Spotlight & Giveaway: Not Your Ex’s Hexes by April Asher

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author April Asher to HJ!

Hi April and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, Not Your Ex’s Hexes!

 
Hello! Hello! Hello! Thank you for having me! I can’t wait to talk about all things bookish & Not Your Ex’s Hexes!!
 

Please summarize the book for the readers here:

After stepping down and moving aside for her sister to take her rightful place as the Witch Prima (leader), Rose, the 2nd oldest witchy Maxwell triplet, suddenly has a whole lot of extra free time and a big desire to find her THING. In the meantime, a botched mission named ‘Operation Equine Freedom’ lands her in hot water and community service hours at the sanctuary run by her one-and-only and very recent one-night-stand.

Half-demon veterinarian, Damian, likes animals more than he does people. Once hexed by a teenager sweetheart, he’s doomed to lose his humanity if he ever falls in love. So the two agree to a friend-with-benefit arrangement that suits them both. And when Rose’s new hobby of supernatural bounty-hunting crosses paths with Damian’s bad-boy history, sparks fly.
 

Please share your favorite line(s) or quote from this book:

I have a lot, but I think my FAVE is:

“I like penises. I’m just not eager to get attached to their owners. Literally OR figuratively.”

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

Without giving too many spoilers, in the book, one of my favorite scenes revolve around an outing called the “No-Pants Express”…and it’s based on a REAL event in NYC. Like REAL real. There was no way it wasn’t making it’s way into the book.

What first attracts your Hero to the Heroine and vice versa?

At first, just raw, unfiltered attraction. They did have a backroom one-hour-night-stand in the backroom of a bar…but once they were forced to be in close proximity, Damian was drawn to her strength and resilience, and Rose couldn’t deny wanting to knock away his grumpy exterior.

Did any scene have you blushing, crying or laughing while writing it? And Why?

Like I said, the No-Pants Express scene is one of my favorites, but…SPOILERS. Another one is from the opening chapter where their horse rescue operation goes very, very awry. The entire time I was writing it, I could practically envision the entire scene playing out in my head.

EXCERPT:

