The perfect read for spooky season if you're looking for something cozy, sweet and romantic. It felt a bit Addams Family to me, which I enjoyed.

This witchy romance delivers on yearning. Azrael is the man if you love a yearning man pining for his lost love. Victoria was a girl boss (cuts out her toxic parents? what a queen!). I really liked both characters and thought their romance was sweet. I liked their chemistry too. There's a miscommunication from years before that perhaps took a little too long to resolve but that was the main obstacle to the romance.

The plot was interesting and the side characters were awesome. The worldbuilding was well done too.

I liked the theme of grief, healing and second chances.

Would recommend if you're in the mood for a lighthearted, spooky season, paranormal romance.

Victoria is such a loveable FMC. She’s strong-willed and brave. Azrael is a charmingly complicated MMC, dealing with grief and thought-to-be unrequited love. The two best friend-turned maybe, possibly, lovers team up to solve a magical mystery and reverse a curse cast by Vickie’s demon.

The cast of side characters, including a delightful haunted mansion, are fun and add depth to the work building. The magic system is interesting and unique.

Overall, this book was an interesting and enjoyable read. I had fun along the journey and would recommend this for someone looking for a cozy magical romance.

There are some things I wish had been wrapped up at the end of the book that weren’t that just left some unfinished holes for me, like Priscilla and Evelyn. And ultimately, I felt like the ending didn’t do Vickie and Az’s romance justice. I felt like even though they ended up together and binding themselves together, Vickie was still hesitant to put her full faith in it, so that left me feeling a bit confused and disappointed.

Hopelessly Teavoted by Audrey Ruoff delivers a quirky, seasonally cozy read that is perfect for fall. Ruoff’s atmospheric storytelling and the book’s unique premise make it a fitting pick for readers seeking something light and offbeat for the coming season.

However, despite its promise, the novel didn’t quite land for me. I struggled to connect with the main characters, Az and Vickie. Their relationship and interactions felt more scripted than sincere, lacking the emotional depth or natural chemistry that could have made their story more compelling. While the quirky tone adds flavor, it sometimes overshadowed the character development, making it difficult to invest in their journey.

Overall, Hopelessly Teavoted has its charms—especially for readers drawn to eccentric plots and fall aesthetics—but ultimately, it fell a bit flat for me.

Hopelessly Teavoted is a delightful mix of cozy romance and quirky magic. Audrey Ruoff crafts charming characters and witty dialogue that make the story both heartfelt and fun. A sweet, spellbound second-chance romance that’s hard not to love. I really enjoyed this read, it was pleasant and the perfect book after a very dark romance read.

I am just going to rip the Band-Aid and say it... I was not rooting for Victoria and Az. No matter how many times Az snaps his fingers or throws grave dirt at me (I still don't understand that one, someone please explain it to me!) I didn't get their love. This was definitely something I wouldn't normally gravitate to, but Audrey Ruoff does a great job bringing to life Hallowcross for this reader. The tea shop seems like a magical place I would love to spend time in to test out Victoria's latest delectable treats and drinks. Az and Victoria's Scooby- Doo adventures seem to drag the story a bit and the lustful pinning for each other was a bit too much.
Overall, Ruoff creative story left me wondering what's next for Az and Victoria to discover at Hallowcross.
Thank you to NetGalley and Atria books for allowing me to read an advanced complimentary copy of the book. Opinions and thoughts expressed are completely my own.

This is going to be the perfect book for the fall! It was spooky and cozy and adorable - romance with a side of magical realism, the characters were all so wonderful and you can’t help but feel hopeful by the end of the book!

Really enjoyed the vibes of this book! It reminded me of a combination of the Addams Family and Charmed, but was also its own unique world. I loved all the little details and the magic system, and the tension that ensued as a result between Az and Vickie. The yearning was *real.* I also liked the decision to start off in Az’s POV, which we don’t often see in romances.

