October Group Read Discussion: The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling

[L Y N N]

This is the October Monthly Group Read discussion for The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling to satisfy prompt #16 A book about witches. For “Spooktober”/Halloween!

Sherri is the "knowledgeable navigator" who will lead this month's discussion! Thank you, Sherri!

Every person reads at a different pace, so please use spoiler tags if you are sharing any plot-related surprises. This allows others to decide whether this information might reveal surprising information they have not yet read.

It can also be helpful to other readers if you post the location within the book noting your progress (chapter and/or page number) with the spoiler. That way, if someone else has read that far they can go ahead and open the spoiler, but if not, they'll know to skip it for now and return later...

TO ADD SPOILER TAGS:
Use this for spoilers, just remove the spaces:
< spoiler > write your spoiler here and close with < / spoiler >

Posts here should only be contributions to discussion about this book.

[Sherri]

Happy Fall & Happy Halloween Everyone,
Welcome to the October group discussion of The Ex Hex (Ex Hex #1) by Erin Sterling. Erin Sterling's pen name is Rachel Hawkins. She has been writing stories since she was a young child.

The book is set in Graves Glen, Georgia which is a small rural town. The population is made up of witches & non-witches. Founders Day is in mid October which brings in tourists & a descendant of the founding Penhallow family.
I have trivia questions to start. Don't forget to use the spoiler tag for the answers. I will post the answers at the end of next week.
1. What book is referenced during the first few chapters?
2. What movie does the book remind you of?
3. What are Ley Lines?
4. What other book features a witch raised by a powerful aunt?

I thought I would start off easy to give us all time to get the book & start reading.

[Sherri]

Good Morning. I'm ready to post questions for chapters 1-7. I'm reposting the trivia questions to give everyone a chance to see them. I don't know how others feel about the book but I'm having a hard time coming up with questions. Feel free to add any questions you have thought of.

Trivia Questions
Don't forget to use the spoiler tag for the answers. I will post the answers at the end of next week.
1. What book is referenced during the first few chapters?
2. What movie does the book remind you of?
3. What are Ley Lines?
4. What other book features a witch raised by a powerful aunt?

Chapters 1-7
1. Did you think it was original the way Vivi was conjuring Rhy Penhallow's cologne & image after the breakup?
2. If you had the power would you curse someone after a breakup?
3. What is the difference between a betrothed and an engagement?
4. Did you get the impression Rhy was coming back after the betrothed was broken?
5. Are you finding the book predictable? If so is the predictability ruining your enjoying the book?
6. Why did Simon not believe there was a chance Rhy was cursed.

[JessicaMHR]

Hello all and happy October! glad to be participating in another group read. I had to go to a different library than my normal one to get this book and then I got the audiobook request just tonight as I finished my current read. It turns out I don't particularly like the person reading the novel so I will stick to reading the actual book myself.

Trivia Questions
Don't forget to use the spoiler tag for the answers. I will post the answers at the end of next week.
1. What book is referenced during the first few chapters?
(view spoiler)[Lord of the Rings (hide spoiler)]
2. What movie does the book remind you of?
I'm not sure.
3. What are Ley Lines?
I'm on chapter 4 and while they have mentioned it already, I want to read a bit more before I answer this.
Okay now that I am up to chap 8... Ley Lines are where the towns magic is stored/comes from.
4. What other book features a witch raised by a powerful aunt?
(view spoiler)[Practical Magic?? (hide spoiler)]

Chapters 1-7
1. Did you think it was original the way Vivi was conjuring Rhy Penhallow's cologne & image after the breakup?
I think I may have read about the cologne thing before but the image poping up and then being washed away seemed new.
2. If you had the power would you curse someone after a breakup?
It might cross my mind but, no probably not.
3. What is the difference between a betrothed and an engagement?
Betrothed is more of an arranged marriage situation.
4. Did you get the impression Rhy was coming back after the betrothed was broken?
No, I did not.
5. Are you finding the book predictable? If so is the predictability ruining your enjoying the book?
Not so far but that may change rather quickly. And no that doesn't usually ruin it for me.
6. Why did Simon not believe there was a chance Rhy was cursed.
Because he says that (view spoiler)[it is impossible to curse a Penhallow man. "Penhallow men cannot be cursed. Not in over a thousand years has one of us fallen victim to any sort of hex." (hide spoiler)]

[Jen W.]