Rose had passed the run-down barn on her way into the city after a failed meditation class at Jones Beach, and it had taken everything in her not to liberate the poor horses right then and there—sans plan and backup. But she’d channeled her youngest sister, Professor Olive McBrainy Maxwell, and refrained from any rash decisions.
Until now.
“Who the hell’s going to see us? We’re in the middle of nowhere.” Harper Jacobs, the fourth woman in their quartet of liberators, glanced out the side window into the abyss of darkness. With her green-glowing succubus eyes, she could see better than the three witchy triplets combined. “Even if Vi went supernova again and lit up the sky from here to Connecticut, there’s no one within a two-mile distance.”
The oldest triplet released a hefty sigh. “Seriously? Is this Pick on Violet Day? That happened one time, and only because Rose told me I shouldn’t hold back. The second I realized Sparky was off-roading, I reined it in pretty damn quick if I don’t say so myself.”
“Not quick enough to stop the news station from reporting that we were about to undergo a real-life Independence Day à la Will Smith . . .”
Rose’s laugh ended on a snort and a glare from Vi. “What? She’s not wrong . . . but control will come with time. You’ll see . . .”
“I should only live so long,” Vi muttered grumpily.
Unlike Rose and Olive, who’d exhibited their witchy powers at eight years of age like most in the magical community, Vi’s powers hadn’t manifested until the spry age of thirty-two. Under normal circumstances, it wouldn’t have been a big deal, but as the eldest Maxwell triplet, Supernatural law dictated that Vi would become the next Prima—aka, witch leader, a position their grandma Edie now held.
A magicless Prima was a bit like having a swim instructor who’d never swum a day in their life. It didn’t happen. As the second oldest in the Magical Triad, Rose had assumed the role and spent every waking moment of her childhood—and hell, adulthood, too—training for it.
Until six months ago when Vi’s abilities surfaced and Magic itself announced her the next Prima.
Nearly immediately, Rose could breathe. As much as she loved their grandma, standing by her side as the Prima Apparent had never felt right, and it was because it had never been her path.
It was Violet’s.
A baby witch wrapped up in an adult-sized package, Vi nicknamed her ever-growing Magic “Sparky” because of its love of lighting things up in displays worthy of a Disney light show. At the rate of escalation, it wouldn’t be long before she met—and even surpassed—their grandma, and even though her sister would never express her worries aloud, Rose knew it weighed on Vi like an anvil.
Anyone would feel the pressure. Goddess knows she had when she’d been the Prima Apparent. But what Rose knew that Vi didn’t yet see was that she’d be great at it. Not at all like Grandma Edie, no. She’d put her own unique stamp on the Prima title and provide a much-needed stir in the Supernatural community.
“Supernova aside . . .” Rose steered the conversation away from Vi’s Magic and received a grateful look from her sister. “We’re on Long Island for Goddess’s sake. We can still be seen.”
Harper cocked an auburn eyebrow. “Are we in Manhattan?”
“No.”
“Brooklyn?”
“No.”
“Queens?” At Rose’s pursed lips, Harper waved an I-told-you-so finger in front of her nose. “Exactly my point. If we’re not in one of the boroughs, we’re in the middle of nowhere. They probably don’t even have a decent pleasure club out here.”
All eyes temporarily flickered to the succubus demon.
“What? How much do you want to bet? I’ll search it right now.”
With a heavy sigh, Vi flicked off the lights. “If Lincoln’s Jeep comes out of this night with so much as a scratch, I’m blaming all of you. And not to mention I’ll never forgive you all for making me be the voice of reason. I don’t like it. I don’t like it one bit.”
“You’re the light of Linc’s world,” Rose said, reminding her sister about her fiancé. “He wouldn’t give a damn about the car . . . just that you’re okay.”
A smile flirted on her triplet’s lips as she thought about her True Mate, the Alpha of the North American Pack. Rose’s heart ached with the knowledge that they’d come so damn close to missing their second chance at happily ever after. If anyone deserved to find their soul mate, it was Violet.
And Violet couldn’t have asked for a better one than the gorgeous wolf shifter. Seeing their eyes light up when together was almost enough to make a witch contemplate giving dating another try.
Almost . . . but not quite. For now, Mr. Wiggles would do. She’d just buy batteries at the nearby wholesale warehouse.
A half-mile down the gravel lane and made to look even more sinister by the glowing moon backdrop, a looming barn came into view.
Vi slowed the Jeep to a tentative stop. “If Freddy, Jason, or Michael Myers pop up from behind a hay bale or something it’s every witch—or succubus—for herself.”
Olive pushed her glasses higher up on her nose as she peered out the window. “This place has definitely seen better days.”
Rose agreed. The building and surrounding structures would make the perfect horror movie backdrop. “All the more reason to get those horses out of here. Who has the sugar cubes?”
“I do.” The youngest Maxwell triplet pulled a bag from her hoodie. “Let’s hope they’re sugar addicts like me.”
“Does everyone remember their job?”
Rose received three nods in answer.
“Then let’s do this.”
They all slid out of the Jeep as quietly as possible, Olive’s door closing louder than the others with an audible thud. She grimaced. “Sorry.”
Vi scanned their surroundings warily. “This triplet personality switch thing we’re doing is throwing me off. I’m the Bad Idea triplet, Olive is the Brilliant Brain . . .”
“Thank you.” Olive smiled with a proud nod.
“And you”—Vi drilled a look at Rose—“you’re the—”
“Boring one?” Rose asked, only half-teasing.
“I was about to say the levelheaded one. Not that I’m not up for a little midnight mayhem—Goddess knows I’m a bit overdue—but this is the kind of thing you’re usually talking me out of.”
Vi wasn’t wrong and Rose didn’t have an enlightening reason for the triplet-switch except Vi wasn’t the only sister out of sorts. Not that she begrudged her sister for coming into her Magic and taking her rightful place as the next Prima Apparent, but until six months ago that had been Rose’s future.
Hell, it had been her entire life.
While Olly and Vi had attended summer camps designed for outdoor fun, Rose had been stuck in a room with their grandma learning how to deescalate feuds between grumpy shifters and volatile vampires, and not tick off the witch covens in the process.
Now that Rose had a little extra time on her hands, she was . . . lost . . . and had evidently taken Vi’s former position as the Bad Idea triplet. Except this this wasn’t a bad idea. They’d load those two sweet mares into the trailer and get them the help they needed.
Harper got behind the steering wheel and flashed them a thumbs-up. “Go get it done, witches. I’ll be right here waiting to make a clean getaway.”
Rose and her sisters walked as quietly as possible to the dilapidated barn. The only sound other than their breathing was the distant traffic and the soft huffs of the animals inside.
With Olive shining her phone flashlight on the door’s rusted slide-latch, Rose yanked on the lock, unsurprised when it didn’t budge. She tried again, giving it a little more oomph. It moved an inch before sticking. “Damn it . . .”
“Remind me why this has to be a magicless operation?” Vi asked.
“Because unless these animals have been around Magic before, they could have a bad reaction to it. Getting a hoof to the head isn’t on my list of things to do.”
“See, I didn’t know that.” Vi shot her a pointed look. “Which is why I need a wing-witch with this whole Prima thing. Honestly, how long once I get the title do you think it’ll be until I offend someone by calling them by the wrong name? It’s not only a huge faux pas in the bedroom, you know?”
Rose sighed. “We’ve had this discussion.”
“Discussion implies back-and-forth communication. We didn’t have that. It was me begging, and you flat-out saying no. Adrian is Lincoln’s Second-in-Command. There’s no reason why I can’t have a wing-witch. We could even get you a little button . . . or a sash. No one wears sashes anymore.”
As flattered as Rose was by the offer, it wasn’t happening. For the last six months, she’d been content living in Vi’s Queens studio apartment while she searched for her own thing. That thing may be a little illusive, but she was determined to find it.
Maybe it was what brought her to this run-down farm in the middle of the night and about to horse-nap two sick mares. Who knows? She wouldn’t if she let herself take the easy route.
Harper hung her head out from the Jeep’s open window, and hissed, “Less chitchat and more breaking-and-entering, please. My spidey senses are tingling and not in a good way.”
Vi grumbled, putting her hands over Rose’s on the rusty latch. “Fine . . . but we’re not done with this conversation. On the count of three, yank with everything you’ve got.”
As they hit their count, they each threw their weight into the pull. It finally released with a heavy groan. The second Rose opened the barn door, they were hit with the scent of horse and hay . . . and a few more unpleasant smells.
Vi gagged, covering her nose. “I have never been so glad to be a cat owner. Even Mr. Fancy Pants’s most volatile poops don’t smell anything close to this, and they’re pretty damn putrid after he eats turkey breast.”
Rose sniffed, failing to hide her smirk. “I don’t smell anything.”
Vi threw her a glare because it was common Magical Triad knowledge that while Rose had inherited their father’s mountain-lion shifter eyesight and Olive called dibs on amplified hearing, Vi, unfortunately, had acquired his augmented sense of smell.

