The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling

The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling

The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling (a pen name for New York Times bestselling author Rachel Hawkins), published in 2021, is a delightfully cozy, high-spirited, and sexy paranormal romantic comedy. Often described as Sabrina the Teenage Witch meets Practical Magic, it is the standalone first book in the Graves Glen series and acts as the ultimate spooky-season contemporary read.

Nine years ago, Vivienne Jones had her heart absolutely shattered by Rhys Penhallow. Rhys is a devastatingly handsome, casual heartbreaker and the descendant of the town's founding warlock family. Heartbroken, a nineteen-year-old Vivienne did what any young witch would do: she drank a lot of vodka, listened to sad music, and—with the help of her cousin Hannah—spun a "petty" curse to give Rhys a streak of bad luck. Vivienne assumed it was harmless, fake magic.

Cut to the present day: Vivienne is a successful history professor at the local college in Graves Glen, Georgia, and has mostly moved on. But the past comes roaring back when Rhys returns to town for the annual fall festival to perform necessary ceremonial magic to recharge the town's ley lines (magical energy lines).

The moment Rhys arrives, everything goes catastrophically wrong. His car blows up, a rogue crow attacks him, and his magic completely backfires. It turns out Vivienne’s teenage "breakup hex" was very real, and over the last nine years, it has quietly charged up like a battery.