This book was so cute! I gave it four stars because it was a tad bit slow for me. Dax and Gemma are so special and written in the stars. Obviously, we all know what the outcome of this one is. It’s a romcom so naturally has a HEA, but the predictability and comfort of this book was EVERYTHING. I still find myself SO intrigued by Auntie and the friends though 👀 definitely recommend for a nice, warm-feeling, comfort magic book ✨

I choose this book entirely based on the cover and went in blind and was absolutely delighted.
This book is funny, emotional, thoughtful and adorably heartbreaking.
Haven't we all wished for our heartbreak to go away or to have never felt it. I knew how I wanted this book to go and each step of the way I was surprised and felt myself nodding okay okay I'm here for this. Our choices always have a ripple.

This was adorable! I'm usually not a huge fan of the friends-to-lovers trope, but the memory loss/parallel universe aspect made it interesting. I really liked Gemma. She was funny and I thought her need for certainty was super relatable. I liked Dax too, although I think his character could have been fleshed out a bit more beyond "nice guy", particularly during the scenes from the original universe. That being said, he was still likable and his character didn't take away from the story at all.

Kiersten also deserves a shout out for being a GOAT big sis. Her relationship with Gemma was sweet, and I liked how the dynamic between the two sisters evolved.

It should be noted that this is not a witchy book. It's my fault for assuming, but judging by the title, cover, and blurb, I thought this would be a fun witchy read for October. This had more of a 13 Going on 30 vibe where something magical randomly happens, but otherwise it's a contemporary romance.

Overall, this was a super cute read! It reminds you that you have more agency in your life than you think. Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and publisher for providing me this ARC!

Fun cute fall read. Honestly could be read anytime of the year: I really loved it! This was so different and refreshing from the books I have been reading!!

Thank you NetGalley for the arc!

This story follows Gemma as she tries to fix a spell gone wrong after she tried to get over a toxic ex but in doing so made it so her best friend didn’t know who she was. This was such a cute debut novel! A perfect cozy fall read to get you in the Halloween mood with its magical realism elements. The combination of friends-to-lovers, alternate reality, and sort of insta-love really worked to crest a fun romcom. The banter between Gemma and Dax was super cute and the dynamic between sisters and aunt was a nice addition. Overall a really fun, easy read!

One of my favorite reads this year! Such an amazing, debut. Usually, time travel bothers me, but this was done right. You don't feel like there's a what-if or how did that truly affect the past or present. It makes sense and shows that the grass isn't always greener on the other side.
Also, best friends to lovers is always a swoon-worthy read.
The characters are well-developed and lovable, and the story has so much humor!
I highly recommend This Spells Love to anyone who is looking for a feel-good, magical escape.

Thank you to Netgalley and Dial Press for my eArc in exchange for an honest review.

I simply devoured this book! ❤️ such a fun premise and amazingly lovable characters. It took me through the gamut of emotions which made me read this as fast as possible. I’m already looking forward to revisiting this one time and time again.

THIS SPELLS LOVE by Kate Robb is a charming rom-com about a woman who casts a spell to go back to the night she met her ex -- and separately, her best friend -- so she can choose the friend instead. It's an enchanting mix of "Practical Magic," with a mystical aunt who facilitates this spell, and "Sliding Doors." The premise intrigued me, and the first chapter bewitched me enough that I could hardly put it down and read it in one weekend.

I think we all wish sometimes that we could go back and make different choices, and wonder what cascading butterfly effect that might have made on our lives. The story gives us the realistic answer that some things might be better, and some things worse. The fantasy of changing that one thing may be unreachable for us IRL, but the lessons we learn from such an imagination exercise can change our future for the better.

Playing it safe and making all the "right" choices you "should" choose may lead to a stable but unsatisfying life. What would happen if you took a risk and pursued your dreams instead?

This novel explores the idea of changing one thing from your past with relatable leads, funny banter, steamy romance, and a lovable cast of supporting characters with rich lives of their own.

Thanks to NetGalley for the free ARC in exchange for my honest review. THIS SPELLS LOVE is out officially on December 5.

