𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁:

A spooky magical romance with a hint of danger and mystery. This was a great spicy witchy read to get you ready for fall. There was a bit of world building as the story developed to help define the rules of magic but I really enjoyed learning as I went. I liked the character’s star crossed situation it gave me pushing daisy vibes. Plus how can you go wrong with a magical house. This book also had great representation and snuck in parallels to real life issues.

𝐒𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐬:

Victoria aka Vickie is the cute mortal girl who lives next store, but her parent made a deal with a lesser devil and she was “given” the gift to see and talk to ghosts. Azrael is the witchy boy next door who has been in love with her since he was 6. They were childhood besties but an incident in college caused them to distant themselves but now they are both back in Hallowcross years later.

Vickie is back to take over Hopelessly Teavote, a tea shop previously owned by Az’s late parents. But she’s realizing purposing her own dreams and being cut off by her parents has a lot more consequences than expected. The deal her parents made for her “powers” now needs the debt paid and things are never straight forward when dealing with a devil. Plus there is a darker plot at play and ghosts keep warning her to be careful.

Az and Vickie will embrace their past and team up to solve the mystery before the Halloween timeline. But will Az’s magic be enough or by trying to save Vickie will he sacrifice himself.

𝙁𝙖𝙫 𝙌𝙪𝙤𝙩𝙚:

“Like I love you more than I ever have. Like my heart is shattering into a million glass fragments that can’t ever be put back together.”

𝑳𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒔:

* Childhood Neighbors to Lovers
* Second Chance
* HS English Teacher & Witch MMC
* Tea Shop Owner & Talk to Ghosts FMC
* He’s Loved Her Since He Was 6
* Touch Her & Die w/ Twist!
* LGBTQ+ Rep
* Dual POV - Slow Burn w/ Spice

💜🔥😈🫰🔮 💜🔥😈🫰💜

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC.

One day I will be able to rate books with half stars - but since today is not the day just pretend I rated it 3.5 stars. While this books was cute and enjoyable it was also just average for me since there were a few things that just brought it down for me. However, they weren't anything that couldn't be a big selling point for you.

The writing, characters and story line were great overall. There were times though that I found myself wanting to skim ahead because it was dragging a bit for me in a way that felt more like making a word count then really adding to the story for me. Also, in a purely personal issue, there were way too many pop culture references that would seem really random and odd if you don't understand the reference.

2.5 rounded up

Okay seriously, the cover is what initially drew me in. LIKE HELLO LOOK HOW CUTE! Unfortunately, the story just didnt hit for me. The story was all over the place and the miscommunication was STRONG in this one. I sometimes like childhood friends to lovers but this was an instance where I just didnt? I wouldve liked a bit more banter and a storyline that couldve been resolved if the two mc's just TALKED to each other.

Thank you Atria and Netgalley for this gifted earc in exhange for an honest review

This book has such small town Addams Family vibes! Vickie and Azrael are childhood friends and neighbors; Azrael a witch, and Vickie with a devil bargain to see the dead. When Vickie buys Azrael's parents old tea shop, multiple spirits warn her of something sinister in town. The two need to work together to save their town without setting everything aflame. I loved the puns in this book, and enjoyed every twist and turn.

A devil-ish, witchy romance. Mostly cute but didn't come to a full bubbly brew for me.

I think this book (which appears to be a debut novel) overall was cute. I find it hard to explain what I didn't love about it, but I kinda felt like the ingredients were there and they just didn't quite mix together enough for the perfect potion.

Still, it wasn't a terrible read and if one likes these tropes it may still be a good read:
🐈‍⬛Cozy Fall Vibes
🐈‍⬛Magical realism
🐈‍⬛Childhood friends to lovers
🐈‍⬛He falls first

3.5⭐

This was a cute, witchy romance that definitely fits the cozy/spooky vibes I was looking for this fall. I really enjoyed the Addams Family energy of Azrael’s family, the quirky small town with puns for names, and the pop culture references (Pushing Daisies, Taylor Swift, etc.) that gave the book some charm even if I typically don't care for these references. The central romance between Azrael and Vickie had some sweet moments, especially once the forbidden element was introduced, and I liked the idea of their “second chance” dynamic.

That said, I struggled with the pacing. The story dragged in places, with a lot of repetition around how in love the characters were, which sometimes pulled me out of the plot. I also thought some subplots and magical elements felt muddled or unnecessary, and the main mystery of the story was a little too easy to predict. While I loved the tea shop setting, I wish it had played a bigger role in the story.

