Deja Brew is a cozy and magical hug of a book and Sirena and Gus were perfection. Celestine Martin writes magic with such a solid and whimsy hand that makes it easy to fall into Freya Grove without question. I loved the glimpses of Lucy/Alex and Ursula/Xavier since their stories. I'm sad to see the end of the Elemental Love series but excited for what Martin brings us next.

This is the perfect read for fall and witchy vibes! I love the representation of a real woman! Real women have curves. Period. I am obsessed with all things witchy and loved hearing about different kinds of witches and spells. It took me back to my visit to Salem, MA! I curled up with a blanket and tea on a rainy day to read this one-the perfect way to spend a Saturday in my opinion!

In the pile of witchy romances I've been reviewing the autumn, Deja Brew stands out for, firstly, a unique witchy identity. While it isn't well-explained (or maybe it is in previous books in the series), I found I was more than happy to roll with the "kitchen witch" and "magican" powers and the hand-wavey explanation. The book is also pumpkin-spice saturated vibes, but not in an overly-forced or sweet way. Instead, October provides a perfect backdrop for Sirena and Gus's love story. I found Sirena and Gus to be well-written, but again, the setting was poorly explained. Again, maybe the town and Gus's family issues are better explained in the first two books that I didn't read, but since this isn't advertised as a true sequel, I'd have expected a bit more "catch up" for new readers to the series. I feel as though readers of Martin's other two books will love this, and I think most romance readers will also enjoy this, since likely the issues with worldbuilding are me being an overly nitpicky English teacher--as usual. :)

Thank you to NetGalley and Foever (Grand Central Publishing) for the ebook ARC. All opinions are mine alone.

Sirena is a kitchen witch who lost her mojo. She hasn’t been able to cook since a business deal went bad and her book of recipes and plans was taken by a grifter. She had an unlucky October and wants a do-over. She drinks some wish tea on Halloween and wishes for a second chance. The next morning October has started over again for her.

Gus is a magician turned steward of the Freya Grove Historical Society. He notices that something is off but chalks it up to deja-vu. He get a chance to come to Sirena’s rescue when a carnival game operator gives her a hard time. That gives her the idea to ask him to help her make the most of her do-over time.

There were literal sparks between these two from the beginning. I really enjoyed watching these two fall for each other. I was glad that I read the first two books in the series because it gave me all the back story I needed to really enjoy this book. This was a delightful series. I hope there is a book for Callie Caraway.

The vibes were so right for me to like this book but once I started reading, I realized I am a little fatigued with a Groundhog’s Day (this is a me issue LITERALLY NOT THE BOOK’S FAULT DEJA IS IN THE TITLE) I definitely would recommend this book if someone was looking for a cute fast Fall read!!

3.25⭐️

Thank you to Forever Pub for the review arc of this book!

Thank you to NetGalley and Celestine Martin for the opportunity to read this book. This book will give you all the fall feels with a kitchen witch, a time loop and a magical town. I unfortunately started this book without realizing it was the third in the series and was subsequently a bit lost with the magical town. If you read and enjoyed the first two books then you will love this book. I did enjoy the chemistry between the two main characters even if I was a bit confused on the difference between a magician and a witch in this town as they both seem to be able to cast spells.

This book is truly an autumnal delight. From the cozy small-town to the heartwarming friends to lovers trope, this book is perfect for your fall TBR.

The novel follows the lovable and hard-working kitchen witch, Sirena Caraway reeling from an unusually unlucky October. When she asks for a do-over, she's granted it and is determined not to waste it. She did not anticipate a charming and sweet historian, magician named Gus that relights her magical spark.

If you're a fan of the family bonds with magic from Practical Magic or the romantic comedy style of Abby Jimenez, you need to try out the Elemental Love series. This one has a special place in my heart because the main character is a plus-size Black kitchen witch is loved patiently and sweetly. From the mixing of entertaining and endearing content that doesn't use pain as the catalyst of the climax.

I love the mix of paranormal romance in this cozy small town of Freya Grove. Teeming with vampires, witches, and mischievous garden gnomes, it is the perfect place for us who love magic to let our minds wander.

The characterization is strong and if you're a lover of Hallmark movies and magic you can't tell me you don't want to visit Freya Grove.

Objectively as a fall, magical, cozy read.. this was fine. It was fun, quick and creative. I enjoyed the idea of the book - i liked the different powers / magic and the time loop element.

The narration was done very well, i actually really loved the female narrator. She had such a soothing voice.

I liked the dual POV. It was giving slow burn romance, friends to lovers, paranormal romance.

While i enjoyed it, I just didn’t feel connected to any of the characters which made it hard to be invested in the overall story. Due to that it felt lack luster for me and forgettable.

Overall, I would still recommend this to my peers and would absolutely read more by this author! This particular one just didn’t land for me.

I'm a firm believer that a book's first chapter is the equivalent to a movie's trailer. If you do not impress me with the first chapter, then I'm more inclined to cut my losses. That's what happened here.

Thank you to Forever pub and Netgalley for the eGalley! I really thought I would love this book. The description gave cozy fall vibes that we all live for. Unfortunately, I really didn’t connect with the characters. I also discovered that this is the third book of an interconnected series. I’m not sure if I need to read the others but I will do so & hopefully I can give it a higher rating on Goodreads

Deja Brew is a solid read to get you in the fall spirit because it's set in October in a town with witches and other magical beings. This is a slower-paced cozy read about Gus and Sirena having a do-over October and falling in love along the way. I love how cozy this book feels, but I never really felt the romance between Gus and Sirena, and they both had some baggage that didn't always make sense to me in how they reacted to things.

Lovely narrator and lovely romance story. I enjoyed the fmc and mmc. A witch and a magician falling in love and brewing up their own kind of magic.

In this spellbinding rom-com about a wish gone wrong, two opposites might just get a second chance at love, perfect for fans of New York Times bestsellers Payback's a Witch and The Ex Hex.
Ex-celebrity chef Sirena Caraway has had the wackiest October ever. Her cooking powers are on the fritz, she failed to land a career-saving job, and she embarrassed herself at the town’s Halloween party. Just before midnight, she makes a desperate wish for a second chance to fix her life. The next morning Sirena wakes up and realizes that she’s repeating the entire pumpkin spice-flavored month. Even sweeter, she runs into Gus Dearworth, whose magic leaves her spellbound.

A former reality star, Gus moved to Freya Grove to rebuild his reputation and heal his broken heart, but his restless magic is tempting him to return to the spotlight. And his secret crush on Sirena is making him want to try something dangerous like fall in love again. When Sirena realizes he can help her fix her powers, Gus makes her a deal. If she’ll help decipher a mysterious cookbook in his collection, he'll help get her magical groove back.

Every encounter offers a new adventure—from tasting menus, harvest mazes, and a growing attraction that’s taking on an irresistible enchantment of its own. But as the month winds down and the wish grows stronger, Sirena and Gus have a decision to make. Will their second chance be their happy-ever-after ending or a bittersweet memory?

My Take:
Reading a Martin book for the first time has been a delightful experience, and it certainly won't be the last. Although I understand there are two other interconnected books, they stand alone as complete stories—I never felt like I was missing out on essential details to enjoy this one fully. It's a perfect blend of cozy and steamy, making it an ideal recommendation for the Hallmark audience that revels in the autumn season.

Thanks to Forever Publishing for the free E-ARC! Here are my thoughts!!

This book was immediately such a great time! It was definitely giving off fall, witchy, cozy vibe, and I really need to read the other books in this series after reading this one.

I love our characters a lot. They had chemistry from the moment I saw them interact on page, even before they knew each other that well. I loved how quickly they became and felt familiar with each other. It wasn’t necessarily a slow burn, but it still felt really natural for them. It was a very real life way to write it. Two people who orbited around each other for a while, but never really quite connected, coming together at the right time. Finding out that there was a magical tether pulling them together added to that feeling.

The family relationships and bonds in this book are very sweet. It feels genuinely written and extremely realistic in nature.

However, I don’t know that this book works as part of an interconnected stand alone series. Stand alone books, even ones that are interconnected to other books, are meant to have the ability to be read by itself without really needing to read the other books to understand what’s happening. There are some world building aspects and parts of the magical parts that don’t really make sense if this is the only book from the series that you’re reading. I haven’t read the previous two books yet, so I was kind of just thrown into this new world without knowing anything. It was kind of confusing, and there were parts where I really was wondering more about how this universe works. I was especially confused about the whole Kindred aspect. I understand the basic premise of them being soulmates, but for their sounds to have spent previous lifetimes together seemed wild to me. I liked that they were tied together, and I found it very cute. However, we don’t really get more information than that, and it’s not until over halfway through the book that the concept of Kindred is even mentioned, so I felt it very out of left field.

Overall, I did enjoy it, and I think I’ll probably read the other two books in this series at some point!

Read This Book If…you’re the mood for a low-stakes witchy romance!

⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Deja Brew by Celestine Martin

Genre: paranormal witchy romance
Series: Elemental Love # 3
Spice Level: 3/5🌶, 1-2 open door scenes
Setting: fictional Jersey Shore town
POV: dual, 3rd person, past tense
Tropes: time loop/travel, celebrity, reformed rogue, fated mates, friends with benefits

My Thoughts:
As someone who loves all things witchy romance, I was super excited for this read! However, there was not enough conflict for me and I felt bored at times.

For such a magical town, I wish we got to see more beyond our two main characters. I wasn’t able to read the first two books in the series, so maybe the world was explored more in those.

