The Kiss Curse

The second installment in Erin Sterling's Graves Glen series, following The Ex Hex, is set in Graves Glen, Georgia, a small mountain town powered by magical ley lines, its underlying magical network, and known for its elaborate Halloween tourism. The Penhallow family, a powerful Welsh witch dynasty, founded the town, but in the previous book the Jones family took over its magical stewardship after discovering the Penhallow ancestor had stolen power from their own ancestor, Aelwyd Jones.

A prologue set 13 years earlier introduces Gwynnevere "Gwyn" Jones as a rebellious young witch attending Penhaven College, the town's witchcraft school. During a spell exercise, Gwyn accidentally creates a creature that attacks her professor. Before she can fix it, a young man destroys it with magic. Her lab partner identifies him as Llewellyn Penhallow, a member of the founding family. Gwyn is irritated rather than grateful and dismisses him when she learns he is leaving for Wales.

In the present, Gwyn runs Something Wicked, a witchy tourist shop on Main Street. Her cousin Vivi teaches at Penhaven, and her mother, Elaine, is away in Arizona. When Gwyn and Vivi discover three young witches, Sam, Cait, and Parker, created a fake ghost to boost the town's Halloween atmosphere, Gwyn agrees to mentor the trio, calling them her "Baby Witches." With Vivi and her husband Rhys Penhallow about to leave on their honeymoon, Gwyn insists she will manage alone, though privately her store is struggling. She holds a grudge against Rhys's brother Wells, the same Llewellyn who showed her up in class, for that incident and for skipping the wedding.

In Wales, Wells tends an empty pub built on an Anchor Point, a site where the Penhallows planted a spark of ancient magic. His father, Simon, visits and laments that the family legacy has been reduced to tourist kitsch. Wells volunteers to go to Graves Glen and open a shop. Simon agrees and gives Wells his silver signet ring engraved with Penhallow dragons. Afterward, Wells's brother Bowen warns that magical power shifts can attract dangerous forces, especially around Samhain, the witch's Halloween.

Wells arrives unannounced, clashing with Gwyn immediately. He announces he is staying permanently and opens Penhallow's Magical Goods, an elegant shop directly across from Something Wicked. Gwyn accuses him of stealing her customers; Wells insists he serves a different market. The rivalry escalates until Gwyn retaliates by featuring Sir Purrcival, her talking cat and the result of a magical mishap the previous year, as a viral Saturday attraction that boosts her sales.

When Gwyn discovers Wells accidentally sold an enchanted crystal to a non-witch customer, she confronts him in his cellar. While arguing over a box, a velvet bag falls and showers them in pink glitter. Convinced a love spell is at work, they kiss passionately before Gwyn pulls away. Both agree to pretend it never happened. Vivi later reveals that love spells cannot override genuine will, meaning the kiss reflected real attraction. Rhys discovers the glitter was a shipping mix-up: an edible novelty product with no magical properties. Wells realizes the kiss was entirely real but keeps this to himself.

A powerful witch named Morgan Howell arrives in Graves Glen, introducing herself as a former Penhaven student. She radiates immense power and donates generously to the town's festivities. The Baby Witches share rumors about her involvement in dark magic. Before Vivi and Rhys depart, Gwyn's magic falters for the first time when a protection spell fails. She brushes it off, but privately she is unsettled.

At Morgan's party, Gwyn and Wells enter together. The house is enormous and filled with witches from their Penhaven era, including Rosa, who was among a group asked to leave the college years earlier. Both sense something wrong with the magic pervading the house. Each slips away to investigate, and they meet at a hidden staircase leading to an attic full of dark artifacts: paintings of witch burnings, thumbscrews, and heavy trunks radiating dark energy. When Morgan approaches with Harrison Phelps, another former Penhaven student, Gwyn kisses Wells as cover. Afterward, Wells confesses the glitter had no magic: Their first kiss was real.

They investigate Morgan together. With the Baby Witches' help, they steal Morgan's student file from a magically secured office, but it reveals only that she was "advised to withdraw due to inappropriate and unseemly magical practices." Later, at a secret overlook above the town, Gwyn and Wells share an unguarded conversation and a kiss with no pretense. Both acknowledge their attraction, and their relationship deepens over the following days.

Gwyn's magic fails again when Sir Purrcival goes missing. Wells tracks the cat with his own power, and Gwyn invites him inside. They spend the night together, and Gwyn realizes Wells feels right in her life in a way no one else has. Meanwhile, the Baby Witches make a critical discovery: Wells's signet ring is cursed with two combined spells. One drains magical power through proximity, and a second blood-magic spell binds the ring to its wearer. Every moment Wells spent near Gwyn pulled magic from her. A black band appears on Wells's finger when the curse is exposed. Wells is devastated and insists his father could not be capable of such evil. Gwyn believes Wells was unwitting but is hurt by his defense of Simon. Without a word, Wells uses a Traveling Stone, a magical teleportation talisman, to vanish.

In Wales, Simon casually confirms everything: He cursed the ring and staged his melancholy visit, knowing Wells would volunteer to go to Graves Glen. Wells declares nothing about the family is worth preserving and retreats to Bowen's hut, where the brothers spend over a week developing a reversal spell with blood magic, ancient texts, and Wells's own blood. Bowen notes that Wells never contacted Gwyn.

Back in Graves Glen, Gwyn is heartbroken and nearly powerless. During the Fall Festival, Morgan lures Gwyn away and reveals her true nature. Morgan and her coven, including Harrison and Rosa, chain Gwyn to a black stone table in Morgan's attic. The group was expelled not for minor infractions but for blood magic, and they intend to spill all of Gwyn's blood before Samhain to harvest the Jones bloodline power.

As the coven chants, Gwyn refuses to surrender. She concentrates until a spark of magic responds. Her power was never gone, only suppressed. The spark grows into full force, and she blasts free. Wells arrives moments later, alerted by the Baby Witches, who used a Traveling Stone to reach him. Together they fight the coven. When Morgan lunges at Wells with a dagger, Gwyn deflects her with a blast of magic. Morgan stumbles into a Soul Catcher, an artifact that traps victims in another dimension, and the trunk absorbs all the dark witches. Bowen's reversal spell turns out to be unnecessary; Gwyn restored her own magic through sheer will.

Vivi and Elaine arrive, sensing Gwyn was in danger. The three Penhallow brothers reunite for the first time in years to discuss Simon, and Bowen volunteers to deal with their father. The next day, Gwyn marches into Wells's shop, where he delivers a rambling speech confessing his love. Gwyn tells him she does not need grand gestures: She wants all of him, including the disaster parts. They kiss as the Baby Witches press their faces against the window. The story closes with Gwyn and Wells arguing over their partnership name, "Jones and Penhallow" versus "Penhallow and Jones," as Gwyn reflects that wherever they are together is home.