Hot Hex Boyfriend

Hot Hex Boyfriend by Carly Bloom
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book was sweet and adorable, complete with animals and Halloween vibes.

Delia was raised in a family of weirdos. They all believe that they are witches who are under a hex preventing them from successfully practicing magic. Delia’s mom manages to pull off a normal career as a realtor, but the rest of the family is determined to double-down on the witch stuff. Even Delia has had an endless string of failed businesses prior to her current interior design gig. As the member of the family who has been deemed the “blue witch,” it is expected that she break the hex using what she refers to as a soup recipe.

It’s in the days leading up to the expiry of her hex-breaking window that Delia meets Max. Max is a real witch but certainly can’t tell anyone that. He has been assigned to make sure that Delia does not break the very real hex that his family placed on them. As a witch who values logic over love, he is determined not to fall for the hexed witch who could cast love spells if given the power. Of course these two fall for one another in the most adorable way. It was heart-meltingly cute and, yes, there were oodles of challenges in their way. That’s what makes the ending of this book so very satisfying. What a great read!

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Hate Hex

Hate Hex by Gina LaManna
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Wow, this book was so much fun! It had it all - romance, magic, vampires, action, and sizzle!

Trixie is a witch who has decided not to practice. Bad news for her - if she doesn’t start to vent her powers somehow, she’s going to explode/die/somethingbad. She’s got a very mediocre job as a supernatural Uber driver but luckily has a great roommate to split the utility costs of her apartment that her family owns outright. Things start to veer into bad and weird territory when she has a very off-putting encounter with her building owner in the alley behind said building. It gets worse when she somehow gets nominated for a very prestigious supernatural position. This comes with a whole bunch of campaigning and politics that she is eager to ignore.

Dom, the guy who owns her building, is a vampire and he is also head-over-heels for Trixie. His name gets drawn for the same position and their worlds collide even further. Don’t worry, he does his best to mess things up at every turn, but it was fantastic (fang-tastic?) fun to watch. This paranormal romance had the best banter, silliness, but still pulled off a serious edge. If this is my introduction to this world, I absolutely can’t wait to spend more time in it! While we get happy endings for Dom and Trixie, I’d keep coming back to watch more folks find happiness.

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Last Sacrifice (re-read)

Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Original review: One thing I will say for Richelle Mead, she knows how to satisfy readers with an end to a series. I felt the same way about the Succubus series. While I am still on team Adrian, she found a way to make me appreciate Dimitri again too. I would probably just throw myself right into Bloodlines if the book wasn't overpriced. Maybe later I will miss Adrian enough to buy it, but for now, I am happy to leave the series where it is.

Updated review: Maybe it’s because I know where Adrian ends up, maybe it’s because many years have passed, but this book is less satisfying to me now on re-read. Is it a surprise where Lissa ends up? No. And that’s not just upon re-read. What was still shocking to me is how Rose ends up burning up her time-killer relationship with Adrian to hop back with Dimitri. Are they meant to be together? Yeah, sure, but… jeez. Rose has definitely left a wake of destruction in her path here.

What else? I get that we had to tie up a bunch of loose ends but somehow this roadtrip book ended up feeling rushed and a bit thrown together. All the endings for folks felt less satisfying than they did the first time around. The saving grace here is that we get the spinoff to set things more right than here. I highly recommend hitting those!

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Bond of Passion

Bond of Passion by Larissa Ione
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is yet another story in the 1001 Dark Nights anthology. I’ve been popping in and out of these when they align with series I am familiar with and how could I resist another Demonica book?

This book picks up with Tavin’s story (and backstory) in fun and smutty ways. Tavin, while working as a slave assassin, was tasked with hunting down an evil demon. At least, all the other members of this particular race are super duper evil. This one, however, is somehow nice and… sweet. He ends up falling for her instead of completing his mission. I mean, he does eventually do it, but it ends up leaving him pretty messed up and atoning for his sins at Underworld General. It obviously messes up the love of his life even more because he never actually told her he was an assassin.

Deja is the reincarnated version of Tavin’s lady love. It’s a long story, but all the dead demons ended up getting freed due to world ending stuffs. Deja, however, ended up in the body of a much less evil demon. It is never explained to her, so she just dons a disguise and enters her vengeance era. Somewhere along the way she ends up in a life she loves, so things get less clear for her when she finally meets Tavin again. Sparks fly (kind of literally) and the best planned vengeance ends up as a HEA. I really had fun with this one.

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Potions and Proposals

Potions and Proposals by Kate Callaghan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was a cute romance that starts out with rivals and ends in HEA. I kept waiting for some horrible reveal or unexpected twist, but this book delivers solid romance throughout.


Lucy and Benedict have been rivals since forever. They went to school in this small town where most residents are magical but they still mix with regular humans. That being said, they still managed to play magical pranks on one another all through their formative years. This let to a big buildup of resentment and probably a lot of misunderstandings. Lucy is in line for becoming essentially queen witch but all that goes up in smoke when a prank ends up smearing the town’s name in a bad way. Now she somehow she and Benedict need to accept an arranged marriage and co-lead. I know - it kind of forces the rivals to lovers to new speedy places.

These two (as expected) have had feelings for one another for a long time and now they just have an excuse to explore those feelings, especially when Lucy’s family ends up accidentally swapping their powers. These two have good chemistry and we get good payoff in the end, leading to a satisfying autumn themed romance read. There are enough fun paranormal introductions to build a world worth more books, but this one was pretty expected.

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Bond of Destiny

Bond of Destiny by Larissa Ione
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

OK, it’s been a minute since I read a Demonica novel so I will admit to not remembering *anything* about the characters in this book. It is closely linked to the horsemen of the apocalypse but also has guest stars from UG. Dribs and drabs came back to me along with way, but I think if you have a general handle on paranormal romance, you can dive in here with no backstory.

Stacey is on her way back in a terrible snowstorm when she wrecks near her friend’s house. Said house is being taken care of by Tracker, a werewolf with a slave bond to her friend (long story). When he spots her, half-dead and headed through miles of snow, he jumps into action and revives her. These two apparently had a bit of a crush on one another which makes it less creepy when Stacey wakes up in his bed without clothes. While I admit to not enjoying the whole “slave” angle here, it was a good sizzle and payoff, with enough twists and turns to keep you guessing how it will end up.

Surprise - it ends happily because all these stories do. It even gives little glimpses of where their future could be headed in this new life together. All in all these books are quick and fun without the needed commitment of the entire series, so I’ll keep gobbling them up.

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Spell Bond: More Tales From the Old World

Spell Bond: More Tales From the Old World by Melissa F. Olson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I read this book dead last in the series. Was that the right choice? Who knows, but it worked for me. Maybe you could read it before old world war so you get that as your closing book and it works better. Either way, as a completionist this was on my list.

I’m not going to individually review all the stories but there is a good mix. There’s a romantic one, a family one, and all the feelings in between (including COVID times anxiety for those of you who may be triggered by that). You get to see “behind the scenes” for some things, resolve some unresolved things, and ultimately come out with a more complete picture of all the characters we’ve come to know and love. I don’t think it’s necessary, exactly, but was a fun way for me to wrap up the series completely (for now).

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