Something deliciously witchy this way comes…
The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling is full of witchy fun! This romance is hexy and sexy and you’ll be feeling all the Spooky Season vibes with this amazing second chance romance.

If you love stories with empowered females, small town quirks, and paranormal hauntings then The Ex Hex should be at the top of your reading pile not just during Halloween—Erin Sterling (Rachel Hawkins pen name) has created a fun romance good all year ‘round.

“Never mix vodka and witchcraft.”
After an abrupt and heart-wrenching breakup, Vivi and her cousin Gwyn accidently curse Vivi’s ex-boyfriend—Welsh warlock Rhys Penhallow. Cut to nine years later and one semi-mended heart later, Vivi thinks everything is fine until she learns Rhys is coming back to town in order to celebrate Founder’s Day in her small town of Graves Glen. Things start to go wonky for Rhys as soon as he crosses the town’s borders. Wonky goes to absolutely bonkers when Rhys and Vivi realize that her hex has turned some-what worse as he attempts the yearly magical tradition of fortifying the town’s magic.

What I loved most about The Ex Hex is that even though Vivi and Rhys are tasked with figuring out how to set the town back to normal and remove the curse from Rhys…it’s also a romance and their chemistry is off the charts. So what should have been investigated quickly is not because of how quickly they combust around each other. Which of course made me giggle to no end!

“She was normally a completely rational and calm person, and Rhys Penhallow made her totally lose her mind.”
Between the mystery surrounding the founding of Graves Glen, the hex turned curse, and the appearance of one cantankerous ghost, I was utterly bewitched by this book! Erin/Rachel has written such a fun story. I was engrossed with every new detail that came to light and I loved that this second chance romance had a very fulfilling Happily Ever After.

The Ex Hex is definitely one of my highlights for the year, and honestly it spoke to my witchy-loving heart in the best of ways. I loved Vivi and I loved that she and Rhys had an equally satisfying romance as well!

The Ex Hex is a fun Halloween romance with witches, hexes, and small town vibes. The story follows Vivienne Jones, a witch and professor in Graves Glen, Georgia. When Vivienne was younger, she dated Rhys Penhallow, a descendant of Graves Glen founders. Their relationship ended badly. When Rhys comes back to Graves Glen for a founders day celebration, Vivienne and Rhys must put their past behind them and work together to fix a curse that is wreaking havoc on the town.

I came to this story for the Halloween vibes and I definitely got them. This story is silly and fun, but it definitely reads as extremely cheesy at times. The romance between Vivienne and Rhys really stands on their past relationship, which wasn't built up enough for me to get invested.

If you're looking for a fun book with Halloween elements then this book is perfect, but the romance at its center is a little underwhelming.

DNFed at 33%.

I thought maybe I'd go back and try again, but I never felt like it, even after it hit all of the bestseller and "best of" lists.

The writing was solid. I've read and really enjoyed this author's YA romances (written as Rachel Hawkins), but THE EX HEX never grabbed me. I loved the concept, liked the Halloween-obsessed town, but the main characters were very meh, both individually and together. The magic had potential, unlike other recent light paranormal romcoms I've read, where the magic is almost nonexistent, but it wasn't enough to hold my interest.

I'm clearly in the minority here, with most people really enjoying this one, so don't let my ambivalence discourage you from giving it a go. I wish I had loved it, but alas, sometimes you gotta know when to cut ties and move on. (Case in point, the next book I picked up I inhaled in two days. 🤷🏻‍♀️)

Vivienne and Rhys had a summer fling nine years ago that did not end well. Mixing vodka and magic lead to a curse on Rhys that manifested when he returned on Founders Day to charge the ley lines that kept the town magical. The curse will be fulfilled on Halloween, so Vivienne, Rhys, Gwyn, and Aunt Elaine have only a few days to find who fueled the curse and reverse it or the town and Rhys died. Plenty of snark, romance, magic and a talking cat keeps the reader going. A fun Fall read!

Thanks Netgalley for the chance to read this title!

I liked this book- I thought it got a lot more hype than perhaps it deserved, it's an average witch romance. The plot was compelling, and I liked the main characters, but I would have liked the FMC's history unpacked a little more. We don't hear much about her family, or her feelings about magic. I think the MMC was more fleshed out.

this was such a cute read! light on substance, heavy on fun! I loved the gentle touch on witchcraft and the banter between protagonists, but didn’t feel strongly about the mystery or central quest, and did feel like some of the romance felt insta-love.

This was a light-hearted witch book that was fun to read around halloween. I did feel like the romance lacked some sizzle and I didn't buy into the reason they broke up the first time and why she "accidentally" put a hex on him though.

A cute romcom about two people who had a summer fling that ended badly as teenagers having to come back together because magic has gone wonky. The turn of events for how to fix the magic was a delightful surprise, given what felt like what was being telegraphed. It's a fine book, though I usually enjoy Erin Stering/Rachel Hawkins books more.

