This book was a heartwarming read that balanced romance and fantasy, making it easy to pick up if you're interested in either genre. Definitely read book 1 to help give context to this book.

This is the second book in the Wild Magic series where we follow Teal. Teal struggles with her power and that leaks into her life. When an opportunity for a marriage of convenience with her ex-bestfriend comes up she takes to help him and to get money to hire a PI to find her mother. Chaos ensues as expected with the Flores sisters but I really enjoyed getting in Teal's head especially after her attitude in the first book.

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an arc for an honest review.

How fun was this one?!Andee is a pyrotechnic engineer. Ok, I’m always fascinated with firework shows and how they are created so I thought this was so cool! Anyway, she also is the daughter of an escaped from prison arms dealer who’s searching for her, his long lost daughter! Mix in a sexy CIA agent and you get this blast of a book!
Thank you #NetGalley and #berkleypub for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

The way that I would read 1 million books about these characters. This book felt so special and these characters are just genuinely the most hilarious ,destructive, and beautiful people. I think these books are a love letter to sisters and the chaos we put each other through. But really I think I loved this one even more than the first if that’s even possible.

I really liked the first book in this series, but the romance in this one was so convoluted and the logistics of their arrangement made no sense. (His grandma is withholding his inheritance until he gets married, so he marries someone his grandma hates? Okayyyyy…)

I am so happy there was a sequel to The Witch of Wild Things because I absolutely loved that book.
Lightning in Her Hands brings us back to the Flores women and Teal. I really enjoyed this book. The relationship between the sisters is touching and fun. There was plenty of humor. It also surprised me that there was quite a bit more spice in this book than the first.
The generational relationships were also quite interesting and well-written.
I am really hoping there's a third book for Sky's story.
Thanks so much to Netgalley and Berkley Publishing for the ARC!!

This was a fun read, I enjoyed the magical touches! It was perfect timing for a seasonal read. I read this as part of a buddy read group

I liked a good deal of Lighting in Her Hands, which gives us a peek into a dysfunctional family of witches who are struggling with a broken coven. The complicated heroine, her struggles, and the worldbuilding are all great, and the angst factor is high. But the romance has spates of only being so-so, and sometimes the heavy family drama really slows its progress. While overall, it’s not my favorite among Vasquez Gilliland’s books, this one is still a decent outing.

Former fitness instructor Teal Flores’ final memory of her mother is of her leaving Teal and her siblings at a very young age to “go on a long trip.” As an adult, Teal is still grappling with the emotional difficulties this left her with, which means she’s bad at holding established relationships and thinks herself unlovable. The fact that she’s a witch with little to no control over her powers just makes things worse. The weather around her is connected to her emotions, so if she’s sad, it pours. And she can cause lightning to strike when she’s really angry.

Teal and Carter Velasquez have been best friends since they were literally in Pampers, but they’ve been estranged since the summer before, when Carter gave Teal a life-changing kiss and she panicked and jumped into a new relationship with someone else. That man, Andre, has dumped Teal and a previous boyfriend was abusive to her emotionally. She wants to convince Carter to take her to her sister Sage’s wedding to Nate (heroine and hero of the first book in the series, Witch of the Wild Things). Carter agrees – and Teal is shocked when he proposes to her on the morning of the ceremony.

It turns out Carter has an ulterior motive. His Aubuelo, Gene, has left him a chunk of money in his will, but it’s being held in the trust of his wife, Erika. Carter won’t get the cash unless he ties the knot by the age of thirty. He offers to split the money with Teal. The marriage won’t be ‘real’ of course. And it will be purely sexless.
Teal agrees to the fake relationship, to the fake cohabitation, although it’s pretty clear things will never be purely platonic between them. Soon they’re stuck trying to figure out if what they feel is real or just lust.

There’s a decent crackle of sensuality buried at the heart of Lightning In Her Hands, but the relationship is pretty weak for the most part. I could buy Teal and Carter as childhood friends and I bought their mutual lust, but the love feels as though it’s coming almost entirely from his side. The low-obstacle, low-tension situation – all of the plot conflict being driven by Teal’s total self-loathing – also makes it difficult to get to know Carter very well. He’s basically there to be sweet and love her, which is nice but not compelling.

Teal, however, is a great heroine. I found her hobby of repeatedly turning to Reddit for advice funny, her struggles and realistic reaction to her previous abuse relatable. Rebuilding Teal as a heroine when she slept with her sister’s boyfriend six months before this book begins was always going to be heavy sledding, but the author does perfectly well with her. Teal’s conflicted feelings about her grandmother and mother, her fights with her mean ex-best friend; all of this is enthralling, and I really appreciated the bipolar representation the author gives us.

Carter is a little more elusive as a character, and he isn’t well-rounded. He has a big family, he loves and is good at his job, but I didn’t get to know him as well as I knew Teal by the end of the book, which made me like him less.

