First of all, I would like to thank @netgalley and the publisher for letting me read that book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Rating: 3,5 ⭐️

Read if you like:

✨️Friends to Lovers,
✨️Magic,
✨️Cinnamon roll MMC,
✨️Time travel
✨️Sisterly love.

It was a charming and romantic read that I quite enjoyed. I really liked the friends to lovers trope in this story and a lack of third act break-up. I enjoyed reading about two likeable main characters and their way to find themselves. The writing style was nice and easy to read.

I like it well enough but i could not find myself pleased with the aspect of magical realism which I normally love. I didn't speak to me this time.

Overall, it's a funny and sweet story.

THIS WAS SO STINKIN’ GOOD 😫

Highlights:
- the ANGST
- the witchy love spells/alternate timeline
- DAXON
- “goodnight Gemma McGuire” 💀💀💀💀
- FRIENDS TO LOVERS!!!!
- the banter!!

I went into this book so blind. I had no idea what it was going to be like and boy was I absolutely flabbergasted with angst.
Just imagine you meet your boyfriend and your best friend on the same night. Four years later, you break up with your shitty ex, and you just want to pretend it never happened so you do a witchy ritual for fun, completely drunk with your best friend, sister and weird bookstore Aunt. And then you end up in an alternate reality.
How does she go back to her timeline when she realizes she made a huge mistake?

This was so wonderful.
Aside from the timeline being very quick, I really enjoyed it.

🌶️🌶️ (descriptive spice scenes)

Thank you to Penguin General UK – Fig Tree and Kate Robb for letting me have an ARC copy of This Spells Love to review!

A promising debut by Kate Robb who’s written a fun-whimsical, romantic comedy featuring to friends-lovers lovers trope with a sprinkling of magic and a dash of spice. While there isn’t as much explanation about how the magic happened, I loved the premise of glimpsing what life might have been like if we made a different choice or hadn’t met that one person. How would it change our lives today? It's intriguing thought, how your life might upturn your world by landing you with a thump into a parallel reality where life as you knew it was completely rewritten.

The writing is entertaining, funny, and with a cosy flow of pacing. Kate Robb writes a sweet, heart-warming romance with hilarious banter and Dax’s comical tight pants. The story keeps you on the edge of your seat with the chaos of Gemma adjusting to her new life situation and embracing the chemistry between her and Dax (which is a spicy sizzle). I appreciated the book didn’t drill down into examining Gemma’s life choices but gave her insights into what she was capable of and what she could achieve upon returning to her universe.

Kate Robb writes beautifully flawed, authentic and quirky characters who leaped off the page. A loveable crew of great side characters fill the page – Aunt Livi is going to steal everyone’s heart as their favourite aunt and Kiersten as the sister we all want to take us for coffee and doughnuts.

Gemma was a relatable character, I think everyone could connect with her. I mean who has never contemplated what if at some point especially after a bad haircut, decision, or a break-up? She’s in a chaotic stage in her life and the change of reality leaves her flummoxed. She chases her tail at times as she tries to orient herself in her new life situation while trying to get back to her old life and finds herself falling for the alternative Dax. Gemma’s character arc is wonderfully illustrated as she grows to appreciate the small things and finds her own strength to live the life she wants.

Dax is such a cinnamon roll – genuine caring, patient, and truly sees Gemma as a person. He adores Gemma in her universe. The first kiss with Dax was practically ripping out my heart and screaming inwardly. Everyone else could see how much Dax was in love with Gemma (I’m sure the ex knew too). In the alternative world, Dax graciously accepts Gemma’s crazy that storms into his life. He’s a little more gruff, cautious, closed off and only trusting his closest friends. It’s incredible to see the impact Gemma had on Dax’s life, which is just breaking even, but not thriving. Dax grows to be bolder, and more trusting, riding the rapids of life and sharing his troubles with Gemma allowing them to grow closer and fall in love.

An insightful love story showing the importance of seeing people, taking risks, living as your authentic self, and not changing yourself for love. With an interesting twist at the end. You can't help but root for Gemma and Dax to get their happy ending.

