🎧Magic in the Air-standalone

✍🏾By: Adriana Schub-new to me author

🗣️Narrator: Stacy Gonzalez voices all characters. The narrator's voice fit the characters with standouts from Olivia, Daniel, and Draven. The reading style brought the text to life, and the author and narrator worked together perfectly. The pacing and flow allowed me to get lost in the story. The narrator paused and announced new chapters and there was a table of contents which helped me follow along with the E-book and audiobook.

📔Page Count: 253 e-book

🏃🏾‍♀️‍➡️Run Time: 7:59

📅Publication Date: 9-17-24 | Read: 9-15-24

🙏🏾Thanks to NetGalley, Rising Action Publishing, and Dreamscape Media for this ARC and ALC 💜! I voluntarily give my honest review, and all opinions expressed are my own.

Genre: Paranormal Romance, Contemporary Romance, Adult Fic, Multicultural Interests

🌎Setting: Addersfield, RI

Tropes:

🧙🏽‍♀️witches/magic
 🧙🏽‍♀️baker h/journalist H
 🧙🏽‍♀️single mother h
🧙🏽‍♀️Halloween/Fall vibes
 🧙🏽‍♀️small town romance 
 🧙🏽‍♀️disability rep-h has cerebral palsy
🧙🏽‍♀️reading mother's journals-H
🧙🏽‍♀️found family/family drama

⚠️TW: grief, death of parent-H, cancer mentioned, parental abandonment-H and h, h is foster child, explicit sex scenes

POV: dual, 3rd person

🤔Summary:  Olivia has a son she adores, a bakery business with her BFF yet no one to share it with. As a witch she casts a protection spell to make the town invisible so that you must know someone who lived there. Draven is able to find the town because his mother lived there as a witch herself. He is grieving her loss and wants to learn how she lost her magic, and why his father abandoned them.  Draven and Olivia are distrustful of each other when they first meet, but their walls come down and they fall in love.

♀️ Heroine: Olivia "Liv" Ayala-has disability, an orphan, owns Sugar Spells Bakery, and is a Latina witch with trust and self-esteem issues.

♂️Hero: Draven James (30)- journalist from New York, mother deceased 6 months ago who left a journal about being a witch, losing her magic, and his father Eric leaving. Draven is writing an expose on his family's history.

🎭Side cast:

 Jill-oldest friend, co owns the bakery with Liv

Daniel-Olivia's son,9 years old

Lucas-Draven's younger brother

Parker-Mexican American like Liv, owns the town inn, friends w/ Liv and Jill

Malcolm-Jill's husband

💭My Thoughts: I loved the small-town cozy vibe in RI. Even though Draven and Olivia distrust each other, the more time they spend together they grow closer. Olivia never made her disability an issue and Draven really wanted to understand it. Daniel was so sweet, and Olivia always protected him. The found family with Lucas, Jill, Parker, Rosa, and Malcolm brought Olivia and Draven closer and I hope we can get another book featuring Lucas and Parker.

Range of emotions:
🔥 Spice 4/5
🗣️ Narration 4/5
❤️ Emotion 4/5
🧑‍🤝‍🧑Couple 4/5
️️ ✨Rating 4 /5

As a someone who has cerebral palsy this was such a great read for me to see it highlighted and celebrated here, the inclusion of disability and witchy vibes just warmed my heart.

I really liked the description of this book and the concept that was presented! I loved seeing the CP representation in the book. I loved Olivia’s magic in the book, and her relationship with her son was so cute. I just couldn’t get past the main male character. Overall the story was fast paced and cute!

This started off strong for me, I loved the setting and the coziness and the magic. I loved the disability rep and the magical town. Unfortunately, it took a downturn rather quickly.

Olivia & Draven’s relationship flipped back and forth from various states just… entirely too fast. Before their first date they are “I’m suspicious of him” / “she’s a means to an end” and then the next thing we know it’s “I want to make this work” / “I love him so much.” Then, shortly after that, Draven is disclosing his secrets and expressing remorse but STILL going forward not to expose magic anymore but to literally take magic from everyone??? And then he changes his mind (yay I guess?) and Olivia and her friends are like “lol so glad we can laugh about this.”

I just think none of this developed very well, and honestly Draven’s actions were just wildly illogical and unforgivable, even if he never actually followed through. I liked the friend group well enough, though, and the spicy scenes were kind of fun. Thank you to Rising Action and NetGalley for this eArc!