Overall, Hopelessly Teavoted wasn’t a bad read—it’s cozy, seasonal, and has a fun premise—but the execution didn’t fully land for me. Fans of witchy rom-coms might still enjoy it as a light Halloween read.

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Hopelessly Teavoted is a second chance romance between former childhood best friends Azrael Ashmedai Hart and Victoria Starnberger. It’s been eight years since Azrael failed to confess his feelings to Vickie before they each parted to separate coasts for college. It’s been six years since they’ve seen each other after the disastrous night when they last spoke with the other. Azrael is a witch who’s always wanted to be normal, but he’s returned home from California, heavy with the weight of the loss of his parents from Covid. Vickie bought Azrael’s mother’s tea shop and has just been cut off from her own family, but she has therefore been left with her parents’ debt to a demon, which gave her the power to speak with the dead. Together, they tentatively rebuild their friendship, only to find that their feelings never went away, only to be cursed as soon that realization hit.

I had a really hard time getting through this book— I was intrigued enough with the mystery to stick around to see how this story would end, but I wasn’t particularly enraptured by the love story between Az and Vickie. This book has taught me that, while I’m usually a sucker for friends to lovers, adding in a heavy plot of second chance romance will likely cancel out my fondness for the central love story— or at least it did for this specific book. I will say, however, that the brand of humor within this writing tickled me, and I did find myself laughing aloud a decent amount of times.

There were so many times that I wanted to shake some sense into Victoria. I understood why she was so hesitant, but I wasn’t really buying it. I’ve read plenty of protagonists who stand in their own way of getting their HEA, but her denial of her feelings was so heavy and prolonged that the constant push and pull of pretending was not my cup of tea.

And then there’s Az. While I cannot fully relate to having lost family directly due to Covid, I can relate to Covid changing the very structure of my family and our lives, so I felt for his grief and his guilt. The weight of returning to a half empty house and being estranged from his childhood/lifelong love was certainly a lot, and I did actually like that his love story with Vickie helped him in his healing journey through that grief. My favorite thing about Az though was that his everyday was dedicated to small acts of kindness for the people in his community.

Between Azrael and Victoria, there was so!! much!! mutual pining!!! I usually love mutual pining, but I think this book was perhaps a little too angsty for me. I really felt like Vickie’s denial of her feelings was in multiple fonts and far too dragged out. Furthermore, there was a lot of repetition within both characters’ internal dialogues that I think contributed to my consistently putting the book down instead of craving to continue/finish this story quickly. And for all the repitition of Az and Vickie thinking about how they find home in each other, I really felt like the majority of Az’s pining was lusty thoughts and physical attraction. To me, it felt like his pining was 25% Vickie being his home and wanting to improve and be part of her life in whatever way he can and 75% lusty feelings. Don’t get me wrong, I love reading a man who wants to please his partner, but I didn’t like that his physical attraction seemed to take up the majority of his thoughts surrounding her.

On a completely different note, my favorite part of this story is the twist into “touch her, and I’ll die.” It’s simultaneously kind of fun but also so aggravating since it prolonged their getting together, so despite that being my favorite part, I think I have a love/hate relationship with it. LOL

Thank you, Atria Books and Netgalley, for the ARC!

I want to be very honest and say I signed up for this because of the cute cover and title. The blurb (that I skimmed) felt a little Halloweentown-y, which is my forever vibe, so I was excited.

It did not live up.

It felt like things were thrown in the story for no reason other than filler. I hate miscommunications and that was the backbone of this story. They act so weird about their ONS that I don’t even know HOW to address it. A little miscommunication is normal. They made it their entire personality. I didn’t get much from Azrael & Victoria together other than that they were horny. No connection deeper than that. Either not communicating well or hooking up.

Thanks to Netgalley and Atria books for this AR

I loved the witchy aspects of this story. Magic, a sentient house, and deals with a demon? Yes please. I’ve been big on second chance romances in the last year, and this has a messy second chance. They were childhood friends who both wanted more but were too scared. A hook-up on college that broke both their hearts and you’re not sure why. I wanted to love this one, but I did like it. I wanted more time with these two actually being in a relationship but they spend most of the story pining and going back and forth on whether they should really try. There is also a suspense component to the story that takes up a lot of the book. While I may not have been my perfect book, I could see a lot of people really enjoying this one.

Sadly this book just wasn’t for me. I didn’t feel the romance between the two main characters. Azreal’s parents were the real love story in this book. I also liked the devil more than the mmc.