I received this book in exchange for a honest review.

Really not for me at all unfortunately. Not a fan of the writing either. This book works for some. A lot of people seem to like it. I just found it quite cringey and easy to predict. I didn't find the characters likeable.

This was such a fun read! I loved the magical elements and the way that the plot developed. It gave me practical magic vibes which is always a good thing in my opinion! I love a friends to lovers romance when it’s done well and this one absolutely was. It was so lovely to read and full of great characters. Definitely recommend!!

Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin for this E-arc.

3.5 stars rounded up. Tempting as it is, I'm not going to deduct points for the editing issues that continually yanked me out of the story as I tried to decipher incomplete sentences; as this is an ARC I'm going to hope that such a proliferation of missing letters and words will be caught in a further edit before release.
So, concentrating purely on the story... it's a great premise. Don't go expecting anything overly witchy though, because the spell of the title is merely the conduit for Gemma's Sliding Doors/It's A Wonderful Life/'what if I'd never met the boyfriend who just dumped me' shift. The execution of said premise mostly works, although it felt a bit clunky in places, particularly in the relationship between Gemma and Dax. I found it difficult to get to grips with either of their characters; I think some more exposition on Gemma's background would have helped to explain some of her behaviour, and there wasn't enough of the two of them together in their original best-friends form before they became essentially strangers (at least on his side) and then suddenly (and a little awkwardly) accelerated into something more. As first novels go, though, there was a strong and humorous voice in there, and that made for a quick and fun read.

A friends-to-lovers, small town romcom with a delightfully magical twist. This was such a fun read, with just enough chaos and mayhem to let you know it's a romcom.

When picking up This Spells Love, you can expect:

👫 friends to lovers
🔮 witchy rom com
🌶️ spice
🕰️ time slip
🌎 alternate reality

I read this in a few hours because I genuinely couldn’t put it down. It is so cosy, unique, heartwarming and hilarious.

I will say that from the moment Gemma woke up in her alternate reality, I had such strong 13 Going on 30 vibes! If you’re a fan of that film (because, who isn’t?) you’ll see what I mean and you’ll love it. 🙏🏻💛

The characters are so likeable and relatable, plus Dax is majorly swoon-worthy 👀

You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll giggle and kick your feet… I really can’t recommend this one enough. I loved every second of it!

This Spells Love was a lovely friends-to-lovers rom com with a parallel timeline twist ✨

Gemma, the FMC, has a drunken evening with her sister, Kiersten, her Aunt Livi, and her best friend, Dax. Following a breakup with her long-term boyfriend (and one too many margaritas) they manage to cast a spell which causes Gemma to wake up in an alternate universe where she never met her ex-boyfriend. Things take a turn when she realises this means she’s also never met her best friend, Dax.

The plot was fun, engaging and sometimes frustrating, with a few spicy scenes thrown in for good measure! The main characters were well written. I didn’t always love Gemma and found her selfish at times, but I think that made her character more realistic - no one likes a little miss perfect! I also really loved the friendships and relationships of the side characters, they all added to the depth of the story.

I recommend this book to anyone who loves a fun, spicy, feel-good rom com, with a friends to lovers storyline.

I will add a side note that whilst the title suggests it, and there is a spell at the start of the novel, this book isn’t a witchy read at all - more of a time slip type situation!

Thank you to the author, Kate Robb, NetGalley and the publisher, Penguin General UK for the eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This was a cute read. The pacing was a little hit and Miss but the characters were cute. Gave sliding doors vibes.

I love this book. It’s your usual from friends to lovers but with an actually exciting twist.
I think I just love parallel universes maybe where I get to see the “what ifs” play out. What if we never met someone, what if we never said a certain thing, what if…?! The wondering stops and welcome to your alternate timeline.
Which is exactly what happened to Grace when she wishes she never met her now ex.
Overall 4⭐️ on my rating, loved the story line and could barely put it down.

