I loved this. I loved chance and how strong they were. Can’t speak for the lgbtq+ rep in here but I really enjoyed the story

Although personally, I found Chance's voice a little grating and over the top, this is a fun, fluffy romance with an important story and I did ultimately enjoy it.

I received a copy of this book for a fair and honest review. This book is light and fun. It is about a young gay male that is out and is a little confused by what to label himself. He wins a title and see Jasper(Jazz) and he wants to be with him. So him and his friend Emily use a dating column to try to help Chance to win Jazz's heart. He learns a lot of about himself and he knows that he does not need to be labeled and just be himself.

So, let me start out by talking about something nice: the cover. Colorful, yet vague, which I liked when I first saw it. The plot also seemed promising; A fabulously queer love story.
Now the not so nice part. This book just wasn't for me. To be completely frank, I didn't finish it. I couldn't get past the narrator's way of talking. It was like the cringy parts of Drag Race, without the charm, mixed with out-of-date teen slang without actually knowing how teens speak in 2018. Or 2015 for this matter, which is the year Love Spell was first released. On that note I want to mention that had this book still had the original cover it was published with back then, I would have never considered reading it. So, it's me, not you. I'm sorry, Chance César.

I really enjoyed the way that ‘Love Spell’ was about a queer (if that’s the correct term) character who is having
an identity crisis. As someone who has always been sure of their sexuality, I can’t relate to Chance as much
as I am sure other people who read this book will be able to. I found it kind of hard to start this book, as there
were a lot of different words that Emily decided to make up, which I had no idea the meaning of. Until I found
the glossary at the back. That helped a lot! Be warned though, there is a bit profanity in this book, but it isn’t
too bothering.
I did really enjoy how each of the characters had flaws, but I loved even more how I was also kept in suspense
about Jazz’s feelings about Chance. I would, however, go as far to say that some of Chance’s methods of The Plan (making Jazz fall in love with him) were perhaps a little… unorthodox. I certainly did not agree with the
‘hot and cold’ method, and thought that a love spell was a little extreme. It all played out well though, and what
is the book ‘Love Spell’ without little witchcraft?

It's about time we get a YA book with a flamboyant gay character. There isn't many of them around and I applaud the author for doing this.

I really did like Chance as a character. He was sweet and funny and has a motor-mouth (like me) but there were times where he got on my nerves. He just felt so much younger than 17? A lot of times he seemed very childish and while 17 isn't the age of peek maturity, I'd at least hope he would have some kind of mental awareness of the world and people around him. Eventually, Chance does being to grow and learn, which I appreciated. I also loved that Chance was gender-fluid.

All in all, this is a really sweet YA and if you're looking for a unique read that's light with a gender fluid MC, pick this book up.

That was a refreshing change. An actual genderfluid character (even though Chance was reluctant to put himself in that box) and YA too. I really appreciated the struggle Chance had of trying to decide where he fit in the spectrum. But his struggles don't over shadow (or excuse) the fact that Chance is very often self-absorbed (he's a teenager, after all) to the point where he almost tipped over into irredeemable, but luckily this was tempered with moments of kindness that had me rooting for him all over again.

Jasper is a sweetheart, and a nice contrast to Chance.

The story idea has probably been done before and I could have told Chance it wouldn't work from the beginning. In fact there were moments when I suffered some serious second hand embarrassment on Chance's behalf while he tried to get Jasper to fall in love with him by following one of those online ' 10 ways...' articles.

I would say that for the first few pages I found Chance exhausting (it is told purely from his POV), but once I got used to him this soon settled down, so I urge you to give this book a chance to grow on you. It's worth it, because it is a fun look at some serious issues, and it's so rare to have a genuine genderfluid character. Give Chance a chance.

I've chosen this book for one simple reason - I've never read anything with a flamboyant boy as a main character. So I definitely wanted to try it. The cover is beautiful and the book started really well. So what's the reason I give only 3 stars?

