Gemma has just split up from her safe, boring boyfriend of four years and she's devastated, after a lifetime of her older sister basically bringing her up because her parents were too flaky she was looking for dependable, a man with a ten year life plan.

When her kooky Aunt Livi tells her about a love cleansing spell she found in an old book she has just picked up for her New Age book shop Gemma decides to give it a whirl (alcohol may have been involved), in order for the spell to work it needs to be sealed with a kiss - and who better than Gemma's best friend Dax? In fact, if things had gone slightly differently four years ago Gemma and Dax might have been dating, but Stuart swept in with his confident swagger and the moment was lost. When Dax and Gemma kiss something clicks, but could Gemma risk losing her BFF if things went South? Gemma's not someone who likes change and unpredictability, she even makes her sister watch The Bachelor first so that she knows in advance who gets the rose. Gemma goes to bed thinking 'what if?'.

When Gemma wakes up she's no longer in her swanky apartment, she's in a strange man's bed, the doorman at her apartment doesn't know her, her phone has changed from an iPhone to a Samsung, the keys on her keyring are different and apparently she now lives in a grotty basement apartment. Worst of all, Dax doesn't even know her, in fact he suspects she's a stalker because she knows so much about him. It appears that Aunt Livi's spell has worked and since it can only take place at the time of a waning gibbous moon.

Things aren't all bad, the reason Gemma lives in such an awful apartment is that in this reality she has fulfilled her fantasy of opening a clean beauty shop, not far away from Dax's custom sneaker shop in fact. Some of her friends remain the same, although there are a few awkward moments when Gemma is greeted by people she's never met before. It turns out that the Gemma in this reality has done a lot of things that the other Gemma wanted to do but didn't because Stuart didn't like it or thought it would be a bad idea. Slowly Gemma comes to realise that she can try different things and experiment.

As Gemma gets to know the Dax in this reality she realises that she loves him (in either reality) and it seems as though this Dax is falling in love with her, but can she stay in this reality for love, fun, and the job of her dreams or should she return to her own reality with a job she only took for the salary and benefits, but has the advantage of her long-standing friendship with Dax?

Once again, I liked it but I didn't love it. I think the reader was waaaay ahead of Gemma in both realities and she seemed pretty self-absorbed, not noticing problems with her sister or Dax until long after they were first signalled. Also the book relied on Aunt Livi having psychic flashes at opportune times to move the plot along.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

*Thank you netgalley for the arc*

4.5⭐️
2.5🌶
Single POV
First person
Friends to lovers
Sliding doors

After drunkenly reading a spell to help her forget her ex boyfriend, Gemma finds herself in an alternative timeline. In this timeline, not only did she not meet her ex, but she also didn't meet her best friend.

I really enjoyed this book, it didn't just focus on the romance, but also had a lot of depth regarding life choices and the consequences of changing the past. This was such a great fast paced read with a nice amount of steam and some really cute moments.

Although I liked this book I didn't care much for the main character.

The book starts of with a 'heartbroken' Gemma after being broken up with by her boyfriend of 4 years Stuart.
We then meet her sister Kiersten and follow them to Aunt Livis where they are drinking tequila and convincing Gemma she's better off without him, with a book Aunt Livi got earlier decide to try a spell to make her forget about him. In comes best friend Dax who she just so happened to meet the same night of her ex.

Heartbreak, alcohol and witchcraft, what could go wrong? Or right....

What if she never met her ex, would she be happier? What if she also never met her best friend?
When she wakes up the next morning in a random bed she goes to the one person she expects to be there for her Dax, except he doesn't know who she is or why she has broken into his building.

What she does find is her shop Wild beauty which she always dreamt of opening but never did but somehow here it is and better than she imagined.

We follow her as she navigates this reality, tries to get Dax back as a best friend only for romance to spark instead.
With the help and her sister and her aunt she tries to find a way back to her life but lives a month in this reality where she learns more about the lives of the people around her and realises things she never noticed before and ways to help them.

I'm glad she makes it back to her timeline however I am disappointed that when she does get back the ground work for shop and what she wants has already been started by a different version of herself and I think the Gemma we've met missed the initial step/leap of her journey which is a bit of a let down as I was looking forward to seeing if/how she would start this next part in her life knowing that it could be a success. Instead I feel like she never got to make that decision.

Oh also honourable mention Frank the Spider... I'm glad he exists in both realities.


Thankyou NetGallery for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

I love the concept of this book. I think we all feel we wasted tok much time on someone that wasn't right for us at one point in our lives. I love the twist of her best friend of possibly more being erased from the picture as well. I think this nicel a great lesson that even if we have bad times we must not pinuch ourselves from them because it would erase the good memories as well.

A heartwarming, fun rom-com, featuring time travel/alternate universes, best friends to lovers and an overall 'feel good' factor.

Recently dumped, Gem wants to forget all about her ex. With a little bit of magic from a spell to help her forget, she ends up in an alternate universe - one where her best friend does not remember her. In this universe, things turn out a little bit differently to her own, one where she falls for her best friend.

💫
"Goodnight, Dax Mcquire," I call to him. "Goodnight Gemma Mcquire," he calls back.
"Slip of the tongue?"
He shrugs and smiles.
"Something like that."
💫

Would you travel to an alternate universe to change history?

Thank you to NetGalley and Publisher for this ARC, I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This Spells Love is a heart-warming adorable romance. I love what if?/right person wrong time trope and this fit perfectly in with a mix of magic. This was an incredibly sweet and cute rom-com with friends-to-lovers who have loads of chemistry between them. This was a rollercoaster ride, reminiscent of old rom-com's full of unique storylines, a cute couple and a perfect ending. Overall a wholesome story making a must-read romance for the summer.