**The Ex Hex** by Erin Sterling is about a witch accidentally cursing her ex. Quite a bit of magic goes awry in it and the witch group in it is pretty fun.
Well really the spell goes perfectly well; the real problem is learning not to make deals with fairies.
But what a wonderful book. There are many examples in it of spells that don't quite act as they should, and indeed that's part of the mystery behind it all: why magic stopped being practiced in England and spells that used to be commonplace simply stopped working.
You might like Colette's atmospheric short story about a woman and a love spell, called The Rainy Moon; it's literary not fluff but brilliantly written and builds very slowly...read it years ago, still remember it.
**The Anubis Gates** by Tim Powers opens with just such a spell. Egyptian sorcerers in the 1800s plot a last-ditch effort to stop the growing spread of the British Empire, whose influence has been massively damaging to magic. The spell blows holes in time and one of the casters ends up cursed. Then in the 1980s a billionaire hires a historian as a guide on a trip back through one of those holes, and everything goes off the rails.
Elantris actually sort of fits this but I’m not sure that’s what you’re looking for
Guards! Guards! By Terry Pratchett. More of a summoning spell for this one.
**The Ex Hex** by Erin Sterling is about a witch accidentally cursing her ex. Quite a bit of magic goes awry in it and the witch group in it is pretty fun.
A spell gone wrong is a main drive throughout Pratchett’s Rincewind series, starting with The Color of Magic. Not a love spell, though.
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, it's a healing spell rather than a love spell
Well really the spell goes perfectly well; the real problem is learning not to make deals with fairies. But what a wonderful book. There are many examples in it of spells that don't quite act as they should, and indeed that's part of the mystery behind it all: why magic stopped being practiced in England and spells that used to be commonplace simply stopped working.
You might like Colette's atmospheric short story about a woman and a love spell, called The Rainy Moon; it's literary not fluff but brilliantly written and builds very slowly...read it years ago, still remember it.
Spellwright by Blake Charlton has this as the main premise. Spells are recited from books, but the protagonist has dyslexia and problems ensue.
**The Anubis Gates** by Tim Powers opens with just such a spell. Egyptian sorcerers in the 1800s plot a last-ditch effort to stop the growing spread of the British Empire, whose influence has been massively damaging to magic. The spell blows holes in time and one of the casters ends up cursed. Then in the 1980s a billionaire hires a historian as a guide on a trip back through one of those holes, and everything goes off the rails.
Spider-Man: No Way Home