Witch of Wild Things by Raquel Vasquez Gilliland

Legend goes that long ago a Flores woman offended the old gods, and their family was cursed as a result. Now, every woman born to the family has a touch of magic.

 

Sage Flores has been running from her family—and their “gifts”—ever since her younger sister Sky died. Eight years later, Sage reluctantly returns to her hometown. Like slipping into an old, comforting sweater, Sage takes back her job at Cranberry Rose Company and uses her ability to communicate with plants to discover unusual heritage specimens in the surrounding lands.

 

What should be a simple task is complicated by her partner in botany sleuthing: Tennessee Reyes. He broke her heart in high school, and she never fully recovered. Working together is reminding her of all their past tender, genuine moments—and new feelings for this mature sexy man are starting to take root in her heart.

 

With rare plants to find, a dead sister who keeps bringing her coffee, and another sister whose anger fills the sky with lightning, Sage doesn’t have time for romance. But being with Tenn is like standing in the middle of a field on the cusp of a summer thunderstorm—supercharged and inevitable.

Publisher: Berkley |  Genre: Romance/Magical Realism  | Source: Publisher | Rating: 5 Cups

Magic, second chances, healing, and family drama interweave in this magical tale that needs to be on your TBR pile this autumn.

 

After a situation at her former job, Sage is returning home, which isn’t going to be easy considering she ran from her family after the death of her sister eight years before. While things are tricky with her aunt and sister, and the ghost of her other sister is haunting her, Sage has found it easy to return to her former job at Cranberry Rose Company and it allows her to use gifts of communicating with plants. There’s only one tricky situation to navigate, working with Tennessee Reyes, the boy that broke her in high school.

 

Witch of Wild Things was magical, sweet, funny, heartbreaking, healing, cozy and comforting. One of my favorite reads of 2023.

 

Sage has been through a lot. Her mother left when she was young and their aunt took in her and her sisters but Sage ended up being the caretaker. After the death of her youngest sister, Sky, it seemed easier to blame Sage than face the situation so there’s a lot of tension and unresolved feelings when she returned home. I loved how Sage eventually found her voice and was able to confront things.

 

The romance in this one was a bit second chance-ish. Sage and Tennessee communicated via AOL when they were in high school and while Sage knew his identity, hers was a mystery to him. The situation ended with Sage getting emotionally hurt, so when they’re back in each other’s lives, Sage kind of views him as her enemy. There’s a lot of healing that needs to take place and Tennessee has some issues of his own that he needs to face. What I’ve loved about this book was the fact it was a bit of a slow burn romance, which is what they needed. I did have an issue with the secret Sage was keeping but I could see the twisted logic she had about not wanting to get hurt.

 

While this is a romance, it’s more of a family drama, which I enjoyed. There’s a lot of healing the Flores women need that originated from their own issues and hurts but they’ve transferred those hurts onto Sage after the death of Sky. It was nice to see each of them facing things they’ve buried for so long.

 

I loved the magical aspect of this book and how it was woven into the characters realistically. Each of the Flores women has a magical gift passed down from the old gods. Sage can communicate with plants, Teal can affect the weather, and Sky could communicate with animals. Each of their aunts has gifts as well, which are revealed throughout the book.

 

There’s a lot going on in this one but I felt that the pacing was even and the romance and the family aspect of the book both received equal amounts of attention. I would have liked a bit more about the old gods that gave the family their powers but that’s just a me thing of wanting to know more and not something that would have added to the story.

 

Overall, this was a fantastic read and I want to know more about the Flores women. If you’re looking for a cozy book for the autumn then I highly recommend this book.