#bookrecommendations #bookreviews #romance #friendstolovers #conromcom #romcom #paralleluniverse #slidingdoors #practicalmagic #romancereviews #romancereccomendations

I tend to like books that are 99% completely realistic contemporary romances with a 1% totally outlandish fantasy element, and that's what we have here. This was kind of a Big/13 Going on 30 type of plot, but with somewhat of a twist - no time travel. After a few too many margaritas, Gemma's sister and aunt convince her to try a "love cleanse" spell from a random book that showed up in the aunt's bookstore. She wishes she had never met Stuart, her very recent ex-boyfriend, and seals the spell with a kiss with Dax, her best friend (who she met on the very same night that she met Stuart). The next day, Gemma wakes up hungover and in a totally different bed with a random stranger that she apparently hooked up with. After trying to go to her condo building, she realizes that she's woken up at the right time, but in a different timeline. She immediately goes to her touchstones - her aunt, her sister, Dax. The problem is that the Dax in this timeline never met her and her family members think she might be just a bit out of touch with reality. Gemma explores her alternate life, which is really different from the one she built in her original timeline - yes, she lives in a gross basement apartment instead of a beautiful condo, but she also fulfilled her dream of opening her own clean beauty store instead of being in a job she hates as a beauty buyer for a drugstore. To get back to her own timeline, she realizes that she'll need to kiss Dax again to reverse the cleanse - but that means convincing him to kiss her, a total stranger, in less than a month. I thought this was pretty inventive and wasn't quite like anything else I've read. Quirky, steamy, and very Canadian.

Loved this magically sweet novel. Thank you Kate Robb. This Spells Love was such a cute take on the make a *wish* and wake up in that reality - a la 13 Going on 30. Here, Gems preforms a fun witchy ritual over margarita to make it so she never met her ex. But the next morning, Gems wakes up in another reality where this wish came true! She never met her ex at a party 4 years ago....but she never met her best friend, Daxon, too then. What a fun plot!

Wait I loved this. It was lighter on the witchy vibes than I expected, and was more akin to 13 Going On 30, which was also lovely!

When Gemma gets dumped by her long term boyfriend, she has a little too much tequila and performs a spell wishing she had never met him 4 years ago. She wakes up the next morning to discover that the spell worked but because of it, her life looks vastly different. Most notably, she and her best friend Dax never met.

As Gemma starts to adjust to her new life and grows to really love it, she has to choose between her happiness and her dreams and those of the people she cares about.

This book was reminiscent of early 2000s romcoms and was a blast to read!

This Spells Love
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️From Random House Publishing: What if one little wish changed everything?

When Gemma gets dumped by her long-term boyfriend, she reacts the way any reasonable twenty-eight-year-old would: by getting drunk with her sister, kooky aunt, and best friend, Dax. After one too many margaritas, they decide to perform a love- cleansing spell, which promises to erase Gemma’s ex from her memory. They follow all the instructions, including a platonic kiss from Dax to seal the deal.

When Gemma wakes up, she realizes that this silly spell has worked. Not only does it seem that she never dated her ex, but the rest of her life is completely unrecognizable. The worst part: Dax has no idea who she is.

To reverse the spell and get back to her old life, Gemma must convince her once-best-friend-now-near-stranger to kiss her. But as she carries out her plans, she finds herself falling for him—hard. Soon, Gemma begins to wonder whether she even wants to go back to the way things once were. What if Dax was The One all along?
***************************
My review: “Time warp/glitch/loop/travel/alternate reality” and witchy spells are two of my favorite tropes! A very clever premise. Gemma is heartbroken and agrees to a love cleanse spell to remove her ex from her thoughts. Trouble is she removed more than that! I like that some of her life remained and she had her aunt and sister in her new reality. The three women figured out what to do to get things set back right…but Gemma had a month to kill until they could re-spell her life. Enough time to get her best friend who doesn’t know her to fall for her?

What if you chose B instead of A? How would that affect the trajectory of your life? Fascinating premise and it plays out well here. I smiled and laughed and got teary. Gemma was funny and fun and appropriately aghast at everything that happened to her. There was also a fab amount of spiciness and romping.

I also loved that Gemma loved her Peloton and missed it dearly in her new reality. Recent books I've read have mentioned Covid and the pandemic and that also played into this rom-com. Dax and Gemma had my attention and I felt her confusion and pull between her two timelines.

Great book, fun, sexy, and I rooted for Gemma the whole time. Amazing debut novel. I will read Robb's next one for sure.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for an advance digital copy in exchange for my review.

A mix of best friends to lovers and strangers to lovers - in two different storylines.

Gemma is a few margaritas deep - deep enough that performing a "spell" to wish she had never met her new ex boyfriend, to wish she hadn't wasted years of her life with him. But what she didn't realize was that wishing for that to come true would erase her friendship with her best friend, Dax.

Following Gemma connect the dots between the two different timelines/lives was a fun experience. It was a beautifully written story and I was so glad to be able to read it early!