Chance César is fabulous character. Really. He's so awesome I loved him since the very start. I'm glad he was the way he was because I think I wouldn't be able to read another book with chicken-hearted LGBT character again. The book is kind of hard to read because you need to get used to the author's style, but then I loved it even more! Still, there were passages where I had to force myself to read. That's the main reason I don't rate this book by 5 stars.
The plot is going slowly, very slowly, but Chance is so funny it could be accepted. Although the reason for the book's name comes near the very end, you can easily guess what is going to happen next, but what I really liked was that Chance did mistakes. We all do them and I'm glad when authors don't forget it with their characters. Most of the things Chance did weren't as good as he wished, so I'm satisfied with that.
To be true, the romantic line was kinda quick for me, but Jazz is so cute I can't think about that really. They're the kind of couple you want them to be together from the start. So there's still something you're wanting for, even though I needed to force myself to read it, as I already said.

In conclusion, it's a good book. Really. Mainly because of the transgender theme and its importation to get read. It's fun and romantic, and it seems real. So I guess it's 3,5 stars at last.
Huge thanks to NetGalley and NineStar Press for providing me an arc ebook for an honest review.

There was a lot about Love Spell that I simply didn’t find myself clicking with. On the surface, the book sounded amazing. From the exploration of gender fluidity, to the blossoming romance between Chance and Jasper, and the marvelous inclusion of a Miss Harvest Moon title that Chance so obviously wins. But when you delve a little deeper, the important and depth filled pieces of the story and the characters are frustratingly overshadowed by the most obnoxious “how to get the guy” plot device.

Our main character, Chance, embarks on a manipulative and immature quest to con—more or less—this guy he finds cute into liking him. Not only are the antics utterly juvenile and ridiculous, but Jazz (Jasper) already clearly shows signs of liking Chance, which ultimately makes all of his terrible decisions that much worse.

Chance is a deeply selfish person when it comes down to it, only acting in slightly unselfish ways because he believes it will help him achieve his goal of attaining Jazz’s affections. He remains so focused on this desperate need to follow his plan to get Jazz interested in him and therefore completely ignores the situation this boy he supposedly like has to regularly deal with, practically raising his younger sister as their mother struggles to make ends meet. Chance only ever appears to be surface level compassionate about this as the moment these responsibilities prevent Jazz from calling him, Chance turns into a complete brat.

Frankly, I think Jasper is far too mature for Chance and I’m kind of baffled that he continued to like him.

As for the story, I wish it had focused less on Chancel’s obsession with “getting the guy.” There were so many opportunities for this novel to actually develop into something meaningful, but like Chance it only ever seemed to scratch the surface in favor of a superficial focus. I really wish I had enjoyed the book more as it had such a great start, but in the end I couldn’t bring myself to care about anyone but Jasper and I ultimately found myself rooting for him to find someone better and experience a relationship with someone who had his best interests in mind because they genuinely cared for him and not because they thought he was super cute.

Love Spell didn’t go in the direction I initially thought it would and Chance, though a fascinating character, was just far too self absorbed for me to care about. Hopefully others will find more to appreciate in this novel than I did, especially as it is a fresh take with a truly unique and fun to read character.

Chance Cezar (love the name!) is out and proud but doesn’t know which gender box to tick. He and his best friend, the quirky Emily, embark on The Plan to make Jasper “Jazz” Donahue fall in love with Chance based on an online article, “Ten Scientifically Proven Ways to Make a Man Fall In Love With You”. Such titles always gets an eye roll and should be taken with a heap ton of salt, IMHO, despite the words “scientifically proven”. Why two seemingly intelligent teenagers bother with such articles is beyond me but books featuring hapless people following how-tos has a good track record with me and Love Spell is one of those books.

Chance is sooo OTT! He sports orange hair, is capable of rocking both stilettos and chucks and isn’t afraid to wear make-up and mix his own perfume. It took a few moments but when I finally got used to his talking style, I found it funny enough to elicit a few chuckles especially combined with the epic fails his and Emily’s strategies turned out to be. Like wooing Jazz with a megawatt smile only to have gummy bears stuck in his teeth (eew!) but, if a guy voluntarily pokes his finger in your teeth to get it out, you know he’s really that into you.

Love Spell is a YA story and it’s one of those that have the YA main character worry about his sexuality or in this case, gender identity. I know some young adults might have this concerns and it is an important issue that should be addressed but I’m kinda tired of having it in almost every other YA LGBT book I encounter (looking at you, Simon). I don’t think young adults would want to read about sexuality and gender identity being an issue all the time. I know my younger self wouldn’t want to because I want my stories to treat being queer, genderfluid or ace as normal.

