Gwendolyn Dubois owns a flower shop called Beaucoup Bouquets. Since New Years, she has been ending her afternoons at Click-or-Treat, Big Knob’s internet café and her connection to Jean Marc Chevalier. The plants, which Gwen has been researching, are located in a forest that residents believe to be haunted. Therefore, Gwen has no problem keeping them secret since no one goes in there except Gwen who does not believe in that stuff and the Lowells, newcomers to the area who discovered the plant. Ambrose and Dorcas Lowell are an attractive middle-aged couple who have set up a matchmaking and marriage counseling business in Big Knob, and they are the ones who first consulted Gwen about the plant. To explain Marc’s visit to town, she told everyone that her long lost French cousin was coming for a visit. Recently she has been having erotic dreams that are very realistic. In fact, she wakes up feeling very satisfied. She does not recognize the man in her dreams and wonders if it is Marc, since she has never met him or seen him.
Prince Leo is trying to instill confidence in Gwen on orders from his mother, who would be within her rights to deny him the throne of King of Atwood if she wanted. Therefore, she gives him an assignment to prove himself worthy of the throne. He is to give Gwen the kind of attention that will change her self-image and make her feel sexy. In doing so, he is to ignore his obsession with beauty and consider someone else’s feelings for a change, proving himself capable of a selfless act. To his way of thinking, having sex with her in her dreams is a way of accomplishing this task. Although he is a fairy, when dealing with non-magical women he keeps his fairy status a secret. Being tiny is an option, but he does not use it often. Most of the time he is full size, but he still kept his magical status to himself. He also keeps track of the Lowells since he knows their secret; they are a witch and a wizard scheming to bring a Frenchman to town for Gwen while Prince Leo figures Gwen doesn’t need the Frenchman since she has him.
The first night Marc is in town, he spends it at Gwen’s home, where he awakens to being groped by a guy. Not wanting to damage her reputation, he spends his nights at the inn. Gwen finds two men vying for her attention. Though one reason for Marc’s visit to Big Knob was the plant, another reason was that the person with whom he was exchanging emails had fascinated him. Meeting Gwen in person made him even more fascinated and he found himself falling for her. Which one will Gwen choose; Marc, the man whom the witch and the wizard chose for her or Prince Leo, the soon-to-be King of the Fairies?
Outrageously funny and imaginative, CASUAL HEX, the latest book in the HEX series, is a truly fun filled lighthearted paranormal romance. Vicki Lewis Thompson is a creatively gifted author who can make the reader believe even the impossible as she brings the story alive on the printed page. The secondary characters and watching how the townspeople reacted to having a Frenchman in their midst added to the hilarity of this tale. Brimming with wit, creative characters, a delightful plot and plenty of imagination, this story is a delight. I highly recommend CASUAL HEX to those looking for an enjoyable read. Do not miss her other novels in the HEX series, OVERHEXED and WILD AND HEXY.