Lightning in Her Hands has great worldbuilding, solid representation, and a strongly written flawed heroine – but the romance is just middling, and would have put the book in the C range had it not been for the outstanding character work and lovely story about sisterhood that reminded me of Practical Magic. Those things pull the grade up slightly and mean I can offer a qualified recommendation.

Rating: 5/5
I received an eARC for my honest opinion.

In this book you will meet Teal, who has magical powers, her power is that she can control the weather. However, Teal doesn’t know if this is a curse or a gift though, because with her moods changing, she can even hide what she is really feeling. She has a mission now that she remembers that she gave a small piece of herself to her mother years ago and now she is determined to get that piece back so she can be whole. With her ex’s wedding coming up she needs to find a date and someone that she can stand to be around, with her only and first choice is her ex-best friend Carter. Carter agrees but only if she agrees to a plan as well, but if she says yes will this plan blow up in her face?

With this being book two I loved that we got to see the characters in book one, back again but with a different sister’s story. In this book you will find a cute witchy romance but so much more. You will find that it’s not just about finding one person who understands you, but also like the first book it’s about learning to love yourself, being able to heal and have a connection with your family again. I thought the plot was well developed and the pace was just perfect for a witchy romance book. I didn’t see any moments when the pace was slowing down or dragging. I love it when books are more character driven than plot driven and for me this book was character driven, yes you will see the plot and the plot is great but to see the growth of the characters throughout the book is really what wraps up a book for me. This author has a way with her words, she writes so beautifully that you will be wishing that the book was not at the end and that you still have more chapters to read. I found all the characters in this book to be easy to connect with and I could relate with Teal.

I can’t say that I ever really liked Teal in the first book but now with her own book I can understand her better, and I can say that I really like her a lot. I loved that you won’t see a character that is all put together, but instead you will find a flawed one and one that knows this and is trying to better themselves. She knows that she is broken and not just mentally but magically as well and she is on the road to making this a better year for herself and to continue with it for the rest of her life. You will watch her wrestle with abandonment, mentally abusive ex-boyfriend, and self-harm (she runs and runs a lot), and learns that it’s okay, not to be okay. I loved her growth in this book, it wasn’t fake too, for me it was a relatable experience. I liked getting to see her efforts to mend her friendship with Carter and the steps that it took to get them to their HEA. I found that it wasn’t easy and yes, they had obstacles that they had to overcome like all relationships. I liked the fact that you got to see Carter flawed as well and seeing himself working on things, it made these pair seem like they were real people to me. I loved Carter and his banter with Teal, but you will also see a very sweet and caring side to him. I loved that he really wanted to work on things with Teal but didn’t want to push her but allowed her to get there on her own. He supported her and he was there for her when she allowed him to be. When I say that you must understand that she came from a very mentally abusive relationship and at times she would overthink things and at times I was like “not again” but then I had to understand that I knew what she was going through. I liked that he didn’t treat her badly for these things, but he was understanding and connected with her on other things.

You will find magic in this book, but as I said it’s so much more than just a cute witchy romance. The way this author writes will have you believing that everyone has magical abilities because the way that she writes it just seems natural. You will find steamy scenes, great characters, great character growth, banter, Latin culture and so much more in this book and the first one. I can’t wait to read book three.

I want to thank NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for the opportunity to review this book.

I really enjoyed Lightning in Her Hands. It’s the story of Teal, the second of the Flores sisters, who are the focus of Vasquez Gilliland’s Wild Magic series. Each sister has a unique gift and Teal’s is that she can control the weather … well, she can affect the weather and she’d like to be able to control her gift.

Teal needs a date to a wedding and Carter needs a fake wife. So, they team up to help one another. Hilarity ensues, and so does love.

I thought the magic system set admit in the real world & how it worked were super fascinating. Unfortunately this took me so many times to get into & I feel like this is a me problem but my ADHD & this book just struggled. I also wasn’t a fan of the repeated miscommunication/lack of communication, which made things worse. This wasn’t my favorite book but I’m sure lots of people will really enjoy this!

Thanks to NetGalley & Berkley Publishing for the gifted copy, which I voluntarily read & reviewed.

This one has such complex characters and small-town problems. There is also a fake engagement/marriage. The sisters have very cool powers. This was a fun magical rom com. Loved how tough these characters were and how hard they fought. So many issues with family that can be relatable with or without magic.

An entertaining and cute witchy rom-com that made me laugh and root for the characters.
Good storytelling, well plotted and witty.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Teal Sage’s power lies in her ability to impact the weather through her emotions. Since her emotions are literally written across the sky, she can’t hide her feelings from anyone who knows her. Torn about whether it’s a gift or a curse, Teal longs to be able to control it once and for all. She needs to find her long lost mother to accomplish this.

