I loved this book and I love this series! I am so looking forward to book 3 with the Maxwell sisters. The romance is there. I love a good curse. And the body diversity is wonderful. She is tall and solid and the have demon just loves her for it. There were so many of my favorite tropes in this one, from grumpy sunshine, to one being inexperienced, I just love it!

An adorable grumpy sunshine story. I live for a quick read! I look forward to the next book in this series.

We love a good enemies to FB to lovers. Cause y’all know when they say no strings, someone’s gonna fall. I think that’s just how the cookie crumbles and I’m here for it! And it’s part of the supernatural world, so it’s just some steamy supernatural love stories.

This one follows the eldest Maxwell triplet: Rose, and the demon hunter turned vet, Damian. After a one night stand, they don’t realize just how closely their lives intwine. His best friend is now married to one of her sisters. And after attempting to save a horse, she ends up with some community service, which just so happens to be at HIS practice.

This one had me laughing, and I was hooked instantly. If you read the first one, I honestly think this one held me tighter than the last and I can’t wait to see what book 3 holds for Olive.

Alright, first things first: I have decided to remove my star rating of this book. The primary reason is that this is SO outside my general reading preferences that it feels a little unfair to rate it poorly when I could have probably predicted that I wouldn't like it very much.

What I DID like: the basic premise is a lot of fun, and I love paranormal romance in concept, at least. The characters are all pretty well fleshed out, and each has their own stories going on--some of which, I can tell, will have their own stories in the future. The banter was charming!

What I DIDN'T like: the continuity was lacking. A lot of things felt like they were meant to be recurring--repeating multiple times in short succession--before being dropped completely. Other things were introduced near the end and then suddenly became an all-encompassing thing. Certain plot events kind of came or went without explanation, and the ending hinged entirely on like... one earlier scene that was not all that dwelt upon in the first place. In general, it didn't feel like story events had a lot of consequences, either, they just sort of... happened.

Also maybe it's because I am queer, but those sex scenes simply did not do it for me.

All in all, a fun and lighthearted romp. Maybe it's a book for others, but it just wasn't the book for me.

Another delightful rom com about the Maxwell sisters. Damian was a fantastic romantic hero. The ending was a little too neat though. Still a fun read!

Not Your Ex's Hexes is a cute paranormal romance, and is the second book in April Asher's Supernatural Singles series. The storyline/romance was very fun, and I liked atmosphere. A perfect option for your spooky season rom com!

ARC kindly provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Our two love interests, Rose and Damian, are brought back together after a one-night stand when Rose gets mandated to serve community service hours at Damian’s animal sanctuary. Rose is having a hard time finding a stable job that's a good fit after stepping down as the Prima Witch, and she’s a natural with the animals…as well as a natural with Dr. Broody McGrumpy Pants aka Damian. They rekindle their romance in the form of a FWB agreement, but it’s risky considering Damian is hexed and may risk losing out to his inner demon.

This is the second installment in the Supernatural Singles series, and even though I hadn’t yet read the first novel, I decided to give this a go knowing that usually with romance novels, they can be read as standalones. I was able to jump right in and get to know these characters, even though I didn’t have prior knowledge. This paranormal romance had a whole bunch of fun characters including witches, vampires, demons, and shapeshifters.

I enjoyed the fun romance between our resident half-demon and powerful “little witch”. I also enjoyed Damian’s backstory with how he was hexed and how it has affected his adult life. I think the relationships were a strength in this novel - you can see the connections, even if that character doesn’t get much page time.

With that all being said, I did struggle with the comical moments in this. Mid-fighting a demon, they were all cutting jokes, and the demon would joke back. It was a little too Buffy meets sitcoms for me, and the dialogue just wasn’t believable. It was also a bit too low stakes for me. Rose is hurt at one point, but I never worried about her or any of the “dangerous” situations they were in. Partly due to the joking, light banter with the criminals they were supposed to bring in?

I’m excited to read the third installment which will be Olly’s love story with our favorite guardian angel ;)

It was a cute magical story but I found a lot of the banter was cheesy and out of place. Also it did seem a little repetitive

I was very excited to be approved for the next installment in the Supernatural Singles series. In Not Your Ex’s Hexes, we get the chance to see the next Maxwell sister, Rose, find her happiness. If you haven’t read the first installment, you can see my review here: http://alwayslostinwords.blog/2023/04/30/not-the-witch-you-wed/.

Asher has a talent for writing MCs with troubled or stressful pasts that are working to turn over a new leaf. The story of Rose and Damien is not an exception.

After losing what was essentially Rose’s predetermined path in life when her older (by a few minutes) sister Violet comes into her powers, she’s a bit thrown off. She’s been training for the Prima position her whole life, and though she’s not upset that her sister is now in that position, it leaves Rose with a freedom of movement she’s never before had. Plus, not being forced into a bonding with a truly awful tiger shifter also frees her to dive into the dating pool if she so desires, or just a one night stand, and one thing she finds she desires is a certain half demon that catches her eye at Potions Up who helps her forget for one night.

However, after Rose and her friends try to save two malnourished horses from a farm that turns out to be Damien’s animal rescue (and yes, those were horses he had JUST rescued), she ends up seeing a lot more of Damien than she ever thought she would. Unfortunately, Damien has his own problems that have put his heart firmly on the shelf for his own self-preservation and it’s a major problem when Rose seems to be the one person with a ladder tall enough to reach it. Falling in love is a literally threat to his very humanity. But when his brother gets involved, he realizes he may already be in the fire.

