The Kiss Curse was a fun return to Graves Glen. This story follows Rhys’ brother Wells, and Vivi’s cousin Gwyn. Wells is not satisfied at the pub, so he travels to Graves Glen to fill in for Rhys. Gwyn is in charge of the magic shop while Vivi is on her honeymoon with Rhys.
Of course Gwyn is not happy about having Esquire around, but she begins having trouble with her magic. Who is stealing her magic?
And we can’t forget Sir Purrcival who also gets into some mischief. He also learns a few more words.

I absolutely loved this story. Erin’s (aka Rachel’s) writing is so pleasant to read. The Ex Hex and The Kiss Curse are great books to start off the fall season.

I received an eARC copy of The Kiss Curse for an honest review. Thank you NetGalley, HarperCollins, and Erin Sterling for a wonderful read.

This book had lots going for it: I loved the "baby witches," I love the atmosphere and the setting. I just wish the romance itself had more oomph to it. It's a serviceable enemies to lovers story, but it doesn't dig deeply into tension and longing and emotion the way it could.

where do i begin…unfortunately i didn’t LOVE this book! it was fun, fall, witchy and absolutely got me ready for the Halloween season but i never found myself fully invested!! i found the relationship between Gwynn and Wells forced, like they had to be together for the sake of having a second book and while they’re enemies to lovers banter was fun at points it just never felt natural. the author really knows how to paint a scene and made me feel like i was in Glen Raven and i am ready to pack my bags and go right now but outside of that it fell flat. i wasn’t a huge fan of the Ex Hex & i really wanted this book to come in with a swing but i just don’t think these books are for me! official ruling: skip it!

i am SO thankful i had the opportunity to read this ARC and if you like predictable romances in the PERFECTTTTTTT setting then this might just be for you! thank you so much to Erin Sterling, NetGalley and Avon Books for this advance copy!!

Pros:

This book continues on much like book one with fast-paced wit, lovable character and a few mysteries that have to be figured out. It does an excellent job of developing characters we loved from book one while also giving us a glimpse of the characters who have already gotten their happy ending.

I really appreciate that while the book does focus on powerful women handling major things it does not have them hating men. In fact, other than a few cases of miscommunication and issues we see the main couple working together as equals even when they aren’t close. There is no men/women are better, just everyone doing their part.


Cons:

While it is good that the author focuses in very intently on the main characters I still am wanting to know more about the history they looked up on the town, about the side characters and how the witching world connects and interacts outside of Graves Glen and the Penhallow family.

I wish there had been some promise of a book for Bowen. I’m going to old out hope and keep an eye on this but for now there are a lot of things I want to know but don’t.

This sequel to the ex hex was just as good!! It was so adorable and got me so excited for fall and Halloween. The small town that centers around Halloween is perfect to get you ready for fall! I loved Gwyns character! She is a sassy strong red head who stands up for herself. When Wells opens a shop right across the street from Gwyns you can feel the tension and chemistry. If you love a binge worthy enemies to lovers romance with a small town witchy vibe then this book is definitely for you!!

Thank you NetGalley and Avon books for an eARC in exchange for my honest review!

I loved this continuation of the story of Graves Glen so much and sure hope we get a third book that wraps up the Simon saga and brings more Bowen into our lives, I already need more! Getting more glimpses into Vivi and Rhys' life and of course watching Gwyn and Wells come into their own just felt like coming home to a warm hug. I love these characters so much and Graves Glen would be my home for sure if it existed. A perfect fall read!

Last year, The Ex Hex was one of my favorite reads of the spooky season. The Kiss Curse will likely be the same.

I thought it was charming and a lot of fun to read. It’s fast-paced, light and perfect for the witchy season. I loved being back in Graves Glen with the Jones and Penhallow gang. I really enjoyed Wells Penhallow—there was something about him that gave me the tingles right from the start. 😅

Read if you like:
🐈‍⬛ Witches
🐈‍⬛ Talking cats
🐈‍⬛ Enemies to lovers
🐈‍⬛ The Good Witch (with spice)
🐈‍⬛ Stars Hollow vibes

I love this season!! Bring on all the witchy books!!