This was unfortunately a pretty tough read.
I liked the FMC a lot, and the found family aspect and I definitely loved the town and the small town fall vibes it gave me. My biggest problem was with the MMC. His motives seemed strong at the start, but then he straight up came off as villainy. There would be a sweet moment between the couple and then his POV would show him thinking about betrayal. Also, the romance was at such a quick pace that I felt like I had missed something. For the amount of time they had spent together, they felt way too serious to the point that I couldn't focus, and the spice scenes just didn't do it for me. They felt like they came out of no where and the dialogue made me skip those paragraphs and get back to the main plot.

All in all, I loved the female characters and the setting, but the rest of the book wasn't for me.

Such a great fun and witchy read for autumn. There was some good Latinx representation which I appreciated. It's a fast read being rather short, felt like there was some context missing but made sense given the length.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

I love, love, love a witchy romance book and this is just perfect!! I loved it!!!

There were so many sweet romantic moments between our two MCs and there was such that kept me wanting to read more, more, more!!

Highly recommend to anyone who loves the genre

I'm not sure what to make of this, because I loved Olivia and the small town setting and the witchy vibes. But wow, did I hate Draven. Which is kind of a problem in a romance novel, because I ended up not wanting them to be together at all. This man has let his bitterness and jealousy fester for so long that it's turned him into a villain, yet he's also still the love interest? I really didn't see the romance of it. I'm still giving this 3 stars because I did enjoy everything else.

Magic in the Air

Love the cover and the fall, witchy, romance energy. Also love the small town baker FMC. She’s cute and had a cute job and friend and overall life. From the start of Draven’s introduction, I don’t really get the motivation to expose the town to like make up for his behavior to his (now) deceased mother. Like she never expressed resentment and I don’t really get where his resentment is coming from so I can’t really understand his desire to expose the town? I also didn’t like that we didn’t experience the first interaction with Draven and Olivia. We just randomly heard his mental recount of the fact that they had seen each other in the bakery. I think I would’ve liked to be told about it actively happening instead of only the impression afterward. It also mentioned something at the end of chapter two about Olivia offering help but I don’t see mention of that happening prior to this comment so it’s kind of weird to read. I think really it’s just that the portion of chapter 2 that happens after the bakery would make more sense being after chapter 3.
As I continued into chapters 4 and 5, I had a hard time with the idea of Olivia having feelings or the idea of there being something between her and Draven. I think I didn’t feel enough tension in their first encounter to make that believable.
Throughout the book, I had a really hard time connecting with the characters. Some of the plus sides are that the witchy-ness is very fun and the magic is very well woven into a real life situation. I love her baked goods laced with spells, and I love that the town seems to just exist with magic without the explicit statement of it being there all the time. I love the mysterious element of Draven’s search for answers.
Overall, a 2 out of 5 for me. It’s an interesting concept, but I think it could stand to be a little more polished.

Arc Review
Publishing Date- 9.17.24
My Rating-2.85 stars rounded up 3

Draven James is a journalist from NYC who ends up in Addersfield, RI in search of answers to the questions he has about his mother. After her passing he finds his mothers old journals in them he finds out she is a witch and she lost her magic in the town she grew up in. When Draven arrives to Addersfield, he falls quickly for a small town lady that own a magical bakery. He soon realizes magic is all around him…

What To Expect-
🍪Super Cute Small Town
🍪Witchy Romance
🍪Cozy Bakery Vibes
🍪Disability Representation
🍪Insta - Love
🌶️🌶️.5

My Thoughts-
I feel like this was an underdeveloped story. It had sooo much potential that I think it fell flat and tad bit rushed. Dont get me wrong there was definitely cute moments in this book. And it does touch on grief, trust and betrayal. I was just left with wanting more with each chapter.

Overall-
This is a cute quick fall book, I would recommend to the right audience.

✨Thanks to NetGalley, The Author, & Rising Action Publishing for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review✨ "

Magic in the Air by Adrianna Schuh is a cozy, witchy romance with a perfect blend of spice and drama throughout the storyline. Set in a mysterious and magical small town, the plot revolves around Olivia, a local resident, and Draven, a newcomer with an agenda. Olivia and her best friend Jill own a bakery together, while their friend Parker works at the local Inn where Draven is staying after arriving in town. From there, the story begins to unfold with all sorts of ups and downs that keep the reader wanting more.

