Hex Marks The Spot and Dead Man's Hex by Ani Gonzalez

 Review Catch Ups...

Hex Marks The Spot

Going to Hell is easy. Going back home is a different story.

They say you can never go back. I wish that was the case.

Returning home is complicated when you’re a necromancer and your hometown is the Most Haunted in America. It doesn’t help that your pet hellhound chihuahua thinks the place is a dump, and it gets worse when your high school crush is still there and still dead sexy. Literally, as he’s now a ghost.

Oh, and did I mention that I have to save the world? Yes, that too.

This was my first Ani Gonzalez book and I really enjoyed it!

You've got a likeable gal who happens to be a necromancer with a demon dog for a side-kick.

A town where the supernatural co-exists with the "natural" and ghostly love interest (I assume he's going to be the love interest anyway) and a murderous plot that we've only just started scraping the surface of.

It was funny, fast paced and didn't get bogged down in the unnecessary. 

However, it's obvious that this is a spin-off from a pre-existing series (The Banshee Creek series) and I couldn't help but feel like I was missing a lot of context and background info because I hadn't read the Banshee Creek series and I found that a little irritating considering this was book one in a new series that should be able to be read completely independently. 

Despite that grumble, I liked it and will continue reading!

Dead Man's Hex 

It’s a cruise ship to Hell. Literally.

Sun, sand, and ghosts. Sounds like the perfect working vacation, no? The supernatural cruise would be a chance to get a tan, enjoy a variety of cold drinks with colorful umbrellas, and make some money leading ghost tours along the Mid-Atlantic coast…or so I thought. I didn’t count on a seasick hellhound Chihuahua, a stowaway ghost, and a crazy cult cramping my style. Now I’m fighting Octonomicron acolytes, trying to keep myself in one piece, and save humanity at the same time. Oh, and that tan? So not happening.

I read this book straight after finishing book one - Hex Marks The Spot - and I am glad that I only started reading the series now as a 3 year gap between books is ridiculous! I really hope there isn't another huge gap between this book and the next as I'm really enjoying the world Gonzalez has created here alongside the mad cast of characters.

 

Unlike book one, this book doesn't take place in Banshee Creek, it takes place on a cruise ship with stops at various spooky locations along the way. 

Being locked on a cruise with a bunch of supernatural types and their superfans sounds like a recipe for disaster but needs must when you have an old money sink of a house to renovate!

Naturally, chaos ensues and a bad guy must be stopped!

The ending leaves a lot hanging but it's not a cliff hanger... It's just the series plot that's left flapping in the wind. Not to mention the romance/not romance between Claire and her ghostly beau. 

Honestly... The series is fun, easy to read and I love Claire's hellhound but I don't know if it's enough to make me come back for more if book three is another few years away... Top shell UF it isn't. It's a fun filler kind of UF and that's fine but you need to keep it coming for that to work.