I really enjoyed this book. It started off a little slow, but it picked up. I loved the characters, especially Morgan.

This Spells Disaster by Tori Anne Martin is a paranormal queer romantic comedy full of pining, lack of communication/miscommunication, and good old fashioned fake dating. Morgan has been crushing on Rory for like a year, but gets too tongue tied to ever do anything about it. Until one night, with tequila wing-womanning, Morgan offers to pretend to be Rory’s girlfriend to help get Rory’s family off her back at the upcoming Witch festival. While spending more time together, Morgan is falling even more into Rory and it seems like Rory is all in too… until Morgan becomes convinced she accidentally gave Rory a love potion! Not only is Morgan falling in love with someone who doesn’t care for her back, but she violated some big witch laws by overriding someone’s freewill. Morgan is in agony. Can she fix her mistake before havoc hits?

Another fun fall read! Morgan and Rory have a great dynamic. They bring out the best in each other and isn’t that what we all want? The witch festival was a cool setting and I enjoyed reading about the potions, spells, and charms. The miscommunication trope hit hard and there were moments I wanted to shake Morgan and say “Just talk to her!” Miscommunication is not my favorite, however Martin does keep it believable and relatable and it didn’t turn me off.

Romantasy is not a genre I typically read but I may have to change that because this was delightfully magical! If you read the synopsis, you’ll see that this uses the fake-dating trope to bring two witches together.

I love the world the author has built and would love to read more novels in this setting. She has created a modern idea of magic in the real world including witches that perform professionally, witches of all disciplines and how some of them provide products for witches and non-magic people alike, and a set of rules that witches must abide by. This was particularly interesting when it came to the notion that magic must not take away someone’s consent.

I don’t want to give anything away about the relationship but there are many cute, tender moments. There is very little spice depending on what you’re into. My one issue was the lack of communication particularly in the end and the second half of the novel dragged on when the beginning was already a slow burn.

"This Spells Disaster" offered the delightful promise of a sapphic love story, which I found refreshing and important. However, it unfortunately fell short of my expectations. The chemistry between the characters felt lacking, making it difficult to fully invest in their relationship. The plot had a somewhat predictable quality to it, and the insta love element, did tend to grate on my nerves. This just wasn't for me.

A sapphic witchy romance perfect for spooky season! I had a lot of fun with this one, but I would recommend steering clear if you’re not a fan of the miscommunication trope.

The love potion plot is what originally drew me to this book, but while I enjoyed parts of it, I think it could have been handled a little bit differently. I was expecting something more along the lines of "That Time I Got Drunk and Yeeted a Love Potion at a Werewolf", but this book ended up going in a different direction. I was also originally surprised with just how long it took for the love potion to be introduced considering it’s advertised in the blurb.

I did really enjoy both Morgan and Rory and they had some really cute moments. I loved Morgan’s more intuitive and 'messy' personality combined with Rory’s organized and slightly shy one. I found both of their characters very relatable and I enjoyed their individual growth as well as their romance.

The use of magic throughout was really fun and I enjoyed how it was incorporated into the world as well as how big of a role it played in the overall pot. The magic system was explained pretty well and I enjoyed the slightly different interpretation.

*Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Happy birthday to this cozy sapphic paranormal romance!
This Spells Disaster is set in a touristy coastal town in Maine that is definitely not Portsmouth, NH and it’s centered around two tropes: fake dating and an accidental love spell. What makes this one different is how Tori Anne Martin chose to craft and navigate the witch society’s rules. Consent is huge, which means witches acknowledge that they have been historically persecuted but ALSO that they hold an advantage over people without magic and that they have a responsibility to use it wisely. Unfortunately, one of the MCs accidentally gives the other a love potion and the ensuing romance is full of “she doesn’t truly like me” feels. It all works out, but I don’t want to spoil it.
Also yay for bisexuals! And for no huge magic doom hanging over the whole thing.
I was expecting, based on one of the author blurbs, that this would be steamier, but for good reason it isn’t. If you think someone isn’t consenting to a relationship, you should definitely not be engaging in the physical stuff. There’s one scene near the very end, it’s not particularly long or graphic.
All in all a cozy read with New England references that made me smile (or shake my head).
Thanks to @berkleyromance for this gifted copy!

