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Sex, Secrets & Spells #1
Hexes & Exes: Alternate cover edition
Two rival professors. One common lover. Three best friends. One blood oath. Four magical schools. One tournament. Five wizards. One big dark secret.
Living in a hidden world of magic, rituals, and arcane curses, Lee Strix isn't just any stubborn twenty-eight year old with commitment issues, unreasonably high standards for success and a slight habit of drinking her problems away rather than facing them. An Ex-Tetrahedron contestant, now professor in one of four prestigeous Magical schools, Lee must accompany selected students to the next Tournament alongise her friend and colleague Indigo Serpen.
Amidsts new people, familiar faces, and old lovers, Lee will also face her nemesis. Their relationship is bound to take interesting turns as their bodies are inevitably attracted to one another.
Something, however, lurks in the shadows. What secrets are hiding around Asterodea Orientalis and its headmaster? What is Indigo Serpen so desperate to keep hidden in the past?
This is an ALTERNATE COVER / FORMAT version of the paperback. The content is EXACTLY the same as HEXES & EXES (the original cover) but simply in a different format/cover.
Living in a hidden world of magic, rituals, and arcane curses, Lee Strix isn't just any stubborn twenty-eight year old with commitment issues, unreasonably high standards for success and a slight habit of drinking her problems away rather than facing them. An Ex-Tetrahedron contestant, now professor in one of four prestigeous Magical schools, Lee must accompany selected students to the next Tournament alongise her friend and colleague Indigo Serpen.
Amidsts new people, familiar faces, and old lovers, Lee will also face her nemesis. Their relationship is bound to take interesting turns as their bodies are inevitably attracted to one another.
Something, however, lurks in the shadows. What secrets are hiding around Asterodea Orientalis and its headmaster? What is Indigo Serpen so desperate to keep hidden in the past?
This is an ALTERNATE COVER / FORMAT version of the paperback. The content is EXACTLY the same as HEXES & EXES (the original cover) but simply in a different format/cover.
- GenresFantasyParanormal
369 pages, Paperback
Published April 3, 2023
About the author
Myosotis
8 books33 followersMyosotis, forget me not.
My pen name reflects my choice to never forget my passion, myself, my interests, and the people who have marked my life. I try to remember all of that through writing. Each character, each story, is a facet of myself and my lived experiences I wish to remember--obviously, re-imagined in fantasy and fictional worlds and original characters.
This is not my career.
I just want to write stories that heal me, and maybe that can help you, too.
Follow me on this journey!
@myosotis_author
My pen name reflects my choice to never forget my passion, myself, my interests, and the people who have marked my life. I try to remember all of that through writing. Each character, each story, is a facet of myself and my lived experiences I wish to remember--obviously, re-imagined in fantasy and fictional worlds and original characters.
This is not my career.
I just want to write stories that heal me, and maybe that can help you, too.
Follow me on this journey!
@myosotis_author
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
January 9, 2022
It has been a while since I've read a debute novelle this good! Maybe I've never read a debute novelle this good! Imaging Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire but then Adult, with actually likeable characters and a great romance plot. Think sexy k-pop wizards. Go ahead, just imagine all these sleek, sexy Korean men in suits and with wands. Now imaging this taking place in a dark academy castle, surrounded by amazing lands filled with starry nights and libraries where they come together to drink whiskey and talk dirty to eachother. This book is Such a Vibe!!
I loved everything;
- I loved the flawed characters, their great backgrounds and emotional deficits;
- I loved the great (ungendered) bisexual and gay representation. It felt natural and not added as a last minute sideplot to gain more readers. It also wasn't 'just' a bisexual side character. The queer sexuality of multiple characters was present through out the whole book but its was just there. it felt natural and just like love is supposed to be.
- I loved the illustrations! yes! this book has illustrations! and they were awesome! the only note I have on this book is that I couldn't always place who was in the pictures..
and this book had so many great forms of spice! The 'enemies to lovers', the 'Am I worthy of love', the 'slutting because I don't like myself' and the 'just give me an escape from live'. it also had some great tension and the dirty talk had me squealing multiple times.
in short! this book is amazing and needs more attention!! So please read it, because it is definitely worthy of your time!
