3/5!

If you loved ‘Seven Year Slip’ by Ashley Poston, you would eat this up. A cute, slightly magical and funny romance with mentions of agoraphobia.

I found the first half quite slow therefore took me a while to really get into it but once I did, the slow relationship development between the two main characters was well written and not rushed. The magical elements really added to the story without taking away from the romance aspects.

Thank you NetGalley and Victory Editing for the Arc!

This new series is going to be so fun! The Serendipity is the first in the Only Magic in the Building Series. A collection of standalone books by a group of closed-door romance authors. All the books are set in the same apartment building that happens to have some magical element to it.
The Serendipity follows the story of Archer, a billionaire and new owner of the apartment building The Serendipity, and Willa, an apartment resident and baker. Archer and Willa have an interesting start when the building decides to transport Willa from her closet into his. Archer is determined to come in and make several changes to The Serendipity business model that will make it more profitable. However, this means Willa might not be able to bake anymore and some of the residents will have to move. The building starts causing chaos in Archer's life and he has to enlist Willa's help.
I loved Willa and Archer. Willa is such a sweetheart and I felt like she was a female main character that I can truly appreciate. Archer is grumpy and closed off but has such great character development. I think that they are characters that have a lot of depth and real-world problems. Emma St Clair writes about tough issues like trauma and anxiety in a way that is realistic but that doesn't overshadow the story.
Content: kisses only
These are my own opinions and I was not required to leave a review.

This was just ok for me. I went back and forth between 3 stars and 4 stars. Settled on 4 stars because there were many times that I laughed out loud while reading this. There was just too much mental talking in this one for me and not enough things happening on the pages. The majority of the book was focused on thoughts in their heads. I loved Willa and Archer (who my heart broke for). I love them together and how they help each other. I can't wait to get to know more people in The Serendipity.

The Serendipity
Only Magic in the Building Book 1
Emma St. Clair
@kikimojo
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I am OBSESSED with this series, and only book 1 has been released. It follows the residents of the The Serendipity that was built in a town with a magical spring.

Willa (not Willow) and Archer are the perfect GrumpyxSunshine couple. I loved watching their love grow, and to see the building pushing them together.

This book has humor, heart, a little bit of magic. Highly recommend,

This was a really cute magical realism book. Archer and Willa (the person) are at odds from their first meeting, but something keeps drawing them together. Perhaps its fate, perhaps its the mystery of the building they live in, but their lives continue to crash together.
Archer is the perfect grump with an adorable Alfred- from batman-like sidekick. Willa is his complete opposite. She shows him how to be vulnerable and opens his eyes to empathy and love.

This was a quick and cute read. I'm not sure I'll remember it in the weeks to come, but I think this series is going to be so fun.

While most people don't find each other in each others closets, clad in night attire, this was an adorable meet cute that opens the proverbial door to so much more.

Seriously, what’s not to love about an old semi magical building, not fantasy magic, just little sneaky magic. Like the title…it’s Serendipity. You will love starting your journey in Serendipity Springs!

Things I Loved:
The opossums & dog🤣
The Cookies🍪
Grumpy sunshine
Willa the person
Enemies to Lovers
Workplace/Livingplace
Oh Bellamy
The Magic Closet🚪
Anxiety Representations
Archer’s hidden sweetness
The Rooftop Garden🌱
Found family
Willa’s strength
Gosh, oh my gosh, the epilogue!!

This book was a delightful, joyful and whimsical story. With just a tiny hint of magic in the closet/building, it’s still an incredibly believable book! Everything else about the story is truly an Emma Saint Clair story. There was laughter and swoon galore. I loved the real life issues of anxiety and agoraphobia that were touched on. It truly was a wonderful, whimsical and lighthearted story, but with serious elements that brought the characters to life.
This book has it all!!

The Serendipity is a great start to this new series! Archer and Willa definitely had a difficult and uncomfortable meet cute that involved a closet which just might have magical tendencies!

Archer was a bit difficult for me to like at the beginning of the story, which, I think, was the point. He made decisions based on a business plan and not on relationships or emotions. I liked seeing the way he grew throughout the novel. The closed off, serious man at the beginning of the book was very different from the man he was by the end of the story.

I really felt for Willa as she navigated personal and emotional struggles along with financial struggles. And then she began to feel drawn to Archer, the man who was one source of her difficulties!

These two had burdens that they carried and some personal struggles that felt impossible to overcome, at times. However, they were definitely stronger together. It was a joy to see the way they both grew when they found their person.

This story had a whimsical sort of magical closet in it, with the magic being similar to a Mary Poppins type of magic, with her bag that holds endless items and her ability to jump into paintings, etc. The situation these two find themselves in is difficult even for them to believe!

