She stared outside, calling for it quietly under her breath. It seemed as if nothing had ever been so important as whether or not a tiny bird would appear, flying at deadly speed toward her bedroom window.

In Jessica L. Randall’s newly released “friends to lovers” romance, Groundhog’s Day meets the Regency. Amy Weston attends a ball, hoping to receive a proposal. Instead, she is placed under an enchantment by a mysterious stranger and winds up reliving the same day over and over.

Enchanted is a sweet book with equally sweet humor, but what stands out is the author’s beautiful, almost poetic, style of writing. I would not have guessed this to be her first foray into Regencies, perhaps because this is her eleventh book!

Amy is a somewhat naive heroine at the outset. But the enchantment upon her forces her to grow and develop in significant ways. Her goals shift as she realizes that what (who) she thinks she wants and what (who) will actually make her happy are not at all the same thing.

She kissed him firmly, her eyes closing as she finally knew the feel of his lips against hers. Truly, it was the first time she’d known the kiss of any man.
She opened her eyes when she heard Miss St. Clair’s voice crying out. Then she shoved Mr. Worthington away. “I have always suspected I would be splendid at that. But for your part, it was not as nice as I had anticipated.”

The hero of the story is a hard-working underdog, who becomes more and more attractive and appealing with every day Amy relives. There is a very solid foundation to the romance that blossoms between Amy and the man she slowly realizes is the one who will bring her the most happiness.

In a way, Groundhog’s Day is not the only story being alluded to in Enchanted. Amy is also a “beast” character in the sense that she starts out being a very different person from the one she ends up.

Thanks for the lovely read, Jessica L. Randall!