I loved everything;
- I loved the flawed characters, their great backgrounds and emotional deficits;
- I loved the great (ungendered) bisexual and gay representation. It felt natural and not added as a last minute sideplot to gain more readers. It also wasn't 'just' a bisexual side character. The queer sexuality of multiple characters was present through out the whole book but its was just there. it felt natural and just like love is supposed to be.
- I loved the illustrations! yes! this book has illustrations! and they were awesome! the only note I have on this book is that I couldn't always place who was in the pictures..
and this book had so many great forms of spice! The 'enemies to lovers', the 'Am I worthy of love', the 'slutting because I don't like myself' and the 'just give me an escape from live'. it also had some great tension and the dirty talk had me squealing multiple times.
in short! this book is amazing and needs more attention!! So please read it, because it is definitely worthy of your time!
April 28, 2022
Need a reason to read my book?
Here's a few.
- Lee Strix isn't a teenager who is the chosen one to save to world. She's just a teacher in a magical school with a lot of issues she's got to learn to deal with - from gifted child to tired adult. This is not YA! This is NA
- side characters who are relevant to the plot and who have POVs! Many! Handsome, sexy, funny, cocky, you name it!
- rivals to lovers but with a twist & love triangle that ISN'T as usual... as in Lee & Kai have a thing, but Lee and Ren are rivals, and Ren and Kai have *history*...
- want magic, mystery, thrill? Got it.
- $mutt??? Lots?? Yes, of course. Plenty to go around, yet not enough to make the book pure 🌶.
- a cast of diverse characters with 🌈 rep? It's here too.
Here's a few.
- Lee Strix isn't a teenager who is the chosen one to save to world. She's just a teacher in a magical school with a lot of issues she's got to learn to deal with - from gifted child to tired adult. This is not YA! This is NA
- side characters who are relevant to the plot and who have POVs! Many! Handsome, sexy, funny, cocky, you name it!
- rivals to lovers but with a twist & love triangle that ISN'T as usual... as in Lee & Kai have a thing, but Lee and Ren are rivals, and Ren and Kai have *history*...
- want magic, mystery, thrill? Got it.
- $mutt??? Lots?? Yes, of course. Plenty to go around, yet not enough to make the book pure 🌶.
- a cast of diverse characters with 🌈 rep? It's here too.
January 10, 2022
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
🌶🌶.5/5
“It was not just pleasing; he played her like an instrument, knowing exactly which cords to stroke to provoke harmonious cries out of her lips.”
If you haven’t heard me talk about this book yet, it is basically a grown up Harry Potter following the professors and other adults, set mainly in Seoul, with some spice added in.
What I loved:
- The world. It was fun being in another wizarding world that was similarly to Harry Potter, but still different.
- The characters. I mean I love them all! 🖤 But Kai, he is an Angel and needs to be protected at all coasts! ❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥
- The scenes when they would leave the school and travel around the city in Seoul.
What I was not a huge fan of:
- There were a little too many similarities to Harry Potter, I would have liked to see a few more things changed up a little.
- There were a few typos. This is written by an Indie author, so of course typos are expected. There were just a few spots where I had to stop and think to figure out what they were saying. But overall, that did not hinder my reading experience at all!
August 7, 2024
Wow this book was so good! I was hooked after 100 pages!!
- Harry Potter in college vibes
- witches
- mystery
-enemy’s to lovers
I couldn’t get enough. So so glad I read this book.
- Harry Potter in college vibes
- witches
- mystery
-enemy’s to lovers
I couldn’t get enough. So so glad I read this book.
June 24, 2024
I found this book through a tik tok comment under a Helfyre review and decided to give it a go.
I really did enjoy this book. There is interesting world building, interesting characters, and a good premise that gets everyone to the same place at the same time. The spice level is absolutely there and it is quite fun. This book is a love story with a side mission / story - I do believe that changes in book two.
I would recommend this book all in all, especially if you make it to book two where the relationship aspect makes my heart happy.
