3.5 stars, rounded up

If you do any amount of romance reading, you'll see where this book is going from a mile away. And that would normally really bother me, but in this case, fortunately it wasn't that big of a deal.

Chelsea is a marriage therapist, and she's well know for her speaking engagements, books, and TED talks. The sad truth, though, is that she and her husband Austin are divorced. But Chelsea is hopeful when Austin wants them to meet, as they have stayed friends and sometimes more than friends. She is sure he is going to say that they should get back together. But that isn't what happens, and Chelsea runs out the door of the restaurant straight into the path of a cable car. Chelsea heads to their lake cabin to recuperate, and there she meets Knox and wonders if she should settle for what she thought she wanted or if there might be something better out there.

This is a familiar trope and the setup is a bit too long and involved, but overall this is a sweet, touching romance story. I liked Chelsea and the growth she experiences throughout the novel. She learns a great deal about herself personally, professionally, and relationship-wise. Her childhood trauma serves as an interesting background for her to re-examine her thoughts and actions about her family and her past.

I really liked the way things wrapped up, and the ending left me with a smile on my face. This is a fun read for the summer.

This is one of those books where when you’re finished, you feel a little hungover. I loved Chelsea and the town of ghost and all the people in. The small town vibes in NOTHING LESS THAN MAGIC were perfection. I knew going into this book it wasn’t going to be a fuzzy rom-com, but it took such a shocking turn that I was floored. This book really was beautiful and it felt like pure magic.

Happy Pub Day, Stacy Finz! This was such a fantastic book! The story had twists and turns that I could not figure out until the end. Therefore, I was on the edge of my seat the entire book! The reader is introduced to Chelsea Knight, a marriage counselor, whose own marriage has fallen apart. She meets her ex-husband, Austin, for dinner. She dreamily thinks he wants to get back together. To her surprise and disdain, he wants to inform her that he is remarrying and continues to tell her that she is his best friend.
Chelsea, in a devastated and disoriented state leaves the restaurant and ultimately gets hit by a cable car. Her story continues as she is recovering at her and Austin’s Lake house. She has some memory loss of the people in the town that remember her. She is particularly confused when she meets hunky, Knox Hart. He appears to know her, but she doesn’t remember meeting him. Their relationship begins casually with a friendship and becomes deeper the more they get to know one another.
Or is this really what is happening? You will have to read for yourself to see! The plot did not go in the direction I thought it would nor end as I predicated. Great job, Stacy Finz, for keeping me guessing and for creating a story that is unusual! I loved this! Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Publishing for the advanced reader's copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
#NetGalley #KensigntonPublishing #Romance #GeneralFiction

Chelsea discovers that her marriage is over and, as she hurries away, gets hit by a streetcar. This is the event that precipitates her complete reevaluation of her life, her relationship, her entire world.

This achingly sweet book is a lovely story about second chances in life, taking the time to appreciate what we have, and not selling ourselves short. Chelsea discovers friendships and small town pleasures as she also discovers Knox, and realizes she is happier than she’s ever been. I can’t talk about the magic or it will give away spoilers, but the ending is not strictly HEA in the romantic sense – but at the same time, I felt pretty certain Chelsea has learned the really important lessons on self-care, smelling the roses, and looking for love that endures. Stacy has a deft hand at the storytelling, and this new piece does not disappoint.

“There is only one plot - things are not what they seem.”

This author has a gift. She created something completely magical within the pages of this book, taking us on a journey where we fell in love with this woman and her new life, only to...completely turn our world upside down a little over halfway through and start the journey all over again. Amazing!

Chelsea has a twist when her ex-husband announces he's engaged again and on her way out she gets run over, so to recover she moves to the town of Ghost where something a little magical flows. There she meets Knox, who gives her a new approach to her life.

I think what I liked the most was the locations and the magical atmosphere that surrounds the small town of Ghost.

From there the romantic relationship didn't convince me, I lacked the spark to look at little hearts.

Thank you Netgalley and publisher for providing me with this ARC, this is my own honest opinion.

Nothing Less than Magic by Stacy Finz is a contemporary women’s fiction story that is reminiscent of The Wizard of Oz. Not because it has the Wizard, so you will need to read this story to figure out why I think that. The book is divided into several parts with the first part being filled with Chelsea Knight and her mysterious as well as sometimes absurd adventures. I couldn’t stop reading that part if I had even wanted to try. The rest has all of us including Chelsea figuring out what really happened and why.

