This book has so much potential, and it's a bit sad that it only earns a 3-star rating from me.
It had all the right ingredients for a fantastic friends-to-lovers story: a pining cinnamon roll of a man, a second chance at creating something beautiful, and a dash of magical realism. The premise is intriguing, the writing is solid, and it's a quick read perfect for a lazy afternoon.

But it somehow veered into a strangers-to-lovers, who failed to communicate the extent of his struggles and a heroine more focused on herself than others. Gemma's egotism overshadowed everything; it took her a considerable amount of time to realise her selfishness, although she does redeem herself in the end.

I wanted to meet the original-timeline Dax, the one head over heels with our heroine, but it feels like we missed that opportunity. The connection between Dax and Gemma in the alternative timeline wasn't palpable. It seemed as if she was fixated on the original Dax, without truly knowing the parallel version. And for this precise reason, their entire relationship in the parallel universe feels rushed.

Despite the good spice, the repetitive use of the word "penis" made me cringe a bit.

Considering it's a debut novel, I'm looking forward to the author's next book, but I was hoping for more from this one.

.Friends to lovers
.Magic realism
.Second chance
.He falls first

This was absolutely fantastic. It was magical, whimsical and adorable and I had such a great time reading it that I am considering a re read right now as I am writing this.

The magical and witchery elements were super well integrated in the story and I feel like it all made sense. Like, it witchery existed, this is the kind of things that would totally happen.

I fell completely in love with the characters, especially Gemma and Dax, the main characters, but I have to say that all secondary characters were really well rounded up and had their own things going on that complemented the main plot really well.

All in all, a big triumph from Kate Robb for me. Definitely the perfect read to disconnect during the holiday!

I was immediately interested in this book as soon as I read the synopsis. Time travel, different realities, and romance? Sign me up! I love to see how lives would be different, and how one single action could have a larger impact in the future. So, when Gemma decided that she wished she could go back in time and erase her ex-boyfriend, and it magically happened, I was so intrigued about how that would impact her friendship with Dax.
First, I love friends-to-lovers. It is my favourite trope, so I was very keen to see how they would go from friends to lovers. However, when she travels in time, they are no longer friends from his pov, but they are from hers! How incredible is that?
Second, I felt like this book was so much more than a love story, I loved seeing Gemma’s personal growth and realising small things that she was too aloof to realise, like her sister’s dreams or Dax’s struggles.
Gemma and Dax’s love story was truly magical, and swoony, it felt so real that I fell in love with them too. By the time this book finished, it was so hard to accept that this story had an end. I truly and honestly loved this book so much that I’m sure it will be one of those stories that continue forever in the back of my mind, showing up and making me want to pick this book again and again.
Thanks to NetGalley UK and Penguin for sending me this advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was a cutesy read! I adored Gemma and I really understood her well. The writing kept me captivated and I needed to know what would happen next. A lovely light read that I am excited to read again.

This novel is the perfect combination between a fantastic love story and the author's fluid writing. I really liked it. The story is very well structured. The characters are vibrant. I highly recommend it.

This book was a sweet and cute read. It was lighthearted and easy, but still carried a meaningful message. I enjoyed the author’s prose, her sense of humor in her writing, and how the story flowed.
There are some things about the book that were not for me, but that’s not so much a critique on the author as much as just personal preferences for myself in what I enjoy reading.

Thanks to netgalley for the ARC!

I couldn't have loved this any more if I'd tried. I was hesitant at first that it was going to be 'just another romance' but the vividness of the characters, both the main love interests, but also the aunt and the sister it was such an enjoyable read. there are ups and downs and trials and tribulations, that left me cheering and grumbling, and hoping beyond hope that they'd get together! If you loved Freaky Friday or 13 going on 30 this book is for you.
I'll definitely be turning on notifications for Kate Robb so that I don't miss any of her future work.

I loved, loved, LOVED this ARC. I was fully enthralled in the plot, my heart sank, my heart was happy, and I overall just absolutely enjoyed every second of reading. I devoured this ARC in one sitting. I have highlighted sections on my kindle that resonated with me, whether they be good or bad, and all the random in between!

