I love a witchy romance so I was excited for This Spells Disaster. This sapphic romance follows potion maker Morgan as she drunkenly offers to fake date her crush Rory Sandler, spell-casting champion, when she finds outs Rory needs a distraction from her overbearing parents. But as things feel real, Morgan realizes she may have mixed up her relaxation potion for Rory and may have given her a love potion instead. I loved the festival this story took place at—the magic is whimsical and creative and I just loved how developed and full their community felt. What I had a hard time with was Morgan. I feel so conflicted cause on one hand, she was so negative and hard on herself, but on the other, my heart just broke for her. She is so lost and her last toxic relationship left her with so much self doubt, I wanted to give her the biggest hug. What was hard is so much of this conflict relied on the miscommunication trope that it just got super frustrating to root for Morgan and Rory because Morgan couldn’t be honest with Rory—and Rory was great. She grows; she’s able to get is vulnerable with Morgan and she’s funny. The writing is very witty though, I loved the banter of Rory and Morgan in their good moments, the community, and the creative store names (including Morgan’s family shop Bed, Bath and Brooms). I just wish there had been more growth for Morgan and more communication for these two that are really perfect for each other. Still, it’s a very fun fall read.

This Spells Disaster by Tori Anne Martin is a magical romance. Pun fully intended.

Sparks *literally* fly between hot mess Morgan and everyone's favorite witch Rory. Between the charming fake dating and the blossoming sapphic relationship is a very serious thread about consent and self-actualization. And the fact that it's mostly set at a witch's festival/summer camp makes it all that more magnificent.

If you like Practical Magic and The Love Hypothesis, you're gonna love This Spells Disaster.

I had high hopes going into This Spells Disaster and felt it may be a fantastic book to get me into "witchy reads" season. While I enjoyed some parts of this book, the pacing was a little slow for my taste.

Morgan is Rory's crush and the woman she would love to be with forever. So, when Rory asks for Morgan to fake date her during the Witches' festival, she feels like it's too good to be true. Things are going well (on the fake dating front) until Morgan realizes she did the unthinkable: used a true love potion on Rory. In order to break the spell, she must show her that they cannot ever be together. Morgan + Riley = a recipe for disaster.

Fake dating seems to be THE trope of 2023. While this book did well setting up the premise, I needed Morgan to communicate more! Readers are tied in to Morgan's thoughts and ideas thorughout the book, instead of her often speaking to Riley and asking her for her feelings. I did enjoy the author's cute names for things and overall atmosphere she crated. I am interested to see what comes next from Tori Anne Martin!

I’m not completely finished with this book yet, only because the mood reading drew me to more creepy and gothic books lately. But I immediately I knew it was going to be a five star book, so I wanted to send you my feedback.

I love the atmosphere, the magic, the main characters, and the romance between them. I also LOVE the potion making! There’s not enough potion making in the witchy books I read!

In my opinion, this is the perfect witchy chic lit book. It’s exactly the type of witchy book I gravitate towards. And the fake dating trope is done perfectly.

This is also my favorite witchy book cover that I’ve ever seen !! I can’t wait to get a physical copy.

I included this in my witchy TBR video for fall and will post a full, detailed review of it once I’m done! Thank you so much for sending me an ARC of this! It’s so adorable and perfect!

Definitely comparable to my favorite reads like Paybacks a Witch and A Witches Guide to Fake Dating a Demon!

5⭐️

This Spells Disaster is a charming new addition to the growing witch romance subgenre, and it's going to be a big favorite with those of you who love the miscommunication trope. I admit to mixed feelings, both for the book and the trope: parts of This Spells Disaster were adorable. I really liked (for the most part) the chemistry between our two leads, and the worldbuilding Martin did around her witchy world. However, the miscommunication trope is a fickle beast, and there comes a time where you have to give a good reason why your two leads can't just talk it out. Begging them to "OPEN YOUR MOUTHS AND EXPLAIN THE PROBLEM" is fun at first... until it's not. Until the third time that they had the perfect opportunity to communicate and they still didn't and the reasons for why are thin at best.

