door with a great balance between spice and plot.

<i>I received a copy of this story from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.</i>

2.5 stars

This was fine. I didn't love it but it didn't suck so much that I couldn't finish it (even if I did wonder at times why I was still reading it).

This whole story is told first person from Gemma's PoV. And while I read a lot of single PoV and/or first person stories, this one could've used a different narrator. Because Gemma is not great. She's annoying in a way you can't quite place your finger on. She feels immature. More than cautious and rationally-minded, she feels scared and flighty. And that would've been okay if that's why the author was going for but it seems more like an accident.

Yeah, she grows up and learns and takes ownership of her crap throughout the story but I just didn't care. She was too annoying to begin with and then I was never pulled in enough for her transformation to pay off.

Dax is okay, though I don't get what's so special about him. Aunt Liv and Kiersten are intriguing but needed more development. All the characters did, really. I wasn't able to connect with any of them.

The magical realism element was my biggest source of disappointment. It was just . . . fine. I agree with other reviewers that it seems doubtful that you could substitute ingredients for a spell and still have it work. It's all just lacking in magic. I recently read a magical realism/time warp story that was so much more engaging so maybe I'm making unfair comparisons.

This is a very low stakes, friends-to-lovers, finding yourself read. Unfortunately, I can't see myself recommending this much.

I had no intention of reading this book in one sitting, but it sucked me in so quickly! If you love rom-coms this is definitely for you!

It’s always a treat to find a really enjoyable debut novel by an author, because I know I can expect more great reads from them in the future, and “This Spells Love” by Kate Robb hit that mark for me! The story follows Gemma as she makes a wish that she’d never met her ex, and then gets a taste of what that life would have been like.

Alternate timeline stories always run a high risk of being too far fetched and leaving too many plot holes for my taste, but I thought Robb did a really nice job with this story. You obviously know going into it that it’s going to have a happy ending, but it could have taken many paths to get there, and I think the author settled on just the right one.

The main character felt a bit selfish and unlikeable at times, but the supporting characters were all really well written. I found myself rooting for the whole cast of characters to end up in their ideal timeline by the end of it, because they all had their own stories built out so well. Overall, this was a really interesting and engaging read. It kept me turning the pages right up until the very end to see how things would play out, and then left me satisfied that all worked out well in the end.

Oh, the classic best friends what if we date and things fall apart romance. Yet this book presents it beautifully. You have a parallel world that really shows the power of choices. One small change in the fabric of choice and everything else can play out completely differently. Yet the one thing that may never change is if there is really a true connection between two people. No matter the circumstances they will find a way back to each other. Now once they meet what happens is up to them, but true connections are fated. I really enjoyed Gemma’s characterization, and liked seeing her try to figure out how to best help those around her even if it might mean that she didn’t get what she wanted the most.
Thank you so much to Random House Publishing Group, Dial Press Trade Paperback, and Netgalley for allowing me to read an advance copy of this book.

Even after reading the description, this wasn’t quite what I expected. It was okay. But I didn’t love any of the characters and I found Gemma annoying. I thought the ending would be longer, but there was so much wasted time on the alternate reality, it felt like the author ran out of space to finish the book.

This (Book) Spells Love! I've really been on a magical realism romance kick lately, with all these amazing books coming out about wishes and time-travel. And I’m here for it! In this case, it's a classic wish to re-do the past - Gemma has just been broken up with by her long-term boyfriend, and in a fit of despair, she drunkenly agrees to her aunt’s suggestion to follow a love-cleansing spell - a spell that requires a kiss in order to live in a world where she never met her ex. When Gemma drunkenly asks her best friend Dax to kiss her after completing the rest of the steps to the spell, she thinks nothing of it… until she wakes up the next morning in an unfamiliar apartment and her best friend has no idea who she is. Turns out a lot of things can change over the course of four years with just one small tweak to the timeline. Now she’s trying to navigate her new life while trying to figure out where things went wrong. Determined to undo the spell, she needs to befriend Dax so that she can convince him to kiss her again at the next waning moon when she attempts to reverse the spell. But the longer she spends in this life, getting to know Dax in a different way, as well as beginning to see what went right for her, she also starts to see all the things that are worse. This leaves her caught into between - go back to do it all over again and fix what went wrong, or stay and try to fix things in this new life. Full of heart and some hijinks, This Spells Love was such a fun and fulfilling read about paths not taken and what-ifs. You’ll love this book if you’re a fan of Sliding Doors or storied of destiny and soulmates.

I received a free copy of this book thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group; all opinions expressed are exclusively my own.

Great read, well-written, takes you exactly where you want to go with a lot of heart and humor! Sure, it's a smutty romance, but the relationships between all the characters are what really make this book sparkle. If they continue to be this good, I'll be looking forward to more works from Kate Robb in the future!

Gemma has just been dumped by her long-time boyfriend and she’s drunkenly doing some sort of cleansing ritual with her aunt, sister, and best friend, Dax. She wakes up the next day in an alternate reality where she had never met her ex, but then she had also never met her best friend Dax. In trying to get back to her own reality, she needs to re-do the ritual at the appropriate moon-phase, but will also need Dax’s participation. Gemma sets off to befriend Dax in this universe, but realizes that they have romantic feelings for each other instead. It seems she never got the chance to think of Dax as anything but a friend, since she quickly fell into a serious relationship with the other guy. This book was funny and sweet and also steamy. It was an easy, relatively low-angst, friends-to-lovers read.