This is certainly one of the most unusual books I have read in a long time. It kept my interest, entertained me, and was extremely unique.

After a nearly death experience Chelsea heads to her cabin in a small town named Ghost to heal her body and her soul. The last year has been brutal with her husband divorcing her and now announcing his engagement. When she start to feel the magic of Ghost and its people, particularly enigmatic Knox, something pulls her from this world and onto the real one again. But is she ready to go on with her life or will her heart show the way to happiness and love and a new beginning

I tried to enjoy this book, I really did. Sadly, I predicted the ending within the first half of the book.
I wish there had been more chemistry or sparks between the characters.
On a positive note, there were a lot of twists and turns that I didn't see coming. It was a nice quick read, so that's a plus.

Meh. It’s obvious from the beginning what’s going on in this book, which was a big let down. The main character despite supposedly being a therapist was nothing but a doormat type. The ending was wholly unsatisfying.

I am a fan of magical realism books, so I couldn't wait to dive between the pages. And I have to say, I thoroughly enjoyed this book! It is so different from anything I have ever read with plot twists I didn't think would happen in a story like this.

The characterization was well done. I really liked Chelsea, the main character. . After being forced into a new reality, with an ex husband she thought she was getting back together with because he was spending a lot of time with her, her life is turned completely upside when he says he's engaged to someone else. If that isn't harsh enough, she walks into a streetcar, after he tells her his news, and her life is flipped upside down.

Great plot--5 stars!

This book was a quick read with an interesting plot. It was slightly predictable, but I did still enjoy it.

I’m not sure what my overall feelings are about this book. It definitely started out strong. Chelsea gets life-altering news and then gets hit by a cable car and goes to her cabin to lick her wounds. Wow.
I wasn’t really feeling any heat between Chelsea and Knox. He was kind of aloof and serious. But there’s some chemistry there.
Now, by the time I got to Part 2, I was blown away by the sudden twist. I couldn’t wait to find out how it all played out.
Part 3 gives us a conclusion but it seemed a bit rushed. Not really giving me the finality I was looking for.
I think 4 stars sums it up.

This is a story of self evaluation and growth. It is also a story of resetting priorities, finding balance, making amends, reconnecting and healing. Chelsea is a psychologist specializing in relationships and marriage counselling. She has spent so much of her time dedicated to her career that she didn’t see the failure of her own marriage coming. She has also held unto hope that her ex wanted to reconcile only to be blindsided by his engagement and his insistence that he still sees her as his best fiend. An accident leads her to take the time needed to recover and to reevaluate her life. In the end, her experience has given Chelsea new insight, a new direction. She is going to look for and work toward the magic, the love and the happiness she deserves.

Chelsea’s story is rather twisty, and not at all what I was expecting, though it has left me with thoughts to ponder and a need for a little self-reflection. We all deserve nothing less than magic. I will happily recommend this insightful book.

I was really hoping for more of an HEA, so I'm feeling a little incomplete at the end of this book.

It was a rollercoaster though. I was expecting more of her and Austin's relationship early on, and details on how she was winning him back, based on the blurb. But it jumps right into that big, heartbreaking conversation. I was sad for her and really wanted them to end up together in the end.

Then she got away and met Knox. And he was intriguing, but I really needed more detail on him. I didn't feel their chemistry, because I didn't see enough of his personality to understand falling for him. The first time they held hands seemed completely out of the blue. Their routine together was cute, but I wanted to KNOW him more.

The town of Ghost was really fun, and so were all the people there she met. I can definitely see how she loved that life, and I could feel the pain when she had to go back.

Chelsea's family story was frustrating. Her sister was awful, I don't understand WHY her parents had to die that way when they were such good people. Gimme something. Some kind of reason..

I finished this book with too many moments of huh? Why? And not because of the twists, but because of some lack of detail. BUT. The book is unique, it has good twists, some complex relationships and traumas, some love and heartbreak. The writing was good as I felt like I was a part of Ghost too. But more than anything, I wanted to see her HEA more. I loved the full circle of the last chapter, but I wanted to see MORE of that, and him.

After her ex-husband announces he's engaged, Chelsea runs from a restaurant only to get into an accident. Needing time to recuperate, she goes to the small town she owns a cabin in. There, she starts to finally relax while making friends with the locals including handyman Knox.

