A fun, light, and charming follow-up to The Kiss Curse by Erin Sterling! This book was such a perfect intro to Spooky Season and I was thrilled to get an ARC! I loved The Ex Hex so much, and while this book felt a little rushed in certain areas of the plot, I loved getting to know Gywn and Wells and going back to Graves Glen for some delightfully witchy, Halloween vibes!

Things I liked:
- enemies to lovers
- small town
- a group of adorable misfit baby witches

Thank you to @Netgalley and @Avonbooks for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A sequel that’s just as good as the first book! We come back to the same characters we met in The Ex Hex, this time focusing on Vivi’s cousin, Gwyn and Rhys’. brother Wells. Witchy rivalries, magical mishaps and new characters make for a delightful romantic romp.

This book was an awesome companion to Erin's The Ex Hex. I loved Gwyn's character in the original story but getting to know her so much better in this new book was just such a blast. When reading this book I get all of the Sabrina vibes, not the creepy Sabrina but, Sabrina the Teenage Witch. If you thought Vivi, and Rhys had a funny story, this is even better.

Wells' grumpy attitude and Gwyn's very open and honest personality seem to play off one another in such a fun way. Sometimes the harder you fight to now want something, the more you absolutely have to have it. Wells and Gwyn find themselves being heavily drawn together after a mysterious box of pink glitter falls on top of the pair from the store room which causes them both to instantly be PHYSICALLY drawn together, more like MAGNETIZED.

Meanwhile, something weird is going on in the town. There's a strange presence and the pair can't help but feel like it is their responsibility to figure out what's causing it. But will they be able to figure out how real there attraction is to one another ?

Such a great read and I'm so glad that I had the opportunity to be able to read this before it's release !

True rating: 3.5 stars
I love all things Fall, including books with a fall feeling, setting or timeframe so I was happy to hear that The Ex Hex was getting a sequel and it would be published during my favorite season. I loved the character of Gwyn and enjoyed her getting the spotlight in this second installment in the series. The "baby witches" added some hijinx. The returned frenemy storyline had me going back and forth as to whether it was nefarious or not. The plot really came together in the last quarter of the book which felt like the ending was a bit rushed and certainly seemed open to the possibility of a book three (which of course I would also check out).

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyage for The Kiss Curse ARC for review purposes. It publishes on September 20th. All opinions are my own.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own.

While book one was fun, I feel like The Kiss Curse failed to recapture the same magic for me. My standards already weren’t super-high, but even with that in mind, this one felt very bland.

Gwyn’s character is the one saving grace of the book. There’s been a lot of Discourse in some reviews because she was portrayed as queer in book one. Well, she’s still queer here, even if she ends up with a guy, and I feel like you can be sad about the ignorance of f/f relationships on a larger scale within trad publishing (something that is actually changing) without taking it out on queer m/f pairings, which are also heavily stigmatized and misunderstood.

I also really liked seeing Gwyn in her magical element, training some young witches. While the magic stuff is still very much “developed as the story goes along,” it’s quirky and fun, and I love seeing the characters interact with it.

But Wells…did we really need another Penhallow brother as a hero who happens to have animosity with the heroine? As much as I will defend the right for Gwyn to be with a man in theory, I just didn’t care for him. I also felt their romance wasn’t anything special…no real sparks at any point. I was mostly neutral-to-“they’re kinda cute” where Vivi and Rhys are concerned, and Wells and Gwyn can’t even measure up to that.

And it’s such an oddly paced book. I don’t expect a ton of plot from “romcom” books, but given there is some sort of paranormal presence, I wish that part had been developed a little more. The “Big Bad” shows up really late into the book, only to be defeated very quickly and anticlimactically.

This book was ok, but it just didn’t work for me for the most part. I do feel that if you’re more of a fan of the paranormal romcom style, you might like it more than I did.

This is a story about a little bit of magic.

I really liked this! The witchy vibes were a great addition to my seasonal reading & I loved getting to briefly visit the characters from book one. While everyone here is great, Sir Percival the cat is the real MVP here!

Thank you so much @librofm @netgalley & @avonbooks for the e & audio copies!

The Kiss Curse is the second book in the Ex Hex series by Erin Sterling has mouthwatering tension, skin-warming fluff, and abs-inducing humor along with an intriguing and fun plot that has the reader on their toes.