Do you ever read a book with so many elements of “ooo, I love it” but there’s just one of two little things that keeping you from loving reading it? Yeah?

That was this book for me. I loved the fall vibes. I loved the Addams family like Harts. I adored the plus sized FMC, the snappy magic system, the Jewish representation, the queer MCs, and the sentient house. But I found the dishonesty/refusal to share their actual feelings between Vickie and Az exhausting. We started with a flashback of Az not giving Vickie a love letter before leaving for college and it took almost the whole book for them to say those three little words to each other. Each time they mentally decided that it was finally time to share…they would back out. Which led to dishonesty and decisions that helped no one.

Now, there are people who love that tension. Who enjoy screaming “just f*cking say it!!!!” at a book. I am not one of those people. The part that really killed the mood for me, was that there was a failed hookup(?) in college that resulted in them no longer being friends. I’ve read that scene 3 times, and I’m honestly still not sure what happened. Or I understand what happened, but I find it so pathetic an excuse on Az’s part for bailing on her that my brain is refusing to accept it or else I’d hate him.

The parts where I wasn’t frustrated at these two…were great. The story was compelling. The mystery was fun to follow. There weren’t any twists or turns, but I didn’t need that. The family dynamics between Az and his sister as they work through their grief over the loss of their parents was so relatable. The kindness these people are trying to bring to the world is commendable. We are in Vermont, a state that I feel doesn’t get as much love as it should.

But slogging through the parts where Vickie and Az are faking being just friends, and watching call “pretend” so they can have an excuse to act upon their desire of each other without being fully vulnerable was torture for me. It made me want to put down the book every time and take a lap to release the frustration. 

I believe Audrey is off to a solid start as a published author. And I also know that there are people who LOVE this kind of tension. However, for the next book of hers I would love to see more of what made the larger plot and world so fun, and let go of the agonizing pining.

I enjoyed the concept of this book and the task at hand for the fmc. The main plot of having to work with a devil and figuring out how to save her town is a classic storyline in my eyes. The main characters and side characters were all likeable, I just felt like the romance moved too fast and the spice came out of nowhere sometimes. Thank you Atria and Netgalley for the copy of this book!

Hopelessly Teavoted is the perfect mix of sexy, cozy, and spooky. Think The Addams Family meets an early 2000s rom-com, set in a Halloween-tinged version of Stars Hollow. At its heart, it’s a second-chance romance with a sweet childhood friends-to-lovers arc that felt both nostalgic and fresh.

The cast of characters is diverse, fun, and wonderfully relatable. And the MMC? He yearns like no one else—absolutely swoon-worthy. While the plot is somewhat predictable, it’s also action-packed and satisfying, with just the right balance of romance and whimsy.

This is the kind of book you curl up with when you want an easy, cozy read that still gives you spooky-season vibes. Charming, heartfelt, and a little bit magical.

Witches, devils, ghosts, a supernatural house and a white cat with a perfect name make this book a great seasonal read just in time for Halloween. I was immediately drawn to the book by its cover and title and really liked the story line and characters.
Hopelessly Teavoted is a cozy and lighthearted fall book about second chance love, loss and grief but also plenty humor. I loved that the magical characters live in a modern world, unbeknownst to humans, and are struggling with the same worldly problems, such as COVID, professional failure and family problems, and on top of that they have to deal with the magical world issues. The main characters have to overcome personal challenges and must solve a mystery to be together. There is enough suspense and a good amount of spice to keep the reader’s interest even though it gets a bit repetitive and slow at times. The plot twist at the end is a little rushed, I would have liked more details on that. An entertaining debut novel, and there is potential for a sequel, I hope.
Thank you Netgalley, @atriabooks and @audreygoldbergruoff for the gifted advance copy. The above is my own opinion and honest review.

Thanks so much to the publishers, author, and NetGalley for the chance to read this arc. This is my personal review.

-childhood friends
-2nd chance
-mutual pining
-magic

I love the premise for this story! I love the characters! I love the mystery! I LOVE the puns! In theory, I love everything about this book.

But for some reason, I just didn’t connect with the writing. I found myself having to stop multiple times to read or reread because I wasn’t able to really picture what was going on. The plot also felt a bit slow to me, which could have contributed to the disconnect.

The author’s details and the creativity put into this world are really great, so I don’t want to deter anyone from reading this book. It’s so witty and clever— the puns had me laughing out loud and groaning. I just wish that the writing was more my style. I wanted so badly to adore these characters and REALLY be invested, as opposed to just entertained.

