The Ex Hex: A Witchy Paranormal Romance with a Spellbinding Twist, Get Ready to Be Charmed (The Graves Glen Series, 1)

The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling conjures up the sweet ambiance of an old Meg Ryan movie and the romance, holiday sparkle, and gorgeous scenery of a Hallmark movie. I really enjoyed this fast read with its likeable characters and atmospheric locale.The story is set in picturesque Graves Glen, snuggled in rolling hills and fields at the foot of a Georgia mountain. The town is home to both witches and non-magic folks, with themed businesses like Something Wicked and the Coffee Cauldron thriving during the busy fall season when locals and tourists celebrate Founder’s Day, the Fall Festival, and, of course, Halloween. Graves Glen seems fun and festive, a place I’d love to visit if it truly existed. In case you’re wondering, a quick Google search turns up only one Graves Glen - a century farm in Massachusetts.The trouble in The Ex Hex all starts when teenage cousins Vivi and Gwyn Jones cast a curse on Vivi’s ex-boyfriend, Rhys Penhallow, who broke her heart when he returned home to Wales to call off a previously unmentioned betrothal. The curse goes unnoticed for nine years, until Rhys returns to Graves Glen, unknowingly activating the curse and putting both himself and the town in danger. Will they find a way to cancel the curse before it’s too late? And will Vivi and Rhys rekindle the fire that burned so brightly between them during that memorable, long-ago summer? The journey to find the answers they seek is both challenging and enjoyable for the characters and readers alike.Ms. Sterling crafts warm, charming characters like Vivi, Gwyn, and Gwyn’s mother, Eileen, who value family and home, as well as their suddenly talking cat, Sir Purrcival. On the opposite end of the loving family spectrum are the dysfunctional Penhallow men, with Rhys avoiding his overbearing father as much as possible and spending little time with his two brooding brothers, either. I suspect we may learn more about the mysterious Penhallow family in a separate novel yet to come.I have just two complaints:(1) Vivi and Rhys spend too much time jumping in and out of bed for people who are supposedly racing to break a curse.(2) The final scenes as the Jones trio and Rhys attempt to break the curse have fantastic potential, but they’re too short with not enough details, making the ending a bit anticlimactic.Despite the pending doom of the curse, The Ex Hex is an amusing rom-com that delivers fun characters trading witty banter in a beautiful setting. It will appeal to most readers who enjoy a breezy, modern romance, with no explicit sex or violence and just a light sprinkle of the paranormal woven throughout to create a perfect October read.

The story line is somewhat serious; but in-between is just hilarious. The characters are interesting, quirky, funny. I had to jump through hoops to get this in ebook; but I'm so glad I persisted. I'd recommend this book to everyone!

THE GOOD:- I really enjoyed how the author used English vernacular for the entirety of Rhys' POVs, and then switched back to American for Vivi's POVs. (By this, I mean for all of their inner monologues. It's like we are thinking in their accents and using their slang.)- It was an easy & fun read. I genuinely laughed out loud a few times. The talking cat had me in tears. *treeeeaaaatssssss*- I loved the whole atmosphere of the book. Cozy fall/ Halloween vibes. This is definitely a book to read around October with a hot cider & some candles.THE BAD:- I don't like how the dual POVs aren't labeled. It just sort of switches and when I'm reading on without noticing paragraph breaks, I had to go back and be like "Wait... who's POV am I in right now?" It's not difficult to tell the difference but it's just something I wish was labeled.. or even done every other chapter.- Their chemistry is seemingly all based on sex & attraction. It didn't have any depth. Throughout the entire first half of the book, it's all "omg but look how good he looks" and "omg don't get a boner looking at her legs"- The pacing of the whole book was kind of odd. The beginning was pretty slow and then it sort of picks up in the middle but then the ending happens in the blink of an eye. Literally, 5 pages.- The "spice" was soooooo PG. I feel like if you're going to write it that lightly, you might as well leave it out of the book. Go big (or even mid) or go home (I even hesitated to put my smut-lite tag on this).OVERALL:The Ex Hex was a light and easy read that kept me entertained enough to finish but the ending really had me sitting here like... "That was it???"I'd recommend this book to someone who wants to read a silly & cozy book with witches that requires little to no brain power.

Such a cute and funny fall read!! So cozy and love that it had a HEA ending!! Definitely gonna read the second book!!

