Book Review: This Spells Love by Kate Robb

Title: This Spells Love
Author: Kate Robb
Publisher: Dial Press Trade
Paperback: 352 pages
Source: Publisher
Summary: (taken from Goodreads):

A spell for you to forget your ex, but what else might you lose?

Reeling from a recent breakup, a young woman tries to heal heartbreak with a spell–only to wake up in an alternate reality where she’s lost more than she wished for–in this witty, whimsical friends-to-lovers debut rom-com.

“Once lovers, now enemies, soon to be strangers with some memories, this love cleanse will rid you of your woes.”

When Gemma Wilde gets dumped by her long-term boyfriend, she reacts the way any reasonable twenty-eight-year-old would: by getting drunk with her sister, kooky aunt, and best friend, Dax, and performing a love cleansing spell to forget all about her ex. Sure, it sounds a little crazy, but nothing else has worked, so why not try it? They follow the instructions, complete with an absolutely platonic kiss from Dax to seal the deal, and Gemma falls asleep in a margarita haze, thinking nothing of it.

But when she wakes up, she realizes that this silly spell has worked. Not only has she never dated her ex; her life looks completely different –and spoiler alert, the grass is not greener in the alternate reality. The worst part of all: Dax has no idea who she is.

To get back to her old life, Gemma must reverse the spell before the next full moon. That means she has one month to convince a now near-stranger, Dax, to become friends with her in order to get his kiss. But as Gemma carries out her plans, she finds herself falling for him, and begins to wonder whether she even wants to go back to the way things were…

Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5

*I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.*

This is a steamy, fun romance that I thoroughly enjoyed. I was not prepared to love it this much, but I would die for any of these characters (except Stuart). This book is about what it means to follow your dreams, exploring the what-ifs, taking risks, and ultimately fighting for what makes you happy, regardless of the bad things that might happen.

What really made this book shine is that it’s not just about Gemma and her relationship with Dax, it’s about Gemma trying to find herself and figuring out what makes her happy. When she’s transported to her other life where she never met her ex, she finds that she owns her own beauty shop instead of working for a large conglomerate beauty department and learns how to stand on her own feet and make her dreams come true. I love how this theme tied the book up so beautifully, since it fit in with her relationship with Dax as well and each character has something they’re trying to achieve.

Aside from the fun plot, the pacing is spot-on, at no point was I bored or feeling rushed. Also, the characters are just incredible. I cannot emphasize enough how well Robb writes even the side characters. They all have hopes and dreams and are funny and quirky, I just love them all so much. Dax, his cousin, Gemma’s sister, their aunt–their lovability brings it all together–I would definitely read an entire multi-verse about these characters.

I highly recommend this book if you’re interested in friends-to-lovers romance. It is too good to miss.