2.75 Stars
This was a hard book for me to rate. It started off really well and I was enjoying it for a while but there were a few times I wanted to DNF it. It just wasn’t the cozy, witchy read I expected it to be.
The pacing was too slow and I couldn’t get invested in the romance between Vickie and Az. There’s no shortage of yearning which I usually love but in this case, it was a bit overdone. I expected there to be a little more focus on the mystery regarding the threats to the town but that quickly took a backseat to the mutual pining. I think if it wasn't so repetitive I may have liked this more but sadly, it just wasn't for me.
I did love the tea shop though! It was such a cozy, magical little place and I loved the fact that Az named his cat Emily Lickinson!

Many thanks to Atria Books and Netgalley for the ARC!

Hopelessly Teavoted by Audrey Goldberg Ruoff
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Atria Books for the opportunity to read and review this book.

🔮Cozy witch vibes
🔮Small town romance
🔮Childhood sweethearts
🔮Addams Family references
🔮Deals with devils
🔮Yearning


This book was so much fun! It’s the perfect book to kick off your spooky season reading if you want something on the lighter side.

Our main characters grow so much throughout this story and I loved all the little nods to the Addams Family, it was like finding fun little spooky Easter eggs. The elements of curses and deals with devils is always a classic and something I always enjoy. The slow burn might be frustrating for some, but the yearning definitely made up for it for me. Azrael is OBSESSED and a little pathetic in the best way. Victoria is funny and understanding and their dynamic flows so well. The magic in this was so whimsical and uniquely done, it added a very Sabrina the Teenage Witch vibe. It really wonderfully encapsulated that wonderful nineties witchy vibe, so if that is something you enjoy definitely pick this one up!

*This book does deal with the grief of loosing parents, as well as the COVID pandemic.

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book to read and give my honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.
I really loved the idea of this cozy romantic fantasy book. I'm definitely in my cozy era. I'm all for second chance romance, or at least a second chance type romance. It's great to root for the characters and watch them get their HEA. But when all they do is pine for each other the entire book and every chapter focuses on that pining, it gets repetitive and annoying.
There were several times during this story I wanted to DNF this book. It just didn't move. The pacing was so very slow. And not in a slow burn building up to this huge relief slow. It was just boring. Nothing pushed the plot along. The characters didn't change and grow. And the miscommunication was super frustrating. The author put the attraction between the main characters out in the book right away, which would have been fine but then there was no mystery to how it would build and grow and show itself. It was just there, slogging along. I had zero investment in the romantic story line of this book because the chemistry that was talked about just didn't seem to truly be there. Every chapter was spent with them ruing their one college experience together.
I was annoyed with the Britishisms used by the characters who live in the United States and are American. While the MMC's mother was British, I just didn't see these words and statements making any sense coming out of the characters mouths.
And the inclusion of all things current events ideas really took me out of the the story so many times. I was frustrated and annoyed by their use. To the point that it was almost ridiculous because how many current events types things can you include in a book before it makes it seem you are using them just to touch on those ideas rather than use them for plot purposes.
And what was the point of the tea shop? It truly didn't play much of a role in the book and I feel like it needed to. And what about the church and the mystery. By 60% in I had no more information or idea about the mystery than I did at the beginning of the book when it was first mentioned.
I do see the author's writing can be good but most of the time it is too descriptive when there is truly no need. I felt like she was adding words to try and get her word count in, And rather than showing us the magical system
Finally, I actually felt like this was a book that was written in a series. The way things were referenced made me feel like I must have been missing something. I actually went to check and make sure it wasn't the second book in a series because I was a bit confused by what the author seemed to think we might know about the characters.
Overall the story line had its moments but I did not find myself invested in caring about what happened to or between the characters. I just wanted it to be over and ending up skimming the last 25% just to be done. I do see a lot of readers DNF'd this story, which makes me sad because the potential is there. But the execution absolutely fell flat.

Cozy fantasy perfect for the fall season.

I love the continual thread that small magic heals.

The structure of the book threw me a little too much just certain plot points felt too early.

Then it felt like the story was just never finding its conclusion

It's a cute and emotional Halloween story of grief, connection, and love. I enjoyed the references and the homage to Morticia and Gomez Addams. If the whole hook happened in the tea shop, then I'd be happy because it's a fictional place I'd love to visit

Thank you for the arc!

Sadly could barely get through this. Wanted to DNF multiple times. The whole story just felt like throwing the whole kitchen sink into the book. The lack of communication just irked me. It’s fine for a bit for literally all that time just too much. Feel there was potential but it fell flat for me.

Wow. This book made my heart happy. I loved how it combined our current political climate with a cozy fantasy that had intrigue and mystery. I absolutely loved how all the characters were just unapologetically themselves. The romance was beautiful without being too spicy heavy. I liked getting the glimpses from each character, in a sentence or two from their inner thoughts instead of having multiple chapters of just spice at the end. It was a breath of fresh air. The yearning and longing both main characters had for each other, chefs kiss. I also loved how it had lots of nerdy references. Can’t wait to read your next book!

DNF at 27%.

