spooky, with some darker aspects and some things that wouldn't feel out of place in a horror, but a lot of bright and airy things as well and a great fantasy romance overall. 4 stars. tysm for the arc.

I was so intrigued by this synopsis but sadly it had more potential than execution

The beginning was solid and i absolutely loved our quirky Mmc. But the chemistry was off between these two and i really didn’t like how the embarrassing one night stand was handled. They were acting like they killed someone rather than just hooked up, the book was also too repetitive for my liking and that’s the main reason I didn’t enjoy it.

Overall, still an easy read for spooky season but not the first one I would recommend

✨ARC REVIEW✨
Hopelessly Teavoted
Audrey Goldberg Ruoff
September 16, 2025
Hallowcross # 1

Tropes
♡ Dual POV
♡ Witch x Cursed Human
♡ Childhood Friends to Lovers
♡ Second Chance
♡ Crime Solving
♡ Small Town Romance

Genres / Moods
♡ fiction
♡ fantasy
♡ romance
♡ emotional
♡ funny
♡ lighthearted

Rating: 4.75/5⭐
Spice: 4/5🌶️
3 Emojis: 😈 🧤 🤺

Book Details
♡ August 12, 2025 - August 23, 2025
♡ eBook
♡ 295 pages
♡ 37 chapters
♡ NetGalley

Review:
This was a fun read! It took a sec to get into, but them I was pulled in by the tension and paranormal crimes happening. This was a mix of plot about the couple and plot about figuring out more about the strange happenings around town.

I enjoyed that the MMC and FMC were truthful with each other about how they were feeling (outside of some magic truth power). They both had a lot to process about the current situation and their past. They both care for each other and want the best for each other. They are friends first always, regardless of what the future holds for them.

Summary:
Victoria has returned home after dropping out of grad school and breaking up with her boyfriend to buy Hopelessly Teavoted, a tea shop that was owned by a friend's parents.

Azrael also returned home to teach at the local high school after his screen writing career didn't pan out and his parents passed away.

Vickie and Az have been best friends since childhood, but an awkward experience in college had them keeping their distance since. With them both back home, their friendship and feelings have resurfaced. Complications arise when Vickie has to use her "gift" to complete her parents' debt to a devil, and the devil objectified Az, making Vickie not able to touch him without killing him.

While paying her debts, a larger scheme is uncovered. Vickie and Az, along with his sister and his sister's partner, try to solve the paranormal crimes. Vickie and Az have to navigate their reemerged feelings, solving the crimes all while trying to find a fix for the new curse.

This was a super cute read! It had Adams family vibes with some mystery tossed in. The FMC is a very powerful witch and her human neighbor our MMC need to work together to unravel a truth.

Thank you NetGalley & atria books for this earc in exchange for an honest review!

Hopelessly Teavoted is a cute cozy debut perfect for spooky season that turns up the dial on steamy romance!

– Vibes: Addams Family, Charmed, and a hint of Lucifer
– Tropes: slow burn, small town, grumpy (MMC) x sunshine (FMC), childhood friends to lovers, second chances, and if he touches her he WILL die
– Spice: multiple (5+) open door scenes, including a leather glove, shower kink, and magical touches
– Setting: the town of Hallowcross feels like Stars Hollow in the fall, and Hopelessly Teavoted was reminiscent of Luke's Diner

Readers looking for the best of both worlds—spicy romance and a cozy, low stakes story involving a quest to crack the town mystery (and pesky deals with handsome devils)—will want to pick this one up.

But don't let the light-hearted facade fool you—this book contains deep themes: loss, debilitating depression and anxiety from the MMC's POV, and that can sometimes slow down the story. If you crave angst and don't mind a bit of glum in your MMCs, add this one to your TBR.

Something I have to mention is how well this book normalized queer relationships. Most stories I've read directly confront the challenges around coming out and for the characters there tends to be a period of masking, denial, and concealing their romantic relationships (which are important and serve an important purpose), but there was something refreshing about how this world just accepts you, no matter what. And this adds to the cozy factor.

I do feel like there's some potential for more stories in this world 👀

Rounded up!

I requested this ARC because I really liked the premise of the story but the execution wasn’t there. To start with what I liked, I loved the LGBTQ+ reps and Az’s struggle with grief which felt very real with what a lot of people experienced during the height of the pandemic.

But I had to give up and start skimming around 50% of the book because the pacing was so slow and bogged down with repetitiveness - like did you know something happened between Vicky and Az in college?? Did you know they are just friends?! I wish I counted the number of times the “incident” was mentioned.

The romance felt flat. Since we begin the book knowing that they love each other, all we get is dragged out pinning which was built on miscommunications instead of convincing pinning. It felt more like lust and had little depth.