Hopelessly Teavoted pulled me straight into the charmingly spooky world of Hallowcross! I absolutely loved how the author brought this town to life. The atmospheric and memorable Hart manor, the witchy tea shop, and the school where Az works- they all felt like real places and I loved being immersed into this setting.

The romance in this book was FULL of tension and yearning!
The curse preventing Az and Vickie from touching created such an intense push and pull. Every scene carried that delicious weight of angst, and I couldn’t get enough of it. That clever plot device really amped up the stakes and made their relationship really interesting to read and see develop.

On a personal note, I am not a fan of the miscommunication trope, and while it did show up here in the beginning, it was a smaller part of the story which I appreciated. For me, the heart of this book was the way the relationships and settings created a world that felt cozy, magical, and fun.

Overall, this book was an enjoyable read and absolutely perfect for fall. If you are looking for witchy vibes, a town you will want to get lost in, and a romance brimming with angst and charm, Hopelessly Teavoted is a great choice for the season!! 🍂🕯️☕

as much as i am a girlie who loves witchy books, i'm not always a fan the chaotic plot lines these books bring

atria very kindly sent me this story and if you love campy romance books that have witches or supernatural elements, here you go. i did really enjoy the second chance element of the romance because i'm a second chance supporter for ever and ever. i also liked the setting of the tea shop, its very fall and very cozy. the plot with the "devil" and the magically families and victoria being "cut off" , it was all just a lot and i would've been good with just watching our characters fall back in love again.

very cute and funny title though.

*thank you to atria for the copy, happy release day!*

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for providing me with an ARC of Hopelessly Devoted in exchange for an honest review.

I usually adore yearning in romance, it’s one of my favorite elements, especially when paired with a good slow burn. However, this book had so much yearning that the push and pull began to lose its impact. By the time things finally happened, I found myself not as invested, which surprised me since I typically love all the angst that comes with drawn-out tension.

The biggest issue for me was the repetitiveness. The characters’ feelings for each other were clear early on, but the constant cycle of “they care deeply but cannot communicate” made the story feel stalled rather than building momentum. While there were definitely moments I enjoyed, the lack of variety in the conflict lessened the emotional payoff.

That said, readers who enjoy prolonged longing and heavy emotional tension may still find themselves swept away by this story. it simply didn’t hit the mark for me.

A fun take on witches and magic, in a modern day setting! Perfect for fans of Wednesday!

Azrael is a powerful witch, who after a string of bad luck and the death of his parents has moved home to his families spooky estate in Hallowcross. Taking a job at the local HS and mourning the loss of his parents, things can't get much worse when Vickie re-enters his life, his childhood bestfriend and the girl that has always owned a piece of his heart. Victoria is meandering through life when the opportunity comes up to buy Hopelessly Teavoted, the Hart family tea shop that once belonged to Az's parents before they passed. Though Vickie may be human, she has a unique gift to summon the dead, but owes a debt to a lesser devil. With the help of Az's deceased parents, Vickie and Az uncover a sinister force that threatens to harm their town. Can they stop it before it's too late?

Thoughts and Spoilers:

This book was a fun concept. A mix of cute and spicy and a fun take on witchy magic. It was fun to have witchy and gothic concepts embedded in a modern day society, very much like Wednesday, where there's witches and magic and deals with devils but also cell phones and just basic high school. I didn't love the pandemic aspect of things personally. The romance was both cute but also awkward? I feel like there was an attempt at putting too many tropes into one story? Between that or the pacing, something just didn't fully click for me, but I feel like there was alot of potential and it fell a bit flat, but there are definitely people out there who would adore this book. I'd definitely be interested in reading more from this author

Thank you so much to Atria and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

Hopelessly Teavoted brings a wonderfully whimsical tone and immersive world-building that enchant from the start. The main characters are charming and likable, though it was the minor characters who truly stole the show for me—they’re vivid, memorable, and add so much color to the story.

This cozy romance, infused with magical realism, balances spooky, mysterious vibes with warmth. The premise is strong, and I found the execution impressive. My one wish, though, was for more character depth—especially between the two leads. Their connection had potential that sometimes felt under-explored.

The pacing starts slowly, but the story builds steadily and delivers a satisfying, powerful finish. Overall, this book felt both plot-driven and character-driven. The characters are lovable, the read is easy, and the voice is engaging throughout.

Thank you to Atria Publishing for the ARC!