Blurb
When a young witch gets a life-changing chance to compete in a magical reality show, sparks fly as she’s partnered with a man she can’t stand.
In a Miami where enchantment is just another college major, the magic of television could change two lives.
Penelope Delmar, a broke salesgirl, has been chosen to compete on Cast Judgment, a spellcasting reality show. The winner gets a big cash prize, and for extra hype, this season is the Spellebrity Edition: every contestant will be paired with a celebrity teammate. Unfortunately, her partner, Leandro Presto, is best known for his goofy viral spell videos, not his skills.
Gil Contreras, alias Leandro Presto, has been crushing on his pen pal Penelope for months. Now they’re working together to win a contest that could save his grandfather’s charity—except he has to stay in character the whole time, so his dream girl thinks he’s a total loser.
Can they beat snobby rivals, fix spells gone wrong, and survive increasingly dangerous sabotage attempts to win the grand prize—and each other’s hearts? Or will Gil’s secret make both their magic and romance fizzle out?
TROPES:
- grumpy sunshine
- fake dating
- secret admirers
- enemies to lovers
- mistaken identity
Review
This book wove a spell around me and wouldn’t let go. I devoured it in a single setting, one of those infamous “I have to go to work in the morning, but I can’t stop reading” type of reading binges. Luckily this book is a quick read, and a fun one, and when I turned the last page, I loved the satisfying conclusion.
The mix of Spanish and English sprinkled throughout the dialogue and narration was easy for this non-Spanish speaker to follow, and all the characters pop with their own unique quirks and personalities that make them come off the screen. Leandro finds himself in quite the conundrum while our heroine, Penelope, needs to figure things out fast — and not just her feelings for Leandro.
I did end the book feeling as if we’d lost one of the competing pairs, but that could have been a reader error, too. And the time shift toward the end seemed confusing and made me feel as if we’d missed a chunk of the story. But with those minor quibbles being said, this book is a satisfying, grin-inducing heterosexual romantic comedy, though there is plenty of queer representation, making the cast thoroughly diverse.
Add in a dash of a high-stakes to Penelope but no one is going to die mystery, and frankly, this book provides a most entertaining distraction.
You’ll be enchanted by this story. I promise.
Copy of the book received from Netgalley.