I did not have a good time with this one. Here’s why:

It started promising because it’s sapphic and fake dating and I actually really enjoyed the magical world. Things turned sour for me because I just did not like Morgan. Her inner dialogue was too negative and repetitive for me. Then *slight spoiler* when she thinks that Rory only likes her because of a love potion she tries to purposely be mean to her to try and break the potion. Honestly I don’t know why Rory still did like her at that point.

The only redeeming qualities were the cat, Rory (wish we could’ve been in her mind), and the narrator cause it was someone I’ve previously really enjoyed.

This Spells Disaster follows the fake dating journey of a potion maker and ex-spellcasting champion. From their small town to a large witches festival, problems are brewing for the two.

This Spells Disaster didn't work for me mainly due to Morgan's character. She makes absolutely awful choices and refuses to admit when she may have made a mistake. The book's blurb does state that she's "messy" but this is on a whole new level. Instead of confessing to a possible mistake (like an adult), she attempts to make the woman she's been obsessing over hate her. Wild. The mistake also didn't happen until about 50% through so the book was a bit of a frustrating slog.

The book's redeeming quality was Rory, the champion spellcaster. She is vibrant, kind and quiet, while also being a delightful human being. The way she opened up even after Morgan was horrible to her shows the type of person she is. Rory can stay, Morgan can go.

Definitely a missed opportunity to have a cat familiar who basically did nothing on page. There's also some ex-girlfriend drama that I would've rather had over Morgan's immature antics.

CW: classism, addiction, social anxiety

Ugh, I had really high hopes for this one but it just fell short. Their chemistry wasn’t great, the storyline and plot was very predictable, and they said I love you to each other after basically one week of hanging out.

This is a luminescent gem in the genre of sapphic romance, offering a spellbinding dance of fake dating and true love amidst the whispering winds of magic. Readers searching for a concoction of charm, mystery, and passion will find this book a magical escape.

🔮BOOK REVIEW🔮

This Spells Disaster - Tori Anne Martin
Rating: 4.5/5 ⭐️

“With classic rom-com hijinx and herbalist witchy vibes, this novel will have you happily spellbound.”—The Boston Globe

The Boston Globe was right about that! This is a perfect fall, cozy, sapphic read. This is told from Morgan, potion witch who works at her families potion shop, as she and the town prepare for the Witches Festival. Rory, Morgan’s crush, is a famous spellcasting witch who has stepped away from the spotlight to be a bartender - much to her parents dismay. When said parents turn up in town, Morgan drunkenly suggests fake dating to Rory to show them how happy she is in town. Just when Morgan starts to believe there may actually be something between them, she realizes she may have accidentally given Rory a forbidden love potion.

I really enjoyed Rory and Morgan’s characters. Morgan is messy, unorganized, has terrible self-esteem but is a devoted, loyal friend. Rory is confident with a bit of bad bitch charm and standoffishness who is also struggling with social anxiety around her fame and performing. I enjoyed watching them both make peace with the pressures others were putting on them to be better/different. The miscommunication was STRONG in this one but I felt it suited Morgan’s anxious, self doubting personality.

Recommend if you like;
- Fake dating
- Witchy romance
- Sapphic romance
- Cozy festival vibes
- Small town
- Witty banter

Thanks to @netgalley, @berkleyromance and @prhaudio for my gifted copies!

I did not finish this one, it was not for me, I couldn't relate to the characters, and just did not care for the story.

Please tell me we are getting another one from Tori Anne Martin! There is something so lovely about her prose and the conversation around consent and a love potion all wrapped in this hot romance!

“It was the perfect night for a mess, and Morgan Greenwood was precisely the sort of witch who couldn’t resist a good mess.”
This Spells Disaster by Tori Anne Martin is such a fun, fake dating, witchy romance. If you’re feeling the need to find a read that will start off your Sapphic September and gives all the witchy vibes, then this is the book for you.

