I wasn't sure how much I'd enjoy this as I got into it because I'm a sucker for first-person novels. I typically find third-person writing to lack the empathy and character attachment that I find in first-person writing BUT I did "get over it" quickly and ended up really loving this book!

Sadie is a sweet soul whose heart aches for plants and creatures. I really liked her character. My only "gripe" is that her age felt very foggy to me. Some of the dialog felt very young and other times, after reflecting on experiences, I was brought back to thinking of the characters as much older. Just my two cents: you'll need to do some character development in your head but if you can manage that, this is thoroughly enjoyable especially for those who enjoy magic and/or seasonal reads during Autumn/Halloween season. :)

I believe there were a lot of things in this book that could’ve made it amazing: the cafe setting, the food recipes, the large cast of characters were all very fun and cozy. However, I think a lot of things that happened in the story didn’t sit as well with me. It just seemed like there were a lot of dark topics that were written very cavalierly or used only to further the plot, ie. cancer, suicide, depression, other mental health issues, death. I also thought that the romance subplot with Jake seemed skipped over and the entire thing with Bethany seemed a bit insensitive, especially because that whole part didn’t add much to the story or character’s development and seemed just like a way to introduce unnecessary angst. Overall, I think there were just a lot of plot points that I was not a fan of, even though I enjoyed the food parts, the family parts, and the cute animals.

I had a really, really hard time with this read. I love Gilmore Girls and Practical Magic and also love this beautiful cover. I think I was expecting something more…funny? With Bantar? And Magic? Lighthearted?

It wasn’t really that for me. I had a hard time connecting with the characters and there were some heavier topics that kind of just slapped me in the face without a whole lot of context after. The pacing and the plot really didn't work either.

While this one didn’t work for me I am interested in more from Breanne Randall

My only complaint is that it ended in a semi-cliff hanger. I enjoyed the book, start to finish and it was hard to move away from it. The phrase "s**t a**" is something my own grandmother used to say, so it was poignant AND hilarious. One of the better "witchy" books I've read this year!

Thank you to NetGalley and Alcove Press for the ARC!

“Sadie Revelare has always believed that the curse of four heartbreaks that accompanies her magic would be worth the price. But when her grandmother is diagnosed with cancer with only weeks to live, and her first heartbreak, Jake McNealy, returns to town after a decade, her carefully structured life begins to unravel.”

Such a cozy, cozy read for the fall time. Loved it.

Thank you to the publisher for the gifted e-copy.

Now THIS is the kind of magical realism/fantasy book that I love. It has everything - a witchy family, nature magic, recipes, a small town, a curse that needs to be broken, family drama, an ex that comes home, grief...and it hit me right in the feels.

In Sadie's family, all of the witches have a different kind of magic - and a curse. Sadie has magic through plants and it manifests in her cooking/baking. Naturally she owns a bakery where she is able to use her magic to help her fellow townspeople. But her curse is that she gets four heartbreaks, then she loses her magic. After two heartbreaks, she has learned to keep her emotions close to her, but of course, it's not that easy, especially when her ex Jake shows up again and they are as drawn together as they were 10 years ago.

On top of that, Sadie's grandma, Gigi, is sick. She tells Sadie about a curse she's been dealing with since before Sadie and her twin Seth were born, and Sadie is tasked with breaking that curse - or else either her or Seth will die.

I really don't want to give much more away, but this is one of those books made me wish I annotated as I read. I might actually go back and see if I could find certain lines and passages, especially those about grief, because they spoke to my heart. Between losing my mother in law almost 4 years ago, and my two remaining grandparents last year, grief weighs heavy on me some days, and there were several lines in this book that just resonated with me.

I just really loved this one, so so much. I will be anxiously awaiting the next book by this author, and keeping my fingers crossed that it's just as magical.

I received this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

In this book you will find: On screen death, almost suicide, mentioned rape, faked pregnancy, loss of magic

This book was sold to me on giving practical magic vibes and being perfect for fall and while it did give those vibes it was much darker than I expected. Not in a bad way but I would definitely check trigger warnings, I mentioned some of the triggering things I saw above.