Pausing at chapter 7 to answer the first set of questions. :)

Trivia Questions

1. What book is referenced during the first few chapters?
(view spoiler)[Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, and there was at least one Harry Potter reference as well (hide spoiler)]
2. What movie does the book remind you of?
(view spoiler)[I don't really recognize it as being similar to any movies - I guess something I haven't seen? I've been told I have some weird gaps in my movie-viewing history. (hide spoiler)]
3. What are Ley Lines?
(view spoiler)[I know this from reading other fantasy, and it seems to be the same in this story. Basically, magic running through the earth, which can be used to power magic in the area and strengthen location-based spells. It seems in this story that Rhys's family has to keep them charged every 25 years. (hide spoiler)]
4. What other book features a witch raised by a powerful aunt?
(view spoiler)[Practical Magic (hide spoiler)]

Chapters 1-7
1. Did you think it was original the way Vivi was conjuring Rhys Penhallow's cologne & image after the breakup?
I don't know that it's necessarily original, since people tend to dwell on exes, especially right after a breakup. Using witchcraft to do it was pretty new, though.
2. If you had the power would you curse someone after a breakup?
I think it would depend on the reason for the breakup. If they did something that warranted it (i.e. were abusive or controlling), I probably would. Otherwise, I probably wouldn't do anything that would actively hurt them.
3. What is the difference between a betrothed and an engagement?
A betrothal feels more like an arranged marriage, vs an engagement, which is a couple mutually deciding to get married.
4. Did you get the impression Rhys was coming back after the betrothal was broken?
I'm not sure. I think he'd have wanted to if Vivi didn't break up with him, but I think knowing he broke Vivi's heart made him stay away. I'm also not sure his father would have let him return, seeing how controlling Simon is.
5. Are you finding the book predictable? If so is the predictability ruining your enjoying the book?
It's a little bit predictable, but so far it's still pretty entertaining.
6. Why did Simon not believe there was a chance Rhys was cursed?
He seems to think Penhallow men can't be cursed at all, and also that Vivi and her family aren't powerful enough. So, mostly Simon's ego and arrogance keep him from admitting the possibility.

[L Y N N]

Uh-hmmmm... *clears throat* You call this "easy"? LOL

1. What book is referenced during the first few chapters?
I do not recall a title being mentioned so I cheated and Googled. Are you perhaps referring to (view spoiler)[Penhallow by Georgette Heyer? Never heard of it, let alone having read it... (hide spoiler)]

2. What movie does the book remind you of?
I am at a total loss here. Don't watch TV and rarely watch movies.

3. What are Ley Lines?
They (view spoiler)[established magic in the Penhaven. ?? (hide spoiler)]

4. What other book features a witch raised by a powerful aunt?
I have no clue...

[L Y N N]

Chapters 1-7
1. Did you think it was original the way Vivi was conjuring Rhys Penhallow's cologne & image after the breakup?
I thought it was realistic. Since I don't read much romance, perhaps it was more original?

2. If you had the power would you curse someone after a breakup?
OMG! Such an excellent question! My mind immediately goes to my ex-husband. It's been 24 years and I still hope he never steps out in front of my car! The temptation might prove too powerful to resist! LOL I would be sorely tempted and though I might hope I would not do so...who knows? Just glad I've never had that ability...that I know of, anyway! LOL Probably best if I don't investigate to see... :)

3. What is the difference between a betrothed and an engagement?
So now you have hit on one of my two main complaints about this book. Unless I missed it, (view spoiler)[there was never an explanation from Rhys regarding this issue. (hide spoiler)] I gather a betrothal is an agreement between parents/families that the children will be married as adults? Whereas I think of an engagement as an agreement to marry each other made by two adults. I still wanted (view spoiler)[Rhys to explain this to Vivi and quite frankly, I felt it was very unrealistic that Vivi nexer even asked him about it... That would have been one of the first things I said to him... (hide spoiler)]

4. Did you get the impression Rhys was coming back after the betrothed was broken?
I guess so. Else, why would he even try to have a relationship with Vivi again?

