A Little Magic

Sugar Valley, Book 1

De: Lindsey Lanza

Narrado por: Shaina Summerville, Stephen Borne

Ellie Klein fled Vermont after graduating high school, and she hasn't been back since. Not to see her overbearing parents nor her distant brother, not even to visit her temperamental cat and beloved dog. And most importantly, she hasn't been back to see Theo Fox. Her first love and brother's best friend has been but a distant and painful memory for the last seven years.

When Ellie's travel site lands her back where it all began, her goal is to get in and out without seeing anyone from before. But life has other plans when she's caught in a blizzard that leaves her seeking refuge in a cabin owned by none other than the infamous Theo.

Theo Fox has been winning collegiate hockey and NHL championships since Ellie disappeared, but all he really wants is a second chance with the woman he can't stop loving. When she shows up unannounced in Vermont, he's determined to find out why she left and never returned. And if he has a little magic on his side, how to get her back.

Told over the course of nine Christmas Eves and eight nights of Hanukkah, A Little Magic is a cozy, nostalgic story of young love, finding your voice, and the complexities of what it means to be a family.

©2023 Lindsey Lanza (P)2023 Tantor

First Love Romance

🐧🐧🐧🐧/5

Holiday second chance romance with brother’s best friend and a childhood romance? I couldn’t resist picking this one up!

I really wish I liked it better than I did, however all the tropes were there and they did not disappoint. I loved the gentleness and love between Theo and Ellie. It was definitely easy to fall in love with them, and it made their love more believable. I liked the dual timeline and everyone knows first love and friends to lovers is such a special bond.

Theo is a beautiful soul. His life hasn’t been the easiest after losing his parents and it was lovely to see him deal with it in the most tender way. And the reveal about the snow gloves he gave Ellie every year for her birthday? I CANNOT.

Ellie has also been dealt a bad hand with Lupus, but she has the strength and the determination to not let it define her. I enjoyed her character but I did not agree with her just picking up her life across the country and forgetting about everyone she cared about for seven years after hearing some “bad” news.

I’m never a fan of the miscommunication trope and three people were involved in this one and I hated how neither of them said a word about what truly happened for 7 years. The timeline made me angry considering the whole issue could’ve been solved with one sentence. However, the characters did need time apart to really grow in life and in their love. So it wasn’t totally wasted time.

This whole story was sweet and tender and the lupus representation was thoroughly displayed throughout in a realistic and beautiful way. Theo and Ellie are clearly soulmates, and it was adorable to watch as their love grew. And we learn that her brother sucks and we hate him. Maybe he’ll get a redemption at some point though!

Read if you like first love, gentle romances, second chances, brother’s best friend, ice skating, stories with representation, dual timelines, festive vibes, snowed in, spice, and HEAs!

Sweet story, especially the 2nd half

I ended up really liking this, but I almost quit listening in the beginning. It was more that I didn’t live the narrators than the story itself, but it started out kind of slow, regardless. (The narration feels overly dramatized at first, especially when they’re kids. It felt more like someone was reading a bedtime story to a kid than narrating a book for adults.) I’m glad I made myself get over my issues with the narration, though, because by the end, I was really charmed by the story.

The brother is a Jackass

A Little Magic was had a duel timeline, which was a little hard to follow from time to time. The heroine has lupus and her mother was a helicopter parent to the point where the heroine felt like she couldn’t keep live. The hero’s parents died in an accident, and the heroine’s family helped him as he is best friends with the heroine’s brother. In the past, they fall in love as kids/teenagers and kept their relationship a secret. In the present, they reunite and are snowed in together, forced to face what broke them apart as they never stopped loving each other. I hate her brother, and his motives here is why this trope tends not to work for me. That’s all.

Story cute narration Meh

I had a hard time getting into this book but once I did I really enjoyed it. It is told in duel POV and duel timelines (past and present).

In this book we meet El and Theo. El has lupus and lives a protected and sheltered life. Theo is her brother’s childhood best friend. El and Theo fall for each other but once she leaves for college they have 7 years where they don’t communicate and then run into each other when she returns to where she grew up for a work assignment.

Read this book if you like
* second chance romance
* brother’s best friend
* forced proximity
* one bed

I read and listened to this book and the audio may be why I had a hard time getting into it. Maybe skip audio and just read the book.

Perfect winter read

Loved this! Such a fun read. Hooked me in from the very start. Loved the flipping between past and present.

Disappointed

This has so much promise. There were great reviews, but it just did not live up. The story started when they were so young and it just didn’t work for me. The brother was an awful prick.