Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

A cute and quick story about a young witch learning to deal with her powers and her first crush. I would’ve enjoyed more character development, but the simplicity is understandable for this. I think this would be a good fit for younger MG readers.

When 12 year old Emma moves to a small town where her adoptive parents have inherited a great aunt’s house and shop, she suddenly blossoms out with witch powers that keep getting out of her control. First she causes a violent windstorm, then she makes lightning strike the river. And the little accidents that keep happening in the house pile up fast. Her parents hate to leave her alone in case she burns the place down just by having a flash of anger.

Of course she can’t tell anybody about these weird powers, not even her best friend Lina. And she doesn't dare tell Lina how much she truly cares about her because flowers pop up everywhere when she lets her happy feelings out.

But when Lina drops the bomb that her parents are divorcing and she'll have to move several states away, Emma decides the answer is to learn to control her powers, at least enough to make Avangeline's parents fall in love with each other again.

Emma's opportunity comes when she gets to stay home alone for the weekend. Technically she supposed to stay next door, with the lady who runs the town bakery. But when she's caught doing magic outside her house, things go badly wrong. She'll need all her emotional control and ingenuity to direct her wayward powers, repair the damage done by the love spell, and keep Lina safe through it all.

This is a really charming book, not only for the flowery magic, but through its themes: learning to trust your instincts about good and bad people, finding and losing friends, choosing to do right even when it’s harder than doing the wrong thing would be.

Recommended for any 10 to 12 year old girl who has ever felt like her feelings are too big and dangerous to let out, or that she doesn’t really fit in at school.

A book with a young witch? Yes, please! Emma is a good character who is struggling with her new found magical abilities. Abilities she has not been able to control in the least and which show up at the worst times. Her parents have made her promise not to reveal her "incidents" to anyone, including her best friend Lina. But when she finds out that Lina will be moving away due to her parent's divorce, Emma thinks she might be able to put a stop to that with a little love spell. If only she knew how to do that.

Not only is Emma a witch, she's a gay witch! That is double the love for me. Like many characters with magic, she needs to start fully embracing who she is to really harness her powers, so that makes me frustrated. I was also frustrated by her disregard for her own inner voices that were clearly trying to steer her in the right direction. But that can be explained by her parents insistence that she keep her true self hidden.

Despite those frustrations, I enjoyed the book as well as the blossoming first romance between the girls. The villain is appropriately nasty for a middle grades book, and the amount of magic is not too much for the younger readers in my school.

My daughter and I read this book together and it was a hit! She empathized with Emma and was particularly interested in Emma's connection with magic. Had to explain a few things (daughter is 8) but she enjoyed the story and it made us both think.

Emma discovered her powers when her family moved into her great aunt's house. She finds that excess of emotions causes all kinds of things -- anger or fear can cause thunderstorms, happiness can cause an explosive growth of flowers. Her parents are scared of her powers and urge her to hide them, to stop feeling so much, to never tell anyone about this part of her. Emma follows their directions until her best friend announces that her parents are getting divorced and she is moving away. This spurs Emma to try to harness her powers to change the situation. This was very relatable for middle schoolers finding themselves changing and growing in ways their parents might not fully accept, and especially those overwhelmed with big emotions. The magic was great as was Emma's journey of self-discovery. The ending leaves a possibility for a sequel. Recommended for grades 4 & up.

I adored this witchy queer middle grade book. It reminded me of Sabrina the Teenage Witch. Emma is a protagonist that we all can root for. I can’t wait to see what happens in the next book.

This was a cute low fantasy middle grade novel! I like Ireland's YA's better but I do like the representation this brings middle grade for both queer main characters and adopted main characters.

Emma and The Love Spell was such a sweet story of growing up, first love, and not every change is scary. I saw such hope in this book and Emma's narrative actually felt like a kid trying to figure things out, coming to terms with love and loss and I think readers will fall in love with this story as much as I did.