I enjoyed this introduction to the residents of the Serendipity and look forward to reading more books in this series. All opinions are my own.

(4.5 stars)

I received a complimentary copy of this book, however, I also purchased my own print copy.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book!!!

I like how anxiety was represented, I like the banter between Willa and Archer, I like the humorous situations, I like the "magical" feel to the story, Bellamy was amazing, etc. (And when I say magical, not like witchy magic, but more like a 13 Going On 30 "magic"). This book made me feel all the feels, and even had me laughing out loud.

Just an overall wonderful book. A great start to the Only Magic in the Building series!

*Thank you to Netgalley, the publishers, and the author for an ARC copy. All opinions expressed are my own.*

4⭐️ STAR READ
Firstly I would like to to thank Emma St.Clair and Netgalley for the ARC of this book.

Tropes :
Billionaire MMC
Baker FMC
Age gap
Grumpy and Sunshine
Portal Closet
A Magical building
Closed Door

WillaArcher's Song :
Willow by Taylor Swift

Favourite Quote : "You didn't ask, but I'm telling you yes - you can kiss me."

Review : The Serendipity by Emily St.Clair is the first book in the multiauthor series Only Magic in the Building. The story revolves around Willa and Archer who bave the most interesting and perhaps magical😉 meetcute.
This was such a sweet and whimsical book. I loved the concept of the portal closets and the humour with the opossums and Archibald.
Their love story was very well written. I loved how soft Archer was with Willa and their dynamics was so fun to read.
If you're looking for a sweet, clean romcom with a touch of magic this is a great book. I'm looking forward to the rest of the series now.

Yours truly,
A🌸

In Emma St. Clair's new novel, The Serendipity, we find Willa who is minding her own business looking in her closet for a sweater when she's suddenly in a different closet, in a different apartment and has no idea how she got there. Archer, the new owner of The Serendipity, thinks she's a squatter and wants her gone!

Willa and Archer are a fun couple - she's cheerful and he's a grump, he's a billionaire, and she definitely isn't. What shouldn't work between them does and Ms. St. Clair's fun banter between the two make this book a joy to read. Between the magic apartment building and the foundation that is being laid for the series, it's a winner.

I can't wait to read the next book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

A slight magical element to this story makes it fun and interesting. Very well-written. I loved Archer and Willa. Bellamy was the greatest sidekick. There are no swears, a few mentions of alcohol, and level 2 kissing only.

3.5 stars, rounded up

This is a sweet magical realism rom-com featuring a closet that keeps acting strangely, a grumpy billionaire, and the sunshine-y baker that shakes up his life.

Some things I loved about this book:
- A dog with the same name as the MMC
- Magical, matchmaking building
- Mental health representation
- Archer and Willa's dynamic

While I enjoyed reading this one, there were a couple of instances where important conversations happened off-page. The lead-up would happen, then it would cut to immediately afterwards. Both times, I felt that the conversations would have been important to see as a reader. I also struggled to believe that Archer would truly not know certain words or what certain things are, even if he grew up sheltered and without many friends his age.

Thank you so much to Emma St. Clair, Create If Writing LLC, and NetGalley for the free ARC in exchange for my honest review!

I absolutely loved it! The mix of romance, comedy, and a bit of magic makes the perfect story. Willa and Archer may not have started off on the right foot, but they ended up bringing out the best of eachother. I loved all the funny and sweet little interaction between them two, and wish that The Serendipity existed in real life. I mean who wouldn't want to be teleported to a millionaire's closet??? I can already tell that I am going to love this series and cannot wait for the next book to come out!

I was so excited to read The Serendipity by Emma St Clair because the premise was very intriguing. I mean, who wouldn’t love to read a romance that takes place in magical apartment building? I think where the story fell flat for me were the characters. I didn’t feel any chemistry between them. Plus there wasn’t a satisfying buildup to the actual romance. One second, they are not together and then the next, they are. Their relationship wasn’t believable. I also didn’t really like Archer. With that being said, it was a somewhat cute story.

The Serendipity is the first story in the Only Magic in the Building series, a connected series of stand-alone closed-door whimsical romances by various authors. Each story takes place in the same historic building, which has a habit of playing matchmaker with its residents. Each Wednesday in March and April, 2025, an author will release their book.

Billionaire Archer Gaines spontaneously purchases The Serendipity, a historic apartment building far from New York City and the scandal erupting around his father. Archer is a very practical and controlled businessman, so this act is very uncharacteristic for him. He is shocked when he gets a tour of his new building and learns from the seller, Galentine Valencia, that she has never raised the rent in 25 years. He plans to immediately increase the rent while eventually renovating the building into luxury lofts to bring in higher end residents.

