Member Reviews
As far as magical realism and magic go...this was cute. I just have a hard time with anything fantasy related. This is more of a me issue than the book.
This book was so fun! I don’t love many time travel or magical realism storylines so I was a little skeptical… but I shouldn’t have been because I DO love a good sliding doors moment. The main characters were funny and sweet (but sarcastic) with each other. This debut author has Emily henry vibes and I am HERE for it. Will be watching her follow up books like a hawk. Even her acknowledgements and bio made me laugh out loud.
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for sending me a sneak peek. Looking forward to reading again during witchy szn.
A very clever supernatural story of love and parallel lives and multidimensional reality, and a spell gone wrong. or is it right? I enjoyed this unusual tale and recommend it as a vacation from normal life.
Such a good read - I really enjoyed this book. I'm so glad that I got the chance to read it early and will definitely be recommending it to multiple people who enjoy these types of novels. I enjoyed the characters and especially enjoyed the writing by this author. I'm excited to see what the author comes out with next as I'll definitely be reading it! Thank you to the publisher for my early copy of this book!
This Spells Love centers around Gemma (love that name), a twenty something woman who just broke up with her long term boyfriend and would prefer to forget that her time with him ever happened. Well, thank goodness for eccentric aunts who have a book of love spells. After performing said love spell, Gemma is transported to an alternate reality where not only did she not meet her previous paramour, she didn’t meet her best friend, Dax, either.
This book is as pretty steamy and I love a steamy romance novel. Gemma and Dax are super fun characters to get to know and I greatly enjoyed reading about them. I was fully invested in their successes and failures throughout.
I think everyone has moments where you make one choice over another and wonder “what if…?”. This book was a fun exploration of Gemma’s choices.
If you’re a fan of Lucy Score and Emily Henry, this book is for you!
I would like to express my gratitude to Random House Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I wish the characters had more personality (especially Dax who is just vaguely nice), but even so, this is a pleasant, serviceable read. I laughed, I cried. 3.5 stars.
Thank you NetGalley for this interesting ARC to read.
I would say this was a very Hallmark movie kind of book but the smut (Ick. I really dislike that word) is too high for a Hallmark movie so let’s go with more of a Netflix -rated R- romcom.
Gemma with a G is the main character. She’s witty and fun but her self doubt is insane. Always running to others for help with all that life sends her way.
Dax solely exists to be Gemma’s best friend / lover.
Gemma has been dumped after 4 “safe” years with Stuart and is devastated. She chooses to drown her sorrows in doughnuts and booze. Quirky Aunt Livi comes across a book that will help “cure” Gemma. Gemma, her sister Kiersten, Dax, and Aunt Livi all gather to perform a spell from this book.
What happens next is probably the most curious (and most Hallmark aspect) of the story. Gemma gets to figure out what would happen if she went back and changed one night of her life.
I haven’t ever read a book with this sort of twist. Casting spells and changing moments in time isn’t something I’ve come across since Harry Potter. I liked that this was a different type of story.
I’m rating it a 3 because I’m not into smut. I just don’t enjoy it. At all. I always end up skipping through those moments. I just want to know how the story ends! Don’t distract me from the story.
This is one of the cutest, most clever novels I've read and I absolutely adored it! Gemma breaks up with longtime boyfriend, Stuart and drowns her sorrows with sister Kiersten by eating donuts and drinking. Best friend Dax is always a shoulder to cry on, but something odd happens when Gemma's eccentric Aunt Livi convinces her to allow a spell to be cast. And things get caught in a time warp; that's the only way to describe it! And really, who wouldn't like to live in an alternate reality some of the time? It's charming and sweet, often bittersweet but just the kind of book that makes me smile!
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!
“The universe could make us live a thousand different lifetimes, and we’ll always find a way to be there for each other.”
Time slips, parallel universes, alternate realities…I am quickly becoming a huge fan of this trope, especially when there is a romance involved.
This Spells Love conveys this with heart, humor, and a best friends to lovers trope on top of it all. After being dumped by her boyfriend of 4 years Gemma, her sister Kiersten and her quirky Aunt Lilli decide to try a love cleanse spell. However, the spell brings Gemma to an alternate universe where her best friend Dax doesn’t know her. In fact, there are a lot of differences in this alternate reality and Gemma learns a lot about herself as she tries to guide things back to the right path.
Filled with so much humor and such likeable characters, this story is a feel good reminder that taking risks and believing in yourself can be so much better than always choosing the safe route. Her time slip allows her to learn many life lessons. I love Dax and Gemma’s story, it is such an entertaining and fun read.
“Sometimes the best risks are the ones you make with your heart.”
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Romance with a touch of magic, perfect combination. I was rooting for Gemma right away and I was so invested I couldn't put it down. A perfect beach/vacay read.
This book is my favorite witchy book so far this year! It is so very good!! I was spellbound from the very beginning. I loved this so much!! I would like more like this please!!
