4.0. Cute! Short! A fun Halloween romp. I’d say this was fairly cozy? 

A majority of the book I did like. The premise of curing an ex-boyfriend was funny. Vivi and Rhy figuring out how to life the curse was also a good time. Everything kind of wrapped up quicker than it should have. It’s like in ten pages, they suddenly figured out how to lift the curse and boom, that’s it. Cue the credits.

The book should have been a little longer with more detail. I will not be continuing the series, unfortunately. 

This month at Revolver Reads, we found ourselves with a fun palate cleanser after last months surprise bullet in the chamber, June was the month of Erin Sterlings, Ex Hex.

 If there is one lesson to take away from this novel, it’s that you should ALWAYS mix vodka and witchcraft, it’s exceptionally helpful when getting over the local nepo hottie, Rhys Penhallow. Erin gives us a first installment of a trilogy, and the first book packs and exciting and warm punch. 

Our Ex Hex journey starts with a drunk and broken hearted Vivienne Jones and her bestie in arms, Gwyn, who suggests putting a hex on her ex. 

Years later absolute chaos ensues when Rhys Penhallow returns to Graves Glen to juice up the local leylines. Met with disaster after disaster on his journey in, he becomes slightly suspicious that the ex he’s super horny for has cursed him.

Of course, as the classic ‘ye old tale Shrek taught us, people are like onions, they have layers, so does Erin Sterlings first installment. As our two leads toe the horny leylines between love and hate, we get to peel back the layers of this story. Just like Rhys peels back the polkadot dresses that leave him so hot and bothered. 

Through a conveniently placed ghost, we find out that perhaps the Penhallow founding of the town and it’s magic doesn’t exactly match up to the origin story they’ve been selling for years. In fact, their ancestor was a magic thieving murderer. The very origin story that brings full circle why Vivi, our magically constipated witch, could use an Apple Orchard candle and destroy orgasms for women that were ever involved with Rhys Penhallow. 

We get an epic battle of good and evil, a leading man ready to lay it all down for love, and a happy ending that leaves you wishing that maybe Graves Glen is the perfect crossover of all your favourite CW shows to live in. 

In all honesty, we were really pleasantly surprised by the book. Sterling does a wonderful job of working with the popular tropes in the genre, the novel comes across refreshingly self aware, and honestly super hilarious. 

Rhys and Vivi aren’t just stock leads, they have fully fleshed out stories, especially in the years apart, and in a surprise turn of events, most of the side characters have their own personality apart from aiding their love story along. Magic isn’t just something that is quickly explained away, hoping the reader will just go along with it, there is a logical way for it to coexist in the town and go unnoticed. Everything has a wonderful way of tying together loose ends, and not requiring the reader to brain blank anything that has to suspend their disbelief too far.

If you’re looking for something that a beautiful blend of Gilmore Girls and Halloweentown, Ex Hex is the perfect beach read for you. Come join us as we talk about everything about Ex Hex that made it a perfect RomCom to read at Revolver Reads: A Book Club Russain Roulette on your podcast platform of choice, or @revolverreads on instagram, and let us know what you think! We are also ALWAYS keeping our eyes peeled for new reads to add to our list, so feel free to message us on instagram with your suggestions, or email us at [email protected]

Vivienne and her cousin sort of accidentally curse Vivi’s now ex-boyfriend when he drops a bomb on her- that his father is arranging a marriage for him. Nothing really happens for nine years but as soon as Rhys returns to that magical little town to charge the ley lines, bad things start to happen including multiple near death experiences, plastic skulls coming to life, and unleashing a ghost that really hates Rhys and his family. The pair must work together to cleanse the town of this curse while dealing with their lingering attraction to each other.

This was a really cute, quick read with good witchy vibes without getting super intense about rules of magic in this universe. The side characters are fun but a little flat. Rhys and Vivi make a cute pair but they do suffer from a bad case of Not Talking About Your Feelings Even Though It Would Fix A Lot Of Your Problems. Overall, the plot was pretty predictable and the end was wrapped up really quickly. It’s worth a read if you like slightly cozy witchy reads that don’t take themselves too seriously. 

a cute and light romance novel, halloween would be the perfect time to read this!

This tries so hard and misses the mark. I really didn't like anything about it. The characters were so wooden, shallow, and juvenile. So much could have been solved with proper communication. Just a complete drag with a big cop out ending and not much resolution. I don't DNF but it took me forever to get through this because I dreaded picking it back up. 

Vivi was 19 when Rhys winked into her world, made her fall in love with him, then betrayed her in the span of a few months. Drunk, heartbroken, and goaded by her cousin, she cursed him. 
Now, 9 years later, Rhys is back in town, and the curse she thought was just a bit of catharsis from her early adulthood turned out to be more of a reality than she was prepared to handle. 

I love a good second chance romance, and it's even easier to love when the characters and plot are as well written as they are in The Ex Hex. There's a sense of balance and ease in this book, flowing effortlessly between world building, romance, and shenanigans. This is definitely a book I plan to get a physical copy of, and I expect I'll reread it several times as the weather gets cooler. 🍂

this read very much like a crappy rom com but it was pretty wholesome so i didnt hate it. wish i read it in october tho