However, overall I thought it was good and gave me the vibes fall vibes I’ve been craving. Love the use of kitchen magic and most of the recipes found in the book I would want to try in real life, so it’s an added bonus of 2 books in one. I thought it would be more of a murder mystery and it was more the death of one version of yourself in favor of a new one, which is something that all of us have to do at one point or another.

If the triggers don’t bother you and having some dark things come out of left field that I think this book is for you!

I thought I was going to love this one because of the premise of Gilmore Girl meets Practical Magic. I got the Practical magic vibes. I just loved Gigi. But for Gilmore girls vibe the only thing I got was that Sadie was such a brat, much like Rory was towards the end of the series. I did not find her to be a likable character. Though she does have a bit of growth by the end of the book.

Just try to get through The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak and Magic without wanting a sweet baked treat. I dare you! I certainly didn't. Accurately described as a combination of Gilmore Girls and Practical Magic, it's part kitchen-witch-core, part cookbook, part second chance romance. A perfect autumn read.

Unfortunately this did not deliver on its promises.

I just couldn’t get into it and most paragraphs felt superfluous to the story or character development. It seemed to be a cosy fantasy with romance but neither was present in this book. The romance was not really there, as it was mostly just repetition of how the MC never really fell out of love and how it broke her heart when the boy left town. Also this was 10 years prior and they’re now in their 30s but have the capacity to handle emotions and feelings of a 12 year old. Sadie couldn’t manage her anger, sadness, grief, heartbreak, happiness, nothing. She just could cope with feeling anything at all and would compulsively able to avoid feeling. Which is a bit crazy when you think that this is a 30 year old woman who never had to deal with much hardship except a childhood friend and a brother skipping town. Yes she never had her parents around but she was raised by her grandmother who loved and took care of her. Also the cosy aspect was quite undermined by the fact that the whole book focuses on denial, grief, death and heartbreak. It tried to be cosy by putting in some dozens of random and useless characters that are all merry and jolly all the time and thousands of baking, cooking or making tea paragraphs, which only made this an even duller experience.

Coming to the fantasy element. There was barely any. We were told of some sort of powers. Nothing got really used. I wouldn’t have minded it being more about adding different ingredients to the baking recopies or making some herbal remedies. But even that was completely detached from the supposed magical part and I really struggled to understand the reason why it had to be somehow connected to religion and Christianity. It just made for very bland characters and mediocre magic.

I really wanted to love it and picked it up thinking this was the cosy fall book that will make my heart warm and fuzzy. Unfortunately, this wasn’t it and I’m still not quite sure what this book was trying to achieve or what genre it wanted to be. I think the story is a bit confused and adding too many characters didn’t allow to develop any of them. I couldn’t feel their connections and ultimately couldn’t care about any of them.

An unusual book about an unusual family.

Sadie comes from several generations of women who possess a gift of healing. Growing up without either parent, Sadie's grandmother is her world. Well, her twin brother Seth as well, but he left many years ago. When Sadie's grandmother becomes ill, and both her brother and her first love return to town, Sadie is faced with seemingly impossible choices. She has kept herself shut off from relationships for so long, can she learn to trust and love again and what will it cost her?

An interesting novel about family, love, magic and choices. It is worth giving it a read

Such a good cozy witchy read for the season and the perfect time to read it. It had me feeling all the feels. This gave me Charmed vibes. I think it sets up readers for unrealistic expectations to compare it to Gilmore Girls. The dilemma that the main character Sadie faces and feeling like she has to push people away is (like the title suggests) heartbreaking.

The storyline and characters were so engaging that I did not want to put the book down. I know when a book is living in my head rent free even after I put it down that it was a good story. Well done!