I just reviewed This Spells Love by Kate Robb. #ThisSpellsLove #NetGalley
https://www.netgalley.com/book/281639/review/1053482
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I really struggled with this one. I understand that the protagonist's lack of observational skills is a plot point, but the total lack of understanding just boggled my mind. I just couldn't enjoy her character development. Meanwhile, Dax was as swoonworthy as they come. I'd love to read more from this author, there was so much to like about this book, but I just couldn't get past my dislike of Gemma.
ooh, what a fun surprise! I liked this so much more than I even expected to! Gemma and Dax are amazing characters to explore, in BOTH timelines, and I loved that the secondary characters added so much to the story!
Gemma and Stuart have been dating for 4 years. When he breaks it off, Gemma’s aunt casts a spell to heal heartbreak. Dax is her best friend and is a part of this spell taking place. When she wakes up, she finds herself in an alternate universe. In this universe she falls for Dax, but a lot of bad things happen. When the month is over, they can cast another spell to hopefully return to the present. This is a great book. It was interesting to see a different side to Dax when he dates Gemma. I loved the close relationship she had with her sister and how she came to realize not everything is about her. Great love story; humorous and full of fun.
Loved this book & can't wait to see what this author comes out with next! The friends to lovers trope told in a fresh new way with just a little bit of magic thrown in, the perfect combo for me. Add in some quirky family members and some steamy love scenes (NOT closed doors) and it just keeps getting better. Perfect for all romance fans out there & I can't wait until it's released!
This was a fun, sexy rom-com novel. I loved the whole premise that one wish could show you what your life might have been like. Gemma has just been dumped by her boyfriend of four years. In an attempt to cheer her up, her aunt, sister, and best friend, Dax, have a pity party for her and perform a love cleansing spell that works a little too well. Gemma is transported into a life where she owns her own dream business but her best friend has no idea who she is. Gemma is horrified that Dax is not in her life so she comes up with a plan to win him back but things go horribly wrong when she tries to meet him and reveals she knows information about him. Luckily her aunt and sister seem to be the same. Gemma has to get Dax back in her life if she is ever going to be able to replicate the spell and get back to her own timeline. However as she gets comfortable in her new timeline she finds that she may not want to return.
I fell in love with this fast- paced steamy novel. There was some excellent romance and it had a great story line. An excellent book to escape the world with!
Thank you to Dial Press/Random House and NetGalley for this ARC.
I just finished This Spells, Love. Thank you @netgalley, @randomhouse, and @songofmyshelf for the copy. I really enjoyed this book. It was different than other romance books I have read. If you love magic and alternate universes this is the book for you. Gemma goes to her Aunt's to hang out and drink margaritas and commiserate over a breakup with her aunt and sister. Her best friend Dax comes over and they decide to try a spell that will hopefully cleanse Gemma and help her overcome her heartbreak.
This was a fun read. I loved the story and how the characters interact with each other before and after the spell and how they navigate each other. Will best friends finally realize they love each other or will they stay best friends?
Thank you Random House and NetGalley for this ARC!!
After a recent breakup and on a drunken whim, Gemma goes along with her eccentric aunt’s idea to try a love cleansing spell they find in an old battered book.
Much to her surprise, she wakes up in an alternate timeline, one in which she never dated her ex. Determined to get unstuck from this alternate reality, she has one month to reverse the spell by repeating it exactly as it was first performed. This includes sealing it with a kiss from her best friend. The problem is, her best friend Dax has no idea who she is anymore.
I enjoyed this story immensely. It was cute and clever. One of those cartoon covers that surprise you with the originality and depth in the story behind the cover. I was excited to discover that this wasn’t a story about witches in an urban fantasy setting. This is a contemporary setting with magic realism.
I enjoyed Gemma’s character, the endearing kind of hot mess. Her relationship with herself, her sister, and her aunt were well developed and endearingly real.
The hilarious shenanigans she encounters on the path to winning over her best friend Dax were heartachingly sweet. I was laughing along the way but found myself completely invested in this HEA and I couldn’t put it down. Best friends to lovers will always cause me angst! I enjoyed the conflict and twist in this story so much. My sci-fi brain was geeking out. After all, you can’t mess with the space time continuum without consequences right?
I think fans of Stephanie Archer will enjoy this.
I was very impressed with this debut author and I will be watching for what she puts out next!
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This was a fun rom com with an alternate timeline twist and I loved it so much! Gemma is going through a bad breakup at the beginning of the book and she wishes that she could go back in time and never start dating him in the first place. Her Aunt Livi owns a book store and just so happens to have a book with a spell that might make her wish come true. Gemma, her aunt, her sister (Kiersten), and her best friend, Daxon all perform a spell from the book after way too many margaritas. What could possibly go wrong?
I really enjoyed the alternate reality twist. I always love a good friends to lovers romance. I thoroughly enjoyed the laugh out loud humor throughout the book. This was a fun, quick, and easy read that I gobbled up in a little over a day. Highly recommended!
What a story cute romance mixed with a twist of magic!
Gemma was just broken up with and is drowning her sorrows in tequila. Her quirky a aunt has just the thing for her. A spell for forgetting. She then wakes up in an alternate universe and her best friend Dax doesn't even know her!
Thank you to netgalley and Random house for allowing me to read this arc in exchange for an honest review!