Lastly, I was annoyed that the magic was never really explained. I feel like the author took advantaged of common knowledge of witches and demons but didn’t explain how magic worked in this book. I had so many questions and would get confused that I began to lose interest. Also what’s with all the snapping??

dnf at 56%

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for giving me access to this arc in exchange for my honest review.

first of all i just want to say im extremely sad that i dnf’d this book. the premise of it seemed amazing and i really did like the two main characters. but it just got to the point that i kept getting annoyed while reading.

in this story there’s a not so really explained part as to what happened when they hooked up in college and why the mmc said what he said. it’s really just danced around and hinted at and mentioned in the beginning of the book till around 30%.

and after once they semi (still not fully explained what happened) talked about what occurred they are on good terms. the fmc asks the mmc to pretend like this isn’t going on and as they are going at it in the back seat the mmc suddenly realizes that he’s cursed and he can’t touch the fmc or he dies.

that lowkey ticked me off cause all he does is yearn after her like ten times more strongly then before. yet they constantly flirt with the oh will we won’t we and let’s put gloves on so i’m not actually touching you when there’s more important things going on.

if you’re able to get past these parts i think this would be an amazing read for you! sadly it just wasn’t for me.

Thanks to Atria and NetGalley for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

I really appreciate what Goldberg Ruoff tried to do here; this book is a love letter to spooky, the nostalgia of the Addams family and Casper the friendly ghost. Unfortunately, I couldn't ever get into this one the way I wanted to. I DNFed quite early on, which indicates this is a me problem and has nothing to do with the book itself. I think others will love this and can see it being popular in the upcoming Spooky Season, but I couldn't connect with the voice and writing style and therefore am not the target audience.

What a great story line. I love Vickie and Az. They were such awesome characters. Along with Prissy, I really loved her character. The scenes were drawn with words so well I was right there with the characters throughout the entire book. I kept turning pages because I was dying to know what happened next. It was that great of a read!

I want to thank NetGalley and Adria Books for this advanced reader copy and this is my honest opinion.

I love a good witchy romance (especially with some mystery), but this one fell flat for me. There was too much pining and it got very frustrating having to listen to the characters' internal monologues about how they should speak up but don't. The mystery aspect of the book felt rushed and just thrown together. A lot didn't make sense and I did end up DNFing this one.

You know the saying if you don’t have anything nice to say don’t say anything at all.
Yeah I think that’s best left at that
The premise sounded so good but sadly fell flat, other reviews state it perfectly, a lot doesn’t make sense.
I know some people will love it, Thank you for the arc!

Apparently I will just read anything with a punny title and a cute witchy cover, and that's not a smart method to pick your next read, do not recommend. I expected a fun supernatural romance that's easy to enjoy and just a quick entertaining read, but the couple was kinda weird and there was so much unnecessary stuff in here that I didn't like anything in the end. The book is about the witch Azrael who is in love with his next-door neighbor Victoria, a woman who can speak to the dead. But he failed to confess his love when they were teens and then he just never did anything about that ever again. Besides that one night stand they've had in college that is always talked about in a vague way and that both of them act kinda traumatized about, like they accidentally killed someone that night or something. I did not understand what their problem was. Azrael is obsessed with Victoria since forever – really, he is so pathetic for her and not even remotely in a good way – and she is also into him, but they fail to clearly communicate that for years and for absolutely no reason. Now Victoria is back in town and she's fixing up the local tea shop that once belonged to Azrael's parents. I think that she did that anyway, because it's not actually part of the story and we never get much about the tea shop in general, even though it's literally referenced in the title of the book. The book is mostly about Azrael and Victoria being all over each other, and them being interrupted while they're at it. Either they stop because they think the other doesn't actually want it – no idea where these thoughts always come from when they are passionately kissing every time they meet – or someone or something stops them. Later there is even a curse that prevents them from touching and the physical side of their romance is basically drawn out for the entirety of the book. I think that romance readers could really be into that, but I didn't like it and I also didn't care for these two people to be together when they not once communicated straight in their lives. On top of that lackluster romance there was so much unnecessary stuff thrown in here. There is somewhat of a mystery and it's made up of the most random plot elements: there is a devil contract and a curse, a local megachurch, a psychic in a hospital, a grave robbery, a historical serial killer, an asshole boss, and if you're wondering how all of that fits together, then I can't help you either, because I don't know. Some things were rather serious, but every talk between Azrael and Victoria was either horny or it ended in sex straight away, so there never was a balance between the romance and everything else. There were also weird time jumps throughout the story and some things were just beyond my comprehension. I'm writing this with the risk of sounding absolutely tactless, but why in the world would you have Azrael's parents dying from COVID? They are basically introduced as Morticia and Gomez Addams and as very powerful witches who can do literally every kind of magic with the snap of their fingers (don't get me started on that insubstantial magic system). Seriously, why would you write that of all things? I do not understand and it made me feel uneasy if I'm honest. Many other moments made me cringe and overall, I really didn't have a good time reading this book. I can see other readers liking it, though.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for providing a digital arc in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to Netgalley & Atria Books for the E-ARC! Loved so much! Cute characters & setting. Also loved the witchy vibes. Great debut!