Right off the bat, "toxic, misogynistic behavior" being listed as a Content Warning just rubbed me the wrong way. After a few months, I tried to get past that point and encountered references to more current events (ie. Azrael's powerful witch parents dying of COVID, the random mention of a BLM sign in the teashop) that only served to take me out of the story instead of immersing me in it. 

For making it a quarter of the way through the book, I also expected to have more information in regards to the church mystery and deal with the devil but instead, there seemed to be more of Az and Vickie's internal thoughts over what happened in college and how much they still wanted to bone each other and didn't think the other felt the same way.

Lastly, Az's parents seem to be so heavily influenced by Morticia and Gomez Addams that they just didn't end up being original but rather a shadow of the amazing characters they were inspired by. 

I really wanted to try and push through this, but ultimately just could not force myself. It is just not for me. 

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC.

I desperately wanted to fall all types of in love with this story. It starts so strong, with enough tension and mystery to build anticipation and curiousity, but the pacing and order of events feel off.

The Vibes
Friends to Lovers
Magic (Witches and Devils)
Second Chance Romance
Forbidden Love
Small Town
Spooky
Drama
Queer / Bisexual MCs
Dual POV

I desperately wanted to enjoy this, the cover and the synopsis and the title were truly right up my alley and I was so excited to read another fun witchy, magic, ghost-filled romcom with cutesy romance and a bit of small town mystery…and what I got was a book that read kind of juvenile? This felt like a lot of random story threads thrown together that COULD have been done well and been tied together had they had more substance but each one was so shallow and it felt as though I couldn’t connect to anything because the most random things kept happening out of nowhere. I loved the idea of Hopelessly Teavoted, the shop, and the regulars and Hazel and all of that, and I truly enjoyed those scenes, as did I enjoy the mystery up to a point. I even enjoyed Lex in the beginning but it felt like he was added to the plot for a reason that we never got to see and he became an afterthought. I just couldn’t keep track of anything and could
Not connect to the characters or invest myself in the mystery or even the story.

I love, love, loved this book! The plot locked me in from page one, and spit me out a new person on the last page. The characters became real to me and will live in my brain forever. The setting was tangible and perfect. The pacing was riveting, but not rushed. All coming together to be a book I can't wait to recommend to my friends.

Azrael returns home after failing in Hollywood as a screen writer with a cat he's allergic to, but his former landlady insisted could not be parted from him. Oh, and the girl next door/one who got away Victoria just bought his parents tea shop. Vickie's got problems of her own, like the debt her parents incurred with a devil that now she's bound to fulfill. And to top it all off, that devil just cursed Azrael.

Read if you like:
-The One That Got Away
-Girl Next Door/Boy Next Door
-Second Chance
-Curses
-Deals with the Devil
-Mystery

Hopelessly Teavoted has so much potential. I really wanted to love it and there were parts that were really really good. But the book as a whole wasn't as good as it could have been. The pacing was off or it leaned too campy. With a little more polish, this has the potential to be an amazing book. But without any edits, there are much better picks for spooky season.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for this ARC.

Unfortunately, this book just did not land for me at all.

The premise and idea was so intriguing to me but it ended up missing in a big way.

I was not at all invested in the romance and the sex scenes were just over the top and did not serve the plot. I had a very difficult time caring about the main characters. They were so cringe and their huge falling out that split them apart and led to estrangement made next to no sense.

There was not nearly enough about the tea shop and that was honestly a letdown.

Overall, there was too much going on with multiple plots and the will they won’t they get interrupted doing the deed overpowered all of them.

I LOVED what we learned about Az’s parents and their Morticia/Gomez vibe was so great. I would totally read a book just about them and the start of the sadly neglected in this book tea shop.

Hopelessly Teavoted by Audrey Goldberg Ruoff is a delightfully sweet and kitschy paranormal romance that serves up powerful witches, small-town charm, and plenty of magical tea. This cozy fantasy had all the right ingredients for a perfect comfort read, even if the execution didn’t quite reach its full potential.
What I loved: The witchy atmosphere is absolutely enchanting, and Ruoff creates a wonderfully spooky yet hopeful world where magic feels both mysterious and comforting. The tea-centric magic system is creative and adds a unique flavor to the supernatural elements. The small-town setting sparkles with glittery chaos that makes you want to pack your bags and move there immediately.
However, the pacing held this book back from being a five-star read for me. The romance took far too long to develop, with the characters seeming almost passive in their approach to falling in love. There was a lot of waiting around and lounging when I wanted more active pursuit of both the romantic plot and the magical conflicts. The story sometimes felt like it was juggling too many ideas at once, leading to some mild inconsistencies that pulled me out of the magical spell.
Despite these issues, Hopelessly Teavoted is still a cozy, entertaining read that tea lovers and witch fiction fans will absolutely devour. It’s the kind of book that wraps you up like a warm blanket on a rainy day, even if that blanket has a few loose threads.
Perfect for fans of cozy fantasy, witchy vibes, and anyone who believes a good cup of tea can solve most problems.

