a cutesy, witchy read with perfectly spooky vibes and an adorable romance! it was the second book in the series, and while i hadn’t read the first one previously it’s now on my radar!

Sentient hair and Norse god abs; illusion and real magic; chaos and romance; this book has it all! I loved the chemistry between Poppy and Alex and couldnt get enough of their banter! And did i mention the hair? Loved the Rapunzel references! A definite must read contemporary witchy rom-com!

I liked the first book in the series but I just wasn’t vining with Poppy and that’s okay. I’m going to DNF this book but I will absolutely come back and try future works by the same author. Still think it’s a great series!

4* A nice magical read.

Expect no good when a witch experiences a drunken heartbroken night.
The morning after Poppy finds out she accidentally cursed a pendant in the magical shop where she works and before she can find, and uncurse, it, it gets sold to none other than Axl Storm the handsome and very famous illusionist who's looking for a gift to appease his assistant who's not so understanding after their one night stand.
What follows is pure chaos, but is it Poppy's fault or there's more to it?

You can't get more exciting than escaping from the big fire of London, can you?
There's no time to be bored, in this book: from ancient mummy ghosts coming to life, time travel, magical hair with their own will, you can't imagine it 'till you read it.
I liked a lot the chemistry between the characters, Poppy is just lovely with all her quirks: wild concious hair, the improbable ability to keep losing everything, a big generous heart; while Alex hides his secrets and his most deepest side behind a show persona: the handsome illusionist Axl Storm.
The side characters are funny and we have a devious and cruel villain. just the perfect recipe for a magical journey.

Not trying to brag or anything, but when I finished Hex Appeal last year, I did use all of my will power and summoned for that wonderful and whimsical book to turn into a series - just saying.

I was hoping to return to the ever changing Beldam House where Essie fell in love with Josh - if you haven’t read Hex Appeal, Josh is the house owner who finds out that his tenants haven’t paid any rent since 1700 in the first book (also, if you haven’t read Hex Appeal, run to your bookstore, like NOW and don’t miss out on the fun). The author, however, created a whole other setting for our new heroine Poppy. There are some familiar faces and the coven of hexes do come out to support our heroine, but we are not actually returning to Beldam House to drench ourselves with that magic again. Still, I was very, very happy how everything turned out.

Wherever Poppy goes, chaos arrives. As if losing her phone every other day isn’t bad enough, she now needs to find and destroy a cursed pendant, fight off a ghost mummy, temper her strong willed hair, and try hard not to be distracted by a smoking hot and smouldering Viking-ish magician named Alex (also known under his stage name Axl Storm). And boy, disasters are fun!

Hex and the City is funny, fast paced, and highly entertaining. The world building is not as complicated as in the first book, but that was fully compensated by the brilliantly hilarious character that was Axl Storm. Think wind machine, oily abs, and a cabinet full of shampoos worth a fortune, yet he was so, so sweet and supportive of Poppy. I really liked his character. There were so many details, that it was easy to visualize everything.

The coven of contemporary hexes was as strong and fierce as ever, and them being a support system for the younger hexes in finding their strength and happily ever after is now my new favorite trope. I can’t wait to see this series grow and expand!

4.5 stars, I really liked it!


Thank you, NetGalley and HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter for sharing an digital ARC with me in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a fun cute witchy read, full of magic and adventure. This is the second book in the series but having not read the first I don’t think it impacts the reading order. I really enjoyed the book from the first page. The book was well written and I enjoy the plot line. I enjoyed the all the twist and turns. Some expected and some which weren’t.
Poppy is such a fun character who is described as being weird but with magical hair. Poppy is also a witch but she’s a Chaos witch which means problems follow her. This starts her adventure with Axl / Alex who has bought a cursed necklace from the witchy shop where Poppy works. The story follows Poppy as she tries to track it down. I loved how the relationship between the two blossomed so nicely. I really enjoyed the ending the two go too.
I look forward to reading more from this author and I’ll definitely check out book one now too.


Thank you to the Author, Netgalley and the Publisher for an eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Where ever Poppy goes chaos generally follows. After a night out drinking and a hex being placed on crystal and then sold, you can only begin to imagine what is unleashed upon the city.

This was such a fun and witchy rom com with an abundance of chaos. While I loved both the main characters and the abundance of side characters, I just found it hard to believe these two completely different people could fall in love so fast saying I love you after only days.

