Kiss and Spell: This Magic Omen

It's been more than a week since my last post (mom life, am I right?).  So it's high time I caved and gave up the ghost.  Or maybe I should say sorceress.  Because I just read Erin Sterling's The Kiss Curse.  

In this sequel to The Ex Hex, we return to Graves Glen, Georgia, to shadow, not Viv, but her equally charmed and charming cousin Gwyn.  With a personality as fiery as her pink-streaked hair, Gwyn runs a Halloween-themed shop called Something Wicked -- and Graves Glen -- with a cauldron of confidence.  But when her college crush, fellow witch Wells Penhallow, moves back to town, her brew is set askew.  The imperious Wells opens a competing shop, stoking Gwyn's (already considerable) ire.  So when the two share a kiss so killer it must be cursed, all hellfire breaks loose.  Yet the spellbinding snog is small pumpkins compared to the discovery that someone has stolen Gwyn's powers.  With Vivi away on her honeymoon, Gwyn has no choice but to join forces with Wells.  So they work to find out who has it out for Gwyn, all while trying not to bewitch each other.

I loved getting lost in this fey fairy tale.  Light but slightly edgy (it is about the occult), The Kiss Curse is full of Halloween fun, conjuring up both tricks and treats.

Which Witch Stitch: The Power of Polka Dots

Vivienne Jones of Graves Glen, Georgia, has always been reluctant about practicing witchcraft.  Content to live the quiet life of a history professor, she's never embraced her powers like her Aunt Elaine or cousin Gwyn, who run a shop called Something Wicked.  But nine years ago, Vivi and fellow witch Rhys Penhallow (the word warlock is so last century) fell deeply under love's spell.  At least until Vivi learned he was betrothed to another, dumped him, and enlisted Gwyn to help her put a more-cathartic-than-harmful hex on Rhys.  Such is the setup for Erin Sterling's The Ex Hex.

Never having read a romcom about witches, I wasn't sure what to expect.  So when Rhys returns to Graves Glen and runs into Vivi, I wondered what would transpire.  Would Rhys get his revenge?  More importantly, did the hex take effect in the first place?  Because despite Vivi having condemned Rhys to, among other atrocities, an eternity of bad hair days, his coiffure remains intact.  Nevertheless, strange things are happening.  And Vivi and Rhys must find out why and put the kibosh on them before Halloween.  Can these star-crossed exes reverse the curse despite their bad blood and simmering sexual tension?  Or will Graves Glen -- and their fledgling relationship -- be lost to the dark side?

Saving the day requires Vivi to dig deep and embrace her powers.  And to me, there's nothing more powerful than the part where she selects a dress to wear while unleashing her most potent magic:

"But as Vivi looked through her closet, her eye fell on the dress she'd been wearing the night Rhys had first come back into town, the black one with the little orange polka dots and the orange patent leather belt.

She *#%& loved that dress.  But it didn't exactly scream Powerful Sorceress.

This was her spell.  No matter that her ancestor had given it the necessary boost, she was the one who'd cast the original curse, and she would be the one trying to remove it tonight.  She was a powerful sorceress, polka dots or no, and if wearing her favorite dress would make her feel better, why not?" (281)

I love when Vivi realizes that she -- not society -- gets to decide what outfit gives her authority.

Never underestimate the power of a woman -- witch or not -- who knows what she wants from her wardrobe.