Paperback: 336 pages - Publisher: Onyx (June 3, 2008) - Language: English - ISBN-10: 0451412583 - ISBN-13: 978-0451412584
Wild & Hexy
by Vicki Lewis Thompson
‘The Hex’ series Book #2
When the bewitched…
After gaining twenty pounds, former Dairy Queen Annie Winston dreads going back to Big Knob, Indiana. But Annie hasn’t changed half as much as her hometown has ever since Dorcas and Ambrose Lowell moved in. Former matchmakers for witches and wizards, they’re plying their unconventional trade for humans, and they have the perfect match for Annie.
…meets the bewildered.
Shy computer whiz Jeremy Dunstan secretly lusted after Annie when they were teens, but he never had the courage to pursue her. Now he’s got a second chance – if only something could help him unleash his wild side. But that’s the kind of impossible transformation that requires self-confidence and fortitude … and maybe a little hex.
Review: A laugh-out-loud, sharp, sassy read!
Annie is dreading coming home for her sister’s wedding. Six months ago, she divorced her self-absorbed, high-school-sweetheart husband, and put on thirty pounds. When her sister and soon-to-be brother-in-law moved up the date of the wedding, Annie is now in ‘seriously need to lose weight’ mode. Knowing she has to wear a peach monstrosity for a matron-of-honor gown isn’t helping her mood any. With her low self-esteem, Annie returns to Big Knob only to see that, for a small town that doesn’t change, changes have indeed happened in Big Knob.
Jeremy is ecstatic! He can’t wait to see Annie again, still lusting after since high school. Shy and nerdy, he never had the courage to approach her, let alone talk to her, and Annie had been many a vision for his wet dreams growing up. But Jeremy hasn’t changed all that much; he’s still shy and sweet, and he desperately needs help to burst out of his shyness.
In come Dorcas and Ambrose. They know soul mates when they see them, and they’re determined to get the two together. With a small spell, Jeremy seems to burst out of his shell, and much to Annie’s surprise, he’s much cuter than she remembers, and finds him very sweet and thoughtful. Plus, he knows a few magic tricks, which capture his attention.
And while dealing with wedding plans for her sister and his best friend, Annie and Jeremy find they can’t keep their hands off each other, and it becomes anytime, anywhere; from a deserted beach after dusk, his apartment in the middle of the day, in the backseat of her car during the bachelorette party, to that same deserted beach before dusk, to the hammock in the middle of the night.
Meanwhile, Dorcas and Ambrose are still trying to help George earn his gold scales. Dee-Dee, a new monster member of Big Knob, has been there for close to two hundred years. While sightings of her had always been dismissed, the reporter in Annie is determined to get to the bottom of it, whether real or a teenage prank.
And just to add to the excitement, Isadora Mather, the woman captured in bronze in the town square, the widow of the founder of Big Knob, has returned after receiving reports that Dee-Dee was misbehaving. Going by the alias Isabel Moore, had been there, two hundred years ago, when Dee-Dee came to the village. She’d been hiding since them. Isadora’s return couldn’t have been at a worse/better time, depending on how you look at it, and she in no way resembles the statue of herself, except maybe her face. Isadora is outrageous and entirely focused on sex. Definitely not what the town needs right at that moment.
I swear I enjoyed this book more than the first! Annie was just like some women I know who had married over-bearing and self-absorbed men who treated them like crap and, once their self-esteem was buried deep, left them for someone else. Annie is a character that rang very true with me. Jeremy, on the other hand, could have used a little more work. Jeremy had sought help from Dorcas and Ambrose, help to unleash his inner wild self, to finally get the girl. Knowing that he’s now outgoing and knows magic tricks that happen out of thin air, I found he was too quick to dismiss purported monsters in the lake, quick to dismiss what Annie saw, and immediately thought Dorcas and Ambrose were behind it all as a scam to make money. It made no sense how fast he drew to that conclusion and held fast to it.
Otherwise, I thought the story quicky, sassy, sexy, funny, and an overall excellent read!
Rating: 
