Spoiler Warning for the beginning of the book.
I dnf’d this book at 15%. I just did not vibe with the main character and I found it annoying to be in her head. We start off finding out that its been three weeks since her break up and she’s out getting doughnuts with her sister. We kinda get an idea about her ex and why they broke up, and then we see the main female Gemma deciding to have margaritas with her sister and aunt. From there we see Gemma getting drunk discussing her breakup, her best friend Dax shows up, and then her aunt randomly suggest doing a spell to make Gemma forget about meeting her ex. The whole scene surrounding the spell was really cheesy, and I personal feel like not much research was done in how spells are constructed and performed with this scene. The group doesn’t have quite bit of the ingredients and they swap things in. There’s also a moment where the aunt sends Dax to look for chicken feet which felt weird and didn’t make since as to why that was needed for the spell. Then Gemma backs out of the spell and Dax takes her home and puts her to bed, but Gemma doesn’t want him to leave. Dax decides to go before anything happens and makes it down to the door, where Gemma stops him and asks him to kiss her. Dax agrees and gives her kiss and then leaves. Gemma then goes to bed and wakes up in a strangers place while remembering the night before. She then gets up, gets dressed, and rushes out the door after a chat with the man living in the place. Now here is were my issue with the main character comes in. Her first thought is to contact her ex, then remembers they’re broken up and she can’t do that, then decides to head to her apartment to figure it out. At no point does she stop and check her purse to make sure nothing was stolen or lost. This bothered me a lot because if only Gemma had looked in her purse and wallet she would have seen that something had changed. She gets to her apartment and low and behold the guard up front says she doesn’t live there after she sees she has a different set of keys. She argues with him thrusting her license at him. At which point hey says hey doesn’t want to call cops that early in the morning and its at this point she looks and her license and sees her address isn’t the apartment, but is a street address. Then she decides to head over Dax’s place which makes no sense to me. She has a different set of keys, a sweater she swears went missing three months prior to the night before, and she’s living at a different address. Why is she going to Dax, who most likely isn’t going to know her, instead of calling her sister or aunt? Or better yet why isn’t she trying to figure out what day it is? It’s these dumb decisions that really took me out of the story and made me decide to DNF.

After getting dumped, Gemma drunkenly performs a spell that puts her in an alternate timeline where she never met her ex. There she learns how her life was positively affected by never dating her ex, but she also learns the negative affects of the alternate timeline. The biggest negative: her best friend, Dax, not knowing her.

I loved this book! The "what if" scenario took some time for me to buy into, but it ended up working and I was surprised by the book's humor and heart. It handled the alternate timeline well and I loved Gemma and her relationships with her sister, aunt, and Dax.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Gemma is heartbroken that her boyfriend broke up with her, and decides to wash away her woes with alcohol and a love cleansing spell. She wakes up the following morning realizing the spell actually worked, and in her new reality she never has dated her ex and her life is completely different than her previous one. Especially concerning is that her best friend, Dax, has no idea who she is. She has an opportunity to reverse the spell, which involves getting a kiss from Dax – but then she wonders if she wants to return to her previous life, because perhaps Dax is a better romantic fit? This was a fun friends-to-lovers storyline with fun and relatable characters. I enjoyed the spin of the book involving magic and other realities – and this is a great book if you like the steamy side of romance!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group – I received this arc free in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This book was just okay for me - I was expecting something a little more "witchy", but it was still an okay read. I kinda just finish it to finish it.

It was nice to see a book set in Canada and specifically Ontario, as not a lot of books are set out here!

This book would make a good breach read or just something to read during travel. But it wasn't enough that I'll want to read it again or own it in print format.

This Spells Love
After a long relationship that ended leaving Gemma feel like she wasted 4 years of her life on a “safety romance” with some
Encouragement from her Aunt, sister and best friend Dax she decides to perform a spell to erase her ex from her timeline. Waking up the next morning in a different bed, living in a different apartment and without her best friend knowing she exists leads Emma down an adventure to discover that her friendship with Dax may be more than a friendship and that her dreams don’t need to wait.

This book was the perfect cozy book. The characters are instantly lovable and you are invested in the story right from the first chapter. I suggest this book for anyone who is a fan of Erin Sterling and Ann Aguirre. Thank you NetGalley for the Advanced copy in advance for an honest review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I was lucky enough to snag an advanced copy of Kate Robb's debut, This Spells Love. I couldn't put down this warm and snarky Sliding Doors romcom with just the right amount of Practical Magic vibes and curling. Yes, curling! This Canadian pastime has never looked sexier!!! Dax and Gemma (and Kate Robb) stole my heart with this one. Out Dec. 5.

