Rating: 4.25 stars
Spice Level: 1.5/5

This was a wonderful, cozy, romcom with a dash of magic and paranormal happenings. I absolutely adored Sage as a main character and Tenn as a love interest. Their chemistry was off the charts! It was so easy to connect with Sage and her fears, confusion, and pain as she returned home after being away for so long and navigated the complicated relationships she’s left behind. She was a little messy, and she makes some awful decisions, but despite that, she’s easy to love and even easier to root for.
Second chance romance is one of my absolute favorite tropes—and this iteration was so fun. Tenn and Sage were best friends—and maybe something more?—via IM as teenagers. Every chapter begins with excerpts of their messages that show you how it all went down over a decade ago. I actually cannot express how I <i>perfectly</i> Raquel Vasquez Gilliland captures that awkward teenaged text-flirting. I genuinely don’t think that I’ve ever read a more authentic feeling set of teenaged messages. I did find the build up of “why it all blew up” to be a bit too drawn out. By the time we find out, I was sick of Sage vaguely saying “before he broke my heart” with no other context every other page for the first 2/3 of the book. At some point the annoyance of the repetitive vagueness outweighs the tension building that comes with withholding information. It’s a hard balance to strike, and unfortunately I don’t think this book quite nails it.
However, I did love Tenn and Sage’s interactions in the present day too. I mean—the banter, the angst, the swoon. I was so sold on them and I could feel myself falling for Tenn right alongside Sage. I was constantly on the edge of my seat waiting for the next time they would interact.

There was also a lot to this book outside of the romance too. Sage has just returned to her family home after being away for eight years and the dynamic is complicated, to say the least. She doesn’t get along with her surviving sister, nor particularly with her aunt, the woman who raised her. There’s discussions of childhood neglect, abandonment, grief, and domestic abuse. Because this book is so short, none of these topics get much page time, and I do think that does a bit of detriment to the story. Almost every relationship—with the exception of Sage and Tenn and Sage and Sky’s ghost—felt underdeveloped. None of the other characters have much depth to them. This especially felt true of Teal. She plays such an integral role in the story, but she didn’t have much personal depth or development.
I really did enjoy Sage’s interactions with Sky. I felt connected to their relationship. However, I wish the book touched on the grief of it all more. It felt like that should have been a massive aspect of Sage’s life. Her sister, whom she loved, was tragically dead. Yet her grief was never addressed, didn’t play a role in the story. I understand that it had been 8 years, but Sage actively ran away from it all, and now she’s back. That should drag up some amount of grief, and yet Tenn’s grief is explored more significantly than Sage’s ever is.

Though aspects left me wanting more, this book was, over all, a very fun, sweoony read. I look forward to Raquel Vasquez Gilliland’s future releases and I will be picking up any other romances she writes. She has an engaging voice and a way with romance. This is a wonderful addition to a spooky season TBR—or a wonderful read any time of the year, as well.