This Spells Love by Kate Robb 📕

💫 “… must be thinking of your other boyfriend.” My heart bangs so hard that I worry there’s damage. I can’t even focus on my screw-up because unless my ears have temporarily malfunctioned, Dax just dropped the b-word. “Yup. I just did that,” Dax says as if reading my mind.

Gemma participates in a drunken spell with her Aunt and sister one night after having too many margaritas. She wishes that she had never met her ex-boyfriend who she has recently broken up with. She wakes the next morning in a parallel world where she has never met him. That also means she has never met her extremely attractive male best friend but, in this world, they don’t have a four year friendship holding them back from something more.

My review 📖:
I was hooked on this book from Chapter One. The strongest first chapter I have read in a long time. I was laughing out loud and really enjoyed reading it.

I thought Dax’s character was a really nice guy because he was caring and considerate and I also enjoyed the relationship between Gemma and her sister. There was also a good amount of spice in the book and it was well-written.

But then chapters 20 and 24 came and I suddenly felt like Gemma had a personality transplant. Yes she was still self-absorbed and risk-averse due to the trauma of her childhood but all of a sudden, she was self-centred, oblivious to anyone else’s needs and rude.

Indeed, the side of her that came out whilst cajoling Dax to come to her interview with her, forcing him to close shop for the day without a second thought as to what that would mean for him, was so off-putting. I really don’t think that side of her would have been attractive to Dax who had only known this Gemma for a few weeks (and not the Dax from the parallel world who she had four years of friendship with). This segment reduced my overall enjoyment of the book. I felt it went a little too far in trying to show that side of Gemma.

However, the ending of the book was cute and the final line by Dax was an amazing way to end it.

Overall, a great debut Novel by Kate and I look forward to her next book.

My score: 4/5 ⭐️

Available on pre-order. Publication date 7th December 2023.

Thank you #netgalley and #penguinukbooks for the eARC 🙂

I wanted to read this because of spells and magic but there are no witchy vibes in this story at all. I was so disappointed. Outside of the spell they do right at the start which they joked around with when they were drunk, my expectations were set and it felt like a let down.

It sounded like a great premise, if you met your best friend for the first time all over again would you still be best friends? And obviously it leads to romance. But Dax in the new timeline is such a different person, they're 2 separate people but that doesnt make any impact on our main character who went between them both.

Not to mention she is the most irritating, annoying, selfish character that made it incredibly hard to like her. I didnt care at all what happened to her and I wasn't invested at all in her relationship. Dax can do so much better, i didnt enjoy this read.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin General UK for the e-arc!

A break up so bad , she wished it never happened...

A drunken spell to forget her ex-boyfriend lands Gemma in an alternate timeline where she discovers the effects of the magic. Not only did she ever meet her ex-boyfriend, she never met his extremely handsome best friend.

No longer having a history of friendship (and not being his best friend's ex), will Gemma and Dax find something more?

A fun, easy-read rom-com. I enjoyed seeing Gemma's character develop a bit, especially as she learned that don't always have to take the safe choice. It's interesting reading from the perspective where the character gets to see what their life would actually be like if different choices were made. It makes you wonder whether those 'what ifs' are actually worth the thought or not.

This Spells Love releases December 5th 2023.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin General UK - Fig Tree for giving me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

I was really looking forward to reading This Spells Love because I love magic and anything supernatural. I was quite disappointed that the book wasn't magical apart from the spell that is done at the beginning. I thought there were hints of a character possibly being into magic but nothing was done with them. I liked Gemma and Dax's love story but Dax wasn't the "real" Dax for the most of the book.

Not for me, I’m afraid. Hallmark Wattpad might be a good description of the writing, which isn’t a bad thing necessarily, but it’s also highly predictable and cringey. Great idea and concept but the execution just isn’t for me. I do think lots will like this but it’s not my thing.

I really enjoyed this best friends to lovers story and the magical element of time travel. It was a good way to see what life may have been like had different decisions were made in Gemma's life and I think we can all relate to that. Gemma was also able to see how life would have been different for the people around her and compare that to what life is like for them in her current timeline.

