Hex and the City is a fun contemporary fantasy romance. Our female main character, Poppy, is a witch that never feels like she fits in or is good enough for her romantic partners. She gets drunk one night and spots her ex girlfriend kissing another woman so she drunkenly decides to curse a pendant and accidentally leaves it at the “magic” shop she works in. Our main male character, Alex, then buys the pendant to give to an ex fling and accidentally curses her. Poppy and Alex then have to work together as more and more things go wrong.

This is my first book I’ve read by the author and I will definitely be going back and reading the first book in the standalone series. We meet a few characters from the first book and they’re so intriguing it makes me want to read it right away!

This book is so much fun and I really enjoyed the plot of it- I wasn’t always 100% invested in the romance but I liked the two characters as individuals that I was fine with that.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
*TW: eating disorder*

Thanks to NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I read and loved Hex Appeal last spooky season, and I was in the mood to be in the mood for fall, so I downloaded Hex and the City. It was a sweet, fun, witchy, wacky romance with less spookiness and more spiciness than I anticipated.

Poppy Thistlefoot, real witch, meets Axl Storm, magician, and accidentally sells him a cursed pendant. Chaos ensues when his magic show turns deadly. Poppy has to find a way to stop the pendant before all of London is in trouble.

My favorite thing about the book was the soft-hearted protagonists. Two outsiders finding each other and finding love is one of my favorite romance plots. Axl is all sexy abs and eyeliner on the outside. On the inside? Not so much. Poppy's hair has a literal mind of its own, and she can do spells with her eyes closed, but all she truly wants is to find a place where she belongs. It's such a sweet romance that the complicated, chaotic plot was almost unnecessary. Still, it was a wild, fun ride.

I give it 9/10 stars and recommend it to anyone who loves a couple of sweethearts with a side of the strange and unusual.

Chaotic witch Poppy, who's luck in love has always been terrible accidentally curses a necklace... that is sold to handsome playboy celebrity magician Axl Storm... which only sets off a storm of chaos. Poppy is a witch who has always had bad luck with love, and after her most recent partner rejected her and went home with another hot woman and told her she was just too weird and not the girl you bring home, Poppy is mad. Axl Storm is a handsome celebrity magician who also has had bad luck with love, in that he has slept with nearly half of his coworkers and any groupie he fancies and yet these coworkers end up quitting and that leaves him a bit stranded... and after his latest fling with his lead backup dancer ends with her thinking she is his gf when he never does relationships leads to his show being put in a spot, he ends up going to a witch gift shop to try and buy her a gift... and that very gift just happens to be the same pendent that Poppy cursed while thinking of her ex. When Poppy hunts down the necklace to try and save them, it ends with Axl's backup dancer severely injured and in the hospital and but that doesn't stop him from making out with Poppy one hour after his back dancer's accident. Axel and Poppy soon find that they can't deny the chemistry between them but can magic is getting out of hand and things soon spiral as they both have to try and find a way to fix the chaos they both have caused. Unfortunately this one was a miss for me, I didn't like Poppy or Axl and just couldn't find any chemistry between the two of them. I wasn't even invested in the romance and the story felt all over the place, seriously it went from zero to a hundred and chaotic is the best way to describe the flow of the story. If you like witchy rom coms with celebrity bfs and a bit of time travel and chaos then this is for you!

*Thanks Netgalley and HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter, One More Chapter for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

I really enjoyed this, it was delightful. The lead characters were perfect together, and I loved their interactions, and the chaos/chemistry that they created.
I was extremely jealous of Poppy’s hair, that’s definitely my kind of power!
The perfect combination of romance, mystery, comedy and adventure

Thanks to NetGalley for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Super cute little story! It was much more witchier than I thought it would be, but still liked it and I liked the towards the end! Was definitely not expecting that and I think it really made the whole story come together nicely.
Perfect book to start spooky season!!

I want to thank NetGalley and Harper Collins UK for an ARC of this book.
This was such a wild ride from start to finish! The FMC is very Rapunzel coded which I LOVED. Between Poppy constantly attracting chaos and Alex being entrenched in an identity crisis I was thoroughly entertained. The only thing that weirded me out through the story was the incorporation of Poppy’s parentage and the conflict surrounding that. But other than that all I really want now is a Iris backstory!!

I really enjoyed this book! I loved all the hints to the other witch book by Kate Johnson that were in this. It was nice to see another story in that world and still have it completely separate from the first story. I really liked the characters. The main character did get on my nerves at time since she never really thought that maybe things should be discussed instead of just storming out of the room. Overall, I thought that this was a really cute and fun read!

3 stars

I love a good witchy romcom and was so excited to get my hands on Hex and the City. Poppy is a witch that causes chaos wherever she goes and Axl is a (hot) magician. When their paths cross, fireworks erupt ... literally.

I loved Poppy's character - the chaos creator who often stands out in her environment... and not in a good way. I wish we would have gotten to know Axl more, his character lacked a little depth for me. Where this story really fell short was the *big* twist (I enjoyed pieces of it but some of it could have been handled differently). Also, Poppy and Axl's relationship wasn't completely believable.

Overall, a fun, fall read.

Thanks, Netgalley for the ARC of this book!

This was such a cute little witchy book, I loved it! Thank you NetGalley for letting me read this ARC, definitely makes me want to look for more witchy books.

Love Kate Johnson and I love this series. I normally do not read romance, so it speaks lot that I actually enjoy reading these books. The writing is great and it is definitely Italy a comfort read series for me.

2⭐️ 2🌶

Big thanks to Harper Collins UK, Kate Johnson, and NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinions.