5. Are you finding the book predictable? If so is the predictability ruining your enjoying the book?
I thought there was a fair amount of tension and unpredictability, but I'm not typically much of a romance reader...

6. Why did Simon not believe there was a chance Rhys was cursed.
(view spoiler)[Simon was so arrogant! Of course he believed he and his family would be much too powerful to submit to something such as a curse, especially from such lower-level 'less than' witches as Vivi, etc. After all, they were just commoners! LOL (hide spoiler)]

[JessicaMHR]

Lynn wrote: I still wanted (view spoiler)[[Rhys to explain this to Vivi and quite frankly, I felt it was very unrealistic that Vivi never even asked him about it... That would have been one of the first things I said to him... (hide spoiler)]

You know I hadn't given this much thought but you are right! There should have had more of an explanation as to what that meant. But as for this spoiler I think maybe the author was (view spoiler)[playing on the youth and innocence of Vivi. that maybe someone at 19 might not think that their was a difference and then not think to ask for clarification. (hide spoiler)] Since I finished the book today I can say that towards the end of the book I think the author attempts to maybe explain why Rhys never explains it... (view spoiler)[ How he is such a nonchalant person and deflects his emotions so that he never has to talk about them. (hide spoiler)]

Also, I loved your answer to the Simon of it all.

[JessicaMHR]

Okay so I thought of a question about the end part of the book but, I don't want to post it yet because it will DEFINITELY give it away.

EEEKKK. I'll just have to write it down and remember to post it later.

[Nadine in NY]

Lynn wrote: "... I still wanted (view spoiler) ..."




YES that bugged me A LOT. It's the crux of the ENTIRE PLOT SETUP, and ... (view spoiler)[she never asks? he never explains??? ridiculous. (hide spoiler)]

[Sherri]

Good Morning. You all are good. You all came up with answers to the trivia questions that I hadn't thought of. Here is what I was thinking.
1. What book is referenced during the first few chapters? (view spoiler)[Harry Potter (hide spoiler)]
2. What movie does the book remind you of? (view spoiler)[Hocus Pocus (hide spoiler)]
3. What are Ley Lines? I don't think I need a spoiler alert for this answer. Ley Lines are like Latitudinal & Longitudinal lines that crisscross the globe. They are rivers of supernatural energy with pockets of concentrated energy that can be used. Ley Lines have monuments & supernatural land forms on them.
4. What other book features a witch raised by a powerful aunt? (view spoiler)[I was thinking A Discovery of Witches (hide spoiler)]. You all are really thinking.

[Sherri]

Chapters 1-7
1. Did you think it was original the way Vivi was conjuring Rhy Penhallow's cologne & image after the breakup? I thought it was cute. Probably not the quickest way to get over an ex but cute.
2. If you had the power would you curse someone after a breakup? Honestly I don't know. I agree it would depend on the circumstances.
3. What is the difference between a betrothed and an engagement? I looked up the definitions. Betrothed- verb- to enter into a formal agreement to marry. I can't tell if this agreement is made by the people to get married or other parties like parents. The noun version is the person you're engaged too.
Engagement- noun- a formal agreement to marry. They sound alike to me.
4. Did you get the impression Rhy was coming back after the betrothed was broken? I didn't think he was coming back but it was hinted there was confusion on this point.
5. Are you finding the book predictable? If so is the predictability ruining your enjoying the book? Very predictable but I'm going along with it.
6. Why did Simon not believe there was a chance Rhy was cursed. Simon didn't believe anyone would have the courage to curse a high & mighty witch family.

[Sherri]

New questions. Chapter 8-15
1. Why did Rhy invite Vivi to accompany him to the Ley Lines?
2. Did you think the description of the Ley Lines was one of the better moments in the book?
3. I loved the part about Sir Purrcival curse. What did you think?
4. What is the importance of Piper McBride to the story?

[Felicia]

Trivia Questions

1. What book is referenced during the first few chapters? I do not remember a book being referenced.
2. What movie does the book remind you of? It doesn't remind me a movie but of a tv show. Sabrina the teenage witch. (view spoiler)[ Vivi also lives with her aunt and there is talking black cat (hide spoiler)]
3. What are Ley Lines? They power the magic in the town.
4. What other book features a witch raised by a powerful aunt? I have no idea.

