Rating: 4/5

Spice: 1/5

Plot: 4/5

Primary Genre: Romantasy/Fantasy Romance

Blurb: A young witch cursed with sacrificing memories to cast spells must decide how much she’s willing to lose to save her town in this thrilling tale of magic, love, and self-discovery—from the New York Times bestselling author of The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak and Magic. In the small town of Gold Springs, Calliope Petridi and her two sisters carefully guard the secret of their magic and the price they must pay to practice memories. The more powerful the magic, the greater the memory required. Luckily, all Calliope wants to do is forget. Forget the mother who left them without a trace. Forget the cracks in her relationships with her judgmental oldest sister, Thalia, and her distant middle sister, Eurydice. Forget about the very cost of her magic. And most of all, forget the way the love of her life shattered her heart two years ago. But when an ancient evil awakens in their town, the fragile thread that holds the sisters together breaks. As their magic slowly begins to fade, Calliope accidentally binds herself to an annoyingly handsome leader of a rival coven infamous for their ruthless pursuit of power. Battling a sizzling chemistry to a man she can't trust, Calliope needs to confront her sisters and the painful memories of her past, dark family secrets, and ancient magic in order to keep the town and all she loves safe. But will she have anything left of herself?

The Good:

* I’m thrilled about the the fact that Breanne put recipes in her book again. They’re included at the end of the book (at least they are in the ARC copy that I received.) I don’t know why but I am a sucker for a book with recipes in it.

* This book leans a lot more into the fantasy genre than her first novel and I loved it. There’s a lot more action/excitement happening, the storyline keeps you on your toes with twists and turns when you least expect it. The Lucian and Calliope love story is the perfect enemies to lovers mixture, sometimes there’s just too much hate there for it to be believable but this was done very well.

* This book brings a bit of a Charmed meets Practical Magic vibe. I’m not saying it’s exactly like either one, just that it has elements of both. The three sisters quarreling on Charmed, check. Every generation seems to have three “sister witches”. The sisters own a shop in their small town called Tea and Tomes. Those things are a bit of a Practical Magic movie element.

The Meh:

* This didn’t completely end in a cliffhanger but there are still some major plotlines that are unresolved and your girl is impatient. This is #1 in a series so there is more to come and hopefully it’s quick!

Bottom Line:

This book is great for anyone who loves witches, light romantasy, paranormal romance, or magic. Heavy on the magic, medium on the enemies to lovers romance and medium on the fantasy action. If you’re not into smutty romantasy this will be a great book for you. This is open door but the door is like, cracked open. The intimate moments aren’t pages long and there are only two. In my opinion, Breanne is two for two. I’ve read both of her both of her books and I think that they’re both great. I can’t wait to see what she does next.

3.75 🌟

This was a fun, witchy read.

This book is a slooow burn so you need to stick with it. I loved the relationship with the sisters and watching their relationship mature. However, some of the other relationships felt a bit quick and maybe not as realistic. This would be a great read for the fall.

Thanks, Netgalley for the ARC of this book!

3⭐️ Charmed meets Pride and Prejudice. This story has enemies to lovers, magic, deals with loss, family curse, and forced proximity. All things I love. Calliope is a very depressed FMC and embraces it so much it was hard to connect with her. I wanted her to find her strength a little sooner.

Synopsis:
In the small town of Gold Springs, Calliope Petridi and her two sisters carefully guard the secret of their magic and the price they must pay to practice it: memories. Luckily, all Calliope wants to do is forget: the mother who left without a trace, the sisters from whom she feels increasingly distant, and most of all, the way the love of her life shattered her heart two years ago.

But when a mysterious evil awakens, the fragile thread that holds the sisters together breaks. As their magic slowly begins to fade, Calliope accidentally binds herself to the handsome leader of a rival coven infamous for their ruthless pursuit of power. Battling the sizzling chemistry with a man she can’t trust, Calliope must confront memories of her past, family secrets, and ancient magic in order to protect the town and all she loves. But will she have anything left of herself?

I really enjoyed this whole story line. The characters are well written. I loved the feel of the town and worldbuilding was fantastic. It was definitely reminiscent of Charmed as well a Gilmore Girls feel. I wish I could visit Gold Springs in real life!

This was was definitely a slow burn and a cozy, comfy story. This series has a lot of potential! Overall I would recommend this book and I am really excited to see what comes next for the series!

While there was a lot that I enjoyed about Spells, String, and Forgotten Things—ultimately the novel fell a bit flat for me.

First off—I thought the actual magic system and mythos of the Petridi family was unique. Breanne Randall kind of throws the reader in, but I enjoyed discovering new aspects of the magic and their history. It was also a little more cozy than I expected—other reviews have mentioned it, but I'll echo that there's very much Gilmore Girls vibe to the world that Randall built.

I also felt like the stakes were appropriate and, at then end of the day, I wanted to know what was going to happen to Callopie and her sisters. Their relationships—the highs and the lows—felt very realistic as well.

However, there were several things that I didn't enjoy that dropped the rating for me. First was the pacing. It both felt too fast in moments and then dragged in others. I did feel like I was struggling through portions. I also think there was speed-running in character development and even in plots. I never fully bought into the romance as it felt very...scripted? It just didn't quite feel like a natural build in for me and like we were almost forcing it a bit.

Overall, I think this will appeal to a group of folks, but for me, it just landed a bit flat.

It's true rating is 2.75 stars, but rounded up to 3 stars.

If you like Charmed, Greek Myths, Shadow Daddies, and Jane Austin, then this heartwarming, a wee bit sexy, atmospheric and magical story will be perfect for you. Enjoy finding the obvious nods to Greek mythology and the Fates. Have fun with the more subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) nods to Pride and Prejudice if you can image Dr. Darcy as a magical shadow daddy in his unbuttoned white shirt crossing the misty field all vexed and bewildered by a rebellious young woman; all while he tries with all his power to protect his little sister who is so precious to him.

The story has a wholesome vibe too. Things seem to smell like apples and cinnamon, and characters are constantly baking adding to the overall warmth of the story. There is a lovely diversity and homieness in this make believe town: Asian folks, Black Folks, Queer Folks, small business owners, seasonal festivals, the family we are born with, and the family we find. Heck, there is even a feisty grimoire that will protect its charges with reckless abandon and disregard for its own bindings.

Read through my likes and dislikes below, but whatever…because this book has such a great ending. It’s a 5 star ending filled with tears and heart clenching, and more tears and stomach flips. I’m a little breathless. Oh, and there are recipes!!!

What I liked:
1. It’s a well crafted story. The plot is intricate and busy, sometimes rushed, but it is a good story.
2. The idea that magic and memories are linked is interesting, and the way it is written into the book is heartbreaking.
3. I particularly like all the Mr. Darcy Easter eggs. It’s fun, like super fun.

What I didn’t like:
1. Too many similes. Call me a snob, but I don’t want to encounter multiple similes on a page. Throughout the book, Randall demonstrates that she can write emotional and fun passages that use well written imagery and sophisticated prose, and yet too often she falls into the laziness of similes to define a moment making the writing feel amateurish.
2. Also, there is an overuse of conjunctions to start sentences. It might just be the English teacher in me, but I couldn’t get away from noticing, and sometimes it took away from the book. Hopefully editors will fix that in time for publishing.
3. The simmering and building romantic tension shifts too quickly towards sex, and it feels forced. The enemies to lovers trope isn’t hitting quite right. Perhaps it’s that these intimate moments keep playing out in moments of smugness or full on fights, the intimacy doesn’t feel like an arc, rather it feels like misplaced vignettes.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine & Dell for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

Spells, Strings and Forgotten Things

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“ In the small town of Gold Springs, Calliope Petridi and her two sisters carefully guard the secret of their magic and the price they must pay to practice it: memories. Luckily, all Calliope wants to do is forget: the mother who left without a trace, the sisters from whom she feels increasingly distant, and most of all, the way the love of her life shattered her heart two years ago.”

I really enjoyed this whole story line. The characters are well written and open to develop more in coming books. The town sounds wonderful I wish I could go to visit. The love interest and spice was good but I would say slow burning. Overall I would recommend and can’t wait to see what comes next.

I have mixed feelings about this book. I will read the next book in the series because the overall storyline was interesting and left us on a bit of a cliffhanger.

What I liked:

I love the different magic system not found in other books. The idea that the Petridi sisters must sacrifice a memory to produce any magic was really interesting and brought alot to the story. I also enjoyed the fact that only one set of the living sisters could preform magic at a time. The trauma of their mothers mysterious disappearance along with their two aunts brought to light so much about how trauma effects people differently, and that is seen in each of the three sisters. When Calliope accidently binds herself to a rival coven member things get very interesting very fast. Each chapter brought a new level of concern and fighting to protect the Dark Oak that had me staying up late into the night to finish. Over all the book moved very quickly, though sometimes awkwardly, and had wonderful magic and banter throughout. I enjoyed seeing the growth between the sisters and other characters throughout the book. This book did have some great original quotes and at times had me laughing and crying. A

What I disliked:

The beginning of this book started off almost like a stumble at the beginning of a starting line. I had to go back and reread things because I felt like I missed something earlier on but apparently didn't. That made understanding the magic system a bit difficult and disrupted the flow of the book. I also feel that the author relied too heavily on other big name books and their "famous" quotes. You can tell the author read ACOTAR beforehand and built her outline off of that. While I am all for ACOTAR and Fourth Wing, its been done and I am really tired of authors trying to use those books as a way to jumpstart their books. This is not the first author I have read that has done this. I found Pride and Prejudice, Charmed, Practical Magic, Gilmore Girls and Bridgerton vibes throughout. I mean props to her for identifying ever 20-40 year olds current favorite things but there is no need to put them all in one book. I shouldnt be reading and think "oh i remember an exact scene like this in __________ (fill in the blank). Now I dont mind the mention of LGBTQ. That is me personally. I have an amount that I am comfortable with and this book was right there. I do not like the They/them mentions because I feel it makes the book difficult to follow. I dont like having to go back and reread things to clarify. I do like when that is made known before hand when reading. I know many readers like to know upfront what they are reading which is why IG, Tiktok, and other socials media posts that have the tropes and what to expect gain so much interest. Readers want to know. An author can write what they want and thats 100% fine. But readers should be know a bit about what they are getting into. That is a pretty big topic that some want to know about beforehand. Lastly, while there were many "swoony" moments it wasn't until the end that I really felt the connection between the two main characters.

Definitely not my favorite book but not the absolute worst.

"Spells, Strings, and Forgotten Things" is Breanne Randall's latest romantic novel. The book's marketing was "Charmed" meets "Pride & Prejudice," which made me excited to read it.

Randall's latest novel follows the Petridi sisters, Calliope, Thalia, and Eurydice. The Petridi sisters are witches whose magic requires them to sacrifice their memories for their spells. When an evil force enters the scene, the sisters' magic begins to drain. To fix the problem, Calliope finds herself working along Lucien Deniz, a wizard from a rival coven. These opposites clash in more ways than one, but find romance and common ground as they work together to solve their problems.

The book's tone, setting, and characters had more of a "Gilmore Girls" meets "Charmed" nostalgia and energy that I enjoyed. Randall does a great job setting up an atmospheric setting. The small-town quirky characters added some humor to the heavier elements of the plot.

The characters were unique and Randall did a great job of showing the sisters' relationship without telling. It was interesting to watch their dynamic unfold, both magically and through the challenges they faced within their family.

Randall put a lot of attention to detail into world-building. She also added some modern day humor and one-liners that were fun to read and added a break in the plot's tension.

The book was paced very slowly, which sometimes made it difficult to keep up the momentum of reading.

If you like slow-building, cozy romantasies with a modern twist, check out "Spells, Strings, and Forgotten Things.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine and NetGalley for an ARC. All opinions are my own.

Charmed vibes. Cozy, sweet, witchcraft, easy worldbuilding. I liked it alot. I think the vibes were there more than the plot was, but I'm not mad about it. Would recommend? YES! I like Breanne Randall's writing. It's not overly complicated.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️.5

Okay, so when I saw that this book was being described as Charmed x Modern Day Bridgerton/Pride & Prejudice, I was like “sign me up”! (Literally, I ran to sign up for the ARC!)

The book definitely lived up to the Charmed vibes. The 3 sister witches definitely mirrored the Halliwell sisters— in the best way.

The story follows Calliope, the youngest sister and Lucien, the mysterious shadow magic user who shows in their small town and gets… entangled with Calliope.

Ancient enchantments are failing and their town and lives are threatened. The sisters need to race to repair their bond and save their town.

Things I loved: The magic system- the sisters are cursed and each spell they cast costs them a memory. The more powerful the memory, the more powerful the spell. Lucien’s character growth. The sisterhood bond. The banter between Lucien & Calliope.

The pacing felt off at times, but ultimately it was a fun read!

Read if you like:
- Fated Mates
- Enemies to Lovers
- Forbidden Romance
- Unique Magic Systems
- Shadow Daddies
- Charmed
- Sisterhood
- Family Drama & Secrets
- Bisexual & Queer Rep

Thank you to Dell & Netgalley for the free eARC.

A sweet story of sisterhood, love, loss, and the power of memories set in contemporary times but with witchy magic. My favorite part was either the book that flies around and communicates through words appearing on its pages or the fact that the MMC calls the FMC “little muse" (aww).

The vibes are more satisfying than the plot which offered up various random problems with convenient magical solutions. Having said that the vibes were enough for me to want to continue the series, and now I desperately wish to be one of three sisters who own a bookstore and tea shop. In fact maybe I'll make the included Orange Fairy Tea Cake recipe and pretend that I am

Thank you to Random House and Dell for the ARC.

Spells, Strings, and Forgotten Things- Sisters of Light and Shadow #1

By Breanne Randall -Read The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak and Magic and gave it 3*

✔️Family Drama
✔️Witches/Magic/Curses
✔️ Small town, Paranormal Romance, enemies to lovers
✔️ Sisterhood
✔️ illness-not H/h, death of loved one, grief
✔️LGBTQIA+ rep

This is the story of three sisters Calliope (Opie/little muse), Thalia, and Eurydice (Dissy) in Gold Springs. Their family, the Petridis, are cursed Lightcrafter witches where every time they use magic they lose memories. Their birth mother Penelope disappeared, and their father is unknown. Calliope broke up with the love of her life 2 years ago-her girlfriend Marigold- but still laments their relationship. When Calliope feels the thread that protects the sisters breaks and magic fades, she visits the "Dark Oak" tree in the Forgotten Forest. She is confronted by Lucien Deniz-a Shadowcrafter with a rival coven. They accidentally bond to each other and spend their time trying to break it, cure the Petridis' curse, and heal Lucien's sister Elea.


The world building is centered around their kitchen. Food and tea are staples in their home and their family owns Tea and Tomes. There are recipes at the end of the book. I loved when the family got together, how they enjoyed cooking and eating together.

The characters- Thalia, Calliope, and Eurydice have a strong sisterly bond. They always have each other's back when it counts. Lucien and Elea's relationship is sweet as he protects her from their father Ahmed. The sisters' aunts Rosalind and Daphne return in their own way to help the sisters. Calliope finds out the origin of the curse and manages to free them and Elea.
Calliope and Lucien's romance is on the backburner most of the book. They hate each other but have a common goal to save their families. When they spend more time together, they realize they are not so different and manage a HEA.