This story is such a fun weekend read and I really enjoyed it! If you love small town cozy romances with a hint of mystery and witchy vibes, you'll love Magic in the Air. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

2.5 rounded down to 2

Olivia is a witch and well known for baking up magic-infused sweets in her small town. Draven arrives in Addersfield looking for answers after his late mother's journals point him to the mysterious town. They have every reason not to strike up a relationship, but will they give it a try anyway?

Read if you like:
-Small Town
-Single Mom Romance
-Paranormal Romance

This book just wasn't for me, which is a shame because it has three main tropes that I really enjoy. I feel like the blurb over promised and the book under delivered, which was disappointing. It was a slow burn, until it wasn't. And the switch was so fast, I was left with whiplash. Olivia's cerebral palsy was barely discussed, expect in passing.

This was a nice book to read from all the other heavy hitters I had to read from NetGalley. And the entire book was fun, light hearted and mildly spicy. It was a good buffer book and I don’t say that as a bad thing. I say that as an entirely good thing. Sometimes you need something fun and more simple to break up high fantasy and world building.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
🌶️🌶️🌶️
Thank you @netgalley for this ARC copy of Magic in the Air!
I absolutely adored this book, based upon MY “Stars Rating System” this was a solid 4.5⭐️. (Rounded up for NetGalley and GoodReads)
•
Magic in the air reminded me of The Good Witch meets Once Upon a Time (in the sense of the town itself) but with spice! With a dash of The Ex Hex series too?
•
I will say I was NOT expecting the spice, I thought it was just gonna be a cutesy book in the realm of Practical Magic.
But when the spice hit (at 50%) it was the icing on the cake, because of the insane amount of chemistry between the two MCs.
•
Why the half star, if I liked it so much?
Well our FMC (Olivia) is adamant through the first 47% of the book that the MC (Draven) is just in the town to cause trouble, no one knows how he found the town, but they all know he is lying, because you can’t just stumble into Addersfield.
But when she takes a leap and asks him out on a date (to gather intel of course) and he says yes and plans the whole thing, the instant they are alone he spills 1/2 his secret and she spill all of hers.
•
This book was cute and fun! Really short, everything seemed to wrap up nicely, and I can see a book 2 coming with Parker and Lucas, and I would be all for that, with a look in on Olivia and Draven too!
•
This book did leave me wanting more time with the characters and the town so hopefully there will be a book 2! 🫶

I want to thank Netgalley and the author for gifting me the ebook. I was gifted the audiobook and I left my full review over there. Sadly this book was just a no. I wanted to like it but it was just a miss.

⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3/5
🌶️🌶️ 2/5

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book!

I am a huge fan of all the tropes present in this book, but the execution just felt very middle of the road. It was fine, but lacked conviction or anything really interesting about the writing. The most important defining moments felt glossed over and often I felt myself reverting back to skimming.

That being said, it was good. Just good though. I was so drawn in by the cover and I love a paranormal romance in the midst of spooky season. Like I mentioned, all the variables are there they just felt dull to me. I hope it’s different for other readers though, I really wanted to love this one but just couldn’t connect to any of the characters.

This is a super cute small-town, witchy romance that features a character with amazing disability representation. The setting and world building were good but not super original. I felt like the magical elements were a bit lacklustre, since they felt mainly baking related. At least they were true to the FMC who is a baker, but they didn’t really line up with any other characters which made that aspect less believable for me. Again, I felt like I ended up skimming parts to “get to the good part” so I might have just missed something and the good parts were just meh for me.

This is still worth recommending if it sounds like your cup of tea, it just sadly wasn’t for me.

*3.5 Stars*

I felt that Magic in the Air was supposed to be a mix of Practical Magic in the town of Gilmore Girl's Stars Hollow. Olivia has curated a life in the small town of Addersfield, Rhode Island with her son Daniel. She owns the town's bakery with her best friend, Jill and has been able to flourish as a witch not letting her Cebral Palsy bring her down. When Draven comes into town, Olivia has an instant connection to him, but she knows he is hiding something. Can Olivia determine Draven's secrets while possibly finding love?