Thank you @netgalley and @thedialpress for the ebook in exchange for an honest review.

This book was good, and if you like movies/books similar to 13 going on 30 I think you'll really like this.
Gemma is a 27 year old women and has just gone through a surprise break up with her long term boyfriend. So, she does a drunk magical cleanse with her sister, best friend Dax and kooky aunt, as one does. But, she gets more than she bargained for when she wakes up as herself in a parallel universe. She may be rid of her ex but, her best friend doesn't know her, her fancy apartment is gone, and she has a completely different job. How is she going to survive or escape, and what happens if she ends up not wanting to leave?

I enjoyed the writing style and the characters, it's a fun contemporary romance, and it takes place in Hamilton, Ontario is Canada which was fun because I am Canadian. However, there were almost too many Canadian references (of course curling was the hobby 😅)and I'm curious for those who aren't Canadian might not understand them all. My other criticism was the end. I was absolutely invested by the end but, it ended far too abruptly for my liking. Like a door slam in the face, oh, it's over? I want a bit more wrap up.

Overall though I enjoyed it and would recommend. Cheers to a Canadian author writing a novel set in Canada

This was adorable and perfect in every way!

I loved the characters. I loved normal life them and their parallel life versions. The parallel life thing was super cool and interesting to me.

I loved Gemma’s sister and Aunt Liv. Aunt Liv was a hoot!

If you love cutesy romances with a little spice and time warp/parallel existence, read this one!

It’s the type of book that will warm your heart and make you smile.

I simply adored THIS SPELLS LOVE! I picked it up late one night thinking I'd read a couple chapters as a palate cleanser after a darker book, and found myself up until 3 in the morning because I couldn't put it down. The plot was propulsive, the pacing was tight, the characters were lovable and humorous, and the story had so much heart.

Gemma was deeply relatable to me - ruled by fear, desperate for stability, entirely averse to risk. I wish we all had the opportunity to take a look at an alternate timeline if we’d chosen to do X instead of Y, and the fact that Gemma got to live that life, learn valuable lessons from Alternate-Universe Gemma, and still realize that perhaps it wasn’t the best life for her after all was gratifying in a way I didn’t expect going into this book.

While Gemma’s main priority was getting Alternate-Universe Dax to give her a kiss so she could reverse the spell, along the way she learned valuable lessons about herself, her priorities, and the ways she was letting herself - and her loved ones - down in her primary timeline.

The supporting characters and female and sibling friendships added value to the story, both Gemma and Dax had emotional complexity and motivations, desires, and passions outside of the romantic arc (something that I always look for in a romance).

The only thing that dropped this from a five star for me was that once we got to the resolution it resolved very quickly. I think I anticipated slightly more struggle/complexity toward the end, but overall it was still a fulfilling and heart-fluttering conclusion. I will be highly recommending this book when it comes out!

What I liked about this book:
- a look at what life would be like if you had changed one small decision
- the sister bond/friendship + the quirky loveable aunt
- the best friend/could he be more/friends to lovers but make it parallel universe
- it will make you want a donut soooo badly & it will make you want some good clean beauty products

What I didn't love:
- a bit toooooo much steam for me (pretty easily skippable & you don't miss too much plot or conversation by skipping it)


This book was cute! I enjoyed reading it & while I probably won't be thinking about it for days, it was a fun read that I'd recommend to people (minus the steam for me) - solid 3.5 stars (rounded up to 4)

This book felt so cozy to me, so comfortable and easy to get into! I’m not usually into the spell / witch romance books but I fell in love with this one! I was able to easily relate to Gemma throughout the book and felt genuinely conflicted when she was trying to make her decision to return to her timeline. I loved the wittiness between the characters as well as the chemistry portrayed between Dax and Gemma. It made me really root for them and keep wanting to read more to find out what happens. And the perfect combo of humor & spicy🌶️

I really enjoyed this one. Robb did a great job with the alternate universe/ timeline. I really enjoyed watching the FMC see what her life could be like if she dropped her safety net. Her family dynamic was so fun to read. Their tight knit trio made me want an invite to Aunt Livi's place. The romantic relationship was kept interesting as we watch Gemma struggle through the "what if's" of her bestie being more than friend zoned. It's a fun, cute, sweet read with a satisfying "Happy Ever After" ending.

~3.5/5. Overall enjoyable, but didn't have me glued to the book.