This is usually a genre I LOVE - rom-coms with a witchy side... but unfortunately this one majorly let me down. It started out strong for me because I loved the idea of a magician and a real witch coming together for a rom-com. Then about 25% of the way through it started getting off-the-wall crazy. There were so many times I legit had NO IDEA what was going on. It was just too much going on at once between the romance, Poppy's witchy side, the disasters, and then Alex's whole identity thing.

Add in quotes like: "Impatient, she grabbed his hand and shoved it inside her knickers, and he found exactly what he wanted." This added a cringy vibe that was just not it. First off this man already has like an eating disorder and put WAY too much into his appearance and Poppy's over here completely objectifying him like a man would. There was ultimately too much talk about how big he was in one scene. The spicy scenes to me always had an element that made my face look like David from Schitt's Creek looking just confused and off-put. Don't even get me started on the fact Poppy's mother was out here banging her bf, everyone around her and hit on HER.

Overall, this was a 2-star read for me. It does have potential if HALF of all the chaos that went on happened and was focused more on the magician/real witch romance. But ultimately it fell apart for me when all the action was added in. I wanted a cute, easy and witchy romance.

Hex and the City

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Witches galore in this one! If you’re looking for an easy read during the fall timeframe, check out this witchy romcom!

Poppy causes chaos everywhere she goes, unintentionally of course. But she falls into a hot actor who ends up getting a cursed necklace from her. As they work to get it back, strange things start happening all over London!

This was an easy one to pick up. I didn’t love the two main characters but parts of it were cute! Witchy London vibes all the way through!

Thanks to @netgalley for this ARC!

— 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 —

𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: Hex & The City
𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬: N/A
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫(𝐬): Kate Johnson
𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: Fantasy Romance
𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝: 3rd September 2023
𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝: 5th August 2023
𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: ★★★★

Although Hex & The City is based in the same world as Johnson’s previous book, Hex Appeal, and even has guest appearances from the same characters we meet in Hex Appeal, Hex & The City is based in the frenzied City of London, which is a wonderful place to be for the main character, Poppy, and her chaos magic.

I loved so much about this book. I loved Poppy’s chaos and her sentient hair. I loved Alex, the sexy illusionist who has heart eyes for Poppy, even if as one of the other characters stated, he is out of her league. This book is charming, full of humour and chemistry, and ridiculously easy to pass the time with.

Whilst this was contrived in parts, I was having way too much fun reading it to really care what felt congruent to the setting and characters, and what felt like frivolous storylines. There was simply too much to enjoy. I also loved the bisexual and gender fluidity representation which definitely felt congruent rather than contrived.

I think that if a break from heavy reading is needed, this quirky paranormal romantasy is the perfect lighthearted read to pick up instead.

—Kayleigh🤍

Hex and the City is the second book in Kate Johnson's Hexed series and is full of fun witchy goodness. The book is a quick, lighthearted read with LOTS of antics as witch Poppy and celebrity magician Axl are brought together to retrieve an amulet that Poppy accidentally cursed and sold to Axl. Kate Johnson's work is laugh out loud funny and the perfect read if you are in a witchy mood.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK for allowing me to read an ARC of Hex and the City.

I am a sucker for a fun witchy romance, and this definitely fit the bill!

Poppy is our heroine, a witch with magical hair and a reputation for causing or experiencing a stream of magical and nonmagical chaos. When the famous stage magician Axl Storm comes into her magical shop one day and winds up with an amulet she mayyyy have accidentally cursed while drunk, angry, and heartbroken, Poppy's world of chaos explodes. With chaos magic, family secrets, and firey chemistry, what could go wrong?

I will admit, there was more magic than I actually expected. This may seem surprising given it's a witchy book, but sometimes with witchy romances, the romance takes center stage, and while that was in some ways the case here, there was a lot more plot with the magic than I expected which I did enjoy! My biggest critique is that sometimes when those big magical scenes began to happen, they happened really quickly and really chaotically and I found myself having to go back to figure out what exactly got us from point A to point B. I think knowing that Poppy and Axl's relationship is very much instant love, especially on his end, may be helpful for some. I don't mind an instant love book (honestly sometimes I appreciate the lack of tension every once in a while), but I have seen some reviews discussing this, so I feel like it's important to note before people jump in.

All and all if you want something to get you in the witchy season with romance, this is a fun read!

This book is so fantastically adorable. From the romance and me laughing so hard in certian scenes. I fell in love with these characters and can't wait to read more from this author.

It’s almost spooky time and this is the perfect read for the fall. I love a witchy rom-com and this did not disappoint

Unfortunately, Hex and the City was a pass for me. As a person who enjoys reading witch books, I was disappointed that I couldn’t get into this one. For some reason, I just wasn’t interested in the story. I did like Poppy and the idea of there being a cursed amulet. Perhaps I will give this story another shot in the future. Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK for the arc.

Unfortunately, Hex and the City was a pass for me. As a person who enjoys reading witch books, I was disappointed that I couldn’t get into this one. For some reason, I just wasn’t interested in the story. I did like Poppy and the idea of there being a cursed amulet. Perhaps I will give this story another shot in the future. Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK for the arc.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. While the premise was interesting I didn’t connect with the characters or the story in a meaningful manner. Some books just aren’t for us, and that’s alright.

Unfortunately, this book was a bit of a miss for me. It was fun and had a lot of potential, but the writing felt sophomoric, the romance itself felt rushed, and the dual POV didn't flow very well and felt somewhat clunky and jarring. After reading this and Hex Appeal I'm thinking that Kate Johnson's witchy romances might just not be for me.