This book was so cute! I loved the premise: Gaia, a successful romance author has magical abilities. When she writes a scene she often dreams it as if she is the main character. But she is allowed to deviate from the original scene she wrote and no one else is. When she starts to fall for her best friend's brother she begins to write about him and suddenly he's appearing in her dreams, too. How is this happening? Can her magic do more than she thought it could?
This contemporary romance had all the makings of a great love story. I liked the characters and the main plot. Some of the side storylines were unnecessary and were hard to follow. The writing was a little repetitive and it felt like the story dragged at times.
Overall I liked the story and I would read more from this author. Thank you to NetGalley for the chance to read and review this ARC.

I was expecting this to be just a regular old contemporary romance about a romance author, but there's a twist! Gaia, the female main character, is a romance author, and this is a contemporary romance, but we learn early on that Gaia has a special kind of magic. Anything the she writes during the day comes true in her dreams that night. She uses this to inhabit her characters, to work through tough spots, and to finalize plots. She's had the magic since she turned 18, left the foster system, and went to uni. In this story, she's 30 and she's struggling with both social and generalized anxiety, and she finds herself hiding in a bedroom at a party hosted by her long-time best friend Seth. She doesn't expect to come across Seth's slightly younger brother, who she hasn't seen in years and with whom she has an immediate spark and chemistry. They make out, and suddenly Jacob is part of Gaia's dreams, playing the roles of the love interests in her novels. What she doesn't realize initially is that he is having these dreams too, and sharing in her magic. I loved that this infused some freshness into a pretty standard contemporary romance story, and I definitely plan to read more Therese Beharrie.

This book has one of the cutest chemistry between main characters that I've read. I enjoy how witty and cute Jacob and Gaia's banters and playful remarks are to each other. I also liked how the author gave depth to these characters and how they really felt human to me. The only thing that made me not love this book is the writing. This book could've been shorter if some of the paragraphs and sentences were either deleted or rewritten to a much more concise version. This is especially true to Gaia's POV where repetitions of thoughts and sentences are almost always present. At first, I really don't mind. But after some time, I cannot unsee all of the repetitions and it actually made me feel bored and slumpy. Nonetheless, I still want to commend the author for writing these characters and her awesome characterization of them, especially our leads' chemistry.

I really enjoyed this book. Gaia and Jacob were awesome characters. Both had depth to them. I loved the layers in the story. Gaia's relationship with Jacob. Her relationship with her best friend Seth. Jacob's relationship with Seth, his brother. And then there was Gemma. The depiction of anxiety and panic attacks was done well. The magical element of the story was interesting. The romance was wonderful. I can't wait for Gemma's story.

A writer who can experience everything she writes in her dream? Yes, please!

I liked the story in general, it was interesting to see Gaia and Jacob interacting in real life and her dreams, but sometimes I found myself skipping some paragraphs because I felt the pacing was a little slow and repetitive, which made me lose interest in the story at the end.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for the ARC of the ebook. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

How I would want to be Gaia sometimes is hilarious *smile*

This is my first Therese Beharrie book and thus i am grateful to Zebra Books for my e-ARC in exchange for an honest review . This book follows Gaia a successful romance novelist with magical abilities - when she writes down a scene, she gets to live it out in her dreams *gasp*.Things get interesting when she has a 'situation' with her workaholic best friend's brother Jacob.

Loved the plot, warmed up to the brothers best friend trope and the character development .

I didn't connect with this. At all. Not with the characters, not with the story, or the relationship at all. The story was okay. I thought I would like the romance more but it wasn't the case.

"And They Lived Happily Ever After" is not your typical best friends brother romance as it adds a little dream magic twist and focuses a lot on anxiety and questioning your happiness in life and work.

After her parents died in a car crash when she was two and Gaia ended up in the foster care system she finally stands on her own two feet and has supposedly achieved all her dreams. She is a successful romance author, she has her own apartment and garden, and her one close friend Seth. Helping her with all that is the fact that ever since she's eighteen whatever she wrote played out in her dreams and offered a different reality to escape into. Being dragged to a party by her best friend Seth she meets his brother while hiding in a bedroom and not only do Gaia and Jacob flirt but they also make out - which not only leads to a change in Gaia's relationships, but also her dreams.

I think Gaia is a great protagonist and I related to her in more ways than one. Not only do I also write and like to hide in fiction, but facing anxiety is a big struggle. Gaia's struggle with that was even more important than the romance for me in this book (those two things worked perfectly hand in hand while not appearing like romance "fixed" issues Gaia had).
Jacob is wonderful, not only for his humor and wit, but also because his struggles, his guilt, fatigue and want are so clearly shown and relatable it makes him seem real. I loved his relationship with Gaia, despite all the stepping stones they had, and I think it was important that we saw his progress.
Also have I mentioned this book has Dual POV? I am always in love with that.
I wish we could have gotten a little more content with Seth and Gemma before the last 20% of the book, as those storylines were very important and interesting (I was not the biggest fan of Seth for most of the book, but I will simply assume that was kinda of intentional).

The writing is easy to understand and flows naturally while discussing important issues like mental illness, grief and the foster care system. I loved the glimpse of Cape Town we got, the writing process being outlined and the comments on the publishing world.
This is a romance that hits hard, and not just because you're rooting for the main couple.
I think the ending could have been a little more stretched out (I just wanted more fluff let's be honest) but man am I excited for Gemma's and Levi's book now. Like I need it right now.
This book was right up my alley and I can only recommend it if you enjoy a romance that goes deep.