I loved the first part of this book. A town of witches is the perfect scene for a fall romance. Olivia's character is strong and independent. Olivia has found a family that understands her, and I enjoyed her banter with her best friends Jill and Parker. The chemistry between Draven and Olivia in the beginning was spot on. Although Olivia had her suspicions about Draven, it was fun to read how her magic acted when Draven was around and how Olivia's character started to open up to the possibility of love after all that she had been through.  

The biggest issue I had with this book was the amount of spice did not match the story. Don't get me wrong, I love a spicy book, but these characters seemed to go from 0 to 100 in no time at all. Spice became the majority of the story when I felt that the author could have toned it down and focused on the development and growth of the two main characters.

This book does open up the possibility of a second book and even with my issues with this book, I would be interested in reading the sequel if it ever came out.

Magic in the Air comes out September 17th.

Thank you to NetGalley, Dreamscape Media and Rising Action Publishing for the opportunity to review Magic in the Air. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I enjoyed the experience of reading this book, but I will say - I couldn't stand the MMC. Minor spoilers ahead (but nothing you cannot figure out from the first 10% of the book).

I had a really hard time getting excited about a romance where one character is there to purposefully seek revenge on the most important thing to the other love interest. Any interaction between the main characters was a little spoiled for me because of this.

However, I think it was really cool to see a Mexican woman with a visible disability as the main character in a witchy rom com - I don't think I see a ton of that. I also loved her relationship with her son and the other witches in town. I loved the way that magic worked and the ritual performed. If I were to look at the book overall, it's probably a 4 star for me, but without the romance plot line, I think it would have been a 5.

Thank you to Rising Action and NetGalley for the ARC of Magic in the Air!

This book was cute but personally was not for me. There is quite a bit of representation in this book compared to others as the FMC Olivia has Cerebral Palsy and there’s a Latin rep as well. Additionally Olivia is a single mom. The VIBES of this book were excellent. However, to keep it short and sweet I didn not like these three major things: Insta-love, misunderstanding trope, third person POV. If these things don’t bother you then this may be the book for you! But overall this book felt hard to follow and just too fast. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

Addersfield is a sanctuary for witches. 1697 three founders created a protection spell for the town so only who is aware of magic or who knows about the town is able to find it.
Olivia and her son live since some years happily in this town as no she is getting used and taught how to use magic and finally found in the town members new friends and family. There she gets accepted for who she is and also her cerebral palsy is not causing any issues for her as she is able to walk everywhere she needs to be.
One day Draven shows up in town and Olivia knows something big is in the air and is not trusting him. She wants to make sure the town and everybody she loves is save. After the death of his mom Draven found her journals where she is talking about that she was a witch but lost her magic, hence left her home town. Not being a witch any longer was the reason why his father left the family. So for him magic is the root cause for so much pain in his family hence magic is bad. Magic was taken from his mom, nobody in her town was supporting her and in the end she hat to take care of her two sons alone. As a journalist he wants to expose the town and magic to the world to destroy them and to get his revenge. So he expected many things but not that his new neighbour Olivia is also raising feelings in him he did not expect.

I really like the idea here that we have a cosy small town in which not only witches live but also normal people who are aware of magic. Also how this town is like a big family, everybody is there for the other, how they stick together is really nice. That a spell is preventing the town to be found and exposed to unknown is a good idea.
In general I like the character of Olivia but the mention that she has cerebral palsy is coming up for me a bit too often. I mean she found a really good way to live with it and in the story you are not reading that there are too many things she can´t do. Also right from the start she is not trusting Draven, what I really liked, but then very fast she gets romantically with him.
Draven I really had my issues with him right from the start. He is so convinced that magic is bad as his mom lost it and he is making the town responsible for it, also that nobody helped her to get it back, nobody supported his mom when she left. I mean he hat only journals with some info but not the whole picture and from a journalist I expected there a bit more. After being in town and meeting Olivia and her sun he is not willing to expose the town in an article any longer but still has so much anger against magic that the dramatical part in this story couldn´t convince me. I would have preferred another twist here without this not really too dramatic part.
Also the erotic encounter between these two is something I did not expect so explicit. To be honest with less I think I would have liked the story more as for me concentrating on the small spells everybody is using or also to have spells in the backed goods could have been more worked out.
So really a nice idea, a cosy town with really nice characters but for me the magic portion could have been a bit more.