The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak and Magic

A Novel

By: Breanne Randall

Narrated by: Laura Horowitz

For fans of Practical Magic and Gilmore Girls, The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak and Magic is a debut novel that explores the shields we build around our hearts to retain our own magic.

Sadie Revelare has always believed that the curse of four heartbreaks that accompanies her magic would be worth the price. But when her grandmother is diagnosed with cancer with only weeks to live, and her first heartbreak, Jake McNealy, returns to town after a decade, her carefully structured life begins to unravel.

With the news of their grandmother’s impending death, Sadie’s estranged twin brother Seth returns to town, bringing with him deeply buried family secrets that threaten to tear Sadie’s world apart. Their grandmother has been the backbone of the family for generations, and with her death, Sadie isn’t sure she’ll have the strength to keep the family, and her magic, together.

As feelings for Jake begin to rekindle, and her grandmother growing sicker by the day, Sadie faces the last of her heartbreaks, and she has to decide: is love more important than magic?

Listeners who love the magic of The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake and the sense of community found in The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches will enjoy this warm, witchy novel.

©2023 Breanne Randall (P)2023 Blackstone Publishing

Like a Halloween hallmark

This was a very light and enjoyable book. Wonderful imagery and an easy read. Might not be for everyone, but as a lover of hallmark movies, Gilmore girls and practical magic, it leaves me hoping she writes more!!

Good read!

Entertaining and just enough witchy. A little annoying in the amount of “things left unsaid” that came up later as a problem. Ending left room for more story. I’d definitely read it.

Entertaining

The story was cute and very entertaining. I loved that it had recipes. I guess I’m gonna have to check them out on my own. The only thing was the main character. Sadie was a little whiny, but that was OK.

Absolutely love this

Love the story and the message the characters and the narrator was amazing as well.

Such a good book

Loved this book! It had great story building. I want prepared for the ending. Great all around!

Wonderful

So well written and such a good story. I loved every minute of it. Highly recommend

Lovely narration and great story

Definitely enjoyed this story. The magic and storytelling had me hooked. Having witchcraft and love mixed together made me love it more.

Good characters but too many metaphors and similes.

The main character is kind of annoying but I like all of the other characters. Good story but the magic system isn’t really explained enough.

feels like a young reader book

The theme of the story is drilled into every paragraph, with very little variance. It made me feel bored quickly. I actually jumped 10 chapters and didn't seem to miss anything in the storyline.
I also had to listen to the book on 1.5x speed, because the voice of the narrator was so slow. She seemed to rely on changing the speed of the characters' voices to show differences between them. But she kept each of the characters' voice at the same pitch/tone, which was difficult to listen to.
Another annoying thing for me was the narrator made the main character's voice sound juveline and whiny. I found myself annoyed with Sadie's personality because of that.
I think I would have enjoyed the book more if it was a better narrator. But the story definitely feels like it was meant for a young reader. Kinda reminded me of listening to Twilight Audiobook.

Good read!

Enjoyed the story! Easy read and loved the characters. Makes me want a sequel. I need to look up if she has written anything else