Thank you @avonbooks and @netgalley for my early copy.

Starting off ARCtober right with The Kiss Curse by Erin Sterling. I do not enjoy thrillers but I love the idea of reading all the witchy romances this fall.

This is the second book in a series but can be read as a stand alone. Gwyn is a witch who was born in raised in the town of Graves Glen. She currently runs a popular store that sells all things spooky/witchy. So shes pretty irritated when Wells Penhallow shows up and opens a similar store right across the street. Wells is from an old witch family that up until recently, were believed to have founded the town. His brother Rhys is married to Gwyn’s cousin and best friend but the family history isn’t that great. The two pretty much immediately take a dislike to each other and their banter is 👌🏼. However, when some strange things start to happen in town, Gwyn and Wells reluctantly agree to work together to figure things out.

The perfect enemies to lovers story. I really love a grumpy hero and an outspoken, strong heroine. A great read for fall, especially if you’d prefer romance over thrillers 🍂

I kicked off spooky season with this romance from Erin Sterling. It's the sequel to The Ex Hex, the adorable witchy book that was everywhere this time last year.

The Kiss Curse is cute, too, and I loved returning to Graves Glen. This story focuses on Gwyn and Wells, the cousin and brother of Vivi and Rhys from The Ex Hex. It also introduces a hilarious trio of witching students from the local college.

I loved the characters in this story, but the plot was pretty slow and low-stakes until the very end. A lot of the content felt recycled from the first book. Just when the plot picked up, the book ended!

This book was also steamier than The Ex Hex, so keep that in mind.

There is a third Penhallow brother, so I assume there will be a third book, and I'll still read it! ❤️

This was such a great, laugh out loud, witchy romance and I enjoyed every minute back in Graves Glen!

Gwyn is such a strong, smart, confident heroine and I loved her sarcasm. Then enter handsome, self-assured Wells, Rhys’ oldest brother and Gwyn’s long-standing nemesis (at least in her own mind). Wells moves to Graves Glen to keep an eye on things and ensure the town is running smoothly with the Jones’ blood now running the place. However, Gwyn’s magic starts acting up not far into the story and Gwyn and Wells team up to figure out what is going on.

Please read this if you enjoy:
-witchy romance
-forced proximity
-grumpy/sunshine
-a little mystery
-some light spice
-laugh out loud banter

Now I’m hoping that Bowen gets a book next!!

Honestly I was bored with this book that I couldn't finish it. I may still give it a chance later on but I had other books calling my name now. I liked the Ex Hex but I read that early in my reading career and there have been more books that are piquing my interest now.

4.5⭐️ | As expected, THE KISS CURSE was a total blast. I would like 50 more books set in this cozy autumnal town!

A great follow up to THE EX HEX, THE KISS CURSE is funny, swoony, and downright magical. I loved Gwyn and Wells’s romance, and Vivi and Rhys’s cameos were so sweet to see. I wouldn’t recommend this series to anyone seeking a true fantasy novel with a developed magic system, but I personally was happy to enjoy the conflict in Graves Glen based on vibes alone. Sterling’s writing is playful and silly — I devoured the story in one afternoon.

If you are looking for some charming, cozy, magical, rom-com FUN, you’ll surely find it in THE KISS CURSE.

I was so excited to be back in this world! Gwyn is a witch whose family’s magic recently took over a town. Her best friend and cousin recently married someone from their enemy family. Wells comes to town looking for a change of pace. Little does he know it’s going to be in the form of someone he previously found annoying. This book is cute and fun and kept me guessing until the end.

I loved The Ex Hex, so I was all in to read this first thing during spooky season - and I have to say I think this one is better than the first! I loved Gwyn and Wills so so so much, their chemistry was amazing and they just had such "jumping off the page" personalities. An amazing second installment to the series, and I can't wait for more!

Thank you to NetGalley for the arc!