What kicked this story up a notch was Jazz. He is a really sweet guy and a responsible big brother to his kid sister. When he finally had enough of Chance’s BS and decided to be upfront, it was all very squee-tastic! But then, to my surprise and dismay, the story ended just when it was getting really good. Nooo! Where’s my epilogue?!

Overall, Love Spell made me laugh, cringe and root for Chance to go, get that boy! Waiting for him to get a clue at how ridiculous his maneuverings were was equal parts exasperating and funny but Jazz was worth it and more. I would have preferred Chance to worry less about his gender and focus more on other things, like getting into a good college just like how Emily is determined to get into her dream school. However, I mostly had a good time with this book and I recommend it.

P.S.

I received a copy of Love Spell from NineStar Press via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Rating:
3.5 Stars - that place between like and love

Soundtrack: Gorgeous
Artist: The Heartbreaks
Album: Funtimes

Chance César is fabulously gay but is still working out his gender - “being stuck between the grey area between boy and girl”. Although he refuses to visually fade into the background of his rural New Hampshire town, Chance is socially invisible—except when being tormented by familiar bullies. But sparks fly when Chance, Pumpkin Pageant Queen, meets Jasper (Jazz) Donahue, winner of the Pumpkin Carving King contest. And so at a sleepover, Chance and Emily conduct intense, late-night research, and find an online article: “Ten Scientifically Proven Ways to Make a Man Fall in Love With You.” Along with a bonus love spell thrown in for good measure, it becomes the basis of their strategy to capture Jazz’s heart. But will this “no-fail” plan work? Can Chance win over Jazz’s heart?

I wanted to love this book. I love seeing more books about gender and sexuality coming out and the forum for these topics growing, however I honestly just could not get into this book. The narrator (Chance) is flamboyantly gay and in an over the top way and his style was not for me. I couldn’t get past the writing style in order to get into the story itself. While I know a lot of people loved the book, I couldn’t get past the talking style.

Love Spell was a fun story. The book is sweet and a YA story. Chance is the main character and trying to figure out whether he feels male or female. You can tell he was lonely Jasper is the perfect partner for Chance, and Emily is his best friend. They all had me smiling. Overall, the book is great and I love reading Mia Kerick’s books.

It was such a lovely book. Really fun and charming. It was the first book I’d read from the author and it was a very nice first impression. I’m looking forward to read more of her books.

I was very skeptical for the first chapters. I was thinking I’d choose the wrong books because it took me a while to feel interested on the story and also because I really wasn’t liking the sense of humor that much. I did struggle with some things until the end, but that might be because YA isn’t really my favorite genre. I still enjoyed the book a lot because the characters were great.

I liked Chance, he was a little fun at times, a little annoying at others. One of the things I liked about him was the internal dialogue about how insecure he was. It was interesting to see how he could portray something so different than he was really feeling. Even though I liked that from him, the character I liked the most was Jazz, because he seem so genuine. He was really sweet and sometimes I felt so bad for him because of all the tactics Chance had and how confusing that could have been for him. He was lovely.

Overall, even with the issues I had, I had a wonderful time with this book. Considering I’m not much of a YA fan, I can only imagine how much more fun it would be for readers who love the genre.

3.5
I was planning on writing this review using both pronouns she/he because this is a story of a teenager that doesn't know if he/she is a girl or a boy but I'm not sure if that's how you use it (If you know please tell me). And I've seen in the synopsis that the author only uses he/his/him so I'm going to do the same.

<i><b>"Chance, you are by far the edgiest Miss Harvest Moon this ramshackle town has ever had the good fortune to gaze upon. I am a major fan of positive self-talk."</b></i>

Firstly, there is Chance the main character. I soo loved his attitude. So confident and full of positive self-talk, I'd love to be more like him in that aspect. Moreover, I think he is such a good friend and person in general, always having good intentions with people.