Teal also needs a date to her ex’s wedding. That relationship was an abusive one for her so she wants to take someone special. That someone special shows up in the form of the very handsome Carter Velasquez, her former best friend, who also happens to need a huge favor. In order to secure a sizable inheritance from his grandmother, he needs to be married by 30. Teal & Carter decide to help each other out and the sparks fly as their already complex relationship becomes even more complicated.

I adored Teal. You can tell that her previous relationship really took its toll on her self-confidence, & I just had so much sympathy for her as she tried to work through that trauma. There’s some miscommunication with her and Carter that springs from that, which was a little frustrating, but I felt the way they dealt with it felt very authentic. I also thought it was wonderful that Carter wanted to help Teal find her mother and that this journey leads them to discover that they are so much more to each other than just friends.

The relationship between Teal and her sisters was also just so beautiful. There’s such a wonderful and supportive family dynamic there, which I loved just as much as I loved the actual romance.

If you’re in the mood for a magical, spicy romance with an incredible family dynamic, definitely check out the Wild Magic series.

Witch Of Wild Things was one of my favorite romances last year and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on Teal’s book. Thank you @raquelvasquezgilliland_poet and @berkleyromance for my early copy - I hope you know how much I adore you.

Teal is a tough woman - in WOWT it’s kind of hard to like her. I love an “unlikeable heroine” though because many women deemed unlikeable just aren’t operating within the standards set by society and the patriarchy. Teal isn’t unlikeable to me at all. She’s broken - literally and magically. And this book heals her. Helps her recognize her strengths, the barriers she erected, and the deep sense of abandonment she feels after her mother left and took a piece of Teal with her.

This is a book is Teal healing her inner child. Healing her relationship with herself so she can build better relationships with others. And finding love in her childhood best friend who has loved her forever (Carter 🥹🥹🥹). This book is utterly beautiful. It’s magical and so deeply sad. The relationships that Sage, Teal, and Sky continue to build back conversation by conversation in this book is poignant - that just like plants, relationships need to be loved, cared for, valued. I also loved seeing Grandma Alma who is now my new favorite character because I love a sassy and grumpy grandma.

Raquel - I will read anything you write. Thank you for gifting us with this gorgeous story.

This book hit me right in the feels. While I loved the romance in the story (a marraige of convenience will always be my favorite!), I actually loved the emotional journey Teal went on more. I empathized with her so much, and I just wanted to give her a hug during her sad moments. But I definitely cheered at the end when she realized her self worth was not tied to her powers. I also adored the relationship between the three sisters, as well as the relationship between them and their grandmother and aunt. Those were some of my favorite scenes in the book. I cannot wait for the next book in the series!

This is book two in a series, following Teal Flores. She and her sisters all have magic, and Teal’s is that her moods influence the weather. But Teal’s magic is erratic due to her mother taking a pinch of Teal’s power before she disappeared many years ago. Teal is determined to find her mother and reclaim her magic, no matter what. Her other pressing issue is getting a date to her ex’s wedding, and a very handsome solution presents himself. Carter needs a wife to claim his inheritance so, logically, they should just get married!

Teal is not a fluffy rom-com heroine, and I thought her journey was really well done. I enjoyed getting to see more of her sisters, and I am really looking forward to the third book! The sisters’ story arc was just as good as the romantic one, and I love a good family-centric story. Carter is just a darling, and he was a great foil for Teal!

Thank you to Berkley Romance for the earc. All thoughts are my own.

I've read several friends-to-lovers tropes recently but this one has unique twists that make it stand apart from the rest. Gilliland pulled me into this dysfunctional family in her first book, Witch of Wild Things, leaving me eager to discover more about the Flores sisters, their sibling relationship, romantic relationships, and magical abilities. After reading book one, I thought I knew what I'd be getting with middle sister, Teal. I got so much more.

This book has so many layers and Gilliland expertly navigates every one of them. Teal is a complex character. I didn't like her in book one, wasn't sure I liked her in the first part of book two, and ended up loving her by the end. My heart ached for her when all she had been through was revealed. It answered so many questions. I enjoyed her growth throughout the book, how hard she worked to achieve that growth, and especially her efforts to mend her relationships with her sisters. It was all realistically depicted and relatable, as was the ebb and flow of her evolving relationship with Carter, a genuinely nice guy who loves and supports her but isn't without flaws to overcome himself.

Then there's the magic. The abilities these sisters have, and the things that have happened to them, should be unbelievable and yet Gilliland crafts them in such a way that they seem perfectly natural and believable. Of course, Teal's emotions control the weather. Of course, Sage communicates with plants. Of course, animals talk with Sky. And speaking of youngest sister, Sky, you won't believe what she's been through. I cannot wait for her book. Can. Not. Wait.