Archer discovers a woman hiding in the bedroom closet of his fourth floor penthouse apartment, claiming that she didn’t know how she ended up there. Willa/Willow was in her own apartment’s closet, looking for a sweater, before she was magically transported a lá The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. Willa had heard the rumors about her “magical” building, but she enjoyed the low rent and use of the commercial kitchen for her baking business. Archer and Willa are immediately at odds, but soon fall for each other, balancing each other out.

I love The Serendipity and believe that it’s the best story by this author to date. All of her books are well-written with great plots and wonderful characters, but Archer has a greater emotional depth than previous characters that she has written. The story beginning from Archer’s POV also sets the tone for readers, helping them to empathize with this reluctant romantic hero. Willa is a jewel, an engaging happy-go-lucky sunshine heroine, who is perfect for Archer. This story is a must-read for clean romance fans; set aside a few uninterrupted hours because you will not be able to put it down!

All of the authors in this series write closed-door romantic comedies, so no profanity or romantic descriptions past kissing. The magic in these stories is similar to Freaky Friday, no occult elements or anything scary. The building has a mind of its own and is like a human character. I can’t wait to start reading the next story in the series by Courtney Walsh!

After I purchased a paperback copy of the book from Amazon, I received an Advance Review Copy (ARC) e-book from NetGalley and Create If Writing LLC for free. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I am so glad and thankful I got an ARC for this book. It lived up to the hype for this multi-author series (all of whom I love)! It was an age gap (older MMC) and grumpy/sunshine (she was the sunshine) and even slight enemies to lovers. The MMC struggles with anxiety (there’s a fade to black on page anxiety attack) and the FMC struggles with agoraphobia (can’t leave her small hometown). Emma BEAUTIFULLY handles both of these issues for them and even allows them to show how to be compassionate and loving to someone with them. The touch of whimsical magic is really fun too!

Willa steps onto HER closet on the 2nd floor and comes out of Archer's closet on the 4th floor. How fun! Archer is a type of Sheldon Cooper...a guy who is essentially clueless regarding social cues and mores. While Willa is all sunshine and happiness and friendliness. The irony is that both deal with debilitating anxiety. I do so appreciate the sensitivity Emma uses regarding their anxiety as someone who has experienced debilitating anxiety myself. It's a challenge trying to get anyone who hasn't experienced it to even try to understand...even a little bit. Archer and Willa are absotively posolutely adorable and I can't wait to see more of them throughout this series!!!

I received an ARC copy via NetGalley. I am providing my review of my own free will.

This book was as delightful and upbeat an all of Emma’s books. I have to admit, it wasn’t my favorite, but that’s like saying it wasn’t my favorite ice cream…it’s still ice cream! I couldn’t get into the whole magic concept, but that’s writing and story and wit and chemistry was unmistakable. I would recommend it a hundred times over, it just wasn’t my type of book. Kudos for keeping it clean….MUCH appreciated!

Thanks to @kikimojo and @netgalley for the #gifted copy of this book.

Rating: 4.25/5⭐️

"You are a wonderfully beautiful contradiction I never knew I needed, and I love you. I love you, Willa."

Summary: This is part of the series Only Magic in the building, in which the historical building The Serendipity plays matchmaker for its residents. The book is a closed-door romance with great mental health representation for anxiety and amazing banter between the grumpy MMC and the sunshine FMC.

"I'm starting to melt for a man I halfway hate."

My Thoughts: Awww, I loved the start of this series with this book. It was the perfect book to introduce the crazy antics of The Serendipity. Willa and Archer were very different people, except that they could relate to each other with their anxiety. I loved how Emma portrayed the anxiety throughout this book because it was very similar to my own experiences. The banter in this book was just so enjoyable, especially since Archer was very unused to having fun most of his life. Willa brought out a side of him that only one other person had ever really seen. I loved the closet portal and all the crazy tension it brought on between Willa and Archer throughout the book, at generally the most inopportune times. Finally, Bellamy was such a fun side character in this book, always pushing Archer and Willa toward more.

This was my first book of Emma's outside of the Appies world, and it was perfect!! I'm excited to see what else this series has in store. They can all be read as standalones throughout the series.

Read if you love:
✨Magical Realism
🌤️Grumpy/Sunshine
💖Age Gap
🥰Mental Health Rep (Anxiety)
💰Billionaire MMC
👩‍🍳Baker FMC

This book is the first in a series of books that all take place in the same magical building. I love that in addition to getting to know these main characters, we also get to know the building and got to meet some of the characters who will feature in future books in the series. I love this author’s sense of humor and writing style, and I definitely had heart eyes as Willa and Archer’s relationship developed. Read when you want a light, sweet, romance series!