The Ex Hex

Honestly this was such a freaking delight.

Who hasn’t gotten drunk after a breakup and hoped to curse an ex with a Bath and Body Works candle? This was just so much fun and a good spooky season book for those of us who can’t handle scary. Rhys and Vivi had great chemistry and it was fun seeing them try to undo the curse together.

I enjoyed the small town feel to this one and would not be opposed to seeing more of these characters in the future. In fact, if I don’t get to hear more about Bowen, Wells, or Gwyn, I’m gonna be disappointed. Please don’t make this a standalone. My heart can’t take it.

Thank you to Netgalley, Erin Sterling/Rachel Hawkins, and HarperCollins for an ARC. My opinions are my own.

I received an advanced copy of this for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

"Goddess, we beseech you to make him the sort of man who will forever think the clitoris is exactly one-third of an inch away from where it actually is." (Who did this to the male population?? Fess up.) That is the funniest, cruelest form of torture I've ever seen. And it perfectly encapsulates the humor in Erin Sterling's novel, The Ex Hex. Heartbroken Vivi, along with her hilarious cousin, jokingly put a spell on Vivi's ex-boyfriend with a litany of silly curses. Except... magic doesn't care if you're serious or not. And nine years later, they're facing the consequences. Now Vivi has to team up with said ex to repair the damage done before it takes show more the entire town down with them. You know the old saying, "Never mix vodka and witchcraft."

This novel was such a fun read. It has so much heart, the characters are loveable, and the magic system feels spooky and reminiscent of traditionally witchy tales. I've seen The Ex Hex described as "Hocus Pocus but they fuck", and it delivers on that 100%. Somehow, it just feels wholesome. Hard to pull off in a novel featuring blood curses, vengeful spirits, and explicit sex scenes, but Erin (alter ego to Rachel Hawkins) has done it beautifully.

Readers may find it a bit cheesy and predictable, and on top of that, the plot feels incomplete. There are a few unanswered questions at the end, not quite plotholes but missing information. This leaves a bit of an unfinished storyline.

All of that said, The Ex Hex still gets four out of five stars from me. It's a super fluffy and fun romance, with great humor and an adorable love interest. While there is some explicit content, the intimate moments are mild and centered around the emotions rather than the details.

The Ex Hex is the perfect way to kick off Spooky Season. I would recommend it to anyone who loves Halloween and likes their romances to be heartwarming rather than hard-core. show less

This was hilarious! Can’t wait to read the next book!

Rhys and Vivi had once spent a summer together. It was a summer full of love and amazing sex but Vivi is a moron so they parted ways after three months of bliss.

Since broken-hearted Vivi accidentally cursed Rhys afterwards and by doing that opened a Pandora’s box (she really should have just kept him instead imao) they now reunite to fix the mess.

Vivi is a person very much dedicated to her own unhappiness. It’s clear from the beginning that she never got over Rhys and yet she kept pushing him away. It was exasperating.

Rhys on the other hand… Gosh this guy and his wit!!! I felt like highlighting almost everything he said. He was like a class clown. But a sophisticated one - show more with a bit of an aristocratic touch.

Have you brought me out here to murder me?” he called. “Because that probably would solve your problems, but I have to say, I object on both moral and personal grounds.

The reason why this book is not getting five stars from me is Vivi and all her (unfortunately often successful) efforts to not be with Rhys. C’mon girl, you’re lucky it’s a book, cause irl that guy would have moved on ten times over! show less

The night her boyfriend broke her heart, Vivi Jones broke one of the cardinal rules of witchcraft: Never curse while drunk. Luckily, in this case, Vivi's magic has never been one of her strong suits, so she doesn't expect the curse to take, but it sure helped vent her sadness.

Rhys Penhallow loathes the obligation to his family name, but since the Penhallows founded Graves Glen, they are required to make annual trips to charge the town's ley lines. So far, Rhys has avoided going back to Graves Glen since the incident nine years ago where he broke Vivi's heart. Luckily, all the trip requires is showing up at the Founder's Day celebration, recharging the ley lines, then he's out.

Except ever since he stepped foot back in Graves Glen his show more magic has been a bit off. And after he charges the ley lines, everything magic seems to be going wrong within the town.

Although she tried to avoid Rhys's return, Vivi can't help but think that maybe her curse took after all. Once she begrudgingly admits she may be the root cause of everything happening, Rhys and Vivi will have to work together to ensure Graves Glen makes it past Halloween while trying reconcile with what happened between them all those years ago.

This book is the perfect entry into the Fall season. Seriously, I could feel the chill in the air and smell the pumpkin spice while I was reading. Erin Sterling peppers Graves Glen with such vivid imagery I wanted to be there to see the pretty fall colors on the trees.

Really I think what did it for me the most, was the fact that there was such history imbued within the pages. Family history, town history, magical history. The world was just really well thought out and I'm eager to immerse myself more within Graves Glen. There's the issue of witches not being known to "normies" which I think is something that can be further explored in another book and has a slight setup with Vivi's cousin Gwyn.

Now, on to the romance. I'm a sucker for second-chance romances. What I especially liked about this was that there was so much still between Vivi and Rhys that they hadn't worked through with one another. I almost wish we had gotten a little bit more out of the early part of their relationship, but I did like the focus on the latter part. I like how the curse and their relationship and the issues going on in the town were woven together with some interesting twists.

