Review by Kayleigh

Series Name: Wild Magic #2

Book Synopsis:

Teal Flores is desperate for two things—control over her gift of weather, and a date to her ex’s wedding. The first isn’t possible until she finds her long-lost mother, but the second has a very handsome last-ditch solution: Carter Velasquez.

Carter needs Teal too. His chance at receiving an inheritance is dependent on him being married by age thirty (blame his traditional Cuban grandmother), so who better to pose as his wife than Teal? But fake marriage and cohabitation prove tricky when mutual attraction charges the atmosphere—quite literally for Teal, whose volatile emotions cause lightning strikes.

Together, Teal and Carter embark on a quest to find her mother and the answers she’s searching for. But along the way, they’ll discover something even better: a love that can weather any storm.

Review:

Lightning in Her Hands is a terrific second book in the Wild Magic Series. We meet Teal and her sisters originally in Witch of Wild Things. And, to be honest, Teal isn’t great. We learn a lot more about Teal in book 2. We discover why she’s so selfish and pushes others away and gets into relationships, both romantic and platonic, which are emotionally and verbally abusive. Teal has a lot of trauma. She’s the middle sister, and just wants to be there for her family, but doesn’t know how. She’s ok with being unlikable, and frankly, aren’t we all a bit unlikable? But she doesn’t want to be unlovable. 

One of the areas that has caused issues with her relationships in the past has been her relationship with magic. She doesn’t have full control of it, and she realizes it’s because her selfish and frankly narcissistic mother stole a piece when she abandoned Teal and her sisters. Teal has a lot of anger, obviously. In order to control her magic, she needs all of her magic back, which is tricky because her mother’s gift is disappearing. 

Throughout the story we watch as Teal learns to be a bit more vulnerable and works on her relationship with her sisters and her grandmothers. I love this family so much, and can’t wait for the third book just to jump back into spending time with the crazy and dysfunctional but loving Flores family. 

Of course Teal has a friend, Carter who’s in a bind. He needs to marry in order to receive an inheritance. Who better to marry than his friend that he’s in love with? They had a huge falling out, but he knows he can count on her for this. What can go wrong? Of course, the marriage of convenience grows into something more as Teal and Carter allow themselves to really get to know each other and heal some wounds. Carter has a family who also has their issues, and a huge blind spot when it comes to them. He’s the golden child who can do no wrong, which is hard for Teal, who’s not welcomed into the family with open arms. 

I liked Carter, but I wanted to see more from his growth arc. However, I appreciated his steadiness and devotion to Teal. She shares both her magic and her bipolar diagnosis, and Carter supports and cares for her rather than makes her feel like she has to prove herself to him constantly. Carter is patient and has always been in love with Teal (swoon) and he lets Teal just be herself. She’s bold and angry and has a lot of feelings and I just loved his steadfastness beside her. Sometimes I don’t love the friends to lovers trope because I think you miss some of the “oh, i’m getting to know you as a person” moments in a relationship. Because Carter and Teal had a falling out, they did have a second chance to get to know each other again which I liked. 

All in all, I loved returning to the Flores family and getting to hang out with Teal and her sisters. I can’t wait for the third book, and Sky’s story. 

Thank you to Berkley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.