The Kiss Curse, sequel to The Ex Hex, picks up the story of our favorite witches in Graves Glen. Rhys and Vivi are happily married and about to leave on their honeymoon leaving Vivi's cousin Gwyn to hold down the fort. Wells, Rhys's grumpy older brother, leaves Wales at the behest of his father to go to Graves Glen and keep an eye on the town their ancestor founded. Wells and Gwyn face of against one another before having to team up and save the town once again.

These are definitely becoming a fall treat of mine! Just wonderful cozy witch stories to kick off spooky season. Not angsty, not to story heavy, just something appropriate for when the leaves start changing and Halloween just around the corner. I will be patiently waiting for next years installment, hopefully someone interesting will turn up for Wells and Rhys's brother Bowen?

This is the perfect book for Spooky Season!! I absolutely adored Gwyn in The Ex Hex and I'll be honest I didn't know there would be a sequel!!!

In The Kiss Curse we follow Gwyn, Vivi's spunky and free spirited cousin. Gwyn isn't a huge rule follower, but since the town's magical transition last year, she's becoming more watchful. That magical transition can bring about witches with ill intentions. Gywn is happy to run her family's store Something Wicked and live her life the way she wants, that is until Wells Penhallow, Rhys's older brother, comes into town. Wells opens up his very own little shop right across the street from Something Wicked. Gywn already holds a grudge against Wells, but this...this takes it to a whole new level.

When an old college friend moves back into town, Gywn and Wells team up to see what her intentions are. We get enemies to lovers, tension, romance....gosh I just freaking loved it. PLUS we get Sir Purrcival the cat!!!! He's just the best.

If you liked (loved) The Ex Hex, it's a pretty good chance you'll like (love) The Kiss Curse as well.

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins Publishers for an ARC!!!!

5/5 stars! Thank you to NetGalley and Avon/Harper Voyage for the ARC! This is the sequel to The Ex Hex. I loved that book, and this one was just as good! This book centers on Gwyn and Wells, who are also part of the Jones/ Penhallow familiy dispute. Wells moves to town and starts up a shop right next to Gwyns. Like the last book, there are issues with Magical powers, and everyone needs to find a way to work together. Highly recommend!

The Kiss Curse by Erin Sterling follows Gwyn Jones and Wells Penhallow in the second installment of Sterling's series. Gwyn and Wells find themselves as business rivals in their small town of Graves Glen, trying to outdo each other while denying the magnetic attraction they have to each other.

The plot gave off New Adult "Halloweentown" vibes, and it immediately drew me in. I love that the magic of this series is different from other books with magic that I have read and it's always refreshing to see different takes on magic. It was fun and quirky while also having a dark side that had me suspicious of anyone that wasn't the main characters and their friends and family. It's a great read to bring in the Fall/Halloween season.

Gwyn is a confident and fun female main character while Wells is our broody, stiff male main character that nails the grumpy x sunshine trope to a T. The witty banter between them had me laughing out loud, while the pining between the two had me rooting for them from the get-go. Their chemistry is instant and encompassing, and I like that about this couple. Gwyn and Wells complement each other while managing to hold their own by themselves with the dual perspective and sometimes that's hard for authors to do but Erin knocked it out of the park.

I was also delighted by Erin's use of an openly bisexual character as well as a non-binary character that goes by they/them pronouns. This is actually the first book I've read with a non-binary character/character that goes by they/them pronouns, and I was excited to see the representation.

All in all, this was a quick and fun read that I would recommend to anyone looking for a Fall/Halloween, rivals to lovers, witchy romance.

Last October Spooky Season had fully descended on my eBook shelve and I read a coven of witchy romances. My favorite of the mix was <i>The Ex Hex</i> and I have been impatiently waiting to return to Graves Glen ever since. Thanks to an ARC from NetGalley, I recently got to go back and it was every bit as magical as I remembered.

This time around we get to know Gwyn Jones, cousin of the previous book's heroine. Gwyn runs Something Wicked, a kitchy witchy shop in Graves Glen which is well-known for its Spooky Season festivities. She's also one of the most powerful witches in town thanks to the events in <i>The Ex Hex</i> and is assisting the Mayor with the town's upcoming celebrations. Needless to say, she's got a lot on her plate and the last thing she needs is a distraction... especially not one who opens a competing shop directly across the street from her own and has no business looking as good as he does in a sweater vest.

