Friday, October 10, 2014

THE HEXED by Heather Graham



Harlequin/Mira Books
July 29th, 2014
978-0-7783-1637-4
Paranormal, Contemporary Suspense/Mystery
Netgalley E-ARC
Reviewed by Dawn (love2read28@gmail.com)
Obtained by Publisher
3 Hearts




Salem has a history of witches, and the infamous witchcraft trials back in the day. For Devin Lyle, she was home again and frankly, she missed it. Writing her children’s books in her aunt’s fairy cottage, Devin always felt the history come alive around her in Salem except when she finds a dead body in her woods…well things go from great and wonderful to so dark and dangerous it was scary. When the FBIO show up, Devin not only has to deal with her aunt’s lingering spirit but also her attraction to FBI agent Craig “Rocky’ Rockwell.

Rocky is determined to figure out who is killing the women and he hasn’t forgotten that years before his friend was murdered the same way as the current killings. But meeting Devin has stopped Rocky in his tracks. She was smart, gorgeous and just a tad bit stubborn but with the Krewe of Hunters on the case, Rocky is sure that he will find the answers to a long ago cold case as well as all the questions plaguing them in the current killings.

Heather Graham’s Krewe of Hunters series is a wonderful mix of paranormal, history and mystery all wrapped up in a bow and I normally enjoy the stories as much as I do learning some intriguing history to keep my attention and imagination going. But THE HEXED was a hard book to get into. I normally devour these books by this author with eager curiosity of where the author is leading the Krewe next and what historical place we are going to next. The writing and plot are tight with a few intriguing twits that kept my interest. But it was the main characters that just didn’t get me as excited as I was with other books in this series. I am not sure if it was just the mood I was in or what but even though this latest didn’t hit all my love buttons, it did keep me entertained as I tried to figure out the killer alongside Rocky, Devin and the rest of the Krewe.

In THE HEXED we meet new Krewe member, Craig “Rocky’” Rockwell who is determined to solve his friend’s killing as well as get the answers he needs for the current killings that are drawing ever so closely to Devin. I just could not get into Rocky as a character. It felt like he was just not fully developed and he annoyed me at times while reading THE HEXED that I wanted to smack him upside the head. Devin was a wonderful mixture of independence and vulnerability them add in a match making ghost and a parrot named Poe, well you get a sense that there was more to this character than what we saw on the pages at times. I loved how Devin stood up to Rocky a few times but there were times where I wanted to tell her to stop being so stubborn. Some familiar faces show up in the Krewe that we met in past books and I loved seeing them again as well as teasing hints to some of their stories that were mentioned as well. The cast of characters were an interesting mix of everyday people and I enjoyed meeting them as well as finding out more about the Salem Witch Trials that was sprinkled throughout the story.

THE HEXED was an interesting mix of paranormal, mystery set in a contemporary setting. I just wish the author made the main characters a bit more enjoyable and relatable for this reader. But that won’t stop me from grabbing the next book in the series, The Betrayed, soon. This is an author who knows how to tell a story and even though the characters didn’t capture my attention like past ones did, they were interesting just the same. If you are looking for a mix of paranormal & ghosts set in a contemporary setting with a wee bit of history then you need to pick up this series from the beginning. It is truly one of those series that you can’t get enough of.

This is an objective review and not an endorsement


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