This is a very cozy, slow paced, low-stakes read, which is great for some, but just not for me.

Memorable Quote: “He didn’t want to forget; he wanted to remember everything.”

Thank you to the publisher for my advance copy!

Video: https://youtu.be/gGsJi_WVaKY

A cute and cozy conclusion to this witchy romance series! This time with a time slip element...

Deja Brew is a small town, witchy romance following Sirena who left her celebrity chef job to come home and take care of family. Now everything feels like it's falling apart, but a wish gives her back the month of October to live differently. And this time, love just might be on the menu.

Gus is a former reality tv star and magician who now lives a quiet existence working for the local historical society. He thinks his love life is over since his ex-wife left him, but Sirena stays on his mint. And what better time to fall in love than in the autumn?

There are delicious food descriptions, fall festivals, steamy moments, and a really sweet and cozy romance. Perfect for the coming season! The audio narration is good, similar to the previous books in the series. I received an audio review copy via Netgalley, all opinions are my own.

This Reviewer Received an ARC of this book courtesy of NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you NetGalley.

I was in a reading slump for most of September and this was such a fun and refreshing experience to get me out of it. The characters are rich and facinanting; ones you cannot help but love. This is a fantastic Fall read and great for people who enjoy Hallmark movies and Halloween. Think of the generation who grew up on Disney Channel Original Movies and now find themselves reading more mature complex stories with that vibe. I loved Sirena and Gus because they were great individuals, but also had amazing chemistry together. The magic was sweet, fun, and created a beautiful world. You will definitely finish this book with a lesson learned about believing in yourself and living the life you want and not accepting the life you’ve been expecting to have. Very cute fall rom com.

Deja Brew is a magical homecoming for fans of Celestine Martin’s Elemental Love series. Being back in Freya Grove feels like a warm hug! I just adore this quirky little New Jersey town full of spells, creatures, and autumnal delight. Deja Brew is the series’ third installment, but each one can be read as a standalone. I love this format because it allows readers to revisit favorite characters as they glide on and off the page in charming cameos. If you do pick up Deja Brew first, there will be slight spoilers for Witchful Thinking and Kiss & Spell but I don’t think it would impact those reading experiences much.

In Deja Brew, Sirena Caraway takes center stage. We have learned so much about Sirena and her culinary career in the series’ previous novels, and I have been looking forward to learning more about her kitchen witch magic. At the start of the book, Sirena’s powers are on the fritz and nothing seems to be going her way, so she makes a wish on Halloween that brings her back to October 1 to repeat the month over again. Sirena is determined not to squander this second chance and enlists the help of a handsome magician to hopefully turn her luck around. Sirena’s POV was very introspective and her self-reflection and confidence journey resonated with me heavily.

Sirena’s love interest Gus Dearworth, a magician and former television personality/reformed party boy, was the perfect leading man. He was down bad for Sirena and being inside his POV had me giggling with delight. Gus has his own trauma’s and past heartbreaks to heal from and
being in his head allowed for readers to fully grasp the hesitancy he had to jump into a relationship. Sirena and Gus’ relationship is a slow burn but once that burner turns on high, the proverbial stove ignites! The intimate scenes in Deja Brew were incredibly romantic, something I’ve come to expect from Celestine Martin, and I fell more and more in love with this couple on every page.

Many thanks to Forever and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review!

A perfectly witchy and fall read from Celestine Martin! This book, like the others in the Elemental Series is so cozy and enjoyable. I really love time travel in my magical romances so I knew this would be right up my alley!

+Friends to Lovers
+Slow burn
+Witchy Romance

I have a confession: I took out my pumpkins and skull decor as soon as fake fall arrived in August. That’s right. I pulled out my pumpkin-flavored coffees and sweater weather candles and settled in, but what was missing? A fall book.

The third book in the Elemental Love series, Deja Brew was exactly what I needed - ultimate fall vibes.

Kitchen witch Sirena Caraway’s powers are on the fritz. She experiences a series of unfortunate situations during October in the town of Freya Grove, including embarrassing herself at a Halloween party in front of Gus Dearworth. Gus, a former reality star and magician from a famous family in Freya Grove to rebuild his reputation and heal his broken heart. Luckily, Sirena gets a chance to fix everything but realizes she’s repeating the month of October. Think Groundhog Day but witchy. Sirena and Gus end up striking a deal to help each other.

Celestine Martin weaves a cozy and charming supernatural romance that will have you smiling from the first page to the last. Also, I need the passion sauce recipe (wait until you read this scene). I absolutely enjoyed reading Sirena and Gus’ adventures and their growing attraction was the perfect slow burn. I can’t wait to read more from this author.

Thank you to Netgalley, and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for an eARC. Deja Brew is available on October 1st, 2024!