All that being said I loved whole gender fluidity aspect of the story and how none of the characters ever even blinked an eye.

This was a fun read! I've been on a bit of a witchy romance kick so was excited to receive this one. While I enjoyed the story, characters, and humour, I do feel like overall the book didn't stand out to me as much as others in the genre. It would be a perfect rom-com read for Halloween season.

Recommended to read if you like:
- witchy elements
- chaotic characters
- enemies to lovers yet somehow also insta-love
- excellent banter

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

Thanks to the author, HarperCollins UK, and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I had high(ish) hopes for this book based on the description but, once I dove into it, it did not live up to expectations.

The first third or so of the book book was fine - typical, modern romance with a flair of magic. It was fun, lighthearted, and an easy read to get through. But after those initial interactions and plot points, things went off the rails. I thought I was getting a story that would've been similar to Rachel Griffin's "Wild is the Witch" where two people chase a cursed owl to prevent a human's demise. Sadly, that was not the case.

Instead, we went from trying to find a hexed stone in order to stop doom from spreading to weird ghosts, statues coming to life, mummies?, and then they threw in some time travel. It seemed so chaotic which I understand Poppy's magic was chaos magic but this was ridiculous and threw me off as a reader. I wished the author had stuck to the original reason for the two of them to go on this chase rather than just try to throw in every single type of magic possible.

I also did not enjoy Axl/Alex's character arc and how he, clearly, had an eating disorder and a lot of past trauma that was not written well. It was, honestly, quite problematic how the author wrote about it and I was very disappointed.

I don't usually post two-star reviews but I truly did not enjoy this book. If the author had just kept to the original plot points and didn't focus so hard on putting as much magic as possible into it, it would've been better. Also, either take out the eating disorder/PTSD stuff or write about it correctly.

A fun witchy read, i loved the writing style and the characters. It felt soooo magical!! Cannot wait to re read around halloween! Adored this, would recommend!!

I have not read the first book in this series, but I will likely return to it. I really enjoyed this as a fun read, and I liked the author’s writing style. The book itself was a quick read.

I’ve been enjoying the return and rise magic is playing in books lately. Poppy’s story and the chaos that ensues as she goes through her journey is a fun twist on the witch coming into her power and learning to love who she is story. We get answers to who she is and how she came to be, all within the romcom plot. There are a few twists and turns along the way and I liked the overall themes that I picked up of loving who you are and acceptance. Alex obviously plays a huge role in this book, but I felt it was Poppy’s story first. There was also some history sprinkled in throughout which I thought was a happy bonus.

Please be advised that I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley.

This is a fun magical romance - it's part of the same world as Hex Appeal, although reading both isn't essential as they stand alone. Poppy is a witch, Axl a stage magician with secrets, throw in a lot of chaos and you get the story. The supporting characters are also a delight, the other witches are all great characters, and I particularly liked Poppy's parents, whose firm normality is initially a barrier but who take it all in their stride in the end. A really enjoyable read!

𝐇𝐞𝐱 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐛𝐲 𝐊𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐧
𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝟒⭐️
𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: 𝐑𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞
𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐫: 𝐓𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐒𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟒𝐭𝐡 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟑
𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐟 𝐒𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐬: 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘗𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘺:
1. 𝘚𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘢 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩
2. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘙𝘢𝘱𝘶𝘯𝘻𝘦𝘭 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘛𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦𝘥
3. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘐𝘳𝘪𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘯, 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭, 𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘏𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘤𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘺
4. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘏𝘶𝘣𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘉𝘶𝘣𝘣𝘭𝘦, 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘱 𝘪𝘯 𝘊𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘎𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘯. 𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘯𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦. 𝘜𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭...

Once in a while I like to choose a book that’s very lighthearted, doesn’t take itself too seriously and is a lot of fun.

I liked this book more than I expected, a really easy read with short chapters which meant I read this just over a day.

This book was so enjoyable, proper laugh out loud moments and a (few) cringe moments but what do you expect from the title.

I didn’t realise this was second in a series so I didn’t read the first ‘Hex Appeal’ but you can read this one as a stand-alone. I loved the setting being set in London, the magical characters, the non magical ones too.

Poppy was such a great character and I want her hair! I imagined Alex as a Chris Hemsworth 🥰 and I enjoyed Poppy and Alex’s chemistry.

Perfect for spooky season as this book will be released 14th September this year.

𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙉𝙚𝙩𝙜𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙮, 𝙃𝙖𝙧𝙥𝙚𝙧 𝘾𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙨 𝙐𝙆 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙆𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙅𝙤𝙝𝙣𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙘.

#bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookstagramuk #hexandthecity #katejohnson #witch #spookyseason #bookreview #netgalley #netgalleyreads #netgalleyarcs #spookybook #bookworm #booklover #bookish #booksbooksbooks #bibliophile #bookblogger

This was a fun, magical read. Poppy was a fun character who struggled with keeping her magic calm and collected. When she meets Axl, her magic gets even more chaotic. The end seemed to wrap up very quickly. From Poppy learning about her parents to the end, it really felt like a few more pages were needed.

Loved this book, another great story from Kate Johnson. Running along with the previous installments in the series Hex and the City is great fun and full of witchy goodness. I loved it!

Fun, quick read about a modern-day witch and the chaotic situations she ends up in. I enjoyed the dual perspectives of Poppy and Alex--who are both struggling with their identities and how the past is affecting their present.

If you want a slightly-magical rom-com without too much focus on the mechanics of magic, this is perfect for you.

Thank you Harper Collins U.K., One More Chapter and NetGalley for the arc of Hex and the City by Kate Johnson in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

I previously read and adored Hex Appeal by Kate Johnson, so no way was I going to decline the offer to read Hex and the City. A choice about which I have zero regrets. This is another perfect, vibrant, quirky, and funny witchy romance!

Poppy is a witch, she works in a magic shop in the centre of London, and for as long as she can remember, she’s been surrounded by chaos, from losing multiple phones to the hair on head and it’s refusal to be cut or tamed. All/Alex/Sandy is a stage magician with a magical Viking act just opening in London, with hopes for it to be a roaring success, allowing him to continue his bachelor life, until one day he buys an amulet for his latest jilted conquest, that may have been mistakenly cursed by Poppy. From this point on chaos, shenanigans, ghostly occurrences and more ensue pulling Poppy and Alex into the eye of the storm.

Johnson also delivers a cast of mature and charismatic witches supporting from the sidelines, a vicar mother and a whole dysfunctional family, plus gothic mansions in the centre of London. Throw in some fantastic chemistry, action backed adventures, great queer representation and a great plot that bends and twist with increasing pace, all of which deliver a fabulously fun read that I was really sad to finish!

I can’t wait to see what Kate Johnson des next with the Hex series, I’m hooked!

This was cute for about the first third. Then waaay too much started happening. I’m down for some random plot devices, but it felt like we abandoned the first core conflict and instead started fighting mummies and fire and time travel and demons. Also the main male character talked about his relationship with food and his body in a way that was not appropriately addressed by the author. Throwing in a line at the end about him thinking he might have an eating disorder to justify it all and then not actually show any next steps was a terrible way to deal with a serious issue. I could have seen me doing 3/5 had it not been for the ever present self hate.

A story about a witch and an illusionist . Poppy is a young witch with hair long like Rapunzel and everywhere she is there is chaos , one night while she was drunk after seeing her ex with her new love she made a pendant and cursed it . The next morning she accidentally sold it to Alex . When Alex gave it to one of his flings the theater he was performing was on fire . Now together they try to find and destroy the cursed pendant . What happen when these two fell in love ? What the chaos will create ?
I received this book from net galley and the publisher as an ARC. Thank you! All thoughts and opinions are my own .

Hex and the City is quirky, funny, and full of life. Poppy is a witch, a chaotic one, who is sweet, caring, and incredibly vibrant. She works at a magic shop, and lives in a gothic, ivy covered, estate complete with black gates. Axl or Alex, is a stage magician with a Viking act. While not quite enemies, they definitely don't start out as friends despite some killer chemistry. Alex purchases an amulet which may or may not have been cursed by Poppy, chaos ensuing. The sister witches that Poppy have surrounded herself with are amazing and lend a lot to the story as supporting characters. I hope we see more of their stories at a later date.

There is amazing Queer representation in the book and Kate Johnson made it feel natural. It wasn't the story, it didn't change the story or manipulate it, it just existed (It was still very much apart of the characters but was a part of a whole.). It left me with a feeling of belonging and general contentment. Poppy and Axel had hurtles there were points I put my kindle down lest I throw it. I wanted to knock their heads together and tell them to get over it. I am pretty sure Ivey might of if it went on much longer. There was a good balance of inner and external strife, both left me frantically reading just one more chapter. Hex and the City got me under its spell.

I received an arc of this book and am leaving this review of my own volition.