I am very grateful to have the opportunity to review this book! It didn’t hit quite right for me, but it has a ton of things I love: pining, pop culture references (Pushing Daisies and Wednesday) and the vibes and characters were fun. I think I’ll return to this as an audiobook and give it another shot. I really want to love it, so I’m giving it 3,5 rounded to 4 stars for what I hoped it would be.

When I received this book as an ARC, I really thought it was going to be the perfect fall cozy romance for me. A second- chance romance between a witch and his teen love, who ends up running his parent’s tea shop after their death. You had me at witches, tea, and second-chance romance. However, I unfortunately had to DNF at 50%. For me the first half of the book is a lot of repetitive yearning between the two characters, but not a lot of movement in the plot itself. I did get a little excited because there’s a bit of a mystery involved and about 40% into the book it seems like there might be some movement in bringing the characters closer together and towards the mystery solving, but then circumstances change and it goes back to more page after page of them wishing that the one time they hooked up in college didn’t go wrong. This just wasn’t the book for me. The witchy and magic vibes of the town were lovely and I am a little curious about what’s going to happen with the mystery, so if you love repetitive yearning love this might be the book for you- it just wasn’t for me.

Thank you to Atria books and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Hopelessly Teavoted by Audrey Goldberg Ruoff
Standalone
Adult • PNR
368 Pages
🗓️ September 16

💕witches
💕ghost seeing FMC
💕second chance
💕friends to strangers to lovers

Azrael Ashmedai Hart is a witch twice named for the devil. And he made a mistake 6 years ago.

Victoria Starnberger is the bubbly girl-next-door who had her heart broken 6 years ago.

Now grief, a mystery, a debt and some ghosts bring them together.

And together inside a book with this cover!! 😍 it’s sooo cute! It has some retro Halloween vibes, doesn’t it.

Hopelessly Teavoted is a paranormal romcom and the debut novel of Audrey Goldberg Ruoff

Okay, I’m jealous. Why can’t I live in a town with punny names for businesses and products (like Blade Runners, Kessel Run, Free Spirits, Burger Fett, Greedo Mojito)?

Azrael Hart grew up next door to Vicky but never took that next step, though they’ve been on the precipice of it for years. Az’s family has a sentient house and Addams Family vibes. They’re also witches. Vicky’s from a non-magical family that made a deal with a lesser devil nicknamed Sexy Lexy. After a falling out with her family over buying Hopelessly Teavoted, (the tea shop formerly owned by Az’s family) the debt they took out on her comes due. If things weren’t complicated enough, Vicky and Az piss off the devil. Lexy then casts a spell that makes it impossible to touch each other without Az getting burned up (not in the Victorian way but in a physical way). All this happens right when things are heating up between them. (Pun intended.)
Vicky has to deal with paying her debt while trying to find a solution to this little curse - all while searching for a big evil. I swooned when their romance went Pushing Daisies (kiss through cling wrap? Hell yes!) There are lots of pop culture references from To Wong Foo With Love Julie Newmar, Addams Family, Pushing Daisies, and Taylor Swift that immediately made this book stand out. It’s cozy and warm, a great book to curl up to. I may have come for the puns, but I stayed for the Hart family.

thank you netgalley, the author, and her team for allowing me to read this as an eARC xxx

really liked this author's writing style!

a paranormal romance, between nextdoor neighbours who missed their shot before college. years later, Azrael and Vickie reconnect and our story really begins there.

i thought this was going to be a paranormal x human romance but then she has some powers of her own as well and i found that way more interesting! i hate how she got them though. her parents are bad people !!!!

their “pretending” was super cute; i would also be scared of jumping. they went through quite the adventure together, though some parts were unnecessary or i just didn’t get the significance of them.

the ultimate twist of them becoming kinda “forbidden” (as far as forbidden lovers goes) threw me and made the story way better, the stakes higher, so that was a fun element to have!! them having to figure out how to get past this hurdle kept me interested and wanting to read to the end.

i also thought it was funny that he’s a high school english teacher. english teachers are the best. just putting him in a normal situation, after failing in california, was funny:)

definitely a cute story with the “halloween” vibes I wanted.

Romance novels almost always follow a fairly formulaic plot, ensuring you know what to expect from this genre. Hopelessly Teavoted confirms this assumption for us when we find out Victoria and Azrael are star crossed lovers who were neighbors but had "secret shenanigans" happen we allude to in the beginning. The little tidbits in this one were so lackluster, to me, honestly- it just did not make sense why no one would have acted on this love if it were so strong way back then. Some of the dialogue was TOO cringe, which made the pairing feel somewhat off to me in terms of how well they were matched. Certain plot points, too, went back and forth with random filler splashed amongst them and it just didn't work for me sadly. I adore how much the author loves TSwift, cats, and building a wonderful atmosphere. I'd have loved to see more of the tea shop, and was hoping to have more scenes happen there as well. While this one didn't work for me, I do declare it's a great spooky light version to start off Halloween prep. Thanks to the author and Atria books for the chance to read and review this eARC!

DNF @ 30%. Unfortunately this one was not for me. I really wanted to love it but the back and forth got old very quick and the characters just felt flat. Might try this book again but right now, it's a DNF.