It was a struggle to get through this book. I wasn't able to connect with Gaia from the very beginning. This isn't my normal genre so maybe that's why. The premise is very intriguing, though.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book.

This book is great! Would definitely recommend. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

DNF @ 40%

I really liked the sound of this book because it had the magical realism that I really enjoy. But I struggled to connect to and like the characters. And I'm sure all the details of Gaia's magic would come through as I got further into the book, but it was a struggle. I found myself skipping paragraphs and wanting to just get to the end.

This was a very different book to any I have ever read before. It’s contemporary with a hint of magic inside?

The story follows 30 year old romance author, Gaia who was an orphan and is now living her life free away from the foster care system.

Straight away you are introduced to the main love interest, Jacob, who is her best friends brother. I felt a mixture of second hand embarrassment to laughing away at the banter. It was a strange combination. After getting caught by Jacobs brother and Gaia best friend, Seth and the two go there separate ways only to be brought together again by the strange dreams that link the two involving in some different tropes for Gaia book, bringing the two closer together in each scene.

It a very different concept and I did find myself cringing a lot throughout their interactions. When I had originally read the story line I was very intrigued but t
I wasn’t a fan of the pacing and had to re-read a lot of the time because I was very confused between the dream and real life.

Despite this I also enjoyed their chemistry between the two and highlighted a lot! I really liked the rep for mental health and related to her a lot of the time. I also liked how the author mentioned the difficulty she experienced as being a POC and her upbringing in the foster care system but how it didn’t stop the MC being a badass who’s story I really loved to follow.

Overall I did enjoy this book but there was quite a few times where I had higher expectations. But if you want to read a cutesy rom-com with mental health rep then this may be for you!

Thank you Netgalley and publishers for allowing me the chance to read and review this ARC.

I picked this book mainly because of its intriguing blurb. I really wanted to like this book, it had a great premise but unfortunately I didn't enjoy reading this book. I couldn't connect with the characters and couldn't relate to their bonding. Nothing about either character jumped out at me, and all I took away from them was how much he was obsessed with her boobs.

Thank you netgalley for this ARC.

The blurb sounded interesting to me. I wasn't able to get into the book because of the pacing of the story and how the timelines was written. It was a little bit confusing to follow between the two different worlds.

Thank you Netgalley and publishers for allowing me the chance to read and review. One star due to not being able to finish early on.

The premise of this romance is pure gold - an author who literally lives out the romance novels she's writing in her dreams. Yes, please! It's the reason I initially requested this book, but while I enjoyed that aspect, it was the other relationships in the book that pulled me in more more than the relationship between Gia and Jake. Gia and Gemma. Jake and his father. Jake and Seth (his brother and Gia's best friend. I really enjoyed the side stories, which makes me more excited for Gemma's story coming next. I would not classify this book as a romantic comedy, to be honest. It's a contemporary romance that has some humorous banter and dialogue but the issues raised pretty intensely, including anxiety and abandonment, are too weighty in my opinion.

A cute fast paced romance! This book was so cute and I loved the characters. I would definitely say this is a contemporary romance with just the right amount of spice.. Thank you to Kensington Books and Netgalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

I picked this book mainly because of its intriguing blurb. I really wanted to like this book but unfortunately I didn't. I couldn't connect with the characters and couldn't relate to their bonding. I'm not a fan of insta romance, plus the the romance felt kind of forced. Their conversations didn't really interest me.

Disappointed.

This story follows Gaia, who is a writer. She believes she has magic, because whatever she dreams appears on the paper.

This story was like a dream to me too. There was nothing I didn't love. Both the characters are flawed but you can clearly see the character development. I related to both of them so much and loved them a lot.

I would have liked to see Gaia and Seth's friendship more but I loved seeing Gaia and Jacob's attraction evolve into a great relationship.

I absolutely loved this one. It’s so so good. I loved the characters. They are written so well. T he story is so great! Cannot wait to read more from this author. 100% recommend!

Theresa Beharrie is a new-to-me author and I was so excited to dive into this as the cover is so gorgeous!

Gaia Anders is a successful romance author with a secret: when she writes, she dreams that same material. This has never posed a problem for her until one night when she shares an incredible kiss with Jacob Scott, the younger brother of her long time BFF Seth. Now Jacob has a starring role AND a front row seat in Gaia's dreams.. how will he handle finding out the truth and can Gaia get her own HEA?

This had so much heart and the perfect amount of steam while also tackling some more serious topics: grief/loss, mental health and foster care/abandonment. Gaia lost her parents very young and when remaining family members failed to take her in, she entered the foster care system. Because of this, she (understandably) struggles to open up and connect with others but Jacob just clicks with her in a way that up until now, only his brother Seth has been able to. Jacob is at the head of his family's company after his mother's dying wish, resulting in strained relationships with his father and brother and no time to pursue any interests or relationships outside of the job.

This isn't quite fade to black as we do have Gaia & Jacob's steamy first kiss and several other brief moments between the two but it's certainly more tame than some other rom-coms out there right now. However the buildup and the tension between these two is so well done, I didn't even miss any of the more explicit scenes. Also hello to Jacob, the consent king! He's so patient with Gaia as she struggles through handing intimacy outside of her dreams.

At first I wasn't quite certain of Gemma, a character we're introduced to in the beginning of the book, and how I felt about her - she was a little all over the place and I couldn't figure out what she was up to. However after reading the end of the book, I was excited to see that she is getting her own book so hopefully we'll get some more information about her 'relationship' that we got a glimpse of!

*I received an early digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*