For those of you who may be interested, Erin Sterling also writes YA witchy adventures under the pen name of Rachel Hawkins. I hadn’t come across any of her work before – but was quickly drawn into this entertaining paranormal romance by the very funny drunken scene at the beginning. A word of warning though – there is a fair amount of swearing and steamy sex scenes in this one. So if you’re looking for a paranormal adventure with a bit of romance thrown in as a side order – this won’t be for you. The romance features heavily throughout, and although there is a real mystery to solve, the narrative engine of the story really is the relationship between Vivienne and Rhys.

Despite it not being exactly what I’d expected, I was charmed by the second-chance romance. Partly because I’m a sucker for that dynamic, anyway – and partly because I found both main characters to be genuinely likeable. And that’s high praise from me. I’m not generally a huge fan of lantern-jawed heroes. But Rhys fully acknowledges that he’d thoroughly messed up, has a lovely sense of humour and is really in love with Vivi. The fact there is plenty of humour throughout and while the couple have to work through their issues, it doesn’t get too angsty or miserable was a huge plus. I also enjoyed Vivi’s hilarious cousin, Gwyn – who has no time at all for Rhys. And the talking cat…

All in all, the pages pretty much turned themselves as the story progresses onto a wholly satisfactory ending. I’d be happy to read more books set in this quirky community. While I obtained an arc of The Ex Hex from the publisher via Netgalley, the opinions I have expressed are unbiased and my own.
8/10

This book was a perfect Halloween romance to read on a cold autumn night!

The Ex Hex has everything you'd expect from a romantic comedy - a handsome love interest, hilarious mishaps and some spice. Rhys had me swooning from the moment the main characters were reunited and reading the story from dual POVs just added more depth to their romance! Family is another big theme in this book - I loved seeing the close bond between Vivi and her relatives and how they come together to solve a problem.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I’ve seen this book everywhere now so I had to read it and see for myself why the hype. And it really lived up to it for me.
Loved it. The characters, the dialogue and all the push and pull banter, the side characters and friendship all over and of course, the romance story. I rarely read witchy books but this one was so good and easy to follow along. I actually couldn’t put it down and finished in one sitting.
So if you’re looking for a great spooky story with lots of romance elements, this one is definitely for you.

The first line of the blurb got me - Practical Magic meets Gilmore Girls... I'm there! This is the perfect cosy, Autumnal, Halloween inspired read for these darker, colder nights we have started getting. I am not really into fantasy books - strange as a Harry Potter obsessed, OG Buffy fan, but as I said, the tagline pulled me in and I am so glad it did.

I loved this easy to read, funny story that was told from the viewpoint of both Vivi and Rhys, which was a nice touch and made it more interesting. The characters are all likeable, especially Vivi who I found to be relatable (aside from the witch part) and charming.

There was a good mix of spookiness and romance and would be perfect for those who enjoy the Halloween season, but nothing too scary! The tagline sums it up perfectly and if you enjoy those, you will love this for sure!

'The Ex Hex' is the cosy Halloween romance book that you need to read!!

I have seen so many people talking about and recommending this book this month and I just could not wait any longer to read it, and I am so glad I finally did!

This book was the perfect cosy fun, light-hearted book, and it was exactly what I wanted right now.

I flew through this book so fast as I could just not stop reading it, and was having so much fun doing so too.

The relationship between Vivi and Rhys was so much fun. There were not a lot of scenes or development between them as you kind of just jump straight into them being together and falling for each other, but honestly I wasn't mad about it. Normally it would hinder my enjoyment of the romance, but I still adored Vivi and Rhys and did find myself rooting for them.

The true gem of this story was the relationship between Vivi and her family. I adored them. They were so funny from the first chapter and I loved the ending with them coming together and saving the day.

This book made me laugh out loud a few times and it was honestly such a great fun read.

If you are in the mood for a fun, light read in between all of the thriller novels during Halloween, this book is definitely one to pick up. I really hope there will be more books in this world because I adored this one so much.

Thank you to Headline for providing me with an advance copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this story anything with witches in and I’m in it talk about wales allot so that a bonus 💖
I love the story setting the characters the writing style the chemistry between characters. The humour was great and funny plenty of mystery spell and magic with a twinkle I loved it everyone is going to love this book.

A fun, easy Halloween read with the perfect amounts of romance and curses. Perfect if you're not into scary Halloween but still want some witchy magic.
Although the first download wouldn’t show all letters in the words. It was soon solved when I redownloaded it.

The Ex Hex - Erin Sterling

I’m excited to be a part of the blog tour for this, and grateful to be a part of it - thanks for the invite! There’s a list at the bottom of this review for the rest of the bloggers on the tour.

Teenage witch Vivienne is heartbroken when her beautiful Welsh witch boyfriend, Rhys, reveals he is betrothed, and they break up in a crash of fire and brimstone. She drowns her sorrows in a bath, vodka and a tongue in cheek set of curses, including things like ‘may his hair never do that thing’, with her cousin Gwyn, providing much needed support.

Fast forward to a decade or so later, and Vi is still in Graves Glen (maybe a nod to Gravesend in Kent?) and hanging out with her cousin and aunt in their magick shop. Rhys, who we also follow from his perspective, is happy in Wales, working on his travel business and not married to his betrothed. When his Dad sends him back to the familial seat to oversee the anniversary celebrations, he’s less than thrilled. When things go wrong for him almost immediately after setting foot in Graves Glen, he’s even less happy. When he meets a clearly annoyed Vivi, though, he can’t help but be happy about it. Uh and oh.

