Introduction

The Ex Hex is a 2021 romantic comedy novel by Erin Sterling, a pen name of bestselling author Rachel Hawkins. The plot centers on the rekindled relationship between two witches, Vivienne (Vivi) Jones and Rhys Penhallow, as they try to put aside their past to solve a mysterious magical curse for which Vivi is partly responsible. The novel deals with themes of Unintended Consequences, Second Chances, and Love and Friendship as Sources of Strength. As all the central characters are witches, the novel makes frequent use of supernatural and tarot imagery, as well as allusions to mythology and spirituality.

Plot Summary

The novel opens as 19-year-old Vivienne Jones recovers from her recent breakup with Rhys Penhallow, a dreamy witch from Wales whose family founded Vivi’s hometown of Graves Glen. Vivi’s cousin Gwyn suggests they perform a “hex” on Rhys in order to help Vivi vent some of her heartache, and they assume that because their intentions are unserious, the spell will not be real. Nine years later, Rhys returns to Graves Glen to attend the annual Founder’s Day celebrations as a representative of the Penhallow family and to magically charge the ley lines that intersect nearby, giving the town its magical energies. As soon as Rhys arrives in town, he endures a string of bad luck and nearly suffers physical harm twice: first when Vivi accidentally comes close to running him over on a back road, and again when the statue of Gryffud Penhallow, town founder, loses its head with Rhys standing directly below. Rhys invites Vivi to see the ley lines, and when his attempt to charge them results in catastrophic dark magical energy flooding Graves Glen, Vivi realizes her hex was real.

Vivi, Rhys, Gwyn, and Vivi’s aunt Elaine research how to undo curses, but they have little success. On a visit to the witchery archives in the college library, Vivi and Rhys kiss, but their intimacy is interrupted by an encounter with the ghost of Piper McBride, a Penhaven College student who died in the 1990s after attempting to summon a powerful spirit. Vivi meets Amanda, a young faculty witch who offers her a Eurydice Candle to recapture Piper’s ghost and release it in a safer location so it can be placed under a binding spell. Vivi and Rhys travel to a “haunted” house Piper used to rent, where they find her altar. Vivi lights the candle, and Piper’s ghost appears, issuing a warning to Rhys: What was wrong must be righted, and what was taken must be relinquished. Piper explicitly states that a Penhallow stole something, an injustice that needs to be amended. Before Piper can say anything more, her spirit fully enters the Eurydice Candle. Vivi returns the candle to Amanda but later learns that Amanda is an imposter and plans to sell the candle to magical artifact collectors for a profit.

Rhys asks his brother Llewellyn to perform a locator spell to find Amanda (aka Tamsyn). He tracks Tamsyn’s location to a nearby bed-and-breakfast. Vivi and Rhys go to retrieve the Eurydice Candle, which Tamsyn happily surrenders into their care. The candle is behaving erratically, casting off a cold aura and seeming to be on the verge of breaking. Vivi and Rhys store the candle in the stockroom of Elaine and Gwyn’s shop, Something Wicked. Before they leave the shop, Vivi and Rhys are sexually intimate on the stockroom couch. The town’s fall festival begins, and Rhys’s father, Simon Penhallow, arrives in town, having heard from Llewellyn about Rhys’s curse. Simon speaks disdainfully to Vivi and her family, and Vivi smartly reminds him that while they might be “hedge” witches who sell gimmicky merchandise, they are still powerful enough to have cursed his son. Simon tells them that if Vivi has an ancestor buried in the area, the presence of a powerful blood relative could enhance the original hex enough to transfer it into the ley lines and affect the town. Elaine knows of one relative: Aelwyd Jones.

Vivi decides to release Piper’s ghost from the Eurydice Candle to see what else they can learn from her. Elaine prepares a salt circle to contain the ghost, but Vivi steps through it and Piper’s spirit briefly possesses her and gives her a vision of how Piper died while attempting to summon a spirit. Piper explains that she wanted to contact Aelwyd Jones, who died giving her powers to Gryffud Penhallow to fuel the ley lines and establish Graves Glen. Gryffud effectively erased Aelwyd from history and claimed the success as his alone. Aelwyd’s desire for revenge took control of Vivi’s “joke” hex and made it real.

Vivi realizes that if Aelwyd’s blood magic took control of the curse, then asking Aelwyd’s spirit to intercede on her behalf may be necessary to break the curse. Vivi, Gwyn, Rhys, and Elaine visit Aelwyd’s grave. Vivi summons Aelwyd’s spirit, which possesses her and speaks directly to Rhys. Rhys agrees to set the record straight about Gryffud and Aelwyd, and he declares his love for Vivi. Aelwyd can feel Vivi’s mutual love and agrees to lift the curse. However, when she attempts to do so, she realizes she is not strong enough anymore, and the possession ends. Before departing, Aelwyd’s spirit says that because it is Halloween night, the veil between worlds is at its thinnest, and the curse is at its strongest. By midnight, Rhys will die and so will the town.

Vivi urges the group to travel directly to the ley lines, which now appear deeply polluted. Vivi theorizes that if Aelwyd’s magic is in the lines, their combined blood magic can heal the lines and lift the curse. Vivi’s plan works, and she and Rhys enjoy a little more time together before he returns to Wales. In the spring semester, Vivi begins teaching classes with the witchery department as well as for human students, having now fully embraced her powers as a sorceress. As she walks to meet with the chair of the witchery department, she sees Rhys’s name on one of the office doors. Rhys is inside the office and admits to being miserable without her. He returned to Graves Glen so they could be together, and Vivi kisses him gladly.