I’m not sure I fully understood how the soul collection task worked — it wasn’t clear to me if it was something Vickie could control / move forward, or if it was at Luther’s discretion. I was also *positive* Chet was a red herring, but I was so wrong. Overall, glad I got a preview into this lovely title!

I really enjoyed this book. The spooky vibes and sweet but spicy romance were everything that you want out of a seasonal rom-com book.

Something I really liked in this book was the push and pull between Az and Vickie. They would get so close and then have to stop for one reason or another. I think that’s kept the tension up between them for the duration of the book. It’s also surprisingly spicy, and I thought the spice was done well.

I also enjoyed the other aspects of this book like collecting souls, the curse, and the mystery in this book, I thought that they all worked together well to enhance the main romance plot. The end of the mystery did feel a bit boring, but I was more interested in the love story as a whole for it to bother me too much.

I also have to mention that this book is actually FUNNY. It had me laughing out loud at points and rolling me eyes with a smile at Az’s bad jokes.

There are two things in this book that I didn’t love. The first is the pop culture references- there are A LOT. Which normally doesn’t bother me too much, but the frequency of them really took me out of the story a few times. The second is the sheer amount of love confessions. As I said earlier, I liked the highs and lows of Vickie and Az’s relationship, but every ‘high’ had a big love confession, it just was a little too much for me.

Overall, I definitely recommend this book. It was so fun and sweet (and spicy!). Pick it up with a steaming mug of tea and enjoy the spooky vibes.

I really enjoyed the setting and the characters in this book. I finished it in two days, so it was definitely a book I didn’t want to put down. Azrael sounds dreamy & I’d love to find a real version of him. I loved everyone from the Hart family. Vickie’s gifts were different from anything I’ve read from a paranormal genre, which I enjoyed. I would have liked to see more of Lex and maybe more interaction between him and Vickie that would have made the curse make more sense. I also feel like the ending fell a little flat for me with the reveal of the big bad guy. (I have more thoughts on this but I don’t want to give away any spoilers)

Overall, I think it’s a fun romance that everyone will be picking up to get in the spooky season mood. I thank NetGalley for sending me a copy of this to read & I’m excited to it see out officially in September.

I wanted to love this book, I really did but it just fell a little short for me. There was too much whining and pining between Az and Vickie and not enough magicking. While I felt like it was light on the magic, the parts where it was included was pretty good. Overall, it’s a fun book but could’ve been about 50 pages shorter by removing the pining and I think that might’ve helped.

As someone who loves seasonal reads, especially anything cozy, magical, and romantic for spooky season, I went into Hopelessly Teavoted with high hopes. And while there were elements I genuinely enjoyed, overall the story left me wanting more.

This paranormal romance brings together Azrael and Victoria, childhood best friends turned estranged lovers, who reunite after six years of silence. The spark is still there, but so is the lingering fallout from a mysterious (and miscommunicated) incident in college. Their reunion coincides with an evil presence stirring in their hometown, and together, they attempt to uncover its source while navigating unresolved feelings.

I felt like the magical setting was delightful. Azrael’s family home, with its Addams Family vibes and sentient personality, practically leapt off the page. His parents reminded me of a gothic, whimsical version of Gomez and Morticia because they were deeply loving, slightly eccentric, and endlessly endearing. The magic system was also clever. It involved witches who must snap to activate their powers. It’s a quirky detail that adds charm, though the word "snap" might be burned into my brain forever because it appears quite a lot.

As for the romance itself? That’s where things fell flat for me. The summary hinted at an awkward falling out, but the "incident" was far more intimate than expected, and the consequences felt out of proportion. The main obstacle between them was pure miscommunication, the kind that could’ve been cleared up with a single honest conversation. Instead, they avoid each other for six years, and then… immediately fall back in love within days? I struggled to buy into the depth of their connection. The chemistry was described, but I didn’t feel it. And while I’m thankful there was no dramatic third act breakup, it all felt a little too easy, considering the years of unresolved tension.