This book is so stinking sweet. It's also just the right amount of spicy (insert eyebrow waggle here). Gwyn is such a sassy, fun character and I loved seeing her relationship with Wells develop. Also... SIR PURRCIVAL!!!!! I adore that foul-mouthed furball and he steals every scene he's in.

This second book in the series is just as good as the first. It is a funny and lighthearted story with wonderful characters. Gwynn is a witch tasked keeping the town safe. Wells is one of the original founding families of the town. The story provides plenty of comedic relief as these two battle it out to see who is the best. Sparks fly as they realize they are attracted to each other and cannot stay away. They happily make magic together.

I was not really prepared to love this the way that I do. I enjoyed The Ex-Hex sure, but this feels like a full on home run.

Firstly, it's definitely kitschy. Call it early spoopy season feels, but this is a better version of whatever weird Halloween romance movie could ever dream up. It gives good small town vibes, and a real talking cat. Sir Purrcival is and will always be a main character, mostly because he uses dickbag in his vocabulary.

Gwyn being this "skirting the rules" kind of girl in school but ended up being an ultimate awesome witch, entrepreneur, and overall asset to the community, all while giving into the kitsch, at least she is self aware. Wells being a general stick in the mud, curmudgeon, and a wearer of waistcoats, was a perfect counterpart, and his story of being the dutiful son, I do love that he got to find what he was looking for. Their rivals to lovers plot was excellent and ticked all the right boxes. The spice was great and the chemistry and banter were top notch.

Overall, all the moving parts worked for me. I thoroughly loved it, and I hope we will be blessed with Bowen's story next year.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

Like The Ex Hex before it, The Kiss Curse is a fun, witchy delight of a romcom. It's got the small town vibes and the Halloween atmosphere, not to mention a great central romance and plenty of hilarious moments.

I immediately loved Gwyn and Wells as a couple, given their opposites-attract situation and their bickering (which quickly transformed into affectionate banter). They worked well together and were both given plenty of time to shine. On Gwyn's side of things, her evolution into a mentor for the Baby Witches was lovely to see, and Wells' slow reckoning with his father's misdeeds was equally well-done. I could have happily kept reading about these two for far longer.

All in all, the first half of the book was strong, even if it did rehash some of the same things we saw in Ex Hex (this town sure does love its festivals). But the second half of the book felt rushed - I was honestly surprised when I reached the end, thinking that surely there was a bit more of a wrap up to go.

*Spoilers Ahead*

I also felt like the resolution with Morgan and her coven was a bit underwhelming. I enjoyed the idea that there were actually two nefarious things afoot - Simon AND Morgan and co - but in the end, neither one got nearly as much screentime as they deserved. I figure that Simon will be back as the big bad in the next book, so I'm less bothered by that. But Morgan's plotline was a bit herky-jerky - She's bad! She's innocent! Jk, she's bad! -and then to have her and her friends simply sucked into a hell dimension really made me wonder what the point of her was at all. I was also a little underwhelmed by the solution to Gwyn's magic problems just being "She actually just had to try a little harder to tap into it." Ultimately, some of the choices of the book's final act made a lot of what came before feel a little pointless.

All of that said, though, I still really enjoyed The Kiss Curse. It's a perfect fall read with its witchy vibes and autumnal atmosphere, and I look forward to the next installment (which I assume will follow Bowen).

4.25/5

Thank you Avon and Harper Voyager for my copy. All thoughts are my own!

Last year, I read and enjoyed The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling. It was a cute, easy Rom Com that reminded me a bit of a magical version of Gilmore Girls. I was excited for the next book in the series and it definitely set the tone for cozy Fall reads. It’s a little Hallmark After Dark, a little broody and swoony, and definitely sweet like Halloween candy.

Synopsis:

“Gwyn Jones is perfectly happy with her life in Graves Glen. She, her mom, and her cousin have formed a new and powerful coven; she’s running a successful witchcraft shop, Something Wicked; and she’s started mentoring some of the younger witches in town. As Halloween approaches, there’s only one problem—Llewellyn “Wells” Penhallow.

Wells has come to Graves Glen to re-establish his family’s connection to the town they founded as well as to make a new life for himself after years of being the dutiful son in Wales. When he opens up a shop of his own, Penhallow’s, just across the street from Something Wicked, he quickly learns he’s gotten more than he bargained for in going up against Gwyn.