If you enjoy fast-paced stories with flawed characters, emotional depth, snappy humor, sibling dynamics, Latin (Mexican/Cuban) culture, magical realism, and hard-won happy endings, give this series a try. For the best reading experience and understanding of the characters, I strongly recommend reading the books in order.

4.5 stars

I adored this book.

I will say it had somewhat of a YA feel with adult themes. The two main characters definitely needed to learn to communicate, but I love the friends to lovers trope and add in the paranormal twist and I found this story fascinating.

It's my first read by this author, but I plan to read more from this series. Teal and Carter were BFF's until feelings started to creep in and Teal made sure to push Carter completely away. Ugh Teal!! This book starts after that point when these two are barely speaking to each other.

But Teal needs a date for her ex's wedding and Carter needs a fake wife...LOL let the shenanigans begin.

This book had great world building with Teal's gift for all things weather. As well as her sister's natural gifts as well.

Interesting premise and interesting read throughout. I thoroughly enjoyed it!

I voluntarily requested and read an uncorrected advance reader copy from the publisher via Net Galley.

Book Review for Lightning in Her Hands by Raquel Vasquez Gilliland

First Impressions: Lazy
What’s Your Type? Marriage of Convenience, Best Friends Turned Lovers, He Fell First, Been in Love the Whole Time
Meet Cute: BFFs with Strings Attached
The Lean: You Owe Me One
Dirty Talk: Scratching an Itch
We Need to Talk: Powers
Was it Good For You? Just Fine

Content Warning: Lightning in Her Hands features descriptions of physical, mental, and sexual abuse at the hands of a partner and abandonment and emotional abuse by a parent.

First Impressions: Lazy
It feels like someone was illustrating this cover and then ran out of time. The foliage is pretty, but the silhouettes of people—people that don’t even match the physical descriptions of the main characters—are so flat and bland.

What’s Your Type?
- Marriage of Convenience
- Best Friends Turned Lovers
- He Fell First
- Been in Love the Whole Time

Dating Profile
Teal Flores is the middle sister of three headstrong, loving women. They haven’t had the easiest life—their mother left when Teal was 4, and then the youngest sister, Sky, disappeared for eight years—but they’re survivors. Teal, especially; she’s a domestic abuse survivor and was the only one of the sisters to see her mother leave. But Teal feels like something inside her is broken, and her inability to control her powers and her unluckiness in love make that belief seem like something she’ll never be able to overcome.

Carter Velasquez is—or was—Teal’s best friend since they were little. He’s always been there for her, through thick and thin, until the day they kissed … and Teal starting dating someone else two days later.

Meet Cute: BFFs with Strings Attached
As a New Year’s Resolution, Teal listed making things right with Carter. So when she needs a date to her ex’s wedding, she thinks it might be the perfect opportunity to start fresh. But then Carter requires a favor for being her plus-one: marrying him so that he can get his inheritance.

The Lean: You Owe Me One
Carter knows that Teal doesn’t feel about him the way he feels about her. Unfortunately for them both, Teal thinks the same thing. Carter obviously has ulterior motives in his asking her to be his “fake” wife, but Teal sees it as a way for them to get back to good. They’re both working in the same direction, but it takes a while for their paths to converge.

Dirty Talk: Scratching an Itch
When Teal agrees to marry Carter, they put a strict “no sex” rule in place. Their chemistry, however, leads them to do pretty much everything other than penetrative intercourse. (And, yes, they get there eventually, too.) Teal even suggests, thanks to a suggestion from her sisters, that they just sleep together to get it out of their systems. Neither of them want to do anything of the sort, of course, but they don’t know that.

Ms. Perky’s Prize for Purplest Prose
I don’t read that much romance, but I have heard that butt play is all the rage at the moment. I don’t really get it, but I’m not one to yuck anyone’s yum. That said, Teal does go all the way when going down on Carter to make it as good for him as possible (as repayment for him putting his generous skills to amazing use earlier).

We Need to Talk: Powers
I haven’t read the first book in this series, Witch of Wild Things, but I didn’t need to in order to read Teal’s story. Looking back, I wish I would have, however, to better understand the magic in the book. All of the women in the Flores family has a magical gift, but everyone but Teal can control their powers. Teal’s emotions control the weather, and as a person with bipolar disorder, her emotions can vary wildly throughout the day. (The other sisters can control plants and talk to animals, and their grandmother can see and talk to ghosts.) I actually wanted to know more about this familial magic than the romantic relationship.

Was it Good For You? Just Fine
I had fun with Teal and Carter’s story, but was definitely distracted by the wish to know more about the magic. And I’m not really sure if jumping into this series in the middle was a good decision; Carter came off as really flat, and I might have felt different had I met him previously. (I don’t know if he’s in the first book, though.) That said, I love Gilliland’s writing, and she does have a gift for writing magical realism. So, overall, I enjoyed myself just fine.