Gemma drunkenly performs a spell after a recent breakup to fulfill her wish of never having met her ex, only to wake up the next morning in an alternate reality where she’s lost her best friend. ✨

This started cute enough for me, but it quickly felt like I was the victim of false advertising. The description makes it seem like a silly rom-com, but the book definitely had more of an angsty new adult feel, which isn’t my fave. 😕 The fatal flaw for me was that you like Gemma and Dax well enough when the book starts, but as soon the alternate reality comes into play, Dax is bland and one dimensional and Gemma is immature and selfish. This one wasn’t for me, but if you like angst and new adult reads it may be for you, because the book wasn’t bad, I just wasn’t the right reader for it.

My thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for a complimentary advance copy of this eBook, out 12/5/2023.

What fun this was! This Spells Love by Kate Robb was a majorly enjoyable read. Themes of love, family, friendship, and dream chasing fill this story with a certain "just can't put it down" quality. Very cute. Canadian readers will appreciate the Easter egg setting of Hamilton, Ontario! 4 Stars.

This was super cute! I loved the character of Gemma and thought the secondary characters were also really well developed. I did hope there was going to be a bit more of a twist or unique plot point when it came to the time travel/multiverse aspect. This is a pretty well-worn trope in media and I was hoping for something different but ultimately found this one pretty standard. Also thought this story was heavily hinting the great aunt was magical but never was confirmed. Perhaps it was just supposed to be obvious without confirmation or maybe that was just me! I would have liked a bit more personality for the MMC as he was sort of a stereotypical “good guy” which is fine but not as layered.

Thanks to Dial Press and netgalley for an early copy!

This started out very good but unfortunately, I began to lose interest halfway through. I honestly can't pinpoint why because the story was very good, I think I maybe just wasn't in the mood for this kind of story at the time and that's on me. By the end, I was rushing through just finish it (it had a great ending though!)

The writing was great, I loved all of the characters, and the plot was so fun! Friends to lovers usually isn't my favorite trope (I'm an enemies to lovers girlie) but this was done very well.

I'd say this is the perfect book for the fall season!

This was a sweet love story that included time travel, friendship, hope, and love. It was a fast read that left me feeling hopeful and positive. Thank you, NetGalley, for an advanced copy of this novel.

Really enjoyed this debut from Kate Robb! Gemma and Dax were such a fun read, and I love a good time flip / alternate reality story! The side characters were great too, especially the quirky aunt.

Big thanks to Dial for the arc!

I’m not usually one to read magical realism or alternate reality storylines, but I was in the mood for something witchy and decided to give This Spells Love a try. It wasn’t quite as witchy as I had hoped for, but I could have gotten past that if there weren’t so many plot holes involving magic and the alternate reality system.

I also think I would have loved this story more if the plot had involved more of the “after.” Most of the storyline stressed me out- so many things went wrong. It didn’t feel happy or funny. I felt conflicted with her falling in love with one version of her best friend, especially when the two versions were slightly different. And, as much as I love a spicy book, it seemed out of place in this story.

But I liked the lessons she learned in this story and I liked the way the story ended. I would have liked a little more of the end, though, to see her content with the way things worked out. And I would have liked a little more character development for Gemma, her family, and Dax.

Thank you, NetGalley for an early copy of This Spells Love by Kate Robb. All opinions are my own. This review is posted on my Goodreads now and will be posted on Amazon upon publication.

I received this ARC in exchange for my honest review.
This book was so good! I had heard from a few of my bookstagram friends that it was a great read and was pleasantly surprised when I received the ARC from NetGalley.
Gemma, in attempts to heal a broken heart, accidentally changes her whole life. As she works through the realization that she may not have everything she wants, she learns what truly makes her happy. I loved the relationships between Gemma and her family, and with Dax. I loved that Gemma could remember her old life, in her new life. This story was funny, heart wrenching at times, a little spicy and overall a quick, enjoyable read.
“This Spells Love” will be released on December 5, 2023.
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for this Advanced Reading Copy!

Gemma likes predictability. She’s not living her dream, but she has a job with a stable paycheck. She’s not madly in love, but she has a boyfriend who, to quote Taylor Swift:
“He respects my space
And never makes me wait
And he calls exactly when he says he will”

So when her long time boyfriend, Stuart, breaks up with her, she’s understandably thrown. She starts to wonder what her life would’ve been like had she never met him. In a twist of fate, her aunt finds a book with a spell that can make exactly that happen. But when you change one thing, you may end up changing everything.

I enjoyed this book - it was a cute idea, and I really enjoyed the side characters. However, I did find Gemma to be very self-absorbed at times. Her sister and Dax were clearly going through something, and it was crazy to me that Gemma didn’t notice.