But I fully acknowledge that this opinion is subjective! Some readers really enjoy having that (oh so painful) miscommunication tension drawn out as long as possible, and if that's you? Wow, is this going to be the book for you! Over all: sweet, cute, clever, but sagged a bit in the middle and really needed an secondary or tertiary conflict to shore it up. That one mistake couldn't quite carry the weight.

Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for the eARC of This Spells Disaster in exchange for my honest review!

I really enjoyed the vibes of this story, but I didn’t love the writing and the actual plot. I think this could have been really fun, but it was brought down by the miscommunication trope. I feel like it would have benefitted from being multi-POV (but I feel this way about most romances). Slow paced and mostly told instead of shown.

Love the F/F representation, but wish the book would have been more solid.

Hmm. This should've been a highlight of my reading month but sadly it was just sort of meh for me. Miscommunication isn't my favorite at the best of times but I think literally everyone but Morgan knew she didn't do what she thought she did except for Morgan. Including the reader. I think maybe this would have benefitted from being multiple POVs? I was just really annoyoed with Morgan by the end.

I really did love the world and the vibe of it. I'd love to get a drink at the Empty Chalice or go to Bed, Bath, and Broom. And Lillith was my favorite character 😂

Gosh I absolutely adored this one! Sexy, sweet, angsty, hilarious, swoony, allllll the adjectives. I loved the conversations about traumas and consent, and living under expectations. Fans of Lana Harper will love this queer witchy romcom!

I didn't love this. It was not remarkably bad, but rather unremarkable among contemporary witchy romances, sapphic romances, and fake dating trope stories. After drunkenly making the suggestion, potion brewer Morgan fake-dates Rory to get Rory's parents off her back; they're a pretentious, prestigious political family, her mother being on the Witch Council.

Both a slow start and writing that was difficult to immerse myself in did this story a disservice. And also the miscommunication trope; felt like someone poured a bit too much of that into the brew here. And Morgan is simultaneously full of self-doubt and anxiety, yet thinks she managed to make a historical whopper of a love potion. It was unfortunate she was our narrator the entire time.

I enjoyed the worldbuilding though, very Practical Magic urban fantasy vibes. Morgan's a potion-maker and often messing with herbs and things to help the family business - called Bed, Bath, and Broom, haha.

I had some extraneous good notes, too - a very cute cover, and the author's abundant explanation & TW about consent in line with the potential of love spells was a very comforting inclusion.

Very excited to see F/F, but ultimately the slow pace and telly writing made this a bit difficult to get through.

I really liked this book. I loved the romance between the main characters and I spent the whole book rooting for them. I also adored this world. I have always wanted to live in a magical world and this one felt so real.

What a fun enjoyable read. I loved rooting for Morgan and Rory, and wished I lived in the world they live in. Heartfelt and earnest, that budding love between them was so believable and it kept me turning pages. Highly recommend if you want a feel good romantic love story!

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for this Advanced Readers Copy of This Spells Disaster by Tori Anne Martin!

3.5 rounded down to 3

This is such a cute story and I had a fun time reading it!

I loved the fake dating, but wish there was less miscommunication. It felt like most of the conflict wouldn’t have happened if Morgan just talked to Rory instead of assuming her feelings.

Both Morgan and Rory (the two main characters) were well rounded characters! I would have liked for the side characters to have more of a personality, a lot of them fell flat for me.

I would definitely love another book set in this universe because the competitions and covens were super interesting! There is so much more we don’t know about the magic, and I also think it would be fun to get a prequel about Rory competing.

Thank you Berkeley and NetGalley for the advanced eBook!

I had a lot of fun with this book. Thank the stars and the publishing houses that witches are back in favor. This book was absolutely entertaining. I love a fake dating setup and how I would have loved to attend a witchy festival like NEWT. I cared for both Rory and Morgan and appreciated that the author address the consequences of potions messing with free will. This could easily fit with the thistle grove witches created by Lana Harper. So if you like one, you’ll like the other. Highly recommend. More please!