Chapters 1-7
1. Did you think it was original the way Vivi was conjuring Rhy Penhallow's cologne & image after the breakup? It was a pretty cool piece of magic.
2. If you had the power would you curse someone after a breakup? It would really depend of what they did. I don't think what Rhys did warranted cursing.
3. What is the difference between a betrothed and an engagement? I think a betrothal is more an arrangement that parents make for their children and an engagement is between the two people deciding to get married.
4. Did you get the impression Rhy was coming back after the betrothed was broken? I think when he decided to tell her about it he was planning on coming back. But then she stormed out so he figured there was no point.
5. Are you finding the book predictable? If so is the predictability ruining your enjoying the book? I find most romance novels predictable but there is comfort in that.
6. Why did Simon not believe there was a chance Rhy was cursed. Because Simon is a very arrogant, powerful witch.

[Felicia]

1. Why did Rhy invite Vivi to accompany him to the Ley Lines?
Mostly because he wanted to spend time with her. The Ley lines gave him the excuse to invite her.
2. Did you think the description of the Ley Lines was one of the better moments in the book?
I do think the Ley Lines were described very well in the book. It made it seem like a very cool visual.
3. I loved the part about Sir Purrcival curse. What did you think?
The cat (view spoiler)[ talking was a pretty interesting side effect of the curse. Athough I imagine a cat saying TREATS!!!! all the time would get annoying (hide spoiler)]
4. What is the importance of Piper McBride to the story?
She is (view spoiler)[ the ghost from the library. She was the witch who figured out the original Penhallow had stolen magic from Vivi's ancestor to create the Ley Lines (hide spoiler)]

[JessicaMHR]

New questions. Chapter 8-15

1. Why did Rhy invite Vivi to accompany him to the Ley Lines?
(view spoiler)[Initially, it was because he remembered that she had asked to go when they were dating. (hide spoiler)]
2. Did you think the description of the Ley Lines was one of the better moments in the book?
Not quite sure which part you mean. Although I enjoyed the descriptiveness of the part when they did go to the ley lines.
3. I loved the part about Sir Purrcival curse. What did you think?
I kind of felt like she just had to have (view spoiler)[a talking cat in her book. But it did bring in some humor, so that was nice. (hide spoiler)]
4. What is the importance of Piper McBride to the story?
Piper turns out to be the (view spoiler)[ answer to everything. She tells them important information and also helps them to realize what it is they need to do to fix the ley lines. (hide spoiler)]

[Kendra]

Trivia Questions
Don't forget to use the spoiler tag for the answers. I will post the answers at the end of next week.
1. What book is referenced during the first few chapters?
(view spoiler)[The Harry Potter books (hide spoiler)]
2. What movie does the book remind you of?
(view spoiler)[Can't think of a movie, but I can think of way too many books it reminds me of. (hide spoiler)]
3. What are Ley Lines?
(view spoiler)[ I think traditionally they are imaginary lines like latitude or longitude which are supposed to be a source for magic/enhance magic. (hide spoiler)]
4. What other book features a witch raised by a powerful aunt?
(view spoiler)[ All I can think of is Sabrina, but she's raised by 2 aunts. (hide spoiler)]

Chapters 1-7
1. Did you think it was original the way Vivi was conjuring Rhy Penhallow's cologne & image after the breakup?
Yeah, I guess.

2. If you had the power, would you curse someone after a breakup?
I had an ex who broke up with me the day after a mutual 'friend' broke up with her boyfriend and then by the next day they were going out... If I could have, I probably would have cursed him in the immediate aftermath, but honestly it wouldn't have been worth it.

3. What is the difference between a betrothed and an engagement?
Nothing they're synonyms. One's just fallen out of fashion and isn't used as much anymore. Only it's betrothal = engagement, betrothed = engaged or fiancé. Sorry for being the grammar police, but I can't help it. Things like that bother me.

4. Did you get the impression Rhy was coming back after the betrothal was broken?
Well, I got the sense he thought that is what would happen... but then he screwed up explaining things to Vivi.