I adored this book! It was funny, romantic, emotional and everything in between. I loved the aunt and her weird quirks. I was rooting for everybody in this book to get their happy ending and when they did I loved this book even more!

*2.75*

This Spells Love by Kate Robb is a romance book in the vein of Sliding Doors.
The main character, Gemma, has recently had a bad breakup and in order to forget about her ex, she decides to perform a spell she doesn't even believe in.
Except, it works out and she wakes up in a world where her best friend Dax doesn't have a clue about who she is.

I entered into this book with high expectations because on paper it had everything I could enjoy such as the friends to lovers trope (my favourite in romance) and some magic.
In the end, the friends to lovers it simply is not there, and I was aware of that since the plot specifically says that Dax doesn't remember her in another universe, but the moments of their friednship are simply non-existent and I was so sorry to notice that.
But what mainly took me out of the book was just that something that happened in the alterante reality was just not too believable for me, and the relationship between the two main characters was just too rushed, and in the end I didn't believe it.

There were also things I enjoyed such as the humor in this one, and it never bored me, so in that aspect it was a good read, I always wanted to pick it up, but up until the last chapters I hoped the book would end in a way that in the end just didn't deliver like I would have liked. Something about the ending was confusing, and too simple.

What I really enjoyed was the relationship between Gemma and her sister Kiersten. It was so heartwarming to see, and for sure my favourite thing in the entire novel. I'm an only child, and the sibling relationship always fascinates and moves me.

In the end, I'm sorry to say this novel didn't particularly work for me, but if you like romance novels with alternate universes, and a dash of magic, this could be the one for you.

3.5 ⭐️
This book was such an interesting concept and I absolutely loved Dax and Gemma as a couple!
Imagine waking up after doing a spell to find yourself in an alternate reality where you didn’t get broken up with but your best friend doesn’t know who you are?! I definitely would’ve thought I was going crazy much more than Gemma did. Can’t lie, I definitely would be questioning my sense of reality so much more.
There was one thing that I wasn’t a massive fan of which was how they met in the alternate universe, I feel like he got over her potentially stalking him very quickly? Like girl broke into his store and told him things she shouldn’t know about him and he was completely fine with that after a few days?
This book was so fun, it was a little predictable but if you want a fluffy paranormal (ish) rom-com it definitely does a great job. I read this as a palette cleanser after a heavy fantasy book and I couldn’t be happier with it.

This novel was right up my alley and didn't disappoint me at all. As many of you already know, I love themes about time travel, parallel universes and alternative realities.

In this book, Gemma regrets an old relationship and ends up wishing that the relationship had never existed, so she is taken to an alternative reality of her life that she didn't know she wanted. This book is about dreams, second chances and empowerment, accompanied by a heart-warming love story.

I read this book in no time, the writing is easy and very fluid, the narrative has plenty of rhythm. As for the story itself, I was completely captivated, I really enjoyed the narrative and the character arcs, ending up with some simple but interesting twists.

As for the romance and the characters, I have to admit that I was completely taken with both. I'm not much for Friends to Lovers, but this one won me over completely, I loved the development of the couple. As for the characters, I loved Gemma's development throughout the book, as she starts to gain more confidence in herself and to be more ambitious with her own life, as for Dax, I thought he was the cutest, I loved how supportive he was of Gemma throughout the book.

I highly recommend reading this book. It's perfect for anyone looking for a light, fluffy contemporary romance with a little twist.

This Spells Love is a fun in between read with fantasy and a tiny bit of magic. It is a book that you should not read with a critical eye.

We meet Gemma as she is nursing a broken heart. After a few years her boyfriend has broken up with her and she is having a hard time dealing with that. Enter her sister and aunt who pull her out of her appartment and into a girls night. And her aunt has just the thing for Gemma, a spell to forget all about Stuart. Except that it doesn't quite go as expected.

The romance, the characters and the writing all mostly worked very well. I read through this book very quickly and enjoyed myself. But once I closed the book, and started looking at the story more closely, I saw things that made this book easy to forget. Those were two main things for me, the magic and the depth.