The pacing also felt off. There’s an evil force in town stealing souls which is such an exciting idea! But despite the supposed urgency, entire weeks pass without progress, making the conflict feel more like background noise than a driving force. The curse from the devil meant to complicate Azrael and Victoria’s relationship felt random and underdeveloped and more of a gimmick than a meaningful obstacle.

That said, the atmosphere was cozy, and the other characters really did shine. The side characters brought humor and heart, often outshining the leads. The setting of Hallowcross was vivid and full of potential, and I’d definitely be curious to return to the town in future books, maybe through the eyes of those compelling side characters.

In the end, Hopelessly Teavoted was a quick and entertaining read that had a lot of potential, but the uneven pacing, lack of romantic tension, and convoluted subplot kept it from truly enchanting me. If you’re in the mood for a witchy fall romance with cozy vibes and a quirky town, it might still be worth a try. Just manage your expectations and prepare for a lot of snapping.

Thank you to NetGalley, Audrey Goldberg Ruoff, and Atria for the eARC of this book.

This book was adorable. I love the magical realism aspect, as well as the mystery elements. My boy Azriel was so down bad for vicky. The found family was amazing, Priscilla was hilarious I just wish we got to know her girlfriend a bit more. If this book becomes an interconnected stand alone series I hope the next one is about sexy lexy! Overall this book is a very easy and fun read, and I thoroughly enjoyed it!

❤️ Childhood friends to lovers
🫦 Spicy magic
🥹 Pathetically down bad cinnamon roll cutie pie MMC
👨‍👩‍👧‍👧 Amaging found family
👭 Great LGBTQ+ rep

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read this book early!

I liked the dynamics between characters in this book and I enjoyed all of the diversity/representation which added to the whimsy of the story. However, the whole book fell flat for me, especially after starting off with covid and all of the political crap in here. Just not my cup of tea.

Hopelessly Teavoted has got me seriously wondering if it's too early to put up all my Halloween decorations. What a delightful and whimsical romance. Vickie and Az are the sweetest and their yearning is top notch. They each have such unique character quirks and personalities that make them jump off the page. The side characters also shine, particularly Lex and Prissy. This book is imbued with so much heart, envisions a the world where people love who they love unabashedly, the bad guys get what they deserve, and everyone gets their happily ever after.

A quirky, small-town, magical romance. Parts felt very relatable (for example, one character struggles with grief). However, other parts felt very niche, almost written like a series of “in jokes” and I wasn’t quite getting the joke. Nonetheless, many will enjoy this! Perfect for fans of the Addams Family and Pushing Daisies.

Hopelessly Teavoted was cozy and sweet but the romance and connection between Vickie and Az just didn't hit hard enough to make their relationship feel well written.

I was super excited with the promise of this book, unfortunately it just fell flat. It was a lot of information overload in the beginning, but then it just never stopped. In the synopsis it mentioned the death of one of the characters parents, but to start the book and realize their death was because of Covid19 really threw me off. In a made up town of witches and deals with the devil, the real life pandemic was the cause of death? Every interaction felt forced and there was no flow. Additionally, Hopelessly Teavoted is a book where the author makes their political views loud through their characters. I have no problem with this, it just got to a point where it was added nonsense.

This book had potential. However, it was really overwrought to the point of annoyance for me. I feel like the whodunnit part would have worked better as the A plot and Vicky and Az's snail-slow burn could have worked as the B plot. As it stood, the romance between Vicky and Az was overdone, repetitive, and quite frankly boring. We get it: they've loved each other for soooo long, but wait, maybe not, oh but wait maybe they do. Too much attention was spent on them spinning out on whether they really loved each other while the quest to figure out who made a deal with the devil seemed underdeveloped and tepid. I found myself internally screaming, "What about the mission to find the evil person stealing living souls in town???" while Az and Vicky wallowed in their feelings AGAIN for each other. The non-romantic plot seemed to take a backseat and felt weak.

I think what this book lacked was some good editing. This reads like a draft where the pacing needs to be tightened up and the tension honed sharper.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for an advanced copy of this book.