This book took the parts I did love from Ex Hex (primarily Gwyn & Purrcival) and gave them new life! Ex Hex was not my favorite, and I really struggled to finish it. But this story was so much more fun. Gwyn is just a better character to follow overall and I couldn't get enough of her strength and sass. I did enjoy her relationship with Wells and all the glorious banter. The baby witches took it over the top and it was a blast. Even if Ex Hex wasn't for you, I think this book is worth a read. I'm giving it 4 stars!

As a followup to The Ex Hex, this book was so cute! Wells and Gwen's story was a fun enemies to loves romance, with quite a bit of magic and fun thrown in!

Vivi and Rhys are living their happily wedded life, and head off on their honeymoon, leaving Gwyn to hold down the fort in the store. Only problem? Rhys brother Wells (who didn’t come to their wedding by the way) is back in town it seems for good. Gwyn has hated him since childhood, and now that he is here, the feeling is mutual. When he opens another magic shop right across the street, Gwyn is furious, but determined to beat him. When an old classmate, Morgan comes back though, the two might need to work together which might just lead to to more?

This one had me pulled in from the very beginning. Such a wonderful sequel to The ex Hex. Wells was such a good daddies boy, and I loved seeing him start thinking about making decisions for himself. Gwyn was absolutely fabulous in the first book, and she continued to shine here. The baby witches were so fun with their antics and were a wonderful addition to this series! I think I am with the crowds on this one that I enjoyed this one even more than the first!

Fun and light romance for spooky season! I loved Gwyn and Wells. And Sir Purrcival makes another appearance!! I think I could have used a little more of the enemies content in “enemies to lovers” and the ending seemed to wrap up a little too fast, but otherwise it was a pretty good book. I would definitely recommend!

The perfect companion novel to the Ex Hex. In fact I think I liked it more than the ex hex. Was the ending a little too neatly wrapped up? Yes. Would have loved to see more conflict but i guess this is a romance so cute and fluffy with a bow works too.

This was such a charming follow up to The Ex Hex. This couple had so much chemistry, and they had me cheering from them early on in the story. The setting and atmosphere of this book gives me all the fall vibes I was asking for. This gets 5 glowing stars, and here’s hoping that there is a next installment on this series coming next year!

LOVED! Such a fun follow up to The ex hex. I hope the author writes one every year because I have really enjoyed reading these witchy books in October. It was spicier than the first one and I loved every second of it! Please give us more of these delicious Halloween books!

I loved this book. I thought it was fun and sexy. This witchy read was a great way to kick off the spooky season. Gwyn and Wells enemy to lovers relationship is great and I love their chemistry. A delightful read, hoping to see more in the series.

5⭐️

This book focuses more on Gwyn than the first one, which is great because I desperately needed more of her. Gwyn's cousin Vivi and her husband Rhys are about to go on their honeymoon, and Gwyn's mother Elaine is out of town visiting friends, leaving Gwyn to run their shop, Something Wicked, and oversee the Town of Graves Glen. Rhys’s brother, Wells, decides to return to Graves Glen and opens a higher-end magical shop across from Gwyn’s. The two begin a rivalry and compete for customers. When Gwyn discovers that Wells accidentally sold a magical artifact to a human, she goes to his shop to gloat.

When they try to find the shipment containing the magical items, a love spell spills on top of their heads, and they find themselves entwined in a passionate kiss. But can a love spell really make you kiss the person you believe to be your enemy? Meanwhile, a darker magic is at play when a Penhaven alumni returns to the town and Gwyn finds her magic dwindling. It’s up to Gwyn and Wells to get to the bottom of it for the sake of the town.

This is a great book to get you in the mood for spooky season. The whole vibe of it just feels like Halloweentown and I love it. It’s so much fun to read!

<b> “And if I wanted to call you mine?” she asked, her voice low, and Wells’s grip tightened on her hand.