Lets start with the magic. This book wants to use a little bit of magic for this story to work. Gemma does the spell and enters a life in which she has never met her boyfriend. That takes quite a bit of magic. You can't just throw in a magic book and a spell like a throwaway element. This part could have used a lot more work to flesh out. It didn't even have to be huge. In my mind her aunt is a witch and that book club she runs clearly is a club of witches. But that is where my mind went, not what was in the book. Just a fleshing out of something like that would have added a little something. And there would still be room for this to mainly be a romance.

My other complaint is perhaps a bit bigger and more important. At first glance it seems like Gemma and Dax are complex characters. Enough for this book to be enjoyable. But if I look at Gemma I mostly see love life and work life. Nearing the end she luckily realized that she also has a sister who is super supportive. Who is also a person and not just her emotional support person. But there is more to a person than that. And there is some hinting at what kind of life she and her sister grew up in but nothing more than that. Since it is being used as the reason she wants to go for safe all the time, more depth on that was kind of needed for that to mean something.

As for Dax, I kind of hated the line that first Dax was succesful and second Dax was unsuccesful. And I also see problems in the future for her relationship with first Dax since she technically fell in love with the second Dax. And they weren't quite the same person because of different experiences. That wasn't addressed.

I loved Gemma's aunt and her sister. Or rather I loved the idea of them because I made them bigger characters in my head (as seen earlier in this review) than was actually in the book. In the book they are just a prop for Gemma's story. And Gemma treats them like that. While that was slightly addressed, it certainly wasn't enough.

This book could have had depth and a more believeable magical idea and still be a romance. There was room. The bones are there. It just needed a bit more window dressing.

Having said that, I do think this can be great read if you aren't looking for anything too deep and just want something fun. It very, very softly touches some things. And if you aren't looking for something deep and just want the fun of a well written romantic relationship with a love interest who is soft and sweet, than this book is right for you.

Another great 4 star read!

This book was such a fun and light hearted plot. I expected tons of magic but got a fun rom-com with some fun ‘magic’ elements but it wasn’t half of what I expected at all, in a good way. I read this book in between some heavier reads and was so glad I got the chance to as I think it gave me a nice break from the fantasy and heavier topics!

Gemma FMC was actually really relatable. Going through a though time and with the help of some (unique) family members, her world is changed in a matter of moments.

I found all of the characters as a whole extremely fun and dynamic.

As for the plot, I found myself laughing out load and talking to myself at times trying to keep up. The type of romance I didn’t know I needed!

Overall an enjoyable plot. Not a Halloween book at all. A fun and easy read, highly recommend to romance lovers.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me access to this eARC!

I loved this book so much. The characters were so loveable. Every character had something special about them that had me rooting for them the whole time.

A fun plot that kept me interested throughout and towards the end on the edge of my seat.

This was very well written and easy to read and had everything I need in a romance book. Highly recommended!

This Spells Love by Kate Robb was an utter joy to read, and that’s it’s a debut blows my mind. It’s safe to say that I’ll be lining up to read whatever she writes next.

This Spells Love is a brilliant ‘what if’ type of romance. Following the end of her 4 year relationship Gemms both literally and figuratively wished away her relationship. When she wakes up the next morning she does so in a parallel version of her world. The great news is that Stuart, the ex, has been erased from her past, the bad news that so too has Dax, her best friend, of four years who she’d met the same night as Stuart. But in this world, Gemma and Dax don't have years of friendship history keeping them from becoming something more...

