Fantasy books with witches are books that always catch my eye. Brewed with Love sounded right up my alley, so I had to read it. Today I want to tell you all about the book and what I thought. Keep on reading to find out more!
A big thank you to Netgalley and Joy Revolution for providing me with an eARC to read and review. This doesn’t affect my opinion in any way.
A cozy, contemporary romantasy about a teen witch who wants to keep her family’s apothecary from falling to the competition but can only do so with assistance from her first crush.
Plant witch, Sage Bishop, is determined to run her family’s old apothecary one day. She spends her time trying to invent the perfect tonic to put Bishop Brews on the map. And she’s going to need one quickly, too, because their biggest competitor is drawing away customers.
Short-staffed, her nana hires Ximena Reyes, Sage’s ex-best friend and first crush, who’s more of an unwelcome distraction than anything. Ximena has always dreamed of leaving their small town behind while Sage wants to tend to her roots. And during one of their first shifts together, someone breaks into Bishop Brews, stealing several tonics, including the one Sage has been working tirelessly on, the same one that wipes a councilmember’s kid’s memory.
To avoid being shut down by the sheriff, Sage decides to investigate. If so much wasn’t at stake, she’d do it alone. But with her grandmother’s legacy and her future on the line, she must partner with her ever smug and unfairly pretty new coworker. As Sage begins to fall for Ximena (again), she’ll have to decide if the comfort of the familiar is worth missing out on a chance at real happiness.
Review
If I know a book has witches, I’ll add it to my TBR right away. So when I heard about Brewed with Love it didn’t take me long to decide to read it. This book pulls you in from the start and I read it in just about one sitting. The synopsis describes this book as a cozy, contemporary romantasy and I have to say I completely agree.
I have to start off by saying I loved the setting Brewed with Love took place in. I would love to live in this magical town and work at this apothecary. Sage’s family is known for their ability to make potions and they help the town as much as they can. After having her heart broken by Ximena (her former best friend and crush) she decides to make a potion to help people who have their heart broken. So far her attempts haven’t worked, and when Ximena comes back to town it’s complicated.
We get a forced proximity, second chance friendship/romance. In the beginning Sage really wants nothing to do with Ximena, but having to work together has them slowly bringing up the past and learning about how they’ve changed. I think that the apothecary being broken into and a bad attempt of her potion being stolen and someone losing her memory definitely had them connect quicker, but it was still great to see. Their connection was still there and it was nice seeing Sage open her heart again.
Brewed with Love is filled with family, magic, love, small town vibes, and secrets. I think at some times the author wanted to add too many things to the story, and that left some aspects a bit underdeveloped. All in all, I still really enjoyed this witchy story. I hope Shelly Page writes more magical books.
Brewed with Love was a story that I really enjoyed. It had a lot of the tropes and themes I love seeing in books. Have you read any witchy books you’d recommend lately? Let me know in the comments. I’d love to hear from you.