“I’ll be that until I die.”</b>

I loved this story. Erin's writing is so well done. I loved the magic and the continuation of the little town of Graves Glen. The enemies to lovers trope was done perfectly and I loved the twists at the end.

The Kiss Curse by Erin Sterling is a paranormal romance and the second book in The Ex Hex series. The ebook version is 320 pages. We follow our two main characters with alternating points-of-view.

Gwyn Jones runs the witchcraft shop, Something Wicked, in her hometown of Graves Glen with her mom and cousin. On top of that, she's started to mentor some of the younger witches in town. Halloween is coming, and there's a lot to do! Enter Llewellyn "Wells" Penhallow, who's come back to town to re-establish his family's connection to the town they founded. To make himself at home, he opens up his own shop, Penhallow's, across the street from Gwyn's. When mysterious witches come to town and Gwyn's powers begin to fade, they must put aside their professional competition to figure out what's going on.

This was really charming! I was a fan of the first book in the series, and the second did not disappoint! I ended up reading basically the entire second half of this book in one sitting; I was so engrossed.

Sir Purrcival is still my favorite, probably because he reminds me of a mixture of several of my own cats.

Tropes in this book include: enemies to lovers, queer main character (not specified, but likely bisexual or pansexual), queer side characters, nonbinary side character

CW: abduction

The publisher provided an eBook ARC of this book for me to review. All opinions contained herein are my own.

Just in time for another spooky season, Erin Sterling delivers to rom-com fans everywhere The Kiss Curse. This cute, laugh out loud romance is the follow up to the equally as fun, The Ex Hex. In The Kiss Curse we follow Gwyn Jones, the colorful haired shopkeeper and cousin to the previous novel's heroine Vivi, as she sets out to survive another tourist filled October. Only, this year her arch nemesis Wells has returned to Graves Glen and he's got a plan to re-establish the Penhallow name as the best and biggest in Graves Glen witch history. Of course, it wouldn't be a romcom with some messiness and Sterling delivers with silly shop antics, love potions, and meddling witches who would do anything to hold the power. While Gwyn and Wells are distracted, some witches take advantage and get up to no good, putting both Graves Glen and Gwyn's own magic in danger.

The Kiss Curse was truly a fun, magical read. Gwyn was a treat to read about in the previous novel, so I was overjoyed to get her full story. As the spunky member of the Jones family, Gwyn has embraced that selling fake witchy goods to tourists is the best she can do in protecting her family and the town's true magical legacy. Of course, what tourists don't know won't hurt them, or at least that's what Wells Penhallow thinks when he opens his own store selling goods without magic in the front and with magic behind closed doors. Things go awry though, like they always do, and readers are treated to the two pairing up and saving the day, all while throwing snark and lust-filled looks at one another. Just like in The Ex Hex, I fell for the Penhallow brother alongside Gwyn, especially as his debonair attitude went out the window. Sterling takes it a step further though, taking the silly, romantic read and throwing in a dash of angst and a heaping spoonful of drama, with the characters truly having to save the day, again.

While readers know Rachel Hawkins for her dramatic, twisted thrillers, her alter ego Erin Sterling gives romance fans the spooky, magical, fun love story their hearts desire. The Kiss Curse is another excellent novel in The Ex Hex series and is one that will delight readers. I need these to be a show or a movie, stat.

This is book two of The Ex Hex by can be read as a standalone. I actually liked this one better than the first book.

This time around we see the magical chemistry between Gwen and Wells. It’s a fun enemies to lovers/ opposite attract witchy read where Gwen is the fun and cool bisexual witch and Wells is prim and proper. They both run competitive shops in Graves Glen, and they’re always bickering with each other. The two join forces when Gwen’s magic disappears.

This is the perfect spooky season read for those that aren’t into scary books. It’s a charming read with fun side characters (specifically Gwen’s “Baby Witches”) and romance filled with some great banter and some spicy scenes. I can’t wait to read the next book!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.