The Ex Hex is such an enjoyable read, perfect for Autumn and for Hallowe’en. It’s cosy and misty, and as Rhys and Vivienne get themselves into deeper water (from a magic gone wrong point of view and a romance one), I found myself wanting to get to know them better, and to follow their journey closely. The other characters are great too - Gwyn is a firecracker who does like a good natured swearfest, and is fiercely protective of her family and her beloved black cat, Sir Purrcival.

There’s also a good amount of peril in there - plastic skulls come alive and chase non-witches round the magic shop, ghosts appear, objects fall on people and the rest. It reminded me a bit of the Buffy episodes where Ethan Rayne causes mischief, centring on the Magic Box.
As well as a bit of a spooky vibe, it is funny, too - non talking objects suddenly talk, Gwyn is dismayed to find that their curses didn’t work and Rhys’ hair does actually still do ‘that’ thing.

I also liked that we got the story from Vivienne and Rhys’ point of view, first person narrated. That’s quite unusual for a story like this one, so often told from only one protagonist’s viewpoint. I thought it added to the story, gave an insight into what they were both thinking and made it clear when they were wrong about the other. I also thought the other facet of the storyline, that Vivienne is clearly a powerful witch who has never really come to terms with her powers, was fascinating, and to see that being explored was interesting.

It reminded me of Practical Magic, “A Discovery of Witches” but less serious and a bit of Sabrina the Teenage Witch in there (the Melissa Joan Hart version). This is also Rachel Hawkins writing as Erin Sterling - in case you didn’t know that already. Recommended for fans of any or all, I’m already looking forward to the next instalment!

Thanks as always to Netgalley and to Headline Eternal for the advanced copy. Hope you enjoyed the review and go and have a look at the other bloggers on the tour!

Fun romantic fiction which does exactly what it says on the tin. Would've liked more info on the witchy side of the college, I really loved the idea of that, but all in all, really fun and a great October romcom.

Perfect October read, it gave me Gilmore Girls Sleepy Hollow vibes with a witchy mix added into it.

I loved Viv's character and her aunt and cousin. The family relationship really works although I would of loved to know more about her mother and why she didn't embrace being a witch. The Penhallow men are certainly a mixed bunch. From their strict father to laid back jokey Rhys. The theme of family is really embraced throughout.

When it comes to Viv & Rhys the build up in tension and those stolen moments were perfect with plenty of moments of humour intertwined and I was definitely happy with the ending.

Overall loved this book, would definitely recommend.

Disclosure: Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read in exchange for an honest review.

A fun and sexy book - though it felt a bit chaotic at times. I thought that there might be scope for further stories in this world.

The PERFECT contemporary witchy romance for the Halloween season (or, if you’re like me, all year around!)

My ONLY issue with this book was that as an actual Welsh person, the misspelling of Llywelyn (it was spelt Llywellyn) really got to me! I think for people who aren’t Welsh, it won’t be a problem, but that extra “L” in the middle COMPLETELY changes the pronunciation.

Welsh rarely gets a mention in books, so it was nice to see some familiar words (loved the use of cariad) and even a mention of Llywelyn the Great who was originally a king of my county (although again Llywelyn was spelt wrong😅).

I really enjoyed it. It was a super fun story and the romance was 🔥🔥🔥.

Love love loved this book! It was everything I wanted from a halloween romance and I so hope we get another book in this world - maybe a brother or her friend? Hint hint

This was a romance perfect for the autumnal season, and just perfect to read in the lead up to Halloween. The romance was super cute and I would definitely recommend this to anyone who likes romance books. I will definitely be reading this again next Halloween.

This book was supplied to me by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really loved this book. It took me a couple of days to get into because of some formatting issues but they got fixed very quickly and I read the remaining 50% of the book in one sitting.

I loved all of the characters (except for Rhys' Dad) and found them all really charming and relatable.

This book smashed the trope that a woman needs a man to make her more powerful and instead had the woman save the man! A powerful woman really makes a book and in this one we were rewarded with three! I really hope there will be more books in this world. I am desperate to know more about the characters and follow them through life.

Ps. Does the cat still talk after the curse was lifted?

I read the ex hex on the kindle and the did find it hard to follow and get into this was because there was words and letters missing from the text. I did read the story to the end but found it struggle to get into due to to what I mentioned above. Other than that the story was lighthearted.
The story is about Vivian who is a witch and accidentally puts hex on her ex boyfriend. He comes to visit the town where she lives and things start to go wrong.
Thank you NetGalley for letting me read this book.

The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling is the tale of how magic, vodka and a broken heart do not mix!  Nine years ago, Vivienne cursed her ex-boyfriend, and now he's back again.  And it looks like the curse actually has an effect when he returns!  Vivienne is going to have to work out how she can fix it!

This is a fantasy mystery romance, which I enjoyed going along with. It's a good book as an autumn read!

The Ex Hex was published on 28th September 2021, and is available from Amazon, Waterstones and Bookshop.org.

You can follow Erin Sterling on Twitter.

I was given this book in exchange for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to Headline.

Kindle edition had missing letters randomly in the middle of words. Made it really hard to read so I stopped fairly early on

This is the perfect witchy book for October! I very rarely read witchy books but I knew I needed to read this when I heard it still reads like a contemporary romance.

This was definitely a good, solid read. Maybe it could have been a little bit longer just to really bring out the most from the story.

Don’t get me started on the references to anything related to Wales. It’s nice to have Wales recognised, but I feel the author needed a better source than whoever or wherever she got her info from.

All in all I’m so glad I read this! It was perfect for getting me into the spooky season.

This book was a fabulous read for any lover of romance novels! It was the perfect balance of sweet and steamy, with the theme of witches making this stand-out from others. The perfect read for this time of year!