“Not Your Ex’s Hexes” by April Asher

Title: Not Your Ex’s Hexes
Author: April Asher
Publisher:  St. Martin’s Griffin
Year: 2023    
Genre(s): paranormal romance
Part of a Series: Yes, Book 2. Book 1 reviewed here.

Rating: 

Why I read it: I read the first book and wanted to read the sequel.

Summary: With her sister Violet now the Prima Apparent, Rose Maxwell struggles to find a new direction for her life. When she ends up doing community service at an animal rescue owned by half-demon veterinarian Damian, she finds a distraction with both the animals and their sexy doctor. He also introduces her to the world of supernatural bounty hunting and she finds she has a talent for it. But as everything falls into place, Damian has a secret that could destroy everything.

Review: I was really excited to read this book since I loved Not the Witch You Wed so much and had previously enjoyed Asher’s work. So I settled down to re-enter a world where the supernatural and the non-magical live together in somewhat harmony.

Was it worth the wait? For the most part, yes. It continued to be a fun read with some sexy parts thrown in for extra measure. Honestly, it reminds me of reading fanfiction – and I mean that in a very positive way.

Rose and Damian are a dynamic pair. They have great chemistry and I couldn’t help but root for them to get together. Rose is certainly the sunshine partner and Damian is the grumpy one, which pairs well together.

It is also nice to see the dynamic between the Maxwell sisters again. Violet, Rose and Olive are three strong characters and their bond is the sweetest. They definitely feel like real sisters. And their bond with their grandmother is also fun to read as well. There is a surprising twist with their mother in this book that I think readers will enjoy.

So why is this only four moons instead of five or even four-and-a-half? Well, it’s because I felt there were many ways where Asher just copied Violet and Linc and so Rose and Damian didn’t really feel like they were their own characters. Sometimes I had to remember that I wasn’t reading Violet and Linc.

And so I think that’s a potential weakness with Asher’s writing. She may only be able to write one kind of romance and that might hurt her. I’m currently reading the third book so I’ll see how that goes.

But given how important the romance is to her books, it was enough to knock off an entire moon for this book. However, it was not enough to ruin the book and I still enjoyed reading it.

Bottom line: A good follow-up with a few flaws. 

Sex: Oh, yes. Lots of it in detail.

Moonlight Musing

Do you think a demon would be a good romantic lead?