This is really cute, and I love the premise. I wish the story had more urgency, however. The fallout from Gemma’s choices felt too casual - I needed higher stakes. Her sister and aunt accept her crazy story quickly and just go with it, and it felt like a wimpy response. I’ll definitely still check out more from the author in the future.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.

Let me just start this review with saying, add this one to your TBR right now!

If you like:
Friends to Lovers
Second Chance Romance
Time Travel
No Third Act Break-Up

Once I got going, I couldn't put it down. Do Gemma and Dax hook-up? Does Gemma seem somewhat crazy the entire time? What's going on with her sister? Which reality does Gemma choose? Can she even choose?! I just had to know more!

And I absolutely loved Robb's writing style. I honestly felt like I was inside Gemma's brain as she worked out what she was doing, how she felt, and the choices she was making. I felt like I got to know her, and I really liked her! Plus her sister and Aunt were a hoot! If you know me, you know I'm always down for a quirky family and meddlesome elders.

And Dax? Let's just say: sa-woon! He's a book boyfriend for the ages.

I can't wait to see what Robb comes up with next!

Thank you Dial/Random House for this arc! All my thoughts are my own.

I would say this is hovering around the 3.75-4 range for me so I ranked it 4/5 stars.

Fresh off a harsh breakup, Gemma uses desperate measures and performs a love cleanse spell to help her aching heart. However, things go awry and Gemma wakes up in a timeline where her best male friend Dax has no idea who she is. Gemma ends up falling in love with Dax in this new timeline and questions whether she should stay instead of fixing her mistake. However, the grass is not always greener on the other side and not everything is as rosy as Gemma would believe.

I liked this enough but it felt rather surface level and I didn't connect to it as much as I would have liked. I also think this book is suffering from a miscasting of its identity; I think a lot of people will go in thinking this is a witchy book based on the cover but I would class it as magical realism.

I think I struggled at times to truly root for Gemma and Dax in this new timeline; it was so clear to me that Dax in this timeline was hardcore struggling and it felt like it wasn't entirely fair to him that Gemma was pursuing him. She knew all these things about him, it was almost too easy for her to make him fall in love with her. I would have liked a bit more struggle with that, especially with how they met each other in the new timeline.

The lessons Gemma learned though were the best part and I did love the side characters such as Aunt Livi and her sister Kiersten. I think this is a light read: the stakes aren't too high and it's a quick read. Not a 5 star, but not awful either.

If you are looking for a lighter rom-com with a touch of magic realism, This Spells Love is a perfect read!

When Gemma tries a spell to forget her ex, she wakes up in another timeline, one where her best friend Dax does not know her despite sharing a drunken kiss the night before. How will she navigate this new life? Can her and Dax go back to just being friends or will she take a chance on being something more?

Best friends to lovers is one of my favorite tropes, and Kate Robb’s twist with the “what if” storyline worked so well. I love how Gemma had to go through the process of befriending Dax again to recognize her feelings and gain the courage to act on them. Their chemistry and banter will melt your heart!

Read if you like:
-Friends to lovers
-Lighter reads
-“What if” stories
-Sliding doors
-Magic realism
-Close sister relationships
-Curling

Thank you Random House for the ARC! Pub: 12/5/23

Such a cute fun read! This is a short romance book that’s very easy to read. The characters are likable and the story moves quickly! The characters had good progress and development. I almost wish it was a longer book! There was quite a bit more sex than I was expecting, but it was good spice!

This Spells Love by Kate Robb is an utterly enchanting and deeply romantic novel that captivated me right from its opening page.

Kate Robb's debut rom-com, "This Spells Love," is a whimsical escape into the world of enchantment and humor. Gemma Wilde, recovering from heartbreak, takes an unconventional journey into a spell book and alternate realities, setting the stage for a charming and engaging narrative. Robb's witty writing style effortlessly immerses readers in Gemma's adventure.

The story is more magical realism than witchy, adding depth to the plot and leaving you intrigued. As the tale unfolds, the return of magical elements towards the end is a delightful surprise. It is also very Canadian, sprinkling fun tidbits such as curling and references to Toronto.

However, Gemma's swift transition from friendship to romance mode with Dax felt rushed, although it's understandable given the story's timeline of one month. Despite this minor hiccup, "This Spells Love" offers a fresh twist on the friends-to-lovers trope and concludes neatly, leaving you with a satisfying feeling.

If you're in search of an enchanting and humorous read, consider adding this book to your list. It's a delightful rom-com that delivers both wit and whimsy, along with the best eight-legged roommate you’ll ever come across!