Hopelessly Teavoted is a stunning, gorgeously written, perfectly spooky friends to lovers romance. I especially enjoyed all of the social commentary. The puns were impeccable, and the pacing was swift while still savoring the romantic tensions and YEARNING. SO MUCH YEARNING. Az is so tortured and such a simp, and Vickie is the perfect heroine to root for! Audrey Goldberg Ruoff has such a unique writing voice, she's definitely going to be an autobuy author after this!

The concept sounded so fun—a spooky tea shop, childhood crushes reunited, witchy curses, and a town full of restless spirits—but the execution didn’t quite land the way I hoped.

It’s also a very politically heavy book. Normally, I don’t mind politics in a story if it adds depth, but here it felt like it overshadowed the romance and the paranormal charm that should have been front and center.

And personally, I struggled with some of the character dynamics—especially seeing Victoria show interest in other characters. It made the romance feel a little off balance, and I couldn’t connect with the pairing the way I wanted to.

Overall, the premise had promise, but for me, it just didn’t hit right. I wanted cozy, witchy romcom vibes, but instead I felt distracted and disconnected.

I just couldn’t get into this book. It’s a bit depressing that they are witches and still died from COVID so I couldn’t really get passed that.

Short Synopsis:
Victoria returns to her hometown of Hallowcross and unexpectedly runs into her childhood best friend, Azrael - the one she hasn’t spoken to since a painful incident in college. But when a series of curses threatens them both, the two are forced to team up to save their town.

My Thoughts:
This was such a fun, spooky, and witchy romance. It has everything: magic, curses, tea, a little mystery, and a whole lot of romance.

I especially loved that the witchy one wasn’t the FMC for once, it was the MMC! That twist made it feel fresh and different. And if you’re a fan of WEDNESDAY or THE ADDAMS FAMILY, Azrael (and his delightfully magical family and house) will steal your heart.

The romance leans on the spicier side, but it’s balanced with plenty of yearning. And oh, does Azrael know how to yearn.

If you enjoyed THE EX HEX or books in that vein, this one will leave you absolutely bespelled.

What You’ll Find:
👩‍❤️‍👨 Childhood friends to lovers
🔄 Second chance romance
🕸️ Addams Family vibes
⚔️ “Touch her and I’ll die”
🧙‍♂️✨ Witch + cursed human
🏚️ Semi-sentient house

DNF @ 20%

I was really excited for this book, but I struggled so hard to get into it. It felt adult but also immature at the same time. We drop f-bombs but act like love-sick tweens. And before even getting a proper grip on the story and what its all about, we can't go more than 2 paragraphs it feels like without mention either The Thing That Happened 6 Year Ago That Broke Our Friendship that the reader just has no real details about, or how horny and yearny they are for each other but woe is me because the other *definetly* doesn't feel that way. I think the characters and the setup needed to be flushed out better by the time we get this far into the story, and the constantly repetition of feelings and The Event needed to be greatly reduced, because it was terribly distracting.

This book had some really fun elements. I loved the ridiculous premise of the Adams Family-like family living beside the “regular” family, which were anything but regular. I thought the magic system was fun and interesting. I liked that the FMC’s parents (who were rich and cold) had made a deal with a devil to bestow their daughter with magical gifts, which they then used for their own financial gain. That was all very interesting and kept me engaged and reading.

The MMC is a very sensitive witch who loves classic literature and his pining is so over-the-top. The FMC, who is supposedly much more fun-loving and down to earth, pines just as much. All the pining was way too much for me, and almost made the book unreadable. Some people love that sort of thing, though, so for folks who loved Twilight because of all the longing, or fans of Everyone I Kissed Since You Got Famous by Mae Marvel, this book will have the perfect amount of desirous longing for you.

The mystery of the story wasn’t much of a puzzle, so it probably won’t be enough of a mystery to engage mystery fans. The supernatural elements are really fun, though. I also enjoyed the sister and her girlfriend as characters; I ended up caring enough that I would be tempted to read another book in this series, if it continues, to see what happens with their relationship. Plus, now that the two main characters are together, all the desperate longing can finally be over, and we can get to the story.

I think this book will appeal to fans of paranormal romance, fans of puns and punny towns with shop names made from puns, and folks who love slow burn romances steeped in longing.

I really wanted to like this book! It had all the makings of something right up my alley…. But everything felt forced, more often than not I was just confused at what was happening in the storyline, and I just couldn’t connect with the characters because of all that. I think the story idea is solid, but the execution needs a little more rework..