Set in a modern but magical equivalent of New England, This Spells Disaster follows Morgan as the narrator and protagonist. She’s a messy witch, a potion maker, and has taken one too many strikes to the chin so her confidence is at the bottom of the cauldron. After a margarita-fueled evening at the local bar that Rory Fucking Sandler (read the book, then you’ll get the reference) works at, Morgan offers to pretend to be Rory’s fake girlfriend at an upcoming local event for the witch community.

“Thinking about kissing Rory wasn’t difficult, after all. She likely had entire lobes of her brain dedicated to it.”
Morgan is so earnest in her feelings! I just love when a character is a bit of a mess around their love interest. After a mix-up with a calming potion that may or may not have been a love potion, Morgan doesn’t trust that Rory’s feelings are as genuine as her own. While I’m not a fan of the miscommunication trope, I feel that Tori Anne Martin handled this in a way that fit both Morgan and Rory well. This fake dating trope is one of my favorites and the sweet, sweet tension build up between both Rory and Morgan truly checks all the boxes but be aware that it is a bit of a slower start. Once the plot picks up, I was wrapped up in the world and loved it.

There is a whole cast of characters that will inevitably become fan favorites, but ultimately, I loved our bisexual main characters: Rory and Morgan. These two women are opposites attract and their quirks offset in such a great way. Can we make “the type A, organized one falls for the messy, anxious one?” because that’s a trope that I’ll read all day. This Spells Disaster has it in spades.

This Spells Disaster is available now, and I guarantee that you’ll want to add it your shelves immediately. Congrats on a wonderful new release, Tori!

This Spells Disaster is Tori Anne Martin's debut novel that follows a sweet queer romcom that's fantastic for the fall season. It has all the things that make me crave fall. Magic Festivals, Potion Making, Spell Casting, Fake dating that goes wrong (or right?), family drama, crushes, and ...a love potion?
This story follows Morgan - a potion maker and self-proclaimed messy witch who's pretty sure she was hexed at birth during the annual Spell Casting Magic Festival, and Rory, an elemental witch bartender who was once a spell-casting champion who was on her way to competing in the world championships until... she wasn't. No one really knows why. Rory showed up in town about a year ago, igniting Morgan's crush on Rory. When the upcoming Magic Festival has Rory stressed about the increasing pressure from her family to compete, Morgan offers to be Rory's "fake girlfriend" to help act as a buffer. Obviously, she just wants to be there and support her "friend". It has nothing to do with her crush. At all. No, really. Okay, may it has a little to do with her crush. As they spend more time together, their fake relationship doesn't seem so fake. Feelings start sparking and Morgan can hardly believe her luck until she realizes some ingredients were mislabeled and the relaxing potion she made for Rory may in fact be - a love potion. Yup- Morgan swears she was hexed at birth. While Morgan works to find an antidote for the potion, the Magic Festival continues and Rory just gets more and more charming and lovely and Morgan is sure it's the love potion. Can Morgan clean up this mess before things go too far?
This is a really sweet, light, fun read. TAM did an amazing job building this wonderful, magical world that fully brought me Halloweentown + queer hallmarkesque vibes and I enjoyed it. I adored Rory so much. Rory has this mysterious charm - she starts out closed off but you know there's so much just underneath the surface. I loved getting to know Rory through Morgan's eyes. As Morgan learns more about Rory, the more her feelings grow for her, which of course is one of my favorite things about the fake-dating trope.
A few things that were a challenge for me were the miscommunication and Morgan's self-image. While I know it's a key component of the story, I found myself getting a little off put by Morgan's self-esteem (or lack thereof). It was hard for me to get through and I thought it dragged out a little too long. I would have liked to have seen a little more growth on Morgan's part a little sooner in the story but I also understand it's place in the book.
One thing I really appreciated was the way the author addressed the topic of consent. It's a tough topic and she handled it very well.
Overall, I enjoyed this story. I'm a fan of witchy romcoms and everything autumn. Rory is just such a wonderful character. She drew me in and the more I read the more I loved her so I can absolutely relate to Morgan and her crush on this badass elemental witch. This was a really enjoyable love story that's a light read that's great for the season.

This was a cute, sapphic witchy romance. Overall, I enjoyed the story and characters. It’s not super deep and is fairly predictable but it’s still a fun, quick read. My biggest qualm that kept me from fully getting into the story is just how much of the book is devoted to being essentially a big pity party for the MC…and in a way that, for me, wasn’t particularly relatable or doing anything to drive the story. The first ten percent of the book is pretty much all pity party, it tapers off a bit after that but never fully stops. The miscommunication trope is big in this book too which I personally, don’t love.

But besides those two things it’s cute and fun, and I would pick up a book by this author again.

✨ Review ✨ This Spells Disaster by Tori Anne Martin

A fun witchy f/f romance for fall! Morgan's a potion-maker and sort of an agent of chaos, who's had a crush on Rory, local bar witch extraordinaire and former world champion spell caster. When Morgan offers to be Rory's fake girlfriend to take pressure off Rory at the upcoming festival of witches, she's delighted to spend more time with this girl she's fascinated with.

However, messes ensue when an accidental love potion is created and Morgan's efforts to be extra chaotic don't pay off as expected. I thought it was interesting how this book talked about love potions and other spells that might muddle consent -- that might be one of my favorite parts of this book.

I also enjoyed just the general witchiness of the book with scavenger hunts, glitter wind battles, bespelled hair dye, and other fun details! In a market that feels saturated with witchy romances right now, I don't know that this is a stand out in the feeling of being totally unique, but it definitely was enjoyable and that felt super cozy to read!

I did listen to a bit of the audio while in the car, and enjoyed it -- I thought it differentiated the two characters and portrayed their personalities well!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4.25)
Genre: f/f contemporary romance, fantasy
Setting: Maine and the middle of the woods somewhere
Reminds me of: Lana Harper's magical world
Pub Date: 12 Sep 2023

Read this if you like:
⭕️ sapphic witch romances
⭕️ witchy / magical world building
⭕️ fall festivals (apples and wine and music and more)

Thanks to Berkley, PRHAudio, and #netgalley for advanced copies of this book!

Morgan has had a giant crush on Rory fucking Sandler for … well, forever. Rory is one of the most talented witches ever, a spell casting champion, beautiful, intimidating, cool, and just so much more. And ever since Rory’s come to Harborage and taken work as a bartender, Morgan can’t seem to get away from her. First, she works at the best bar in town, the one Morgan and her friends regularly go to. She’s also become friends with Morgan’s friends, which means Morgan sees Rory almost every day, and every day she struggles to have the courage to say something witty, clever ,or brilliant to catch Rory’s attention.

Why is it her drunken, not-brilliant idea of being Rory’s fake girlfriend for the festival is the one that Morgan finally comes up with? Rory has retired from spell casting, but her family can’t seem to understand that. They want Rory to get back to work, and have brought Archer, a ‘sorcerer’ — a male witch who self-identifies with a fancy title — to encourage her. Rory finds the idea of having Morgan as a buffer a good one, and soon it’s the two of them setting up rules, coming to agreements, and Morgan being introduced to Rory’s family.

Everything is wonderful, magical even. Until Morgan makes a horrifying realization. She has inadvertently given Rory a love potion rather than a potion to help with Rory’s stress. Now, Morgan is analyzing every touch of hands, every laugh, every moment of happiness. She has to find some way to break this spell without, hopefully, breaking her growing friendship with Rory.

Morgan is a witch with self-confidence issues. Her last girlfriend left her because she had no real ambitions beyond working in her family shop, where they sell magical body and bath products, and staying in Harborage. That, and Morgan’s ability to overthink herself into a knot given a half-moment alone with her thoughts and her tendency to spiral into self-doubt and insecurity. Morgan makes potions, working more through inspiration and instinct than calculated measurements, and getting lost in her feelings comes easy to her.

Rory comes from a successful, influential family of witches. From an early age, she was trained and trained hard to succeed in spell craft, to enter competitions, and to win. She came up with brilliant tricks that other witches struggled — and still struggle — to duplicate, and her fans and sponsors are still eagerly waiting for her to come back. It’s a lot of pressure, a lot of stress, and a lot of attention. Rory isn’t brittle or jaded or even broken, she’s just … tired. The pressure, the weight of other people’s expectations, and her own need to please pushed her harder and harder until she realized that she wasn’t happy, so she stepped aside.

The two women have such very different approaches to the world. Rory is a plotter, a planner. Someone who takes time to think and reason and make lists. Morgan’s “do first, think later” approach to life, open to every opportunity, comes as a bit of a surprise to Rory. Seeing the other woman get right in Archer’s face to get him to back off of Rory, or to smack down another male witch trying to explain magic to Rory is .. flattering. Morgan, when she’s with Rory, is nothing like the quiet, distant woman at their friend group meet ups. While playing fake girlfriends, the two of them are quickly become real friends.

The world building here is excellent. The author has put a great deal of thought into the whys and why nots of magic. Yes, scrying works … but so does google; and often faster. We learn about the relationships between non-magical people and witches, and how this affects romances and children. Also, the status of men in the community, as male witches are a minority in an already small group of women, is kind of hilarious. They’re both seen as prizes for their rarity, and given praise for the smallest things … as well as not expected to be all that great because they’re just men. The purpose of covens, the way society shapes itself around magic and witches, and even how and why Rory’s magic is as powerful as it is… there’s just so much attention to detail and I loved every bit of it.

The love potion aspect of the plot is well handled — all of the issues with consent and bodily autonomy — and leads into my most hated part of a romance book, the third act breakup. However, everything is so well put together, so carefully arranged that it never feels forced, and everything flows well with the characters and the established rules of the world. Morgan’s horror, her confusion, every action she takes after discovering what she has done are so very Morgan. Nothing in this book feels as if it’s done just for plot purposes, nothing feels contrived or calculated.

This book is sweet and charming and just … fun. I was in a bit of a mood when I started reading this book, but I soon found myself actually smiling as I read it, especially any time Morgan and Rory were on page together. It’s also beautifully romantic. It’s easy to see Morgan falling for Rory, as the book is from her point of view, but — looking at the actions and reactions from Rory, which Morgan misses as often as she catches, too caught up in her own nerves — it’s clear Rory is falling, and falling hard for Morgan, too. The glitter fight was wonderful; Lilith, Rory’s familiar, is appropriately adorable; and even Rory’s family are fun.

This book should be an auto buy for anyone who loves witches, romances, and happily ever afters. This appears to be the author’s debut work, and it’s a great one. The writing is strong, the world is wonderful, and the pace is perfect. So are the characters. I really, really hope you give this book a chance.

I am so here for all the witchy reads, and this was a perfect choice for #SapphicSeptember featuring Morgan, a potion maker who has a crush on bartender and magical legend Rory. This was such a cute story and I loved the magical small town world. I loved both characters, but this was a single POV of Morgan and I loved Rory so much that I really wished this was a Multiple POV story with Rory’s POV.

WHAT TO EXPECT
-slow burn
-sapphic romance
-witchy romance
-fake dating
-single POV
-miscommunication

🎧I both read the physical copy and listened to the audiobook and thought the narration was so good!

*many thanks to Berkley Romance, PRH Audio and Netgalley for the gifted copy for review

This was a fun sapphic witchy read. Morgan is very relatable with her being shy around her crush and making mistakes.
Blurting out that she could be her crush's fake girlfriend to get her parents off her back was tequila induced but got her closer.
I'm def a “shy around my crush” person.
Loved the shop she worked at making potions and the big festival. The scavenger hunt, the sweet fake to real dating. But the ever present mistake Morgan made. The magical competition and familial pressure and stress.

Rory, her crush, was well known for her magical abilities and she competed before being at a professional level so she is dealing with stress from taking a step back and just anxiety of being in front of large crowds. Don’t we all have that except a small percentage of people.
Liked how the big conflict was resolved pretty smoothly and didn’t drag on. It could’ve been solved by a conversation but she was terrified it would push her away so she was trying to fix it. This is single POV so we couldn’t tell Rory’s thoughts and feelings only what she was saying. I think miscommunication bothers people more in dual pov cause they know the other person is fine with it. But with a single pov idk what's going to happen lol. I also think it's realistic in a new relationship to be scared to bare all so this trope however big or small doesn't bother me.

Read if you like:
✨Fake Dating
🧹Sapphic romance
✨Witchy reads
🍲Magic competitions (light)

Thank you berkleyromance for the e-ARC for my honest and voluntary review.