Gemma learns a lot about herself and I feel like she really grew as a person, she was no longer someone who always went for the safe option. She saw that taking chances could work out for her in the alternate timeline and that helps her gain the confidence to do the same thing in her proper timeline.

I felt like I could connect with Gemma in a lot of ways. I've often wondered what would have happened had I made different decisions at key points in my life - would things have worked out? Would I have been happy? Definitely makes you think!

Thanks to NetGalley, Penguin General UK & Viking for the opportunity to read and review this ARC

Even though I’m not a huge fan of friends to lovers trope, this was such a unique and original take on it, that I couldn’t help but enjoy it. When recently heartbroken Gemma performs a spell to forget her ex-boyfriend, she wakes up in a parallel universe where the last 4 years of her life happened very differently. Not only did she not meet her ex, she also never met her best friend Dax, who now has no idea who she is.
I loved the premise of this book, I mean who wouldn’t want to perform a spell to forget a tough breakup or wish for your life to have gone a different path? I expected the book to grapple more with the “what if” question of the matter, or the introspection of the main character about the choices we make in life and their outcome - but the approach was more lighthearted and surface level. Other than that, it was an enjoyable read.
Thank you NetGalley, Random House and Dial Press Trade for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

✔️rom-com
✔️friends to lovers
✔️sister love
✔️different timeline

This was a fun, whimsical, magical and romantic story. I truly enjoyed most of it. It was such a fun and intriguing concept to read about. I loved the romantic plotline between Gemma and Dax. But I hoped for a bit more, especially between Gemma and Dax from the other timeline.

I loved the growth Gemma has during the book and how she started to believe and trust more in herself. And be brave enough to jump and chase her dreams and true love. She was a fun and inspiring character to read, for sure.

I loved Dax as well; he is such a wonderful guy. But I needed more of him from the actual timeline Gemma was from. I loved how supportive and steadfast he was with Gemma, though. He's a keeper, for sure.

Also, one of the things I loved the most was the sister relationship between Gemma and Kirsten. I loved how they supported each other through it all and how they were always there for each other.

Even though it wasn't five stars, I still liked it enormously, and I know many people will love it too.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the digital ARC!

This was an enjoyable read with characters who were will written and fully fleshed out! I loved that the side characters felt real - Kiersten felt like a person with her own life and issues, not just there for her sister. This is even tackled directly in the book, which I appreciated!

The concept of this is that Gemma has broken up with her partner of 4 years and undergoes a love cleanse spell with her sister, aunt and her best friend, Dax. She's been best friends either Dax for 4 years, and it seems a case of him missing his chance initially but they ended up great best friends. They understand each other perfectly and get on so well - true best friends on the same wavelength.

The love cleanse goes wrong, though, and Gemma wakes in an alternate reality where Dax doesn't know who she is, she owns her own business and is living somewhere entirely different. Despite the big changes in her life, the biggest issue for her is that she no longer has her BFF, Dax, anymore. So, she goes about trying to get him back.

As you might expect, things don't go the way she hopes and she starts to view Dax as an attractive, single man and not just as her attractive male best friend. But things in this reality are more complicated than she first thought, and she has to make some serious decisions.

Dax and Gemma were so sweet together. Even in a new reality where he doesn't know her, they get on so well that it's almost supernatural. They have the best friend telepathy going even though they haven't even known each other a month. Their bond is clearly strong - even across dimensions.

The character development of Gemma was great - she saw what her life could be if she just let go a little, and how well it was going. Jumping into things might be scary, but sometimes it can work. Her realisation of seeing Dax as a viable romantic partner was great and believable, and I was happy it worked out.

Despite the whole love cleanse spell, there's actually no fantasy elements to this. There's the spell, and one moment where it's clear some people know more, and her aunt acts a bit odd, but otherwise it's a normal romance. Excluding that she's in an alternate reality, of course.

The only real thing I found weird in this was the authors insistent use of the world 'penis'. This sounds dumb, but it's used so frequently and I'm so not used to this in smut scenes that it kept throwing me. Silly, but yeah.