When Cloudy With A Chance Of Withcraft came out, in February (you can read my review here), I was very much looking forward to the second of Mandy M. Roth’s Grimm Cove series, as I knew it would tell Dana’s story, and of the trio (with Poppy and Marcy), she was, by far, my favourite. The one who resembled me the most.
Unfortunately, it was at that moment that the COVID-19 outbreak happened in North America, bringing its load of stress and anxiety on everyone. For this reason, Mandy had decided to do something that she about never does: she pushed the release of Hexing With A Chance Of Tornadoes by a month, bringing it to the 25th of April rather than the 25th of March. She wanted to make sure that we would get the best book she could offer us. Plus, as I mentioned, it is not something that she does. Hence, contrary to some other writers, who are wont to have their books up for pre-order, only to push them a few times (thus seriously losing my respect as a reader, despite my being a very understanding person when it comes to the fact that writers are human beings), I knew that the wait would be all right.
The truth? It was more than worth it! I seriously trusted Mandy and supported her decision. After all, what’s a month when the author never pushes her releases to later? What’s a month when I know that, as always, her book would exceed our expectations?
If you think “nothing”, you are spot on! An extra month is nothing. Because Hexing exceeded expectations in the best way possible: with a gripping plot, lots of action, lots of romance, and a huge amount of laughter!
A tornado of laughs
Hexing With A Chance Of Tornadoes is the story of Dana Van Helsing (yes, Van Helsing), a 40-year-old lawyer working as assistant DA in New York, where she has been raised by her mother and her grandmother. If her mum passed away while she was in college, her grandmother, Nonna Wilma, is still alive and kicking at 90 years of age, and hell bent on having her only remaining living relative getting settled with little crotch goblins of her own (the crotch goblins are Dana’s saying, not mine!).
In order to help her best friend, Poppy, Dana left her lucrative New York job to move, with her and their friend Marcy, to Grimm Cove. The latter is a part that we already knew about with the first book. What we are discovering is Dana’s backstory, the story of a girl who grew up in poverty, completely oblivious to the supernatural world, and laughing at Nonna every time she claims that she is a witch.
Once she moved to Grimm Cove, Dana meets with Brett, Poppy’s mate and enforcer of his pack (because Brett is a wolf shifter), but also with Brett’s best friend, pack alpha Jeffrey. And sparks fly high between the two. After all, what’s not to love about Jeffrey? He is an alpha with a high sense of responsibility towards his pack, he is hot as sin… and he loves reading fantasy and watch Star Wars movies! A man after my own heart… and after Dana’s stubborn one, too!
However, there is a new menace after the town. Apparently, Dana is at the root of it. She and the others, with some invaluable help, will fight with all that she has to save those that she loves. After all, she is seen as a tornado, and when we see prosecutor Dana, we know another reason why.
Another tornado that we are completely drawn into is a tornado of laughs, which comes every time that Nonna is a protagonist of the action. It is without mentioning Marcy’s quirkiness, Burgess the tree-rat (again, Dana’s words), Poppy’s over protectiveness, the banter between the men, and so much more.
Characters that we can only love
One thing about Dana that endeared her to me even more than her fiery temper and badass attitude is that she has an inner strength that I didn’t know about. Learning of her backstory was definitely something that helped in that regard, with a widowed mum for most of her life and a tradition-minded grandmother. But her Italian temper, which we’ve seen in the first book, is what carried her through life, along with the values her mother gave her: to work hard and harder still to have a good education and do what she wanted in life.
However, she is not the only lovable character in the series, or in the book. I really do love Marcy and Poppy, even though Marcy too often appears off her rocker and Poppy is so meddlesome that sometimes, I only wanted to say, “Shut the duck up already!”. But they are hilarious and we know that both of them and Dana would do anything to protect the other(s).
Another aspect that is showing very much is the relationship between Brett and Jeffrey. Their bromance is awesome fun. Mandy M. Roth is one of the best in portraying the bonds of friendship/brotherhood between men. Be it with the Ops, or the Druids, or most of her series, there is always this male bond between some of the characters that is perfectly pictured, on top of the female friendships, which are also spot-on. For many writers, this part of the relationships between characters is usually only shown on the surface, but with Mandy, they are an important part of the stories, which makes them more realistic. I know we’re talking supernaturals, here, and that men are, by nature, the “strong ones” (because alphas, you know), but even then, many don’t go in depth into the bro part of things in those books, which can sometimes make me lose part of my interest. Mandy is one of the few writers who dig deeply into the masculine relationships, be it brotherhood, friendship, or kinship.
Finally, let us not forget about the Geriatric Team. They honestly killed me and made me laugh so hard that I can’t wait for the next book to see them all again!
A little music
Two songs, to conclude, because both were mentioned in the book and, well, they are artists that I truly love and songs which are perfect for a run (like for Dana), but they are also awesome for any type of workouts.
Next comes Marcy’s story
The next story of this series will be Marcy’s, Spellcasting With A Chance Of Spirits. I cannot go into too much depth as far as this is concerned, as this would give major spoilers into Hexing. However, I will say this: 28 May cannot come fast enough!
My Goodreads review
Hexing with a Chance of Tornadoes by Mandy M. Roth
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
The book might have been a month delayed, but it was well worth the wait.
I laughed so hard! Yes, Dana’s and Jeffrey’s story was as awesome as I thought it would be (after all, Dana has been my favourite of the trio from the get go), but Nonna stole the show, making me howl with laughter every time she was an active protagonist of the action.
A terrific read!
View all my reviews
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