This is a delightful and magical romance novel that will cast a spell on readers. With its endearing characters, clever dialogue, and a touch of enchantment, this book is a delightful escape into a world where love and laughter intertwine. Fans of lighthearted romances, witchy tales, and sparkling chemistry will find themselves utterly charmed by Morgan and Rory's journey to discover if their connection is simply an illusion or a true bewitching love story.

thank you net galley for an arc of this book.
all opinions are my own.

*actual rating is 2.5?*.

This was.... okay? I honestly can't even say what it is I didn't like, it just wasn't for me. I wanted to love this. I went in hoping to swoon over an adorable lesbian couple and ended up feeling nothing. And the "nothing" Is honestly the problem for me. I didn't hate anything about it. but I also didn't love anything. I honestly didn't care about the relationship. When they finally kissed, I didn't get the exciting heart stopping feeling I usually do when I love a romance. When they argued, I didn't get upset with them. I wasn't rooting for them, because I didn't feel much chemistry - and maybe that's because the book is spent through the point of view of a woman who thinks it's impossible for the other to have chemistry with her. Maybe I would have enjoyed this more if we got to see Rory's point of view as well, something to go against the pure self loathing of Morgan believing that nobody could possibly love her. I understand self consciousness, believe me. But when the whole book is just "no way she loves me I'm horrible no redeeming qualities", it starts to become a downer and not fun to read. It would have been nice to see some of Rory's internal thoughts about Morgan and about their relationship.

Thank you to Tori Anne Martin, Berkley Romance, and NetGalley for this arc in exchange for my honest review. “This Spells Disaster” will be available September 12th, 2023!

This was a really cute sapphic witchy romance! It started out a little slow, but once it picked up it was easier to get into. I do wish that this book would’ve had dual POVs. It would’ve been nice to have a break from Morgan’s internal dialogue and see what was going on in Rory’s thoughts. Without seeing what Rory was thinking it very much gave off the vibe of insta love. It also feels like readers are swimming in miscommunication, because all we read about it Morgan’s internal freak out.

All of that said, I did really enjoy reading about Morgan and Rory’s relationship and their relationships with their friends and families. I just felt like their story was missing something.

Book Rating:⭐️⭐️⭐️

An incredibly fun story that covers all of the tropes I love like fake dating and magical love potions and misunderstandings when real feelings come in to play.

The characters were well written with just enough depth and uniqueness to keep them interesting and the plot had all the right highs and lows for a magical romance. Its definitely a little cheesy but also a lot of fun if you dont take some of it too seriously!

Two witches find themselves in a very complicated disaster when fake dating, love potions, and very real feelings are thrown in the mix. Morgan Greenwood is a potion making witch and she’s been secretly in love with bartender and talented bad ass witch Rory Sandler since forever. Morgan has never had the courage to ask out Rory, in fact she thinks that Rory is out of her league... but when Rory complains about an ex visiting during the annual festival and coming with her parents, Morgan thinks it’s the perfect opportunity to propose to fake date Rory, despite the fact that Morgan is very much in love with her. Morgan thinks this is the only chance she can get to be close to Rory, but the more time she spends with her the more she is getting confused between what’s real and what’s fake. Yet when a potion that Morgan makes might actually be a very illegal love potion, Morgan knows she messed up yet she doesn’t know if she can tell Rory the truth that she might have violated her free will or if she can secretly find the antidote and cure her without her knowing... the only problem is that Rory keeps pulling her in closer no matter how much Morgan tries to get her to dislike her. Can these two witches figure out their relationship and what their feelings for each other actually are??? or is it all just a potion? This was an okay witchy rom com that mainly relies on the huge misunderstanding and lack of communication between Rory and Morgan. I just didn’t really find myself that invested in the relationship between Rory and Morgan, however I feel like that might just be a me problem. It was an okay romance read, it just didn’t really wow me or make me feel very invested. If you like cute witchy romances give this one a go!

*Thanks Netgalley and Berkley Publishing Group, Berkley for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*