5. Are you finding the book predictable? If so, is the predictability ruining your enjoying the book?
It's a romcom - I want it to be predictable. I judge it on whether or not it makes me laugh, if I care about the characters, and if the romance is actually romantic, not just a bunch of sex scenes. So far, so good.

6. Why did Simon not believe there was a chance Rhy was cursed.
Spoiler, I'm assuming some spell or prophecy about the family meant that Rhys should have been protected, but I'm sure that Vivi has some sort of prophecy or major family secret that means she's the exception.....

[Sherri]

Chapter 8-15
1. Why did Rhy invite Vivi to accompany him to the Ley Lines? Just to spend time with her.
2. Did you think the description of the Ley Lines was one of the better moments in the book? I did. I liked the description of the colors.
3. I loved the part about Sir Purrcival curse. What did you think? I thought it was smart & cute. I expected the cat to be like Binx & be this source of historical information & be helpful. Instead it just says treats. I thought this was brilliant because if my dog could talk she would only say treats, feed me, I'm hungry.
4. What is the importance of Piper McBride to the story? She was the rouge witch with all the historical information.

[Sherri]

Good Morning fellow readers. I only have a couple of questions then another game.
1. Didn't you keep asking yourself why the college witches didn't catch Piper McBride?
2. Did you see through Amanda Carter?

Okay now for something fun. Word scrabble. Unscramble words from the story. The answers are under the spoiler. Once you have the answers make a sentence or sentences. You will have to add words.
1. llopanewh (view spoiler)[Penhallow (hide spoiler)]
2. asgerv lneg (view spoiler)[Graves Glen (hide spoiler)]
3. resuc (view spoiler)[curse (hide spoiler)]
4. tdnenasced (view spoiler)[descendant (hide spoiler)]
5. luohg (view spoiler)[ghoul (hide spoiler)]
6. ris lviracrup (view spoiler)[Sir Purrcival (hide spoiler)]
7. sosentkle (view spoiler)[skeletons (hide spoiler)]

Here are my sentences. (view spoiler)[Sir Purrcival was digging in the gardens at Penhallow. A descendant came out telling him not to dig up their skeletons. A ghoul appeared & cursed Sir Purrcival sending him back to Graves Glen. (hide spoiler)]

[Felicia]

1. Didn't you keep asking yourself why the college witches didn't catch Piper McBride? (view spoiler)[ If this was in the real world yes I would. In the book no I didn't. I assumed since the college witches weren't main characters, that they would not be the ones to catch her lol (hide spoiler)]
2. Did you see through Amanda Carter? Yes, but that is because I am always suspicious of characters who show up randomly.

1. llopanewh (view spoiler)[ penhallow (hide spoiler)]
2. asgerv lneg (view spoiler)[ graves glen (hide spoiler)]
3. resuc (view spoiler)[ curse (hide spoiler)]
4. tdnenasced
5. luohg
6. ris lviracrup (view spoiler)[ sir purrcival (hide spoiler)]
7. sosentkle
It's so much harder when you listened to the audio book ha

Sentences
(view spoiler)[ Treats!!!! TREATSSSS!!!!!!! The curse had left Sir Purrcival in quite a state. Vivi should have know better than to do magic right after that dickbag, Rys Penhallow, had broken her heart. Once she had figured out how to reverse the curse, hopefully Rys would leave Graves Glen and she could go right back to never thinking of him. Just like she hadn't though of him for the last nine years (hide spoiler)]

[JessicaMHR]

1. Didn't you keep asking yourself why the college witches didn't catch Piper McBride?
No, but I did find it weird that they just left it to Rhys and Vivi.

2. Did you see through Amanda Carter?
No, not until later. Then you realize that she had thrown in hints like (view spoiler)[The fact that she was wearing jeans and just had a totally different demeaner towards Vivi. (hide spoiler)]

Okay now for something fun. Word scrabble. Unscramble words from the story. The answers are under the spoiler. Once you have the answers make a sentence or sentences. You will have to add words.

