[Book Review] Miss Spelled By Sarah Belle & Ritual Grounds Coffee Roasting Night Sky

Title: Miss Spelled
Series/Universe: Standalone
Author: Sarah Belle
Publisher: Escape Publishing
Publication Date: September 1st 2014
Page Count: 180 pages
Age Rating: Adult (language, minor violence, semi-explicit sexual scene)
How I got my hot little hands on it: Received a copy to review
Publisher’s page: Miss Spelled

Magic realism mixes with romantic comedy in this new novel from Sarah Belle about the dangers of internet shopping – and using magic to solve real world problems.

Lou’s life is perfect. She loves her job, her renovated house, and most of all, her gorgeous fiancé, Aidan. But when her old flame and Aidan’s school yard nemesis turn out to be the same person, Hunter Wincott, Lou’s life is blown apart. She must divulge her secret past, or have Hunter give it away. Either way, she runs the real risk of losing Aidan.

In desperation, she turns to Google. A quick search turns up Majique, the Internet Witch, and a spell that will delete herself from Hunter’s memory. But something goes wrong in the casting process, and Lou deletes much more than just a memory. She deletes herself from her life completely.

Luckily, there’s a one-week window for Lou to get back to the life she loved. One week to win back Aidan, before he walks down the aisle with the wrong woman, and damns everyone to a lifetime of misery. It would be easy, if only Aidan had any idea who Lou actually is.

My Review

I was expecting a predictable rom-com plot with Miss Spelled, but was pleasantly surprised to find the book delightfully quirky and unique.

Lou, a 30-year-old school teacher, turns to a magic spell found on the internet to erase her past with an ex-from-hell – an ex who turns out to be her new fiance’s nemesis. Of course the spell backfires in a big way and Lou is left scrambling to put the jagged pieces of her perfect life back to the way it was before.

I absolutely adored Lou. She’s a curvy, pear-shaped, extremely petite woman (her being so tiny is actually used as kind of a running gag throughout the story) who was spunky and funny (so funny, I was cracking up in parts) and just a really fun character all around. I just wished she’d had little more self-confidence and not been so self-deprecating all the time – it’s part of what gets her into the whole mess in the first place, not really believing she was good enough for her sexy, rich, pedigreed fiancé and terrified of giving him any reason to drop her like a bad habit. But the ex-from-hell was also sexy, rich, and from a well-to-do background, and he wanted her well enough, so there must have been something about her, right?

Things do not go easy for poor Lou (of course not, where would be the fun in that?) and it’s equal parts humorous and heartbreaking as she tries so desperately to set things right and win back the love of her life, who doesn’t remember her at all. Rest assured, there is a happy ending on the horizon for Lou, but it does seem like she’s painted herself into a corner up until the very very end – I got pretty worried there for a minute or two.

Miss Spelled was cute, quirky, and laugh-out-loud funny, with some surprising emotional depth and unique twists. I was completely charmed by this book and would absolutely read more books from the author.

In Miss Spelled, Lou Mercer’s life is forever changed with one “Memory Deletion Spell” ritual performed when the night sky is pitch black. As a great accompaniment to this tale of a spell gone wrong, I recommend Ritual Grounds Coffee Roasting Night Sky – a rich, dark blend smoldering with a wisp of smoke and a dash of dried plum.