After having been let go from her dream job at Temple University as a jewelry making instructor, due to "budget cuts" by the professor she was sleeping with, no less, Sage is forced to return home and move back in with Nadia, her great aunt who took in Sage and her sisters when her mother abandoned them. Since her youngest sister, Sky, died in a tragic hiking accident 8 years ago, her body never being found, Sage hasn't been able to stand being around what is left of her family, including her very angry middle sister, Teal. Left with no other choice, she goes back home.
The women of the Flores family all are graced with "gifts" when they hit puberty. Sage's gift is communicating with plants, while Teal's is expressing her mood with weather. Sky could communicate with animals, Aunt Nadia simply "knows things" and Ama Sonya, the girls' snobby and reluctant grandmother, can see ghosts. Needless to say, the sky is dark and lightning flashes in the sky as soon as Sage darkens the family door.
What Sage hasn't felt comfortable in telling anyone else is the fact that she has been haunted by Sky for the last 8 years. Every time she cries, Sky phases in. Never speaking to her, but just being there. Oh, and she also leaves her a cup of her favorite raspberry chocolate coffee every day, so there's that. Now that she has returned home to Nadia's, she's clashing with Teal, upsetting Nadia, and even tangling with Teal's obnoxious boyfriend, Johnny Miller, a self-proclaimed feminist Youtuber. And now, Sky starts talking to Sage, telling her she needs to fix her relationship with Teal, once and for all, so Sky can finally "move on." Who can say no to that?
While Sage can't deny her baby sister, she does need money in order to get her act together and hopefully, leave Cranberry, sooner rather than later. This is only a pit stop. But Nadia has been talking in the small town and Dale Bowen, who owns Cranberry Rose Company, is eager to hire Sage back to help with the vegetable beds and once again act as the "Plant Whisperer" which she did back in high school. At the annual Heritage Rose Festival, she'd be set up in a booth and people could bring her unlabeled seeds and cuttings, which she would identify using her secret gift. If she was unable to correctly identify them, they'd get a free rose cutting, but she's never been wrong.
So she returns to Cranberry Rose, only to discover that Dale's hot grandson, Nate, is now running the show, and he always set her heart aflutter. Nate drops a huge bomb when he pulls her into a meeting with Tennessee Reyes, recently returned to town and formerly her high school crush and anonymous AOL IM chat buddy, who shattered her heart back in high school. Nate and Dale want Sage and Tenn to visit sites in the local community that are destined to be "developed" and hopefully, together they can find some unique plant varieties that Cranberry Rose can market, reinvigorating their product line. The plants that sell best are those with unique stories behind them, so finding that unique flower tangled behind a dilapidated home that was built hundreds of years ago, would be a winner. Can she really tolerate working side by side with the now devastatingly handsome man who broke her heart so many years ago, when he doesn't even realize why she ghosted him or that she is one and the same "Silvergurl0917" that he chatted with daily one summer? The real question is, can she help falling for a him a second time?
Other mitigating factors in Sage's life include her best friend Laurel, whose marriage to Jorge might be on the rocks since he might be cheating with his gorgeous assistant; Sage's vacillating crushes on both Nate and Tenn, simultaneously; Nate's fascination with Teal, once he meets her; and Sky's activity ramp-up, which according to the "ghost rules" laid out by Ama Sonya, fly in the face of her being a ghost. What's up with that?
Before the startling conclusion of Witch of Wild Things, all will be revealed, and the fallout will be interesting to say the least, but the road to the conclusion is a winding and wonderful one. While the characters couldn't be further from me, with their Mexican/Cuban heritage and witchy ways, I really connected with Sage, with her love for plants and jewelry making, two things I really love. Sage constantly describes colors by comparing them to certain uncommon stones, many of which I instantly recognized and formed a visual in my mind and I loved that. As far as plants go, I'm not a plant whisperer, but I did have an interesting relationship with a dill plant I grew from a seed that reminded me of Sage's interactions with plants. He would dance and sway for me in his pot. It was weird and wonderful and I really enjoyed reading about Sage's similar interactions.
The romance aspect of this book is strong, which isn't usually something I enjoy, but in this book, I didn't mind. Watching Tenn and Sage's relationship blossom (I had to) was sweet and tender, but Gilliland also doesn't shy away from the sexual aspect. However, since there was such a strong story built around it, it worked well and didn't seem smutty like some other books I've encountered.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed reading Witch of Wild Things and would definitely read Gilliland's work again. I read this book in two sittings, it was so enjoyable. If you are looking for a good fall book to sit and read with a cozy hot beverage, check it out!