Readers should read this book….

If they’re fans of forced-proximity, grumpy-sunshine(ish), one-night-to-forever, friends-with-benefits tropes.
 

What are you currently working on? What other releases do you have in the works?

I’m currently doing edits for the third book in the Supernatural Singles series which is Olive & Bax. I’m not sure I can announce the title yet, but it has had one for YEARS, lol. Then I’m also working on some secret stuff.
 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: One print copy giveaway of NOT YOUR EX’S HEXES by April Asher, US Winner Only

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: If you had the ability to hex an ex, would you? Or would you just like Karma come back around and do the work for you?

 
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Book Info:

In April Asher’s next Supernatural Singles novel, Not Your Ex’s Hexes, a one-night-stand between a willful witch and a broody half-demon conjures an adventure that wouldn’t be complete without several magical mishaps.

For her entire life, Rose Maxwell trained to become the next Prima on the Supernatural Council. Now that she’s stepped down, it’s time for this witch to focus on herself. And not think about her impulsive one-night stand with Damian Adams, a half-Demon Veterinarian who she can’t get out of her head. Neither of them is looking for a relationship. But when Rose is sentenced to community service at Damian’s animal sanctuary it becomes impossible for them to ignore their sparking attraction. A friends-with-benefits, no feelings, no strings arrangement works perfectly for them both.

After a sequence of dead-end jobs, it’s not until Rose tangos with two snarly demons that she thinks she’s finally found her path. However, this puts Damian back on the periphery of a world he thought he left behind. He doesn’t approve of Rose becoming a Hunter, but if there’s one thing he’s learned about the stubborn witch, it was telling her not to do something was one sure-fire way to make sure she did.

Working—and sleeping—together awakens feelings Damian never knew he had…and shouldn’t have. Because thanks to his ex’s hex, if he falls in love, he’ll not only lose his heart—but his humanity.
Book Links: Book Links: Amazon | B&N | iTunes | kobo | Google |
 
 

Meet the Author:

April Asher, aka April Hunt, was hooked on romantic stories from the time she first snuck a bodice-ripper romance out from her mom’s bedside table. She now lives out her own happily-ever-after with her college-sweetheart husband, their two children, and a cat who thinks she’s more dog—and human—than feline. By day, April dons dark blue nursing scrubs and drinks way too much caffeine. By night, she still consumes too much caffeine, but she does it with a laptop in hand, and from her favorite side of the couch.

From the far left cushion, April Asher pens laugh-out-loud romantic comedies with a paranormal twist, but when she’s not putting her characters into embarrassing situations with supernatural entities, she also writes high-octane romantic suspense as April Hunt, her thrill-seeking alter ego.
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