1. llopanewh (view spoiler)[Penhallow (hide spoiler)]
2. asgerv lneg (view spoiler)[Graves Glen (hide spoiler)]
3. resuc (view spoiler)[Curse (hide spoiler)]
4. tdnenasced (view spoiler)[Descendant (hide spoiler)]
5. luohg (view spoiler)[Ghoul (hide spoiler)]
6. ris lviracrup (view spoiler)[Sir Purrcival (hide spoiler)]
7. sosentkle (view spoiler)[Skeletons (hide spoiler)]

Here are my sentences:
(view spoiler)[Rhys Penhallow, a descendant of the founder of Graves Glen, has returned with quite a bang. He crashed the town party and managed to curse all who live there within the first 24 hours of returning to Graves Glen! The town has seen it's fair share of mayhem since then. A pack of skeleton heads have wreaked a beloved local shop, a ghoul was released in the school library, even a local cat named Sir Purrcival has begun to speak! His vocabulary is limited to one word, for now, and it is every animals favorite word...TREATS!!! Whatever you do don't feed him any without his owners explicit permission! Here's hopin that the brilliant Vivi can fix Rhys Penhallow's ghastly error in time to save our beloved Graves Glen from succumbing to this wretched curse. (hide spoiler)]
OK, so more like paragraph. ;)

[Kendra]

Chapter 8-15
1. Why did Rhy invite Vivi to accompany him to the Ley Lines?
To spend time with her, and probably because the curse had left him unsettled and he wanted back up if something went wrong.

2. Did you think the description of the Ley Lines was one of the better moments in the book?
I'm not big on overly descriptive scenes.

3. I loved the part about Sir Purrcival curse. What did you think?
It was my favorite thing in the book. The talking cat (or animal) is kind of a cliche and this actually is probably closer to what they'd actually say if they could talk...😋

4. What is the importance of Piper McBride to the story?
She ends up being the main source for information about the curse, which is a shame, because I thought the book was going to have her play a bigger role in the story.

1. Didn't you keep asking yourself why the college witches didn't catch Piper McBride?
Honestly, I thought it was going to turn out that the college witches were really behind the curse and were up to no good - and Piper was going to be the key to stopping them.... I ended up being disappointed with the way the story ended up going.

2. Did you see through Amanda Carter?
Yep. She was 'too good to be true', so I knew right away that something was wrong. But as I said, I thought she was going to be bad in a different way.

[JessicaMHR]

Okay, so since it is the last weekend of the month I figure it should be alright to post those questions I had thought of after finishing the book.

Sherri hope this is okay with you.
I just had to know what others thought about this.

These questions involve material in Chapters 30-35 so if you have not read that far DO NOT READ these as they contain major spoilers.

---------- OK just to be safe I put it in spoilers.-------------

(view spoiler)[1. Did the author come up with the fact that Aelwyd couldn't break the curse just to make a different ending or do you really think that even on Samhain (when her magic is supposedly most powerful) she wouldn't have enough power?

2. Do you think that the Jones women would've actually been able to fix/replenish the ley lines? Since it was their ancestor AND a Penhallow wouldn't it make sense that Rhys could have also helped? Or even possibly needed to help?

3. How pissed were you that Rhys chickened out and left? And did you think he would come back? (hide spoiler)]

[Sherri]

Jessica wrote, " Okay, so since it is the last weekend of the month I figure it should be alright to post those questions I had thought of after finishing the book.

Sherri hope this is okay with you.
I just had to know what others thought about this.

These questions involve material in Chapters 30-35 so if you have not read that far DO NOT READ these as they contain major spoilers.

Thank You for posting questions Jessica. I think it's great.

---------- OK just to be safe I put it in spoilers.-------------

[1. Did the author come up with the fact that Aelwyd couldn't break the curse just to make a different ending or do you really think that even on Samhain (when her magic is supposedly most powerful) she wouldn't have enough power? Good question. I didn't think about it. I just went with the story. I think Aelwyd could of broken the curse especially on Samhain.

2. Do you think that the Jones women would've actually been able to fix/replenish the ley lines? Since it was their ancestor AND a Penhallow wouldn't it make sense that Rhys could have also helped? Or even possibly needed to help? I thought Rhys should have helped but I liked that it took the Jones women to recognize their ancestor was part of the Ley Lines & they needed to fix it. Now I wonder how the Ley Lines were replenished all those years before with just Rhys family. I think I missed something.

