Juliette Cross: Don’t Hex and Drive [ARC REVIEW]

Date of Publication: 8th of September, 2020
Page Number: 346
Series: Stay a Spell #2
Genre: Paranormal Romance/Urban Fantasy
Get it from: Amazon

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Notoriously bad at peopling, Isadora Savoie spends most of her time in the greenhouse or at the local animal shelter, using her Conduit powers of growth and healing. Content to remain in the background of the Savoie sister shenanigans, she’s reluctantly roped into the mystery of missing neighborhood girls. Now, she’s partnered with a flashy, flirty vampire to find them before it’s too late.
Devraj Kumar has seen and done it all. Three hundred years roaming the earth as a Stygorn—a legendary vampire warrior who operates in the shadows—has its perks. But ennui has set in. That is, until he has a run-in—literally—with an intriguing witch while on a new assignment in New Orleans. Fascinated by her resistance to his charms, Devraj can’t help but push her buttons in an effort to get to know the shy witch. Fortunately for him, she’s been recruited by the Lord of Vampires to assist Devraj on the case.
Between a Bollywood marathon, supernatural dating app, secret package, and sexy driving instruction, Isadora is in over her head. And Devraj? After just one taste, he’s playing for keeps.

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Thank you for Netgalley for providing me with an advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest opinion!

It is a truth universally acknowledged that you say New Orleans and witches, and I’m there faster than the roadrunner, at any given time. And honestly, I had SO much fun reading Don’t Hex and Drive by Juliette Cross! It had pretty much everything I want from an urban fantasy flick, and let me tell you… I’m a UF closet freak. I love settings when the supernatural and our everyday modern world blends together but I’m picky with my favourites, so it’s rare that I come across one that I enjoy wholeheartedly. Here, not only do we get witches, but also vampires, werewolves, and so called grim reapers which are very mysterious at this point but I absolutely want to know more!

I read book 1, Wolf Gone Wild earlier this year and while I enjoyed it, I wasn’t blown away. I liked the Savoie sisters and the general atmosphere but wanted a bit more from the plot. However, when I saw Don’t Hex and Drive on Netgalley, I simply couldn’t resist requesting it, and I’m so happy that I did.  Because book 2 totally delivered! The pacing was tighter, the stakes (excuse the pun) higher, and the banter on point (sorry, I’ll stop.)

For this book, we get Isadora as our heroine which initially I wasn’t sure how I felt about because I’ve been REALLY looking forward to Jules and Ruben’s story. However, I’ve taken to liking her almost immediately. As a fellow introvert, I related to her a whole lot, and I kept chuckling at her being wholly unimpressed by our love interest’s fame/looks/literally everything.

“Men just didn’t compare to the joy of hyacinth in bloom, sorry to say.”

Devraj, powerful vampire and ex Bollywood star comes into town to help hunt down some bad guys for illegal blood trafficking, hits Isadora with his fancy Porsche and boom, meet cute. I was unsure of the vampire celebrity aspect at first but I chose to look at it as a bit of a tongue in cheek moment, and it wasn’t hugely relevant to the story, so I could totally get behind this pairing. The chemistry worked, we had a decent conflict, and the story flowed very nicely.

Overall, a fun and well-written book about witches, spells, and all things that go bump in the night, thrown in with some romance and humour. A great way to spend a lazy afternoon. The next book is Violet’s, and I will definitely be on the hunt for it.

P.S.: shoutout to these covers that don’t have me hunting for wrapping paper in order to be able to read it in public! Absolutely love the design on them!

Rating: 4/5 stars