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Hex: Broken Pact, Book One
There’s nothing in the employee handbook about this…
As a career Interdiction agent with the Division of Plants and Potions, Gentle Breeze has ventured outside the Pactlands on many a case over the last two centuries. She understands general American norms, her accent has steadily improved, and she can actually sleep around humans, a feat that only comes with experience. In short, she knows how to handle herself in the outside world.
But nothing in Gentle Breeze’s training has prepared her for waking in an alley in Richmond, Virginia, with a suspiciously nasty headache. It’s bad enough that she somehow wound up outside in nothing but her pajamas, but to her horror, her masking pendant is missing—a slight problem when one is better than eight feet tall and green.
Trolls are many things. Subtle is not one of them.
Unable to call her boss, her colleagues, or even her boyfriend for help, Gentle Breeze will have to trust some unexpected allies if she wants to make it home again without inciting a riot. But as she tries to find a way back to the Pactlands, she searches for answers. Who kidnapped her, and why?
And worse, what if she’s not the only one lost outside?
As a career Interdiction agent with the Division of Plants and Potions, Gentle Breeze has ventured outside the Pactlands on many a case over the last two centuries. She understands general American norms, her accent has steadily improved, and she can actually sleep around humans, a feat that only comes with experience. In short, she knows how to handle herself in the outside world.
But nothing in Gentle Breeze’s training has prepared her for waking in an alley in Richmond, Virginia, with a suspiciously nasty headache. It’s bad enough that she somehow wound up outside in nothing but her pajamas, but to her horror, her masking pendant is missing—a slight problem when one is better than eight feet tall and green.
Trolls are many things. Subtle is not one of them.
Unable to call her boss, her colleagues, or even her boyfriend for help, Gentle Breeze will have to trust some unexpected allies if she wants to make it home again without inciting a riot. But as she tries to find a way back to the Pactlands, she searches for answers. Who kidnapped her, and why?
And worse, what if she’s not the only one lost outside?
366 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 10, 2026
About the author
Ash Fitzsimmons
34 books49 followersAsh has always loved a good story. Her childhood bookshelves overflowed, and she refused to take notes in her copies of classroom novels because that felt like sacrilege. She wrote her first novel the summer after her freshman year of college and never looked back. (Granted, that novel was an unpublishable 270,000-word behemoth, but everyone has to start somewhere, right?)
After obtaining degrees in English and creative writing and taking a stab at magazine work, Ash decided to put her skillset to different use and went to law school. She then moved home to Alabama, where she works as an attorney. These days, Ash can be found outside of Montgomery with her inordinately fluffy Siberian husky, who loves long walks, car rides, and whatever Ash happens to be eating.
After obtaining degrees in English and creative writing and taking a stab at magazine work, Ash decided to put her skillset to different use and went to law school. She then moved home to Alabama, where she works as an attorney. These days, Ash can be found outside of Montgomery with her inordinately fluffy Siberian husky, who loves long walks, car rides, and whatever Ash happens to be eating.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
April 30, 2026
I love how Ash Fitzsimmons's novels cover so many different types of fantastical beings and magical systems. In Hex: Broken Pact, the reader gets to explore this world from the point of view of a troll. The characters are fun, and the pacing engaging. I also like how Gentle Breeze straddles different worlds because this inherent conflict brings tension and, if I'm being honest, delight. There are no hard and fast rules when worlds collide in this way. I highly recommend this book for fans of urban fantasy and magical realism.
Displaying 1 of 1 review