Plus, won't lie, I found myself with a big smile on my face at the ending. It was one of the more perfect endings I've read recently.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It checks all the Fall boxes and is a great, light read with a lot of heart. show less

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Okay, so yes, Rhys had broken her heart.

The Ex Hex, starts off a new series about witches that live in the Georgia town of Graves Glen. Vivi grew up not really knowing about her witchy powers because of how her mother feared the power but when her parents die, she is sent to live with her aunt Elaine and cousin Gwyn and tries to straddle the line between being a “normie” and a witch. When she is nineteen, she has a summer romance with Rhys, who is a Penhallow, the town's founding family. They burn hot for three months but when Rhys says he has to go home to Wales to tell his father to break his show more betrothal, Vivi freaks out not knowing he was engaged and breaks up with him. Heartbroken, she and her cousin Gwyn conduct, what they think is a fake, curse on Rhys. It takes nine years later and the return of Rhys to find out that their curse was all too real.

Even now, battered and bruised and possibly standing in squirrel shit, he was . . . happy. Glad to see her, brush with vehicular homicide aside.

The timing of the release of this book couldn't be more perfect, the Fall and Halloween vibes is perfect for late September and the light, chik-lit tone brought the spookiness in a fun and delightful way. I've seen some Hocus Pocus talk in the marketing and it has a little bit of that, especially one scene the movie's fans will be able to point to, but it does it with more of an adult theme with some sex scenes. With the lighter tone, we kind of dance into and around the characters, not too much delving deep. I felt like I knew Vivi more but I still didn't think her struggle with fitting in and complicated relationship with magic was explored enough. Rhys was the perfect gentleman with just enough moments of introspection to go along with his sweet and loose personality. We get introduced to his family, his scary father Simon, and two broody older brothers but, just. As Vivi's aunt and cousin live in Graves Glen, we see them more and Vivi's cousin Gwyn has future main character written all over her.

And the last thing she was going to do was fall for Rhys Penhallow all over again.

When Rhys comes back to Graves Glen to help celebrate the town's founding anniversary and strengthen the ley lines, the magic that flows into the town, the curse takes affect and he's suddenly dodging life threatening accidents. He thinks something might be wrong but his father's arrogance can't imagine Vivi being strong enough to be able to curse a Penhallow, so Rhys goes ahead with the ritual of strengthening the ley lines, only to transfer the curse into the ley lines and thus, into the town. Graves Glen is full of witches and civilians alike and now that magic is going haywire in the town because of the curse, they fear discovery. This gives the story the excuse to keep Rhys in town and working with Vivi and the second chance romance and enemies-to-lovers tropes to perform.

“Stay with me here. You’re an adult woman going through a stressful time in her life, and now your hot-as-hell ex is back in town and wants to kiss your face off. I say smoke ’em if you got ’em, babe.”

Vivi and Rhys figure out she cursed him for real by the 25% mark and with so much story left, there were enough times I stopped to think that they weren't paying enough attention to stopping the curse, the focus dwindles as Vivi and Rhys' relationship takes more of the spotlight. With the lighter tone, I didn't mind as much but it does become noticeable, especially in the second half. The town and it's mythology come into play more in the latter second half and I appreciated how it filled the world out and gave us more of a setting that could be continued into the series.

Cariad. He’d called her that, that summer. She could still feel it, growled against her ear, whispered into her skin, murmured between her thighs.

This was a fairly angst free zone, Vivi thinks Rhys thought of their summer romance as more of a fling but Rhys still checked up on her over their nine years apart and calls her the one who got away. As they start their romance back up, Vivi doesn't think they can have a future because Rhys lives in Wales and she loves Graves Glen too much to ever leave and Rhys is scared to tell her he loves her because of this. They were sweet, cute, funny, and steamy at turns but not particularly deep diving. This story did have loads of charm, from the seasonal Halloween vibes, the light tone, Vivi and Gwyn's friendship, Rhys and Vivi's cute romance, and to Sir Purrcival, who when he gets his chance to talk, opts for “treats” to be 95% of his vocabulary. The Ex Hex is the perfect light and sweet romance to start your Halloween season with.

“How did I ever give you up?” he murmured. show less

A delightful spooky season surprise! While Sterling is no prose stylist, the writing here is clean and enjoyable, with a swift pace on the plot and familiar beats done with a cheeky spirit (pun intended). Genuinely funny in places, this romance has its own flair, with witches in polka dot dresses and warlocks who move with the times (and certainly don't use that word anymore). As others have noted, the end is quite rushed but that often happens in the genre. A quick and breezy read perfect for Halloween night!

TW/CW: Sex, mild paranormal violence

RATING: 4/5

REVIEW: The Ex Hex is the story of Vivienne Jones, a witch who a decade ago had a summer fling with another witch, Rhys Penhallow. When that summer ended in heartbreak, Vivienne cast what she believed to be a fake curse on Rhys – but when he returns to the town nine years later, they discover it wasn’t fake at all.

This was a fun book and a fast read. I love stuff about magic and witches, and while I wish this had a little more magic in it, it was still fun to read what there was. The first 2/3 of the book totally flew for me – the last third getting bogged down a little in the sex and romance – but I still really enjoyed this book and recommend it to anyone who likes stories about show more witches. show less