Laura's Review Bookshelf: Book Review: Hex, A Witch and Angel Tale, Ramona Wray

Reading Level: Young Adult

Hardcover: 254 Pages

Publisher: Createspace, Feb 1, 2011

Parasols: 4

When Ramona contacted me to review this book, I was skeptical. I saw the cover and thought it was adorable. So I said sure, I'll review it. We went back and forth about when I was going to review and do my q&a with her. I decided on a March 22 date. So I'm a day late. I'd fallen behind in reviews. So Sunday, March 20, I finally picked up Hex, A Witch and Angel Tale.

This is a case of don't base a book on it's cover. I love the cover it's cute and quirky and whimsical, but the story in between the covers is darker and absolutely fantastic! I inhaled this book. Lily Crane is a freak. She can't touch anyone without seeing what their life holds for them and then she gets this mind melding headache and seizes. So ever since Lily was little everyone called her the freak.

Enter one Ryder Kingscott. He's caught Lily's eye, but she knows thats all she can get. Is just staring at him, but imagine Lily's surprise when she inadvertently shows up to school early and Ryder is waiting for her. To ask her out. To prom!

Lily doesn't give him an answer right away. She's hesitant. But Ryder is patient.

I loved Lily. She's a great heroine and she spoke rapid fast and was your typical American teen. Which is kinda amazing as Ramona is not even American! The tete a tete between Ryder and Lily is spot on. This book is sexy and well plotted. The mythology Wray writes is interesting in a world that has bursting with paranormal romances.

When Ryder finally gets Lily to go out with him after school, all of Lily's walls that she's kept up are brought down. When Ryder offers her his hand, she refuses. But he knows that she can touch him. That first date scene is so flipping hot and amazing that I had to re-read it a few times. There is something about Ryder that Lily just feels comfortable and as she says "unbroken" around him.

But happiness is not to last long. Ryder knows things about Lily. And then Lucien Bell shows up whereas, Ryder cannot tell Lily the truth, but Lucien can and will. I don't want to give anything away, but the title of book is important.

I could gush and gush about this book, how much I loved it. How it all worked. There are a few problems, minor quibbles. Ramona loves her exclamation points. And the pop culture references could date this book in a few years, but those are minor issues. She ties the story up nicely. Although the ending could make you want more.

Q&A with Ramona Wray

1. What is your favorite word?

Pandemonium.

2. What is your least favorite word?

Nice.

3. What turns you on creatively or emotionally?

Music.

4. What turns you off?

Mess.

5. What is your favorite curse word?

Dang.

6. What sound or noise do you love?

Sea.

7. What sound or noise do you hate?

Glass-scratching.

8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?

None.

9. What profession would you not like to do?

Politician.

What book is on your nightstand right now?

The Iron Thorn, by Caitlin Kittredge.

Why write young adult?

Because I’m incapable of writing for adults. I feel there’s nothing I could say to an adult that he/she doesn’t already know.

Ramona Wray is not someone who always knew she wanted to be a writer. Even though she would scribble incessantly, she never considered turning her favorite pastime into a career. But at sixteen, while shooting pool with friends, she was quite amazed to hear someone on the local radio reciting one of her poems. It occurred to her then that she could aim higher than the school newspaper for publishing her literary endeavors.

A few years later, she left Romania, taking nothing with her but a suitcase chock-full of dreams and her grandparents' stories about vampires, witches, faeries, and so much more. Thus equipped, she traveled the world, always writing, always adding new stories to her collection.

After living in places like Vienna, Milan, and Moscow, she is now happily settled in the UK with her husband and son, where she continues to write, primarily young adult fiction.