After gushing about the first book, you couldn’t very well not expect me to read the second, could you? So naturally I set out to tackle this one with gusto. Even better, my Editor-in-Chic told me that there was also a third book, so I checked it out along with this one. Soon I’ll have the whole series finished! (It wasn’t listed on the author’s website, which is how I’d missed it the first time.) Although given how this book ended, I would have headed straight back to the ole interwebs to see if there was a third one somewhere, somehow. Seems the Fates decided to be kind to me.
The Sweetest Kind of Fate (2018)
Written by: Crystal Cestari
Genre: YA Romance
Pages: 310 (Hardcover)
Series: Windy City Magic (#2)
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
The Premise:
Amber Sand, legendary matchmaker, couldn’t be more surprised when her arch nemesis, Ivy, comes asking for her help. Ivy’s sister, Iris, is getting married, and Ivy wants to prove her sister is making a huge mistake. But as Amber looks into Iris’s eyes, there doesn’t seem to be a problem — Iris has clearly found her match.
It seems happily ever after is in the cards, but when Iris seeks out a dangerous, life-altering spell, it’s up to Amber and Ivy to set aside their rivalry and save the day.
While Iris is willing to put everything on the line for love, Amber continues to wrestle with her own romantic future. Her boyfriend, Charlie, is still destined for another, and no matter how hard she clings to him, fear over their inevitable breakup shakes her belief system to the core.
No spoilers
Discussion: There are some books in series that you don’t necessarily need to read in order. For these, I recommend that you do. That way you get more of a feel for Charlie, as well as just how much Ivy sucks. Amber is still her same, perky, come-backy self, and I love her for it. She weathers dealing with seeing Charlie’s match day in and day out with very good restraint, I might add. At least, until she kind of doesn’t. Still, I can’t blame her too much because it would be awful to constantly see your boyfriend’s soulmate dancing around in his eyes every time you were with him. Especially if you were really falling hard for him.
It’s another fun romp in a world where witches and other forms of magic exist. It was interesting to see Ivy get more fleshed out, which made her far more complex than the awful bully she was in the first book. She’s still rude and, well, herself, for the most part, but Amber takes it all in stride because in the end it’s all about love. As sassy as Amber can get, she always aims for the happily ever after even if it means a really rocky and really annoying road along the way, so bonus points for that.
It did, however, drive me absolutely bonkers how no one mentioned that the person looking to provide Iris with this life-altering spell once tried to strangle Amber. Honestly, why would you leave that out? That’s important information about the person you’re dealing with! Even when Iris asks Amber if she knows the witch, Amber’s response is that they’ve met, but “leaving out the part about [her] nearly ending my life” (117). OK BUT WHY? It would have worked out better just by having Amber surprised and then go into panic mode. Instead she’s informed, goes into panic mode internally, and tries to stay cool about it. There is absolutely no reason to not mention such a critical fact.
Still, fun times all around. Plus a few more supernatural creatures come into play, which I always appreciate. I completely missed a little tip about what the characters might be dealing with — it’s shown right on the cover of the book. Not like it’s a big secret; you learn about it fairly quickly. I just hadn’t noticed the cheeky shadows on the cover that would have made it even more obvious.
In Conclusion: So does Amber find out if Charlie’s her match? First, that’s a huge spoiler and I’m not telling you, and second, there’s a third book so I’ll let you take a few guesses. Oh, and since I haven’t mentioned that Amber’s dream is to be a pastry chef and she’s already excellent at creating all manner of delicious, frosting-coated, sugar-filled delights, you may want to eat a cupcake while you read this book because all the descriptions of her treats will have you craving some. These books are fun, and they make me want to visit a really good bakery and wish for more magic in my life.
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