Dust off your brooms, because the witches of Graves Glen are back. I really liked the first book in this series and was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed Gwyn’s story! Erin Sterling knows exactly what we want when we are searching for a book with fall-vibes.

A fun, light, super easy read that is perfect for fall. If you liked the Ex Hex, you’ll enjoy this one. I was excited for Gwyn’s story as I enjoyed her character in the Ex Hex but The Kiss Curse kind of felt like a repeat of the former. The book is definitely all about the vibes - the characters are fun but very light plot and not much happens. Great book to set the tone for fall.

I loved my second trip to Graves Glen just as much as the first. This series is fun, with just enough romance, magic, and mystery to keep it fresh and fun. Following up on last year's The Ex Hex, the Kiss Curse moves on to give Gwyn some romance with a Pennhallow of her own.

Thanks for the opportunity to review!

Link to 9/21/2022 Instagram post:

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cix_T2xPG05/

📖Gwyn loves her life in Penhallow. She runs a successful shop and mentors “baby” witches. When Wells moves into town and opens a rival store across the street, they both get more than they bargained for.

💭I love these books. They’re the perfect fall escape for romance lovers. I love the small town setting, the magic and witchy vibes, and of course the romance. What’s not to love?! If you loved The Ex Hex, then definitely pick this one up. It’s perfect to kick off your fall reading!

✍️How I rated other books by this author:
The Ex Hex- 5⭐️

The Kiss Curse by Erin Sterling 4.5 stars

I did not think I could like The Kiss Curse more than The Ex Hex, but I did! The characters were even more well done, their relationship more realistic and their magic flawless. Again, I am not typically a fan of witchy/magic books, but this series is amazing. Perfect to read during this time of year... making me very excited for the Halloween season!

Gwyn is running Something Wicked and mentoring some young witches in town. Until Wells Penhallow shows up and opens a similar type of store across the street. When their competition turns personal, they try their best to avoid one another. That is until a new coven of wtiches come to town and Gwyn's powers start to fade. Will they figure out how to restore Gwyn's magic and determine what these new witches want?

Thank you Netgalley for my advanced reader copy.

"Graves Glen was a collection of lights glimmering in the darkness, homey and warm but far away, shadowy hills rising all around it."

Due to Graves Glen having a change in the flow of power, many new witches have gathered in the town. Encountering these weird energies and emanating magic is cause for lookout into the safety of the town's magic. Gwyn is running Something Wicked on her own when it just so happens, Wells, Rhys' older brother, and Gwyn's long-time enemy opens a shop across the street rivaling her store. With cause for competition, these two start to have more one-on-one run-ins creating the all too good banter and magnetism to the other. When an old university acquaintance moves to Graves Glen and invites them both to a housewarming witches-only party that radiates evil magic, the two team up to figure out just why she moved back. This book is all about the funny (“Baby Witches” anyone?) —and the budding enemies/rivals to lovers romance between Gwyn and Wells, whose bantering and hijinks also provide a lot of humor. The chemistry between Gwyn and Wells is again well done. Another superb Sterling book!

I enjoyed this follow up to The Ex Hex and was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked it. The Kiss Curse was a fun read, but this one was even better, and that's not always an easy task with a second book. I'd love to keep reading about the town of Graves Glen, so I hope this isn't the last we see of it! Take Gilmore Girls and Jasmine Guillory's The Wedding Date series and mix in a little witchery magic and spells, and you get this! Fun and fast and exactly what a reading is looking for in a magical rom com!

I finished both of the ex hex and kiss curse, such magical tales this weekend - because it’s fall and spooky season officially! The weather was chilly and I grabbed a blanket and dove right in.

The Kiss Curse is about Vivi’s cousin, Gwyn, and Rhys’ brother, Wells. The two definitely do not get along when he opens a competing store across the street from Gwyn’s, but when strange things happen to her magic, they work together to investigate.