I really enjoyed this installment in the series. From the previous installment, it felt like Rose always had to the be responsible one, whose life was driven by the structured traditions of the Supernatural world. It was really great to see her come tumbling out of that and into a fresh world where those expectations were no longer trying to stuff her into a box. I also loved the super broody Damien and the love of animals that brought their hearts together. This one felt slightly grittier than the first, but also cozier? Not sure if that makes sense. They seem to be getting better now that the world building is done. Bring on the heat!

Thank you to Netgalley, April Asher, and St. Martin’s press for an advanced e-copy of this book in exchange for this book!

Kinda reminds me of the books by Ann Aguirre (Fix-It Witches series) to me it felt like a similar writing style and that was great bc I loved that series and I loved this book.
It is part of a series and now I need to go back and read the 1st book -Not the Witch You Wed and I already see there is a 3rd book in the series coming out on the author's Goodreads author page, so that's exciting.
Fun, Entertaining and Flirty
I love the animal sanctuary setting and theme in this book
fun banter and some humor were also added in
The chapters had a fun title which was also great and I loved the mention of Buffy :)
So we have Rose and Damian's story here - a lot of this book has Damian's backstory in it which was great. I really enjoyed learning a lot about him and his past. He is a very strong character who keeps showing us and the other characters that he has changed and learned from his past mistakes, has a good heart even though he has a grumpy exterior
Rose - shows she is a strong, independent and sassy female, which is great for this relationship and Damian also she is his sunshine to his Grumpy.
So many interesting interactions along the way on this magical adventure

I was given the chance to read this ARC by the publisher and NetGalley and am thankful for that. The opinions/review above is my own, honest and done voluntary

Thank you to @netgalley and @Stmartinspress for a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Thank you to @dreamscape_media for a free download of the audiobook.

If witchy romcoms with a grumpy sunshine trope is your thing, you don’t want to miss this one! Damian and Rose made me both laugh and cry as we walk with them through this book. While this is the second novel is a series, I didn’t feel lost in the characters and their stories. The author writes relatable characters and a romance you want to wrap your arms around and cheer for! I will be adding the first book to my reading list ASAP!

4 stars

#books #bookishlife #booklover #readingisfun #iowabookstagrammers #iowabookstagram #netgalley #stmartinspress #dreamscapemedia #ltbreaderteam #notyourexshexes #aprilasher #smpinfluencers

Sending my apologies for not being able to provide a review. I am unable to offer a review for this book - I had sent it to my kindle to read and the file did not download properly. Unfortunately the book has been archived and I'm unable to re-send it.

This was such a fun book. April Asher creates a wonderfully magical world with this series. Rose and Damien are just adorable together and so amazingly sexy.

Rose is trying to figure out what to do with her life after stepping down as the future Prima of the council. This leads to an ill-fated rescue attempt of some horses and then being forced to volunteer at Damien's animal sanctuary.

I loved getting to see Violet again and can't wait for Olive's book.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Thanks NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for access to this arc.

1.5 stars rounded up

Y'all, I really really tried to finish this book, but I simply cannot. I'm DNF'ing it at 70% - yes that far in - as I just can't get past the cheesy and incredibly predictable story and characters. I've literally guessed every plot so far. And the main characters are just so horny 😂 I just can't anymore lol.

And after the first (very descriptive) sex scene and Rose used the work 'heck' - NO WHY USE HECK WHEN THE BOOK WAS JUST SO SPICY akgjkadg

I will say that I started this not realizing it was a sequel and I didn't really feel like I missed anything, it stood well on its own.

A solid contemporary paranormal romance. I enjoyed this more than the first book in the series, and loved the enemies to lovers romance between Rose and Damian. Bonus points for cute animal content!

LOVE LOVE LOVE this book! It was steamy, funny, had just the right amount of emotional distress as well. I loved Rose’s character and midlife-ish crisis at the age of 30. It was really relatable and also empowering in a sense.

Rose and Damian were so sweet! I am all about anything that is friends to lovers and grumpy x sunshine. This was an enjoyable read.

I received an e-arc of Not Your Ex's Hexes by April Asher from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Meh, this was ok. It was giving a silly goofy time, a 3-star book. I put this down at 31%.
I enjoyed the first in this series, Not the Witch You Wed, which follows Rose's sister Violet. There's likely going to be a book for their youngest sister Olive, and I might be interested in picking that up because Olive is the funniest Maxwell.
I think if you enjoy other witchy stories like The Ex Hex and The Kiss Curse, this series has similar vibes.

Thank you NetGalley for the arc. I liked this book even more than the first one. Rose and Damien are fire together. Loved the story and the all the characters. I can’t wait to read the next one.

April Asher's second book. It follows Rose Maxwell after her break from being Prima Apparent in the first book. She tries to help rescue an animal and ends up arrested and having to spend community service hours at the animal sanctuary where she has tried to rescue said animals. The vet who runs the joint just so happens to be the half demon she hooked up with at her sisters engagement months earlier. The whole book is Damien trying to fight off his past and Rose trying to figure out her future.

April Asher writes .... silly. That's the best word. There are words like f*ck and jerkface in the same chapter. The storyline is a little predictable and isn't that always the case with romances- which is what makes them great. It's just, for me, the dialogue and the unusual vernacular took me out of the story. However it was spicy and whooooo man it was HOT.

I'm definitely excited for book 3 because I'm assuming that's Olives and Bax's story and I feel like a lot of hate banging is going to happen.