This Spells Love follows Gemma, a 28 year old who has just been broken up with by her boyfriend of 4 years. She (understandably) drowns her sorrows, with her sister, aunt and best friend Dax in tow. They come across a love cleansing spell and decide to give it a go. Much to Gemma's surprise, she wakes up in the reality she would have lived if she had never met her ex-boyfriend. This alternate timeline is very different from her own, with it's own positives and negatives. As she tries to reverse the spell, she discovers feelings for her best friend she didn't know she had, complicating her desire to revert things back to the way they were.

At first I found myself relating to Gemma, but that very quickly went away. For the most part she was self-absorbed and seemingly didn't care about anyone else's struggles but her own, which resulted her missing totally obvious struggles her loved ones were going through. I did like Dax's character, even though I don't think Gemma really deserved him (until the very end, anyway).

Overall it was an enjoyable, quick read. Not a book I would pick up again, but glad I read it regardless.

Oh my goodness, i fell in love with Dax and Gemma. It was so interesting to see how much things had changed after that one night. It hurt seeing Dax’s situation unfold and it hurt more when Gemma put the blame on herself. That lady from the book club would have also weirded me out. I really enjoyed Gemma and Kierstens relationship. I was a bit confused at the end when she goes back but I really enjoyed to ending nonetheless.

Now this is my type of book. Loved it from start to finish. If you had the chance to change your path would you? Loved the characters.

This story was the perfect feel good romance!

After four years of being in a safe, stable, predictable relationship, Gemma finds herself broken hearted and wanting to move on from her ex. When a "just for fun" spell works - a little too well - she has to decide which version of happily ever after she wants to explore.

Gemma and Dax are absolutely made for each other and seeing the growth that she has as she explored each option for herself and those around her is great!

Quick read
Happily ever after
Lots of coffee and tequila
And a little bit of magic too

-friends to lovers
-magical romance (contemporary setting with magic elements)

“We are the same here. The universe could make us live a thousand different lifetimes, and we’ll always find a way to be there for each other.”

A spell for you to forget your ex, but what else might you lose?
After being unexpectedly dumped by her ex, Gemma has a night of drinking with her sister, aunt, and best friend Dax to cheer her up. To get rid of any remaining feelings for her ex, Gemma casts a love cleansing spell. When she wakes up the next day, she finds herself in an alternate timeline. In this timeline, she never dated her ex, and her best friend Dax doesn’t know who she is. The past four years of her life have changed completely. She sees her life from a new perspective and must decide which world she wants to stay in. She has until the next full moon to reverse the spell and get back to her time.

I loved the whole premise of this book; it was so endearing and funny. Definitely a cozy read. Everything about it was amazing—the magic, the romance, the characters. I devoured this book so quickly; I didn’t want to put it down!

Gemma is a very relatable character. I loved watching her come out of her shell and become more confident in herself; she has excellent character growth. The side characters were also written very well; I found myself rooting for them as much as I was rooting for Gemma.

Friends to lovers isn’t one of my top tropes, but I was hooked from the beginning. Gemma and Dax had so much chemistry; their friendship and relationship felt so real and natural. They gave off soulmate vibes; they were definitely meant to be.

This book was more than just romance (though the romance was everything). It is also about how her choices affect those closest to her. And in the end, she must choose what she wants or what’s best for those people around her.

This book comes out in December 2023, and I HIGHLY recommend you read it! I'm definitely going to buy a physical copy when it comes out to add to my witchy collection.

I was expecting more of some old-fashioned Practical Magic level actual witches doing magic and not an accidental spell type mishap, but this still was a very fun read.

Gemma is reeling from the end of a long-term relationship with Stuffy Stuart and wants to wipe the pain and heartache out of her brain. So of course, with the help of a kooky aunt and supportive sister, she completes a spell to go back and undo dating Stuart. Gemma wakes up in an alternate timeline with a huge consequence - her bff Daxon (who she also met the same night as Stuart) doesn’t remember her. She is stuck in this timeline for a month before she can attempt the spell to go back home, so she might as well do her best to get Daxon back in her life…and maybe into her bed.

CW/TW: abandonment, fire

A fun, romantic journey that answers the question we all ask ourselves, all the time…”what if?”

A unique take on the friends-to-lovers trope. Kate Robb has done a wonderful job putting the heart and emotion into the “friends” arm of friends-to-lovers which makes the “lovers” impact all the more powerful.

💕 Friends to Lovers (one of my faves)
🌶️ Not a ton of spice, but a hint!
🔥 SLOW burn

I went into this book blind and I am so glad I did!
Gemma & Dax are absolutely adorable.

This book was really cute and much better than I anticipated. The writing/story flowed well and I enjoyed reading it!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC for my honest review.