Wishes in a Bottle

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley.

Julian DiConti is a handsome, sensitive, and caring man with a secret.
Alessandra Taylor is a free spirit, black sheep of her family.
When their paths cross - it is completely magical.

Wishes in a Bottle is a fantastic mix of realism, magic, and romance. I had a hard time putting the book down and I am anxiously ready to start the next book!

An interesting twist. Juilian got trapped in a Djinn bottle over 600 years ago, and now gets pulled in to serve 3 wishes now and then. As the story begins he is with a selfish woman, who asks for a diamond necklace instead of saving a young boy's life. He goes to comfort the boy, but sadly cannot save him. He meets the boy's aunt, Alessandra, and they forge a connection, until he finds out she is his next master. I liked the story overall, but felt it was a little long, and tended to go on a bit at times. Never saw the point of the cat shifter, and the evil demon, and still a little confused on how the "differences" happen, for example, meeting the selfish woman, being in the same town, etc. Mentioned that this is different but not explained why. Still though, kept my interest throughout and would recommend.

Beautifully twisted paranormal romance!

This amazing book addresses the question, "What if Aladdin was real?" Julian is a mage who has been trapped in service as a Wish Bearer for the past 600 years after his attempt to use his limited magic to defeat the Black Plague backfired. The curse can be broken if any one of the wish recipients is compassionate enough to figure out how to free him (though of course he can't tell them), but so far not one has even tried. After meeting a dying boy while delivering the remaining wishes to a particularly avaricious woman, Julian offers comfort to the boy's family even as he is powerless to intervene. This heartbreaking opening is only made all the more poignant when the boy's aunt, Alessandra, becomes the next in line for Julian's wish fulfillment.

While heavy at first (warning: death of a child), this story doesn't dwell in the past, instead moving into a wonderful romance that should be completely impossible - and one that Julian dare not hope for. The story is surprisingly complex, intricately detailed, and thoroughly captivating. We meet characters who will be featured in the next two book, but this one works as a wonderful standalone with a very happy ending.

I like my paranormal to be reality-adjacent, and this one hits the mark every time. Their world is our world, not an unfamiliar fantastical realm, and that keeps the story grounded even when it's at its most bizarre. There's a lot going on in this book and I loved every expertly-presented bit of it.

If you like intelligent, thought-provoking paranormal romance with amazing characters and unique storylines, this is the book for you. Be prepared to dive right into the next two books as well, because you'll never want to leave this incredible fictional world. I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book.

Mit "Wishes in a Bottle" hat man ein echt schönes Buch, welches sich leicht liest und einfach Spaß macht. Ok, der Anfang ist vl nicht ganz so lustig, lest einfach, und ihr wisst was ich mein. Aber die Geschichte entwickelt sich einfach so schön und die beiden Protas sind echt toll!

Hab mich sofort in Julian und Alessandra verliebt, die beiden haben es einem aber auch sehr einfach gemacht.
Wer hier eine tiefgründige Story erwartet, wird sicherlich enttäuscht, es ist immerhin nur ein Band, aber die Autorin hat es super geschrieben.

Auch die Nebenprotas haben Freude bereitet, besonders Laura und Jacinth. Bin schon auf ihre Geschichte gespannt.
Eine tolle Liebesgeschichte mit etwas 1001-Flair, sexy und traumhaft.

***

Wishes in a Bottle is a really beautiful book. I was fully into the world of Julian and Alessandra from page one. It is a fun, sexy and romantic read. Ok fine, the beginning might not be as funny, read for yourself. But the story develops nicely and Julian and Alessandra are enough reason for this.

Of course you must not expect a very deep story here, I mean, it is one book, but the author managed to bring on all the perfect aspects of the story and highlighted their relationship in a nice way. I just loved it.

Also, the other characters were fun, especially Laura and Jacinth. Really looking forward to her story.

Overall, a really nice and sexy romance, with little steam, lots of love and fun :)