When their professional competition leads to a very personal—and very hot—kiss, both Wells and Gwyn are determined to stay away from each other, convinced the kiss was just a magical fluke. But when a mysterious new coven of witches come to town and Gwyn’s powers begin fading, she and Wells must work together to figure out just what these new witches want and how to restore Gwyn’s magic before it’s too late.” —StoryGraph

What I Liked:

The Setting—Just like The Ex Hex, this book is adorably autumnal. It’s a small town full of magic, witches, and warlocks reminiscent of Stars Hollow and Halloweentown. It’s a fun, low stakes read.

The Charm—What got me to fall for The Ex Hex last year was the charm of the witchy town. That is once again a huge part of The Kiss Curse and left me feeling warm and satisfied. It’s a bit Hallmark After Dark.

What Didn’t Work:

A Little Surface Level—This is an easy, low stakes Romance. I wish there was a little bit more to anchor it in reality, but it’s a wtichy rom com perfect for Fall, so I can’t complain too much!

The Trope—I didn’t vibe with Wells and Gwyn as much as Rhys and Vivi, but that’s okay!

Character Authenticity: 3/5 Spice Rating: 1/5 Overall Rating: 3.5/5

Content Warnings:

Kidnapping, emotional abuse

Thank you @netgalley @avonbooks and @erinsterlingbooks for my copy of this eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Y’all, I LOVED The Ex Hex and was so excited to be give a chance to read Gwyn’s story and see what was next for Graves Glen! I was even more excited when it became obvious that this book would be just as good as the first!

Gwyn has always, always, always been annoyed by Llewellyn “Wells” Penhallow. The only problem is, he doesn’t even realize she remembers him from their brief time at college together. So it’s no surprise that, when Wells appears in Graves Glen out of nowhere to open up shop across the street from Gwyn’s Something Wicked, he’s a little taken aback by just how annoyed by him she seems. It isn’t until the two must work together after a new coven of witches come to town, and Gwyn’s powers begin to fade, that the two start to give in to the chemistry between each other.

The chemistry, the heat, the humor - all perfection. I have one complaint and that is that Wells doesn’t ever make the connection between his crush in college and Gwyn. I was really hoping to read his “ah-ha!” moment! Other than that, I cannot wait to see if we get a third book with Bowen’s story!!

This one gets 4.5⭐️‘s from me!

Fun follow-up to The Ex Hex! If you fell in love with Graves Glen last fall with Rhys & ViVi's story, you'll fall just as hard for Gwyn & Wells!!

This series doesn't give scary witch vibes, it's more of a Halloweentown, base level magic with some adult (steamy) elements thrown in. The magic is basic and you don't have to be into fantasy or mystic reads to enjoy!

Thank you Netgalley and Avon for this ARC! I've read The Ex Hex and was super excited about this follow-up novel that features Gwyn Jones and Wells Penhallow!

Book Review:

The Kiss Curse is the perfect book to get you into spooky season!

Gwyn Jones owns a witchcraft shop, Something Wicked, and is loving her life in Graves Glen, where her family's magic runs strong. Spooky festivities are abound as Halloween approaches, but the season brings in a familiar face as well.

Wells Penhallow decides to go back to Graves Glen for a new start and to re-establish his family's connection to the town. He opens a witchcraft shop right across from Something Wicked, but soon finds out that going against Gwyn is not something he should take lightly.

However, both Gwyn and Wells may have to put their little feud (and growing attraction) aside when a mysterious coven comes to town, and Gwyn's magic starts to fade.

This book is the perfect mixture of enemies to lovers, tension, banter, mystery, new beginnings, a little spice, and a whole lot of witchy magical fun!

I loved Gwyn in The Ex Hex and was ecstatic to find out she was in the starring role of The Kiss Curse! She is witty, quirky, sassy, and not afraid to share her thoughts with those around her.

If you are looking for a light, enjoyable, Halloween-filled book to start of this wonderful fall season, this one is a great choice.

Oh, did I mention that it's DUAL POV? 😍😍😍

AH! I loved the ex hex and I think the kiss curse was even better!

The chemistry between Wells and Gwynn was SO GOOD! We got a few steamy scenes and some really cute flirting. I really enjoyed the “baby witches” as well.

I wish the first half of the book was a little faster paced, the second half was a wild ride and I couldn’t put it down!

I love these books and will definitely pick up the next one, if there is one!

Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins/Avon for a advanced copy!