3. How pissed were you that Rhys chickened out and left? And did you think he would come back? I read the book toward the end of September so I think I have forgotten something. Do you mean at the beginning of the story when he left or did he leave at the end of the story also?

[Sherri]

Happy Halloween weekend everyone. This has been fun. Jessica posted some good questions that had me wondering too. Feel free to post any questions you may have about the book. I really enjoyed reading your sentences from the word scrabble. In conclusion what did you think of the book? Was it a good Halloween read for you? Did you like the book? Are you going to read The Kiss Curse?

I thought the book was alright. It had some cute spots. Even though it was set around Halloween it wasn't the spookiest book I read this month. Spooky books are definitely not for everybody so this book filled the prompt nicely. I may read The Kiss Curse next year.

[JessicaMHR]

Sherri wrote: "Jessica wrote, " Okay, so since it is the last...

Now I wonder how the Ley Lines were replenished all those years before with just Rhys family. I think I missed something.

You make a good point. How was it they were able to replenish the lines all the other years. But, I think as they mentioned in the beginning (I think) that Rhys had not been back since he left Vivi when they were young. So it was not he who was replenishing the ley lines, so no curse to affect it. I don't know I think that is something that may have needed more fleshing out.

3. How pissed were you that Rhys chickened out and left? And did you think he would come back? I read the book toward the end of September so I think I have forgotten something. Do you mean at the beginning of the story when he left or did he leave at the end of the story also?
"

No, I meant at the end of the book. He doesn't tell Vivi he loves her (even after her aunt told him to tell her) and just goes back home.

[JessicaMHR]

In conclusion what did you think of the book? Was it a good Halloween read for you? Did you like the book? Are you going to read The Kiss Curse?

I think the book was okay. It was a cute romance. And a light-hearted Halloween read. I'm still not sure if I will read The Kiss Curse.

[Kendra]

1. Did the author come up with the fact that Aelwyd couldn't break the curse just to make a different ending or do you really think that even on Samhain (when her magic is supposedly most powerful) she wouldn't have enough power?

I think the author always intended to have the ley lines fixed by Vivi and her family, and the Aelwyd scene was just to give Rhys a chance to prove he would sacrifice himself for the town's/Vivi's happiness.


2. Do you think that the Jones women would've actually been able to fix/replenish the ley lines? Since it was their ancestor AND a Penhallow wouldn't it make sense that Rhys could have also helped? Or even possibly needed to help?

It took 2 people to set up the ley lines, so 3 people to fix it seems okay. I think it would have been a more interesting book if Rhys had helped...

3. How pissed were you that Rhys chickened out and left? And did you think he would come back? I read the book toward the end of September so I think I have forgotten something. Do you mean at the beginning of the story when he left or did he leave at the end of the story also?

I was irritated because it was obvious he was only going so he could make a big grand gesture - and it was like watching a reality show where the judges try to fake out a contestant by saying something bad first (I didn't like that - I LOVED it). So irritating.

And yeah, I don't think I'll read the sequel. I still gave the book a passing grade (for me) but that was mostly because of the banter and the talking cat..... 😋

[L Y N N]

Sherri wrote: "Happy Halloween weekend everyone. This has been fun. Jessica posted some good questions that had me wondering too. Feel free to post any questions you may have about the book. I really enjoyed reading your sentences from the word scrabble. In conclusion what did you think of the book? Was it a good Halloween read for you? Did you like the book? Are you going to read The Kiss Curse?"
I didn't think it was particularly spooky, but I typically don't do truly "spooky"/horror reads anyway. Too many sexual details for my liking, so a bit too "romance-y" for me. I won't continue with the series but this was an enjoyable story.

Thanks so much for leading, Sherri, and to all who participated!

[JessicaMHR]

Kendra wrote: "I think the author always intended to have the ley lines fixed by Vivi and her family, and the Aelwyd scene was just to give Rhys a chance to prove he would sacrifice himself for the town's/Vivi's happiness.."

OOH...hadn't thought of that. Makes Sense.