However, for me he was too childish most of the time, I'm not sure if his age was mention but I do know that he said he only had 8 months to leave school so I'm guessing he's at least 17 years old but he didn't act that way. For instance, at the beginning of the book when he wins the crown and a little girl is looking at it, he starts thinking on fighting with the little girl because it's <b>his </b>crown and no one else has to touch or even look at it. I have to admit at the end it was pretty cute when the romance was involved because it felt very inocent but still… :/

<i><b>"Werk it, girlfriend-werk hard!" Yes, it's Emily again. And like always, she's got my spectacular back."</b></i>

Emily, his best friend, was also childish but such a good friend, the friendship between those two felt so real and lovely. However, as Chance had problems with his gender, she had problems with her physical appeareance, which wasn't really important to the story but I would like to read a book of her in the future to see how she coped with it.

Now, the love interest, Jazz, was pretty amazing. Although he didn't say much and was very reserved, I ended up really liking him because of the love he showed to his family. His story was tough but full of love at the same time which made me melt. <spoiler>I think Chance and Jazz make such a sweet and cute couple <3</spoiler>

<i><b>"There's cruelty in silence."</b></i>

I think the aspect I loved the most was how the book deal with so many important topics such as gender, sexuality, society and bullies. And like I said before I'm not really informed about those things, that's mainly the reason I wanted to read this book, and although I can't be sure if that's how it feels, it was great to be able to see another point of view about those topics.

However, the end wasn't my favorite because everything felt like it was a rush. Like the book had to end so everything had to happen more quickly and it wasn't good after reading a slow romance story.<spoiler>When Jazz's little sister started hurrying Chance to accept being his boyfriend was a little bit weird for me, I think I would have liked it more if it was a moment shared only by Jazz and Chance.</spoiler>

Talking about that, it was incredible to see that it wasn't love at first sight like I was thinking. Chance definitely felt attraction at first sight but his love started growing after they talked more and spent some time together.

Honestly, there are soo many aspects I want to talk about but I think it's better if you go and read the book and then we can discuss all of them. I would definitely recommend it even if it's just to read about the important topics I mentioned.

My first impressions were less than keen. Chance is in-your-face, flamboyant and seemingly following every gay stereotype you could think of. But the first-person narrative means we also see Chance’s more vulnerable side.
We are privileged to see him battle with his feelings about gender and his confusion over labels and how others perceive him. We watch him interact with his best friend, and I got quite absorbed in his quest to make the object of his affections fall for him.
The story is simple. How do you know whether someone is attracted to you, and how can you be true to yourself? There’s plenty of hating from some of the characters around Chance, but it was good to see him face these events with gusto.
By the end I could overlook the exuberance of the writing and was totally under his spell. A character you can’t help but root for.
Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this prior to publication.

I really wanted to like this, because YA needs more genderfluid protagonists and more queer relationships. But honestly, the narrator was so annoying that I had to DNF this at 30%. The overuse of weird slang made the book incredibly hard to read, and it really felt as though the author had smushed together an episode of Drag Race with a list of 2006 slang ("rawr" and "smexy", really? I haven't heard those since I was 14. Kids today are not saying that.). In fact, I wonder if this was written back then, as there's nothing relevant to today's teenagers mentioned in the section I read either - you're telling me that loud, self-obsessed Chance wouldn't have Instagram and Facebook?

This one was really not for me. I'd be very interested to see some own voices reviews of this, since it seems like it covers important and under-shown issues that teens should have a chance to read about.

Chance, a high school student unsure of their gender identity, meets Jasper after not noticing him at work and at school, and wants him to fall in love with them. With the help of their best friend Emily, Chance attempts strategies found online to try to get Jasper to fall in love with them, and, as the title suggests, even tries out a love spell or two. My problem was that Chance reminded me way too much of a specific real life drag queen that comes off as super fake and overuses slang (“smize,” etc.). It really irked me. I definitely appreciated the author’s portrayal of Chance as someone unsure of their gender identity, and perhaps the personality traits I mentioned were there because Chance was insecure and felt the need to be “fake.” That seems to be the case when Chance uses the list of strategies to get Jasper to fall in love with them. I do feel like there needed to be more development in terms of their families (ie Chance’s semi-emotionally neglectful parents and more on how that really affected him, more on Jasper’s family and more scenes with Chance with Jasper and his sister), and I didn’t feel like the bullying subplot was entirely resolved. I thought there weren’t enough scenes and interactions between Chance and Jasper, which was unfortunate because Jasper’s character seemed sweet, but for me he came off as very standoffish for a lot of the book. I was happy enough with the ending - I just wish there had been more development overall.