Because you switch to the new timeline very early in the book, I felt like I didn’t get to know Dax very well. I understand from Gemma’s perspective she knew Dax very well from her original timeline, but it seemed strange how quickly he fell in love with her in the new timeline given he didn’t have that history. So I felt like I missed some key moments between them.

Oh my goodness, I absolutely fell in love with this book! The main character was fantastic and I loved that the author made her come alive on the pages! Excellent read and the storyline really made you want to keep on reading until the end. Loved it!

An unputdownablw work. It gave me all the “feelings”.
Many thanks to Random House and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

This is for all you friends-to-lovers fans who appreciate a touch of magical realism.

Dax, the MMC, is the long-suffering sweetheart who has longed for his best friend forever. Gemma… is painfully self-absorbed. In both her reality and the parallel universe she travels to, she only worries about herself. Her sister, her aunt, her best friend… Gemma uses them repeatedly and yet never cares what’s going on in their lives. She’s so dense and treats her loved ones poorly. She eventually comes to her senses, with some prodding from others, but she really needed more of “A Christmas Carol” situation in my opinion.

This Spells Love....

This is a cute rom com novel. It follows the life of Gemma.
Gemma is going through a rough break up and she just wants to move on. With the help of her friends and close relatives, Gemma grabs a spell book and casts a spell to erase her ex from her memory.
While in this new alternate world, she becomes best friends with Dax. She never has entertained the idea of having anything romantic happen with Dax. But that doesn't always go as planned...
This is a good friends to lover story, all the sweet characters are entertaining and interesting. Gemma has a close friendships with a great friend and aunt.
I read this story in one day. It was a charming read that you wanted to just keep reading.

An adorable alternate reality story with some witchy vibes. If you like friends to lovers, pick this one up!

It wasn’t my cup of tea mainly because I have realized only in the last week I’m not a huge fan of witch romances, but this was very cute and thank you to the publisher for sending me this one directly!

I love a good romance, and this one was wonderful! It had witty banter, and lovable characters. I was rooting for them the whole way through!

This Spells Love is a cute rom-com by Kate Robb.

Gemma is going through a bad breakup, and in an effort to avoid the emotional pain she gains the assistance of her sister, aunt, best friend, and a mysterious book of spells to try to erase her ex from her memory. There's only one problem, when she wakes up the next morning, she's in an alternate reality where she never met her boyfriend, but she also never met her best friend, and her life has followed an entirely different path as a result!

This Spells Love was a really fun read as Gemma attempts to get back to her own world by befriending the person who was her best friend in that other life. Along the way she examines her feelings, and compares her decisions and the results of them in each version of her life. It was interesting while reading about Gemma's experiences, to think about how seemingly small decisions may affect our lives in major ways and wonder how things would have turned out differently if we had made one different choice at any given point in time.

I found the plot refreshingly different and had a hard time putting the book down. All of the characters were interesting, I loved the relationship between Gemma, her sister, Keirsten, and her aunt, Lily. My favourite thing though was seeing Gemma finally realize her feelings for her best friend, Dax.

This was just a really enjoyable friends to lovers romance, and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good romance.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

If you could alter your life so that your professional and relationship dreams could come true, but those you care about most would have their lives altered as well, and not necessarily for the better, what choice would you make? That is the dilemma facing our protagonist, Gemma. She spent four years with Stuart, who was predictable, which she found comforting, as she liked safe and predictable. Their breakup came as a big shock. However, the day she met Stuart was also the day she met Daxon, who became her best friend. She never allowed herself to entertain the idea of a romantic relationship with Dax, afraid that if it did work out, she would lose her best friend as well. However, following the breakup, when a love cleanse spell proposed by Aunt Livi goes wrong, Gemma gets the chance to explore a different path, once she gets past all the unexpected changes (which results in some rather humorous moments). The story demonstrates the ripple effect of our choices. Choosing one path means foregoing other options, and the outcomes, positive and negative that would have occurred for you and others. One thing I particularly liked about the book is that in the end, when Gemma has to choose, she finds a way to incorporate lessons/choices made in each timeline in a manner that will hopefully benefit both her and those she loves.

this was a super fun rom com novel, i love magical realism and it was perfectly combined here, the chemistry between the mcs was unreal and the longing for each other made me suffer (from how much i just wanted them to be together) i would 100% recommend this to anyone looking for a book that you just can’t put down

Love love love! Super cute with an engaging story and beautiful character growth ❤️
Plus curling 😍
Highly recommend!
Thank you to Kate Robb & netgalley for the arc!

This was such a cute friends to lovers in a parallel timeline debut by Kate Robb.
I read it in a day and Dax is just too sweet and legit two curling, feet kicking at some of the things he does and says.
Gemma’s sister and aunt are adorable and are too good for her.
Gemma at times drive me nuts with how self centered she is and luckily she understands that later but definitely not my favorite female lead by far.
Thank you so much to Net Galley, Kate Robb and Dial Press Trade Paperback for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.