This was a uniquely crafted tale! Here's what I liked:

The magic of it all: The small town of Ghost was so magical. The people, the places. It all had such great atmosphere that really added to the unique story.

Chelsea: She was a really great character. Her story broke my heart at times. But no matter what, I was cheering her on. I wanted her to find her happy ending, no matter what that may look like.

The uniqueness: Go into this one blind. It's a really cool read you don't want spoiled.

All in all, this was a really cool story with lots of heart.

Thank you to the author and publisher for the gifted copy!

... And then the twist😕

Having read a Stacy Finz romance before, I was hoping Nothing Less Than Magic would be in the same vein. But I would label this more women's fiction than romance. The novel is built around a marriage counselor turned media-savvy relationship guru expecting her divorce lawyer ex to come back to her and finding her safe, secure San Francisco life totally upended. Fissures in her family relationships, regrets and attempts to reconnect figure heavily in the novel.

I was really enjoying this story (apart from the strange Misty character) until it converted to a totally revised reality in part two. For me, the juxtaposition of the two parts left me wanting in the second part and the thing that kept me reading on was the mystery of if and how female lead Chelsea could connect these two segments of her story to find the future she wanted.

So, for me, the novel had its ups and downs. Part One: 4.5🌟 stars
Part Two: 3-3.5🌟
Part Three: too short to rate. (It left me wanting more).

Thanks to Kensington Books and NetGalley for sharing a complimentary advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest opinion.

Nothing Less Than Magic by Stacy Finns, Chelsea night is a famous author and motivational speaker and her primary subject is marriage so when her husband Austin asked to meet her at a neutral bar she really believes he wants them to get back together and despite the divorce she really is excited at the prospect. So as she’s prepping herself for the great news it catches her off guard when he thanks her for being his friend throughout their divorce and proceeds to tell her that he is now engaged to a girl name Mary as she is rushing out the high-rise restaurant due to embarrassment, she is hit by a street car and this is what she blames when not recognizing the longtime handyman Knox, she’s at her in Austin‘s holiday cabin up in Ghost, California taking a well needed break and recovering from her run in with the trolley. Knox isn’t just a handyman he is also a bio physicist and is writing a book on the subject. The hot handyman isn’t the only surprising thing she discovers while staying at the holiday cabin it also seems she is way more popular in town then she ever remembers being
She is invited to the girls night becomes friends with the locals including Knox‘s little sister Kate and even start repairing her and her sister lollies strained relationship. At the age of 12 her and nine year old Lolley went to live with her uncle Sylvester a well-known producer in Hollywood in his penthouse apartment, but as soon as she was sent to boarding school it seems she didn’t look back not even to look for her little sister Lali. Something her baby sister resents. Chelsea has never been at the cabin during Halloween and is really enjoying her stay so much so the longer she is there the less she wants to leave especially when it comes to Knox. It’s when she meets psychic misty that she really starts to ask questions about things she never knew she wanted an answer to. OK I don’t know how to end this review because OMG is there a twist to the narrative and oh what a twist it is. This book ask so many poignant questions the story is beautifully written well executed and a great read! I got this book yesterday and couldn’t stop once I started reading it Chelsea is so likable and lovable as well as so many other characters in the book there really is no villain I love this book so much it’s almost like a fairy tale but not quite a fairytale if you love whistful, beautiful, well told stories then you will definitely definitely love this book! Just know there’s a lot in this book there’s talk of murder/suicide but in the end it all makes for a beautiful well done novel.#KensingtonBooks, #NetGalley, #StacyFinns, #NothingLessThanMagic,

Wow! This one totally caught me off guard and I loved it! I'm not a huge contemporary romance reader, but summertime is typically when the mood hits for them. Add in a dash of magical realism and I'm sold! You could totally read this in a day or a weekend.

The plot was unexpected and I just had to keep reading to find out what was going to happen next. Especially to discover what the meaning of the title was, which is not clear for a while. It kind of blew my mind as things became clear, and then it all made sense.

Thank you Kensington Books and BTC for the ARC!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book was a surprise! The plot was totally different than what I thought it would be, but in a great way. There is such a big twist in this book that it is hard to fully describe it without spoilers.

The heart of this book is examining relationships, family, love, and what we really want in life. Sometimes the path we start out and think we want isn't always what we truly want deep down. The message I took away from this book was that it's okay to reevaluate and change your life if it will bring you true happiness.

I highly recommend this book! I look forward to more books by this author.