What detracts from this first book for me is that there is so much introspection that isn't backed up. We have Ren and Lee who are convinced they are a fire that burns so bright it will burn anyone they want to be close with. While we get some play on this with Ren and his "game playing" and we know how competitive Lee is, I felt that we were told and not shown a lot of the characteristics of Lee, Ren, Kai and others. There are paragraphs on paragraphs about how bright their fire burns (lee and Ren's), how Kai is a bright hopeful person they don't want to hurt...but we aren't shown this. How are they forces to be reckoned with, what about them could burn Kai out? We get eloquent inner soliloquies but these feelings that Lee and Ren have didn't seem believable to me because we never see it. A lot of the relationship building that bonds Lee and Kai is also "fade to black" we get a cute trip with them but I wish there was more to cement Lee as having feelings for Kai. I would have liked more with Ren as well, we know the insta lust, and there are more moments that solidify the changing of Lee and Ren's dynamic but I'm a sucker for relationship building.
I really did enjoy this book. There is interesting world building, interesting characters, and a good premise that gets everyone to the same place at the same time. The spice level is absolutely there and it is quite fun. This book is a love story with a side mission / story - I do believe that changes in book two.
I would recommend this book all in all, especially if you make it to book two where the relationship aspect makes my heart happy.
What detracts from this first book for me is that there is so much introspection that isn't backed up. We have Ren and Lee who are convinced they are a fire that burns so bright it will burn anyone they want to be close with. While we get some play on this with Ren and his "game playing" and we know how competitive Lee is, I felt that we were told and not shown a lot of the characteristics of Lee, Ren, Kai and others. There are paragraphs on paragraphs about how bright their fire burns (lee and Ren's), how Kai is a bright hopeful person they don't want to hurt...but we aren't shown this. How are they forces to be reckoned with, what about them could burn Kai out? We get eloquent inner soliloquies but these feelings that Lee and Ren have didn't seem believable to me because we never see it. A lot of the relationship building that bonds Lee and Kai is also "fade to black" we get a cute trip with them but I wish there was more to cement Lee as having feelings for Kai. I would have liked more with Ren as well, we know the insta lust, and there are more moments that solidify the changing of Lee and Ren's dynamic but I'm a sucker for relationship building.
July 23, 2024
I really wanted to enjoy this book and thought it would be the perfect read when I had my operation. The premise was appealing, and it seemed like it would be a nice light read.
I felt that the two main plot points were battling for relevance throughout. I couldn’t understand why the main characters were still worrying about a contest after nearly being murdered. I understand that a similar thing happened in the Harry Potter novels, but the characters were all in a position to raise an alarm and put the contest on hold.
Ren and Lee also have some intimate moments at the most inappropriate parts of the book. As soon as they lift the curse from the pub being one, and my favourite being behind a curtain in front of everyone. I think even the biggest curtain wouldn’t have done much to hide what was going on.
The illustrations on the other hand were incredible.
I felt that the two main plot points were battling for relevance throughout. I couldn’t understand why the main characters were still worrying about a contest after nearly being murdered. I understand that a similar thing happened in the Harry Potter novels, but the characters were all in a position to raise an alarm and put the contest on hold.
Ren and Lee also have some intimate moments at the most inappropriate parts of the book. As soon as they lift the curse from the pub being one, and my favourite being behind a curtain in front of everyone. I think even the biggest curtain wouldn’t have done much to hide what was going on.
The illustrations on the other hand were incredible.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 17, 2023
DNF. Not my cup of tea. So sorry! The writing wasn’t for me and the poor editing skills for spelling mistakes also wasn’t great.
April 29, 2023
I am torn!
Torn between thinking it’s an interesting book immersed in its own world, with characters that are worth rooting for. A book full of magic, spells, story that is written around mature characters so there is enough steam here too.
But then I can’t help but also be frustrated. Maybe because it reminds me too much of Harry Potter? I mean, I was ready to let it go when we first learn about the magical houses. But as the story went into having a year long tournament, a prodigal headmaster (who is also a part of four brilliant friends. Marauders, anyone?), forbidden spells, magic mirrors, spell protected schools and ability to move from place to place, but not within the school, only headmasters office? At times it felt like Voldemort was going to turn up.