There are a few unresolved plot lines: Penelope's disappearance and Lucien's father escape w/ his evil witches. I hope the other sisters Thalia and Eurydice get their stories written.

Rating: 3.5/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Spice: 3/5 🔥🔥🔥kissing-a few teases, and 1 open door scene together

🙏🏾Thanks to NetGalley, Random House Publishing |Ballentine-Dell, and Breanne Randall for this ARC! I voluntarily give my honest review, and all opinions are my own.

This was a really, really sweet book and any fan of Jane Austen, Gilmore girls, charmed, or the Harry Potter series will find a lot of comfort in its pages. Breanne is a talented and poetic writer who has a creative story to tell. I really wish I liked Spells, Strings and Forgotten Things as much as I loved her debut novel, however, I found too many lines, plot points, and scenes derivative- bordering on mimicry. I almost wish the book had been promoted as 'A Witchy Pride and Prejudice set in Stars Hollow featuring the spirit of Ella Enchanted" Breanne writes with a lot of heart and her characters are excellently crafted. The twists and cliffhangers we were left on were definitely the highlight of the story and I'm looking forward to the next installment. I think the things that didn't capture me will improve with every new chapter.

This book was such a fun and adventurous journey. It is full of family magic, twists and turns and just the right amount of spice. Major points to the author to for includeing the full quote " the blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb" quote. So many people use this one incorrectly and more people need to know the true meaning of the phrase. Absolutely loved the ending as well.

"A young witch cursed with sacrificing memories to cast spells must decide how much she’s willing to lose to save her town in this thrilling tale of magic, love, and self-discovery"

Let me begin with how brilliantly enchanted I was with scene setting, atmosphere, even the extremely descriptive methods of cooking, ingredients, the way the bookstore smelled -- inherent in these, I find more magic than any fireball or shadow. You can sure bet I ponderously drank tea following the reading. The recipes at the back were a precious circle leading back to the charm of the beginning.

To my dismay, it is also the 'beginning' that began the little issue itching beneath my awareness: "A young witch...." When I tell you that I spent a vast majority of the time full believing that Calliope was a teenager... She behaved as one, had thought processes like one, spoke like one; her interactions with her sisters bathed her in this "when you grow up" energy. Self-discovery, in this instance, equated to "coming-of-age". So when I tell you I was startled and horrified when she mentioned being in her twenties. Probably, I should be more horrified that I immediately assumed an enormous age difference between Lucien and Calliope. But that's the state of fantasy literature we're in right now.

I also felt the need to notate 17% through -- Calliope makes a very distasteful comment. Lucien appears only to react to the fact that Calliope is unusually messy, and she instantly cracks a joke about his "OCD" and how he must want to organize everything into lines. It had a real gross "lol I'm just a little OCD like that" feel to it. 1) OCD is not just a 'funny little quirk' that makes people clean up sometimes, 2) And if he had it, then her mocking him about how she wants to trigger that OCD is cruel and also gross. Do you see why I thought she was a child?

The blessings would be scenes regarding sisterhood -- because we have too much a dearth of close women relationships -- or scenes with a delightful talking book and too many cats. Downfall would be anything where Calliope and Lucien stood in the same building. Their banter felt like, well, staged banter. They always went four more lines than felt natural for normal humans, and the repetition was exhausting -- try having a conversation with someone and really see how many times you say their name. Then apply that to any love interest's nickname. Body language, eye contact, being the only two people in the room; we simply do not refer to each other by name that often. So when it's a cutesy little nickname that the narrative is clearly killing itself to force down my throat how fascinating and cute and attractive it is....

It's too bad, but the two main leads fail an otherwise charming and important storyline with things to say about family, the pressure of expectations and legacy, what sacrifices we make, generational trauma, the poison of hate... They are all a small ripple in the pond because the characters are not enough to bring us to those depths. I truly believe Breanne Randall's writing could've gotten us there, too. In the end, I really did not get the satisfactory feeling that most of our characters had actually learned the intended lesson. When they say: "Why wait?" and magically heat up a pot of soup -- because that's living, chumps. It's in every tiny little, inconsequential detail of our lives. And if Calliope had really begun to appreciate them, she should see this danger. Don't skip past the things you love for the reward. That it now comes easier feels like she went from magic nicotine patch to full-on smoking. The book seems to undermine itself in this way.

My both liked and disliked average of stars reflects my growing frustration page by page, yet which was not quite overpowered by my admiration for how much more this story could've been for itself. I think that readers looking for a light, enchanting little tale of dismantling the prejudices and promises we let our families poison us with.... you'll find it here. This is a sweet tale, with a lot of great motivations. But it's not a good tale, and it should've been.

I thought this was a predictable book. It’s full of girl power and magical elements. There’s some surprises along the way. There’s some romance with heat.
It’s an easy to read book

I enjoyed the small town charm to this story. Calliope and her sisters cannot do magic without sacrificing a memory. While I loved some aspects of the story, like the relationship between the sisters, ultimately, the main characters and love story felt two dimensional. There was no real depth and I found it a bit hard to believe. I found myself cringing a lot. The tropes included felt like the author had a checklist. The dialogue and references to Pride and Prejudice and other romantasy stories, felt a bit forced. I did enjoy the ending, but I just didn't love the writing style enough to care.

✨Magic
✨Enemies to Lovers
✨Shadowdaddy
✨Found Family… literally lol
✨Miscommunication trope
✨Small Town

When Calliope Petridi was just a girl her mom left one day and never came back. Calliope and her sisters were left with broken hearts and a warning to never go to the Dark Oak tree. The Dark Oak, is a tree is in the forest near the family home and has been protected by Petridi sisters for generations. When a mysterious dark force arises Calliope finds her way to the Dark Oak to find their enchantments compromised. Calliope must face her past, family secrets, and ancient magic to save her town and loved ones.
✨ ✨ ✨ ✨ ✨ ✨ ✨ ✨ ✨ ✨
Confession: I’ve never watched Charmed or read/watched Pride and Prejudice
All that to say- I can’t judge if the book was giving off those vibes or not.
BUT I can say I’ve read quite a few fantasy/witchy novels and I loved this take on the Lightcraft vs Shadowcraft witches.
The book was a little slow in the beginning, but it did lay a lot of ground work for the storyline. I’m hoping this is turned into a series because we are certainly left with some questions and I’d certainly like to see our FMC and MMC relationship get a little more time together.
Overall an enjoyable read that left me wanting more than just an epilogue.
Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Random House for giving me the opportunity to read this book early and share my honest review.

ARC Review: Spells, Strings & Forgotten Things by Breanne Randall

In the town of Gold Springs, Calliope Petridi and her sisters keep their magic a secret—especially the cost of using it: their memories. Calliope, for one, is fine with forgetting. But when dark forces threaten their town and their powers start to fade, she accidentally binds herself to Lucien, the leader of a rival coven. Now, she’s forced to confront old wounds, buried family secrets, and inconvenient sparks of attraction if she wants to save everything she loves.

This book was magic—equal parts witchy drama and cozy fantasy fun! The sisterly bond stole the show for me, and the romance added just the right amount of tension and swoon. Plus, Tea & Tome sounds like the kind of place I’d happily get lost in forever.

That said, a few things threw me. The reincarnation (??) of the aunts was wild, the mix of nicknames and full names was oddly distracting, and I need to know—where is Lucien’s dad? What happened to Momma Petridi? Are we getting a sequel, or am I supposed to just sit here wondering?!

A solid 3.5 stars—fun, atmospheric, and full of heart.

Thank you to NetGalley and Aria for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.