I adore all kinds of witchy series, especially when they’re fun romances. So it was pretty natural that I loved The Ex Hex last year and was stoked to find out it was going to be the first in a series. All of that to say The Kiss Curse was on of my Most Anticipated releases for Fall 2022.
The Ex hex review
The Kiss Curse follows firecracker Gwyn, who is Vivi’s cousin. Now that Vivi and Rhys have solved the accidental curse put on Rhys and the Jones women’s magic now runs the town, Vivi and Rhys are off on a long overdue honeymoon. This leave Gwyn to care for the town, the store, and to deal with Rhys’ brother Wells, who has decided to make Graves Glen his new home. When he decides to open a shop up across the street from Something Wicked, a competition between the two begins. As Wells and Gwyn work to outdo each other, they’re attraction to each other becomes harder and harder to ignore, leaving both of them wondering if this relationship could be long term. At the same time Gwyn’s old college friend arrives in town, and Gwyn’s power goes on the frits. Is something or someone trying to take control of the Graves Glen again?
As I mentioned, I really enjoyed The Ex Hex. I thought it was a run light read and while the romance was more of a focus than the actual plot, I still though it had plenty of legs to stand on. The Kiss Curse was purely just a romance story, with little to no plot. All of a sudden I realized I was more than 3/4th of the way through the story, and the actual ‘mystery plot’ had been referenced twice. In total Gwyn mentions her missing powers 3 times by the time we get to 90%, maybe even 95% of the way through the story. It was a total side story. I mean there was zero development there and even when it did appear I was like ‘that’s it? what were they even trying to accomplish?’.
Shocking to no one, Wells and Gwyn to get together but even that just seemed to happen. The buildup and chemistry was low and while I really like both characters, they felt almost thrown together and there romance while cute is one I’ll probably forget fairly quickly. At least with Viv and Rhys, there was tension before they become a couple.
In terms of atmosphere this one fell flat for me as well. I thought the first one did a good job of providing the fall witchy vibes, and was really hoping for that in this book. Unfortunately this one lacks any sort of atmosphere and the Graves Glen fall events that should have been more central to the story, were barely skimmed.
I really wanted to like this book but I’m super disappointed to say the least, especially since I really liked Gwyns character in the first book. I might read a third book, but I’ll have much lower expectations for it if one does come out. If you want something to get you in the mood for spooky season, I’d recommend finding something different.
The Kiss Curse comes out September 20, 2022! Huge thank you to Avon Boosk for my advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion. If you liked this review please let me know either by commenting below or by visiting my instagram @speakingof_books.
Definitely not for me. Thanks for sharing.