

Review By Veronica
Spellbound is a sizzling paranormal romance that is hard to put down.
Favourite Quote:
“Psst.”
“Shh!”
My eyes snapped open, goosebumps covering every inch of my body. Without moving, I cut my gaze up and to the side, toward the whispers.
There, at the foot of Hazel’s bed, barely visible in the strip of light bleeding underneath the bathroom door, were two dark shadows, staring down at me, heads bowed like they were trying to figure out if I was awake.
Squeezing my eyes shut, I pulled the blankets over my head and tried to control my breathing. A quiet thump came from down the hall, and when I peeked over the top of the blanket, the shadows were gone.
Goodreads Synopsis:
When Gemma Fox inherits the storied Reynard Hotel from her great-aunt, she’s totally unprepared for the responsibility. It’s not the bills or the renovations or the repairs piling up. Or her family’s complete lack of confidence in her ability to manage the hotel. It’s that she’s not alone.
Bound to the hotel are two spirits, Archer and Soren Hyde. Brooding, handsome, immortal―they’ve been haunting the Reynard for generations. And Gemma is now their custodian.
As Gemma fights to keep the hotel from going under, she also finds herself fighting a growing attraction to the brothers. Each offers her something different: Archer is impish, fun, sexy, and just the distraction she needs. Soren’s arrogant, passionate, sinfully attractive, and driving her crazy. In turn, they each want something from her―one wants freedom, the other wants her heart.
It turns out that Archer and Soren are holding back a secret that might finally see them no longer spellbound. And when the truth comes out about who―and what―they are, their imperfect triangle shatters. With her life and her happiness on the line, and pressure mounting on all sides, Gemma is forced to make a decision that could change everything―for eternity.
I always love discovering new authors because it feels like you are making new friends who will take you on fabulous adventures. I met Crystal and Felicity at FanExpo (think Canadian version of Comicon). I loved their fun, outgoing personalities, and when they started talking about their book, I knew I needed to read it. I enjoy reading paranormal romance books because I love the sense of magic and mystery that often exists within their stories. It just gives me this feeling that anything is possible. For this review, I will be intentionally vague when discussing some aspects of this book. This is because one of the reasons why I loved Spellbound so much was the unexpected direction the authors took me in. I went into this thinking I would be getting a ghostly love story, and what I ended up reading was something far different. I enjoy a book with a lot of delicious drama in it, and this book is full of family and relationship drama.
It was a lot of fun exploring the folklore that Crystal and Felicity created in this book. There is a lot of mystery surrounding Reynard Hotel and its two mysterious residents. The authors take their readers on this winding journey of discovery, and they use various methods to give readers more information about this supernatural world that exists within the Reynard Hotel. Gemma was left an old magical journal that her past relatives had written in to talk about the hotel and its permanent residents, Archer and Soren. I loved reading those journal entries with Gemma; they were interesting and added richness to the story. I enjoyed how, at times, the entries made things clearer and at other times, they added more mystery to the story. The secondary characters also add to the mystery and folklore of this book. A few characters have this connection with the hotel either through work or through their relationship with Gemma’s great aunt, and you know that they know more about the supernatural things that are going on in the hotel than they are letting on. They all want Gemma to figure out why Archer and Soren are bound to the hotel on her own. They guide her on her quest but will never give anything away. I enjoy their interactions with Gemma. There are also characters in this book that you will hate with every fiber of your being. Gemma’s cousin Raven and her father are terrible people. They have no redeeming qualities about them, but they do add to the drama the overall story has and are great, shall we say, villains/adversaries that Gemma has to contend with.
Gemma is a lot of fun. Her family has deemed her as being a hot mess and someone who will never amount to anything. The anger they direct towards Gemma when they find out she has inherited the hotel just leapt from the pages. I could just feel Gemma’s pressure to succeed and know that if she failed, the hotel would be passed on to her cousin Raven. Gemma’s character felt real to me. Her flighty behaviour comes from having ADHD, something her family doesn’t accept that she has. Despite coming from a horrible family, Gemma is kind-hearted, funny, and smart (when she isn’t letting her insecurities take over). It was fun watching her grow as a character.
The romance in this book is piping hot. If you are a fan of love triangles, forced proximity, insta lust and enemies to lovers, you will enjoy the relationship between Gemma, Archer, and Soren. I’m not always a fan of love triangle tropes, but I like this one because it really works with the overall story. Gemma is instantly attracted to Archer at the beginning of the book and vice versa. There is definitely that insta lust between these two characters. But one telling sign that you know that these two weren’t meant to be was the fact that Gemma wouldn’t sleep with Archer because she didn’t feel comfortable taking it that far. There are plenty of heated scenes between these two, but I didn’t feel that connection. Soren and Gemma don’t get off on the right foot; their relationship has an enemies-to-lover vibe. But even when they are arguing, you can feel that chemistry between them, and you know that something deeper is going on between them.
Spellbound is a fabulous and addictive paranormal romance romp.