I love so much that this story was inspired by Robb meeting her husband owing to a last minute change of Friday night plans, and the idea that one thing can have such huge ripple effects. This is a story about choice, consequence and how sometimes we need to follow our heart even if our head says otherwise. There is so much to love in this book that I’m going to hit you with a list:

🪄 I really liked our FMC Gemma, who went on quite the journey in the book, both in terms of her own growth and in understanding more about those closest to her
🩷 Dax, our MMC, who was a bit of a dream, even when things were falling apart for him in the other world
🪄 the strong sisterly relationship between Gemma and Kiersten
🩷 the mysterious and amazing Aunt Livi
🪄 wonderful friends to lovers - you really want to root for them
🩷 slow burn build up with some good steam

Overall, I absolutely loved This Spells Love, the only thing I’d wish for (and this is me being greedy) would be to have some kind of epilogue to see what happened to other Dax and if ‘other’ Gemma found her way to him. I really liked Dax in both worlds and felt so sorry for him in the ‘other’ world as things being to crumble. Still, this one is a strong recommend from me.

Headlines:
Friendships that change
Walking in another's shoes
A splash of magical realism

I don't know what I expected from this book with that title, but the events that spanned out from the love spell were surprising to me. Once the characters found themselves after that event, this book really piqued my interest on another level.

Gemma in the inital parts of this book was a little muted, she was low in mood and she wanted to break out from the funk she was in. The Gemma we got after the spell was full of spark and came out of herself. I really enjoyed seeing who she could become with her business and her relationship with her sister and aunt were endearing. But...all eyes were on that friendship-to-be with Dax.

Dax was a man of phases in this story and once you read it, that statement makes sense. I liked early Dax, then he hit his own life funk and his zest for life and Gemma was dull. The Dax we got to at the end was perfect.

This Spells Love was a clever concept with characters that it was easy to get invested in. Overall, an enjoyable contemporary romance with light but impactful feels.

Thank you Viking Books for the review copy.

A wonderful debut featuring love, passion, humour, whimsy and a little bit magic. I loved the friends to lovers vibes, the spice was so sweet and sexy at the same time, The main characters were so relatable yet very captivating too!
I really enjoyed the whole notion of wishing things were slightly different in your life and then having to actually deal with the consequences of that wish in a very real way.
Special shout-out to the inclusion of curling! It's my favourite sport to watch every time the Winter Olympics roll around, so it was great to read about in more depth here!
The resolution and how everything came together was great, I can't wait to see what Kate Robb writes next!

(My review will be posted on 7th December 2023 on my Bookstagram @rosesmagicalreads

I love the idea of soulmates, that your person is your person regardless of what timeline you’re in and that no matter what happens you’ll always find your way together. It’s so beautiful and comforting and one can only hope it’s true, so when I found out about this book, I knew I had to read it and it did not disappoint.

I LOVED seeing Gemma realize she was in love with Dax in the second timeline - the way they connected from the moment they met there (even though he didn’t know her before) and how Dax inevitably fell in love with her as they started spending time together and then went on showed her what they could have. I also loved the butterfly effect aspect of all of this, the way the tinniest change can make a huge difference and the subsequent dilemma that Gemma faced when she had to chose between her dream and the dreams of those she loved, and how she grew more confident in herself as the story progressed and the choice ended up being much easier than she thought it would.

However, as much as I love this type of book, the magic realism and the untreatable connection between soulmates, one thing I find they often lack is development when the MC comes back to the “og” timeline. These books are generally really focused on one of the timelines, which takes up most of the chapters and then when they return to the “real world” things tend to be really rushed, which I don’t love. I would have loved to seen more (even if only a little bit) of Gemma and Dax’s lives when she returned and that’s honestly the only reason why I’m not giving this book 5 stars.

Overall, I loved this book and had the best time reading it. I was really invested in the characters their stories, and the unbreakable connection connection between Dax and Gemma and couldn’t put it down.

4.5/5 Stars

A big thank you to Penguin General UK and Netgalley for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review💙

I enjoyed this book. It was like a will they won’t they type of book.

Gemma has just come out of relationship and is dealing with the breakup. Her Aunt, sister and her decide to do this spell will anything happen. Gemma has been friends with Dax for the last four years. Gemma wakes up in a parallel universe and realises over the next few weeks she feels differently about Dax. Will Gemma stay in this universe or go back to her one where she came from only time will tell.

The book was a sweet book and was quite light hearted I enjoyed the concept of it.

It kept my imagination going wondering what would happen.