I just loved this so very very much. "Never mix Vodka and witchcraft." I feel like this book was written for the 80s children who grew up in love with Hocus Pocus and now are a little more mature. There were a few scenes that made me blush but gosh love this book

I absolutely devoured this book! Riveting and emotional it gets you right in the feels! Love the chemistry between Vivo and Rhys!

I really enjoyed this book-fun dialogue, quirky characters, interesting plot line. It was magic enough to give me HP vibes, but not so convoluted that I didn't understand what the magic terms meant (a huge pet peeve I have with the fantasy genre). I read three books in a row-all new this October-that had witches as main characters and this was by far my favorite.

I had no idea that Erin Sterling was a pen name for Rachel Hawkins - but should not be surprised. I have loved everything I have read of hers and seem to have the exact same sense of humor as her. "The Ex Hex" has a perfect blend of magical realism and hilarious hijinks, giving it a hint of the feeling that "Practical Magic" gives without stealing or borrowing any elements of it.

I cannot wait to see what else comes from this *charming* series!

This book was not for me. I tried twice, but it was a big DNF. While I do think that I will recommend this one to library visitors, it would only be for people that like a specific type of romance. I do typically enjoy the enemies-to-lovers troupe, but I just couldn't get into this one.

There’s a trend I’ve been enjoying a lot seeing lately, and that’s the witchy books coming out. There’s something I particularly love about a paranormal romance that has a small town vibe, full of family and some spells thrown in for good measure. Absolutely love it. So I was beyond excited to read THE EX HEX. In some way, it gave me what I was hoping for. And in others, it left me a bit underwhelmed.

Let’s start with the good. The vibe in this book was exactly what I wanted. A light hearted paranormal romance, with family drama and witches that are not always on top of their spells. THE EX HEX has the right spooky vibe for the season. I loved the magical aspects of the storyline.

But this is a romance and as much as I love second chance romances, this wasn’t a stellar representation. I didn’t feel the irresistible connection between our main characters. I didn’t buy into their unresolved issues of the past and how, if their feelings were there all along, it took this long and basically a chance encounter for things to start moving forward. The urgency of the romance wasn’t there for me with this couple.

In the end this was still an enjoyable book to read especially this time of year. Perfect for readers that don’t want something scary and instead just want fun. I’ll probably continue reading on in the series.

The Ex Hex was a fun and funny rom com. I read this around the time it came out which was a perfect Rom Com for Halloween.

I liked the quit witty one liners and the story line. I didn't care for the steamy scenes, they didn't feel authentic.

All in all it was a good read.

As I am not a romance reader, I expected to not enjoy this as much as I did. An absolutely delightful mixture of romance and "witchiness", this is a very fun page turner.

The Ex Hex is the book I needed during the Spooky Season. I read a couple horror novels and considering the amount of horror in the real world, I was struggling to pick up just about anything. The Ex Hex to the rescue! This book has some flaws, but I ended up liking it quite a bit and look forward to more from Erin Sterling/Rachel Hawkins.

What I liked:

Vivienne has a supportive friend group and their dialogue was fun.
Sterling leans into the tropey fun with scenes including the classic "hiding in a closet, oh no we're pressed against each other."
Halloween-y fun - the town is obsessed with Halloween and it feels really spoopy overall. Not scary, which was what I needed.

What I didn't like:

The breakup and Vivienne's hostility felt contrived. She broke things off without letting Rhys explain why he was betrothed and hadn't told her and years later she's still not willing to talk to him about it. I know she was hurt, but the betrothal from childhood was Welsh Witch Politics and he went home to immediately dissolve the agreement. Couldn't they have fixed all this with a single phone call?
Rhys is kind of an entitled prat. This is the point, but I wanted to like him more than I did. I had to pretend several aspects of this "Welsh dudes owning a whole southern town since way back" didn't exist because... gross. Sterling is from the south and she tried to acknowledge this a few times but I'm not sure it was successful. (Then again, white people owning towns anywhere in the US is a whole thing and why is this particular one sticking in my craw?)
Multiple Harry Potter references. Vivienne didn't grow up in the magical community, so she wasn't aware of things like the aforementioned political betrothal and there's an entire page where she's talking about when she learned about her magic and met other witches. Rhys says she went "the full Potter" and there are other references later to plot, characters, merch. Could have been very easily removed, it didn't add anything to the book.

All in all, The Ex Hex was a fun spoopy read and the people I handed it to at my library agreed. If you want light witchy vibes and somewhat sparse world-building, go for it!

Not enough romance for me, and the romance that was there was underdeveloped. I didn’t understand the magic system. I was really disappointed, basically.

Super cute and witchy, if not super steamy - very similar to Payback’s A Witch. Perfect fall/Halloween read.

This was a very lighthearted and quick read. I didn't take it too seriously and just enjoyed the spooky vibes during the Halloween season.