4.25 stars! This was a very sweet, friends to lovers style romance with a splash of magic and a lot of coffee and muffins.
Willow is a university professor teaching the history of magic and working on publishing a book about a grimoire/recipe book of spells that she unearthed at an estate sale. She’s having some difficulty deciphering the last two spells in the book, and when Winston shows up as the sêxy new owner of her favorite coffee shop, Willow is encouraged by her best friend and pixie roommate to ask him for his help in figuring them out. Winston is intrigued by the beautiful professor, and quickly agrees to help.
One of the biggest points of contention here is the fact that Willow is human and Winston is a witch, and in order for witches to produce magical offspring, it is more effective if both are witches. This is important because Winston is being pressured by his mom, who has been trying repeatedly to set him up with arranged marriages with other witches, and since he’s had no chemistry or attraction to any of them, he’s been completely uninterested. Willow is aware of this aspect of the witches lives, and only contemplates anything with Winston as being temporary, if it’s anything, but regardless, she doesn’t want to take advantage of the situation while he’s helping her and cause issues, so she takes the friend route with him. The way their relationship evolves is sweet, and you can see the chemistry and growing attraction as it continues to build.
Overall, this is a fairly low stakes, slow burn, friends to lovers story. It’s not less enjoyable for it, by any stretch, the characters are great, and I enjoyed the journey that we were taken on. The spice is on the lower end, but again, still very good. It was a very good story, and as it’s the first in a series, there is a nice set up for who the next book is going to be about, and I’m looking forward to more in this world.