This one takes a day or two and is perfect for the fall season. Very Halloweentown meets Sabrina and Bewitched with some spice! While these books have mysteries, ghosts, and spells gone wrong - they still manage to be light and fun. I’m a sucker for the grumpy/sunshine and the plot of this one compared to the first was more tangible for me.

📚Read if you like:
- Enemies to lovers and grumpy/sunshine
- Sabrina the teenage witch, Bewitched
- Light Halloween-time reads


My rating as a duology:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶🌶

I really enjoyed The Ex Hex and The Kiss Curse was no different. I actually think I like The Kiss Curse a little more!

What I loved about this book:
- All the spooky Sabrina/Hocus Pocus/Halloweentown vibes
- The chemistry and banter between Wells and Gwyn was perfectly written.
- Sir Percival was giving main character energy.

A perfect Halloween season read!

The Kiss Curse is the second in the series, following The Ex Hex. I recommend starting with The Ex Hex, but I do think you’d be fine overall reading it as a standalone. I felt there was enough backstory woven in so you wouldn’t be hugely confused without reading the first one.

The Kiss Curse

-enemies to lovers
-small town with Salem/Halloweentown vibes set in rural Georgia where it always seems to be fall and Halloween year round
-low stakes
-open door romance
-grumpy x sunshine between the rigid eldest brother and the free spirit, laissez faire type cousin from the main characters of the first book
-main love interests over 30
-bisexual rep with Gwyn


The Kiss Curse is an excellent option to kick off the cozy fall vibes and make you wish you could go to Graves Glen for a visit. I didn’t have much issues with this one as long as you go into it not expecting anything incredibly dramatic; it’s got calm and cozy romantic mystery vibes.

I thought the enemies to lovers trope wasn’t necessary, and the author could have carried the romance on the grumpy x sunshine trope alone. I know it’s silly to talk about realism in a book series about witchcraft, but I found it highly unlikely that Gwyn, now in her 30s, would be so hung up over a single, extremely minor, incident that happened her first year of college basically that she would consider Wells her enemy. I mean she just thinks he’s an asshole, so the trope is very mild, even when their stores are briefly “feuding”.

Overall, 3.5-4 stars. Looking forward to Bowen’s book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon/Harper Voyager for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

he Kiss Curse was one of my biggest anticipations this year because it It the sequel to last year’s Ex Hex. This time around we follow Gwyn Jones and Llewellyn “Wells” Penhallow. Wells comes back to re-establish his family’s magic in the town after the Jones ladies grounded the town’s magic to their family’s. While in town, Wells opens up a magic shop that rivals Gwynn’s. A bad shipment causes the two to kiss, so the two decide to stay away from each other. As Gwyn’s magic fades, and a new coven threatening the town, they have to work together to keep everything as it is.

This was such a cute read! Sir Purrcival the cat is still slaying and everything I want in a cat sidekick.

Thank you to NETGALLEY and Avon & Harper Voyager for the digital arc.

This sequel to The Ex Hex was even better than the first! I just love how lighthearted yet interesting the author makes these stories! I really hope there's a third!

This was a funny, swoony, perfectly witchy, small town, dual POV, opposites attract paranormal romance!! I absolutely LOVED the Ex hex last year and this second book in the Graves Glen series exceeded all my expectations (and it was my MOST anticipated #SpookySeason read for 2022!).

Full of humor, heart and such an adorable cinnamon roll hero. I LOVED Wells and his big loyal heart who fell hard for Gwen in college, not realizing who she was years later. The banter, the chemistry, the magic - it all worked wonderfully for me in this book. And the last scene was utter perfection.

AMAZING on audio narrated by Shannon McManus who does an excellent job with accents - this set the bar high for my paranormal #tbr ! Recommended for fans of the Stay a spell or Fix-it witches series. Much thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review! This one is definitely worth a listen and my favorite #SpookySeason romance of the year so far!