I adored this book.
The town was cozy and I just loved all the characters. And the recipes were such a wonderful addition to the book! My one reason for this not being a five star read, was how long the chapters were. It took me longer to read since I felt like I had no natural stopping place.

otherwise, a solid cozy witch read, perfect for autumn cuddles.

Thank you to the publisher for giving me a copy of this ARC in return for an honest review.

Sadie always knew she had magic but to give balance, magic comes with a curse, which for Sadie, is 4 heartbreaks and then she loses her magic. From that day on, she is determined to not love so that her heart cannot be broken and she will never lose her magic. When her boyfriend and brother unexpectedly leave her, leaving her heartbroken twice, her resolve is even stronger. But when Jake and Seth both come home, is she able to keep her heart protected in then keeping her magic protected?

I really thought this book was going to be one thing and then it turned out to be something completely different and I’m not sure how to feel about it. It starts out with a very rom-com feel, which I was very down for. It was funny and then Jake comes back and I thought it was going to be her struggling to accept him again. And then everything changed and it turned into something very not funny and it totally took me off guard. I enjoyed the story and finished but the change in tone seriously messed with my head causing me to not love it as much as I thought it would when I first started reading it.

On the other hand, the recipes sprinkled in with the chapters is a stroke of genius and I want every single book that talks about food to include that! I LOVED that aspect of the book so much!!

3/5 stars for me.

3.5 rounded up to 4 stars

Sigh. I’m so sad not to give this book a beaming review. The framework of it is SO cozy! The small town, witchy bakery, magical recipes…. I just snuggled into all of it!! So why was it taking me forever to get through?? I finally had to accept that the characters were grating on me. Sadie, our FMC is so immature and salty. She appears to be so graceful at first, but that all disintegrates quickly. Her second chance romance had no chemistry or build up, yet all the sudden they were half naked in a lake? It just wasn’t hitting right and I’m thoroughly bummed about it. I believe this author has what it takes to continue to build beautiful cozy worlds and also bring in lovable characters with depth and charm. I will keep my eye out for what she conjures up next!

All in all, the autumnal witchy smalltown vibes were impeccable; the pacing and characters w were just a miss for me.

The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak and Magic was an unexpected surprise to me. I actually requested it after the author hyped it on instagram reels as something like Gilmore Girls mixed with Practical Magic. I would argue it's less Gilmore Girls, and more Practical Magic but with less flowery writing. This book is all about family and relationships, along with how we grieve. I was most taken aback by what a wonderful novel on grief this is and how differently we all cope. The magical story was just an added bonus and oh the food writing! This is the perfect book for fall, and one i've been recommending to many!

I have to say first, that I did not finish this book, so I perhaps missed some good parts. It started off with promise, but it just seemed to go off track. I couldn't say what the main plot was, because it seemed the author was a bit all over the place. I am not normally a fan of all the new witchy books, but the description lured me in! I normally read books with a bit more depth I guess. There are probably some readers that will enjoy the story, sadly I was not one of them. I do thank Netgalley for the ARC though.

I really loved the premise of this book and thought there were so many strong elements. I am a sucker for a book that features delicious food descriptions and this really delivered on that. The family bonds were also quite fun and beautiful to witness and the focus on earth magic and nature was wonderful.

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

However, there were so many unnecessary plot points that took away from the main storyline - the forced romance, the fake pregnancy, the Carrie musical at the high school, even the townsperson who was secretly in love with Gigi? There were just too many of these to make this book a favorite.

The writing of this book conjures up beautiful vivid imagery, and I felt like I could smell pumpkin spice while reading the beginning chapters. If you like second chances, time gaps, food recipes, an autumn feel, this may be the book for you.

I am sure that some people will love this book, I am not one of them. I was disappointed as this book was sold as Gilmore Girls meets Practical Magic but I didn't feel like it captured the vibe of either and the false marketing really frustrated me. There were some good parts - it was easy to read and the recipes were a cute touch. There were great small town romance and autumn vibes, but the book felt like all vibes and no plot or character substance.
I was also really unhappy with the number of triggers in this book and a lack of TWs.