Liz
What a delightful read this was! Almost a decade ago, Rhys Penhallow broke Vivienne Jones' heart. While deep in her break up ritual - she and her cousin decide it might be fun to curse Rhys, because he was horrible to Vivienne. But they're just playing around, right? Nothing would have come from their “curse” - they weren't serious, and the candle wasn't even anything special, so of course it's fine. Fast forward to present day, Rhys, as a descendant from the town's ancestors, has come back for Founder's Day - only weird things start happening around him. Soon, he's teaming up with Vivi, Gwyn and Elaine to try to figure out what is happening, what is going wrong and how to fix it before it's too late. Turns out their harmless fun almost a decade ago, wasn't so harmless.
If you love fluffy romance, small town coziness and anything witchy, The Ex Hex is 100% the book for you. I loved the characters, and their dynamic. The writing was well paced throughout and I even laughed out loud a few times, which was an added bonus. I really enjoyed the well-balanced nature of the romance, it was never too full on and the chemistry was definitely believable. If I had to pick anything I didn't like as much, (and this is being pretty nit picky, and trying to not spoil anything), I wish the full on action of figuring out the curse started a little sooner. Overall, I really enjoyed The Ex Hex and will be recommending it a lot this upcoming spooky season and beyond.
D.R. Markham approached me via Instagram to see if I would be interested in reading and reviewing her book and I am very glad I finally made the time to do so!
Involuntary Admissions starts with a very relatable premise of a mother, Helen, desperate to help her daughter. Clearly at her wits end, she finally gets her daughter, Kendra, to agree to get help and see a psychiatrist. They have their initial appointment to see where Kendra's at, what is possibly wrong, and what they could do to get her the help she needs. The Dr. recommends going to Aiken's Haven, a hospital for adolescents and kids, and even adults to get the mental help needed to go on living their best life. Only once they are at the hospital, things very quickly turn out to be not as they seem. Can Helen figure out why the hospital is giving her such a bad feeling before it's too late to protect Kendra?
D.R. Markham has woven a really intriguing, dark and creepy story, definitely unlike anything I've read before. I really enjoyed all the characters and how they interacted with one another. How they eventually come to help one another as well. I really enjoyed the touches of several characters' past experiences, it was something that could have easily overwhelmed the story but they all felt perfectly placed and not too long. The one thing I would say that I wasn't a huge fan of is the multiple perspectives within a chapter. I wish there had been some sort of obvious page break or maybe they were organized/written in such a way that some could be grouped within one chapter.
Overall, this is definitely an exciting, dark, medical thriller that I would recommend to anyone I thought might enjoy it.
