Check out our review of What the Hex by Jessica Clare. A grumpy sunshine paranormal romance about witches perfect if you love enemies to lovers, fake relationships and forced proximity.
Disclosure: I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. This post contains affiliate links. That means we receive a small commission at no cost to you from any purchases you make through these links.
What the Hex by Jessica Clare Book Review
What The Hex is a delightful novel featuring some of my favourite tropes: enemies to lovers, fake dating, forced proximity, and sunshine vs grumpy. The fantastic sequel to Go Hex Yourself, it can also easily be read as a stand-alone and I had so much fun reading it.
The protagonists are Penny Roundtree whose dream is to become a familiar to a witch, and Willem Sauer who, following a decades-long dispute with another witch, has been banned from casting magic for another ten years.
Sweet, kind Penny is always ready to help others, from her constantly absent parents who consider her more like a housekeeper than a daughter to the members of the Society of Familiars who waste no time to take advantage of her. And then there is arrogant and grumpy Willem. No one in the magic world likes him and the only person he could consider a friend is Ben (protagonist of Go Hex Yourself) to whom he turns when, with no intention to wait ten more years to cast magic, he looks for a familiar willing to work under the table. And Penny, who’s been for years on the waiting list to be a familiar candidate, is eager to work with him. But Penny is not at all what Willem expected, starting from her colourful clothes to her pet squirrel. And Penny has no intention to be demeaned from his surliness.
However, other witches are wondering about their relationship so enters the fake dating scheme, especially when the warlock who caused Willem’s ban starts to take too much interest in their relationship and members of the Society of Familiars start blackmailing Penny.
Having enjoyed Go Hex Yourself and already been briefly introduced to the characters of Penny and Willem I had no doubt that I was in for a treat and I wasn’t disappointed. Penny and Willem are two well-developed, intriguing, and entertaining characters. Initially, Penny appears to be the carpet everyone steps on, but she turns out to be strong, smart, and the most cunning of them all. And the impatient and irritable facade Willem presents to the world hides a caring and loving nature that made me like this character more and more while I was reading. These two protagonists are surrounded by a cast of villains who try to harm them, but also a few great friends (including Ben and Reggie from Go Hex Yourself) who are ready to help them.
Cosy, romantic, and spicy, but also twisty and full of action, Go Hex Yourself is a book that will keep you engrossed until the end!