I would love to tell you I don’t fall for romance novels, but I would be lying. Adding in magic and a hot Welshman, and you’ve got me hooked! Read it in a few hours, couldn’t put it down. On to the next one!

Adorable cute novel with better than you think characters! Can’t wait to read the rest of the series! Highly recommend

O produto em si é paperback padrão: material mais molenga, mas resistente. O livro em si é aquele clichê gostosinho de aquecer o coração e de fazer esquecer o mundo caótico que vivemos. Tem muito a vibe de um filme. Mas a história não tem nada demais, nenhuma emoção extra que te faça pensar nela por dias. É realmente mais algo para se distrair, se divertir e, quem sabe, tirar de uma ressaca literária.

A really good fall read would recomand if you like witchcraft × cozy

The media could not be loaded.  Lo compré con la opción de segunda mano. Fue más barato y me salió súper bien

Mische niemals Wodka und Magie.Als Rhys Penhallow Vivienne das Herz bricht, vergisst sie diese Regel, die ihre Tante Elaine immer wieder predigt und belegt Rhys unbeabsichtigt mit einem Fluch.Neun Jahre später kehrt Rhys nach Graves Glen zurück und der Fluch nimmt seinen Lauf.Nun müssen sie zusammenarbeiten, um den Fluch zu brechen und kommen sich wieder näher."The Ex Hex" von Erin Sterling ist der Auftakt einer Trilogie, der aus den wechselnden personalen Erzählperspektiven der achtundzwanzig Jahre alten Vivienne Jones und des ein Jahr älteren Rhys Penhallow erzählt wird.Vor neun Jahren haben Rhys und Vivi einen magischen Sommer miteinander verbracht, doch nach drei Monaten trennten sich ihre Wege und Vivi ertränkte ihren Herzschmerz in Wodka. Betrunken, wie sie und ihre Cousine Gwyn waren, verfluchten sie Rhys aus Spaß, nicht ahnend, dass sie ihn wirklich verflucht haben und der Fluch zuschlagen wird, sobald Rhys wieder einen Fuß nach Graves Glen setzt. Aber der Fluch zielt nicht nur auf Rhys, auch in der beschaulichen Stadt passieren auf einmal gefährliche Ereignisse und Rhys und Vivi müssen zusammenarbeiten, um den Fluch zu brechen.Sowohl Vivi als auch Rhys sind Hexen, doch während Rhys mit Magie aufgewachsen ist, hat Vivis Mutter die Magie gemieden, und erst als Vivi nach dem Tod ihrer Mutter zu deren Schwester Elaine kam, lernte sie die Magie zu nutzen. Sie nutzt diese jedoch kaum und hat einen ganz normalen Job am Penhaven College angenommen, obwohl dort auch Hexen studieren.Sowohl Vivi als auch Rhys mochte ich richtig gerne! Rhys ist ein wenig draufgängerisch, aber auch aufmerksam und liebevoll, während Vivi ein großes Herz hat und für sich und andere einsteht.Die Chemie zwischen den beiden hat auch gestimmt und es hat Spaß gemacht zu verfolgen, wie die beiden wieder aufeinandertreffen und versuchen der Magie zwischen ihnen zu widerstehen!Graves Glen ist ein richtiger Wohlfühlort und die Geschichte hat mich nicht nur einmal zum Lachen gebracht! Ich liebe den Humor von Erin Sterling und ich habe die Geschichte sehr genossen! Die Handlung hätte vielleicht noch etwas spannender sein dürfen, hier stand definitiv die Liebesgeschichte stärker im Vordergrund, aber auch so konnte sie mich gut unterhalten und ich habe mir direkt den zweiten Band gekauft, denn da wird die Geschichte von Vivis Cousine Gwyn und Rhys' Bruder Wells erzählt. Zwei Charaktere, die wir schon kennenlernen durften und die ich jetzt schon mag!Fazit:"The Ex Hex" von Erin Sterling ist ein gelungener erster Band!Ich mochte Vivi und Rhys richtig gerne und habe mich in Graves Glen sehr wohlgefühlt! Die Geschichte hat mich nicht nur einmal zum Lachen gebracht und konnte mich sehr gut unterhalten, auch weil die Dynamik zwischen Rhys und Vivi einfach gepasst hat!Ich vergebe vier Kleeblätter und freue mich sehr auf den zweiten Band!