On the other hand, because I really don’t want to be unkind, because with a little more work this could have been amazing for me. And maybe if I wasn’t such a fan of Harry Potter and didn’t know it inside and out, I could get over myself and not be thinking that the plot is basically following the events that happened in HP but with an imaginative twist on names and an original stance on the magical world with added bonus of adult scenes.
I really tried. It really had the potential. Just not for me.
Torn between thinking it’s an interesting book immersed in its own world, with characters that are worth rooting for. A book full of magic, spells, story that is written around mature characters so there is enough steam here too.
But then I can’t help but also be frustrated. Maybe because it reminds me too much of Harry Potter? I mean, I was ready to let it go when we first learn about the magical houses. But as the story went into having a year long tournament, a prodigal headmaster (who is also a part of four brilliant friends. Marauders, anyone?), forbidden spells, magic mirrors, spell protected schools and ability to move from place to place, but not within the school, only headmasters office? At times it felt like Voldemort was going to turn up.
On the other hand, because I really don’t want to be unkind, because with a little more work this could have been amazing for me. And maybe if I wasn’t such a fan of Harry Potter and didn’t know it inside and out, I could get over myself and not be thinking that the plot is basically following the events that happened in HP but with an imaginative twist on names and an original stance on the magical world with added bonus of adult scenes.
I really tried. It really had the potential. Just not for me.
January 18, 2026
I got it on stuff your kindle for free so… first of all, there are multiple typos—that in and of itself annoys me enough. Second, I feel like any wizard/witch book I read I’m gonna think it’s inspired by Harry Potter. The fact that the author actually used the word “muggles” at one point in the book revealed that. Third, personally I really disliked that the magic spells were in a random type font that you can’t read—it really takes you out of the story. Finally, the world building needs some work. Concepts are introduced that aren’t fully fleshed out—it could be cool, but it wasn’t worked out enough.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 3, 2024
The story itself was interesting. Very reminiscent of the tri-wizard tournament from HP.
However, it was a struggle to get through this one. The big could really benefit from an editor or at the minimum a couple beta readers. So many grammatical and formatting issues.
I'll probably pick up the next one eventually but it might be a little bit.
However, it was a struggle to get through this one. The big could really benefit from an editor or at the minimum a couple beta readers. So many grammatical and formatting issues.
I'll probably pick up the next one eventually but it might be a little bit.
February 24, 2022
This story is a real thriller, with emotion, fear, deep feelings, suspens, and sex…
Myosotis takes you through a journey of enigmas and magic, with very special characters you don’t want to leave at the end
And the mystery is not going to be easy to figure out, be warned !
Just enjoy !
Myosotis takes you through a journey of enigmas and magic, with very special characters you don’t want to leave at the end
And the mystery is not going to be easy to figure out, be warned !
Just enjoy !
September 24, 2024
I liked the world building and the overall story was good.
My main issue with the story was the main character. She inserts herself into other people's business so much and feels so entitled to information that it feels like she knows she's the main character of a story. She does it so often that I found myself wishing for someone to either punch her in the face or for her to suffer some sort of consequences for her actions. The brief mention of things being none of her business isn't enough.
My main issue with the story was the main character. She inserts herself into other people's business so much and feels so entitled to information that it feels like she knows she's the main character of a story. She does it so often that I found myself wishing for someone to either punch her in the face or for her to suffer some sort of consequences for her actions. The brief mention of things being none of her business isn't enough.
April 17, 2025
She’s sleeping with the guy who might ruin her 'I've never been in love' streak.
Her academic rival makes her feel contrasting emotions.
She’s got trauma, magic, and zero chill.
Dark academia. Trauma. Spice.
No heroes. Just chaos.
Her academic rival makes her feel contrasting emotions.
She’s got trauma, magic, and zero chill.
Dark academia. Trauma. Spice.
No heroes. Just chaos.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews