Lily has retreated back to her family's home in Mexico after experiencing her first patient loss as chief resident. She reconnects with her magical roots (literally) as her whole family is blessed with magic connected back to the flowers that are grown across their hacienda. While there, she reconnects with Sam, an old flame from her childhood, as she tries to find herself again.

I really enjoyed the magic system in this book, the connection back to flowers and the different meanings was really great and pulled from Victorian flower language (if you haven't explored this - definitely give it a look). However, I struggled a bit as I felt the story ran quite slow. Lily spends a lot of time rehashing her struggles both as a doctor and reconciling her love for Sam, and.I found myself wishing she would find her path quicker than she did in the story.

I did really enjoy the narrator as I listened to this as an audiobook - she gave great life to the book overall. I also want to thank NetGalley and Harlequin Audio for the advanced copy.

I really enjoyed this. While I kind of thought the main character placed too much emphasis on something that recently happened with a patient and some resulting implications, I don’t work in the medical field so I guess I have to admit ignorance as far as how this might affect something. But overall, the connections between science and magic are something I always appreciate so I’ll let that little detail pass and say that this was a great audiobook!

An OB/GYN resident with magical powers derived from her family flower fields. I loved this book. As a surgeon, things happen during surgery that we can’t control. The situation is worse than we thought. Patients don’t make it. We blame ourselves and spend agonizing days and nights kicking ourselves over what we could do better. The love that Lily and her old love share and the memories they old to are so precious and tender. I loved every second of this one and the narrator for the audiobook was fantastic.

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you, @authorjcervantes, @htp_hive, @htpbooks, @harlequin_audio, and @netgalley for my gifted copies. #HiveInfluencer

📚 #BOOKREVIEW 📚
The Anatomy of Magic by J.C. Cervantes
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / Pages: 304 / Genre: Magical Realism
Audiobook Narrator: Diana Bustelo
Duration: 8 hours 8 minutes
Release Date: March 11, 2025

Lily Estrada is a successful OBGYN when tragedy strikes and she loses a patient. Taking it hard, she goes home on an extended vacation to see her family in Mexico. The Estrada women all possess special powers that are rooted in their relationship with nature. Lily has the power to manipulate memories. While home, she must face Sam, the one and only man who she’s ever loved and who broke her heart without giving her a reason.

This is mainly a love story between Lily and Sam. Why did he break her heart when he obviously still loves her? I liked both characters and loved the close relationship she has with her family. I especially enjoyed the bits of magic that are infused in the storyline. This was a cozy and heart-warming palette cleanser between my usual diet of psychological thrillers.

Diana Bustelo did a wonderful job narrating this heart-warming story.

The premise of The Anatomy of Magic was so strong. I was really excited to read about family magic amongst this family in Mexico and to learn more about the individual garden beds of the family members. I personally was way more interested in the magical family and way less interested in the second chance romance. Unfortunately it felt like the romance took the lead.

This was fine, no major critique on my part, but I wasn't wowed. However, I do think this would lend itself well to a book club read. I am glad I read it as an audiobook because I did find the narration to be emotional and captivating.

I really enjoyed the first book featuring the Estrada family last year, and was excited to check out book two!

This time, the story is centered on Lily, the OB-GYN sister who holds the power to manipulate memories. After a traumatic experience at work, Lily flees to the family home and discovers that there is a problem with her magic. When she reunites with her childhood love and their chemistry burns as bright as ever, Lily finds herself facing a difficult choice between her memories of true love and fixing the problems with her magic.

I am always a fan of a story involving magical powers, and the atmosphere and magic of this series are so fun. With all the women in the family having an element of magic, it has great female power vibes and strong characters.

This one definitely has a love story along with themes of family and sacrifice, and I flew through it in a day. Lily's story is compelling, and I'm hoping there will be more in this series so we can learn about the other women!

The audio was narrated beautifully by Diana Bustelo, and I loved hearing her accented speech and soothing tone.

Not going to lie, I was a little bit of a sad panda for majority of the book. But second chance romances are my cup of tea and what a great read this one turned out to be! The Anatomy of Magic was a first time read by J.C. Cervantes and I didn't realize that there was another book in the series. While I didn't struggle with whom was whom, I think I would have benefitted more from reading the first one.

The journey that Lily and Sam go on was quite the emotional one! There were several times where I was pretty sure I'd be crying my eyes out. With Lily returning home after 10 years after a tragic incident at her workplace, it was time to face her past before focusing on her present.

I loved the chemistry between Lily and Sam immediately. I was so eager to know what happened that fated day and every thought that was popping into Lily's mirrored mind. As the reader we're right along with her and feeling everything. After the truths were learned, I kind of wished they had more time to learn each other over again. Since they were both fairly different people.

The family magic and how their history tied into their home, plus the flowers! That was so fascinating and definitely one of my favorite parts about this book. It was so neat to read about and the deep history it carried.

Such a great read and the I absolutely recommend the audio as well! Diana Bustelo did such an amazing job bringing every emotion forward. I can't wait to read my next J.C. Cervantes book!

The Anatomy of Magic:⁣
⁣
Thank you a million times @htp_hive and @harlequin_audio for my gifted copy. #HiveInfluencer ⁣
#HarlequinAudio ⁣
⁣
“The future isn’t to be seen. It’s to be experienced. Not to be waited on, but to be hoped for.”⁣
⁣
I’m so glad we’re back with the Estrada family. It was like coming home. I am kind of confused how I missed this was in the same family. I would have freaked out a bit harder if I read properly that a second book was coming. I read a few pages and said “now hold on I know you” so here we are. ⁣
⁣
Lilly and Sam were heartbreaking. I cried more than I care to admit because this one really got my feelings. The push and pull of second chance love with doing what’s best for the family that may not be best for you was heartbreaking. That’s the only word to describe it. ⁣
⁣
I loved Diana Bustelo when I heard her in A Cruel Thirst and was so happy she was the reader for The Atamomy of Magic. She brought the true mystical, magical, floral love of the Estrada fam and I couldn’t get over it. ⁣
⁣
Overall, I’ll always love this series and was so thrilled to go back. Out tomorrow 3/11.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to give this audiobook an early listen. I really enjoyed the family dynamics and the magical qualities. I loved the character development and look forward to more from this author in the future.

I was settled on 3 stars for most of the story, but the final 10% of the book raised my rating to a 4.
The story starts off a bit slow. We follow Lily, an ob-gyn resident who arrives at the Estrada family home in Mexico for the annual celebration of flowers, having arrived early after an unfortunate incident at the hospital. The first few chapters include a lot of exposition, with the magical aspect of the story remaining quite subdued.

The plot finally picks up at the 30% mark when Lily comes face to face with Sam, the first love she put a spell on her heart to forget. As she is pushed to understand the truth of their separation while still coping with the hospital event, Lily is forced to open up and reveal all that she has hidden in her heart for the past decade.

The 80% mark is where we really witness the full extent of Lily’s and her family’s powers. Before this, it was pretty difficult to see how her power was any better than having a really good memory, but as revealed truths push her to action, we finally learn the rules and limits of their family’s magic.

I will say, June's choices in the second half of this story are a bit painful to read. These decisions made sense in the story's context - she had just lifted the spell from her heart after ten years, and now she was feeling the onslaught of emotions that had been sealed in her heart. So yes, many of her choices are driven by emotion, which is understandable. A point came when I was begging her to stop for 2 seconds to think about the consequences.

The end is really where all the themes come together. Until then, it was difficult to understand what her recent hospital incident had to do with Sam, why she was so hung up on keeping things from her family, and what role the family magic would play in Lily’s story. I was desperately waiting for the full circle moment and was so glad to get it in the end.

What I loved the most was the family flower magic and the romance. I really liked that the family’s magic revolved around the land’s history. Working with flowers and their meanings is a huge component of their magic. The magic system isn’t as showy or outrageously powerful as seen in other stories, but its subtle nature only lends to the story and matches well with the book’s points about life and connection.