Hopelessly Teavoted is a cute, cozy, novel about childhood friends that have to “fight” their love for each other while dealing with loss, some unforeseen circumstances in their hometown, and a snarky devil with his own ambitions (he’s giving Astarion- for sure).
It was a slow read for me, and I couldn’t really connect with the characters, but I can see the appeal for people that like calm, cozy, books with a bit of drama and a bit of mystery subplot.
There’s a cute dynamic between the main character and his sister. There is a TON of diversity in this book, in terms of LGTBTQ characters and POC which is wonderful.
However, If you don’t like the misunderstanding/miscommunication trope, you may be a bit irritated during this book as it happens quite frequently between the MMC and the FMC. I don’t mind that trope, so I thought that was fun.
I liked the cute addition of the Star Wars bar too!
Thanks to NetGalley and Atria books for this eARC! I’m looking forward to what Audrey Goldberg Ruoff has next!

Azrael and Victoria are childhood best friends who secretly love each other, but they haven’t spoken in six years after a fateful night in college. Now, both are back in their hometown after the deaths of Azrael’s parents, and they join forces to uncover a mysterious evil presence in town.

Tropes: Paranormal Romance, Small Town Romance, Childhood Friends to Lovers, Second Chance Romance, Miscommunication, No Third-Act Breakup

I love a good seasonal romance novel, especially during spooky season. I was really excited for this one—and while it was definitely entertaining, I was hoping for more.

What I really loved about this book were the magical elements. Azrael’s parents reminded me so much of Gomez and Morticia Addams, and their family house was wonderfully magical. In this world, witches have to snap their fingers to use magic—which is cool, but the sheer number of times I had to read the word “snap” was a bit much.

The summary of the book gave the impression that the “awkward incident” in college was, well…just an awkward incident. I did *not* expect it to be a much more *ahem* intimate situation based on how it was described. When Azrael and Victoria reunite, it’s awkward for a few days—but then they’re immediately 100% in love and barely try to hide it. The amount of miscommunication in this book is *astronomical*. The “awkward incident” from college turns out to be a huge misunderstanding, driven by the classic immature-boy move of jumping to conclusions instead of actually talking to the love of his life. Then they don’t speak for *six years*, but the second they see each other again? BAM—they're in love.

Like… y’all really need to take a minute, look inward, and make sure you’ve actually matured.

For some reason, I also wasn’t feeling much chemistry or tension between them. The words on the page *told* me there was tension and love, but I didn’t really *feel* it.

Then there was this whole subplot (or maybe it was supposed to be the main plot?) about some evil force in town that’s been stealing souls or something. Honestly, I couldn’t bring myself to care about that storyline, and I still don’t fully understand what even happened. It seemed like it *could* have been interesting, but it didn’t hold my attention. The characters kept talking about how little time they had to solve the issue, but then the next chapter would open with "several weeks later." Like... what? I thought this was *urgent*! But weeks go by with little to no plot movement?

Also, there’s this whole thing with the devil cursing Azrael and Victoria, supposedly to make their relationship more “difficult.” It felt very random, like it was intended to heighten the sexual tension—but it didn’t. That whole subplot fell flat for me.

Azrael is grieving his parents, and Victoria has this power where she can communicate with the recently deceased by touching a beloved object. This comes into play when Azrael wants closure and says goodbye to his parents—which was touching. But then he wants to ask them a follow-up question, so they find *another* object and talk to them again. And then… again. And again. It started to feel repetitive. Honestly, it diluted the emotional weight of their deaths. One of the reasons losing someone is so painful is because they’re *gone*. But if you can just keep chatting whenever you find a favorite sweater or an old mug, it cheapens the finality and the grief.

Overall, I know I’ve had my complaints, but I *did* finish the book, and I got through it pretty quickly—though I may have skimmed a few parts. The romance could have been better developed, and the subplot needed more cohesion and urgency. In the end, it left me wanting more in just about every area.