As for the romance, Lily and Sam’s journey made my heart ache. The writing does a great job of making us experience Lily’s building emotions. Even though I couldn’t relate to Lily based on experience, I felt deeply connected to her. Never has a story felt so personal. Lily and Sam's love for each other is beautiful, putting me through the deepest heartbreak, affection, despair, and hope. I loved their love.

This review wound up being way longer than intended, but in conclusion, The Anatomy of Magic is a story well worth reading, and I am looking forward to returning to this book again.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and Harlequin Audio for the ALC!

This book was fantastic. I loved the first book in the series and revisiting this magical flower family was lovely.

📚 30/100 (2025 Reading Goal)
📖 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝘼𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙤𝙢𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙈𝙖𝙜𝙞𝙘
✍️ 𝗝.𝗖. 𝗖𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗲𝘀
🎧 𝗗𝗶𝗮𝗻𝗮 𝗕𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗼
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
🌶️ 🌶️.5

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜 𝗟𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗱:
💕Second Chance Romance
🌸Flower Magic
🗣️First Person POV
🇲🇽Cultural Representation
🐎 Contains Horses
🐕 Contains a Dog
🎧Great on Audio
💪 Strong Women and Familial Bonds
🌮 Tacos

𝗙𝗮𝘃𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗤𝘂𝗼𝘁𝗲(𝘀):
•Here, magic is always in bloom.

•𝘐 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬.
𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥, 𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘰𝘹 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘥. 𝘜𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘴𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦. 𝘜𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘪𝘵 𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘤𝘰𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘴.

∙My God, life is so much more than the science we’re taught.

•𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥. 𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳.

𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄:
Some books are pure magic, and 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝘼𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙤𝙢𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙈𝙖𝙜𝙞𝙘 is one of them. J.C. Cervantes weaves a heartfelt, enchanting story about love, family, and the sacrifices we make for both. Lilian Estrada’s journey—navigating her extraordinary gift, her shaken confidence, and the unexpected return of her first love—had me completely hooked. And in all honesty, I would absolutely live in a place like La Ventana if given the chance.

I read this book while following along with the audiobook, narrated by Diana Bustelo, and I have to say—her narration was fantastic. Her Spanish pronunciations were spot on, adding a beautiful authenticity to the story, and her voice had this engaging, immersive quality that made the whole experience even better.

One of the things I really loved about this book was how the romance felt so natural—open door, yes, but never over the top or out of place. The chemistry between Lily and Sam had this effortless push and pull, full of longing and history, and it just worked. But what really stuck with me was the theme of sacrifice—not just for love in the romantic sense, but for family, for community, for the people who make us who we are. That depth added so much to the story, making it more than just a second-chance romance with a healthy sprinkle of magic.

In the end, The Anatomy of Magic was everything I wanted—sweeping, emotional, and just the right amount of magical. I adore this follow-up to 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙀𝙣𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙃𝙖𝙘𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙖. If I could pack my bags and move to La Ventana tomorrow, I absolutely would. Here’s hoping for more stories about the Estrada family!

Unique powers, flower gardens, and old sparks serve as the backdrop to this captivating story of family, love, and unpredictable magic. The Anatomy of Magic by J.C. Cervantes is a thrilling and imaginative journey into a world where magic, science, and destiny collide. Following Ana, who is returns to her family after a devastating incident, the reader follows her journey unpacking her past, reimagining her future, and exploring her family’s gifts.

Cervantes beautifully blends rich world-building with authentic characters you can help but root for. With interesting plot twists, cozy moments, romance, and magic, there is a little something for everyone.

For fans of romance with a wonderful mix of magic and mystery, The Anatomy of Magic is a must-read that promises to keep you turning pages.

✨ 4.5 Stars ✨

The Anatomy of Magic is a beautifully written and enchanting story that blends magical realism, family bonds, and second-chance romance in the best way. Lilian Estrada’s journey of healing, self-discovery, and love captivated me. J.C. Cervantes weaves a heartfelt tale filled with rich cultural magic, emotional depth, and an unforgettable romance.

The setting in Mexico, the Estrada family’s incredible magical gifts, and the chemistry between Lily and Sam made this a truly special read. Diana Bustelo’s narration in the audiobook brought so much warmth and emotion to the story.

A must-read for fans of Practical Magic and deeply moving contemporary fantasy!

Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher, for the early copy! ✨📖

3.5 stars. A cozy romance with a touch of flower magic.
The Estrada women have all been gifted with the magic of flowers. Lily, a successful OBGYN, has used her magic, memory magic, on herself to forget about her true love who broke her heart. But using magic for your own gain is against the rules, so Lily must correct the spell before it drains her magic completely. As she heals her wounds, she finds out that Sam, her long-lost love, actually does still love her but acted out of perceived selflessness to protect Lily. As they rekindle their romance, Sam shares hard news with Lily and once again she plays with her family's magic to help heal Sam, but in doing so damages the source of the magic. Will Lily be able to have it all -- a successful career, the love of her life, and the magic of her family?
I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

4.25 stars

Thank you NetGalley & Harlequin Audio for this advanced reader copy of the audiobook (releasing March 11)

I have been searching for magical realism like this! Perfect for fans of Isabel Allende & Abby Jimenez, this book follows Lily Estrada as she travels back to her childhood home in Mexico, and the flowers that Estrada women owe their magic to.

Magic system: this is certainly magical realism, heavy on the realism. Each woman has a specific way of weaving magic from the flowers, and many powers mirror ancient medicine & folklore in their effects. I enjoyed how grounded in nature this magic was, and the prose used to describe it.

Setting: oh how I wish I could visit the Estrada flower fields and Sam’s horse farm! Would *charming* be too much of a pun?

Romance: while I enjoyed the overall love story and found myself rooting for Lily & Sam, I wish we had a bit more time exploring their early relationship, and intentional actions & scenes as they came together.

Theming: memories, long kept secrets, consequences, family ties, and healing

This was my first of J.C.’s novels, and certainly won’t be my last!

Breathtakingly beautiful. A romance masterpiece!

This book truly made it's way into my heart, healed some old scars, and breathed a most magical air of life back into me.

The matriarchal aspect in this book is exquisite. The wisdom of such complex and different women that each own and are so proud of their gifts. The way the Lily had to face everything that kept her heart hidden from feeling.
The second chance at love was so beautiful.

The magic, the spells, the divine gifts. This book is perfection. I want to gift it to all the women in my life as a way to say "I love you."

This book will stick with me through the years and I know I will be coming back to it when my heart and soul need the light it brings.

I feel like this was Encanto for adults and I am totally here for it. Lilly shows so much growth while we get to learn and love the magic of the flowers and her family. Sam’s disappearance from her life is explained and OBVI we are forgiving him! And the end wraps it all up and we get our cozy ending, this book was everything! I have been really getting into cozy fantasy lately and the magic in this book coupled with the beautiful ending are everything I needed.

The narration of this story was done by Diana Bustelo and she does a beautiful job of making the characters and story come to life.

Thank you so much, as always, to NetGalley and Harlequin Audio for this ARC.

This is a truly endearing story, blending magical realism with cozy, comforting vibes. The romance is beautifully crafted, with Lilly not only discovering more about herself but also rekindling her relationship with Sam. It’s a heartfelt journey that hits all the right emotional notes, making it a delightful and touching read.

Lilian (Lily) Estrada's family is one of a kind. Not in the special way that all families are unique. Every baby born into the Estrada family is a girl and is named after a flower. While I know plenty of family's that name their children all starting with the letter "J". The flowers have more significance than just names. Each person in the family has a power linked to flowers and the family's ancestral home in Mexico.

After losing a patient, Lily goes home to try to escape her past. What she ends up finding is well, her past, Sam. Like many and their first loves, Lily never quite got over Sam and now he's giving her mixed signals on if he ever got over her. In order to move forward, Lily needs to figure out what she actually wants out of life other than a successful career.

This book was adorable, but forgettable. There was nothing in this book that looking back on it blew my mind. The audiobook was perfect for mindless listening while I drove. But honestly, it felt so repetitive. Lily doesn't know how to cope with losing a patient or losing Sam. While character reflection is something I normally go for, there just wasn't much that the reflection added to the story and could have been cut down significantly.

Generally, very cute but I don't think it will come to the front of my mind when I'm trying to think of a magic realism romance recommendation.

More reviews links to come.