{Paranormal Review} The Curse Keepers (The Curse Keeper #1) by Denise Grover Swank

{Paranormal Review} The Curse Keepers (The Curse Keeper #1) by Denise Grover Swank

The wall between our world and that of vengeful spirits has protected humanity for more than 400 years. It’s about to come crashing down.

Ellie Lancaster has lived her whole life by the site of the mysterious Lost Colony of Roanoke, the Virginia settlement that vanished without a trace around 1590. Only the descendants of the two men who banished the spirits of an enemy tribe from the material realm know what really happened to the colony. Ellie is one of those descendants—a Curse Keeper. Her father took pains to teach her what he knew of the curse and the responsibilities of its guardians. He taught her that if the two Curse Keepers ever meet, the curse will be lifted, the gate will open, and the raging Native American spirits will be unleashed to seek their revenge.

Despite her father’s seriousness, Ellie has always taken the legend for a harmless fairy tale. Until she meets the darkly handsome, but downright infuriating, Collin Dailey and realizes everything she was told is true. For when they meet, it’s like the air is sucked from the room. Collin’s presence is electrifying… and it’s not just attraction Ellie feels, but the inexorable pull toward her destiny. The prophecy is real, and now Ellie and Collin must battle supernatural forces and their loathing—and passion—for each other to set things right.

The Curse Keepers are all that stand between the world and its destruction. (Blurb via Goodreads)

Purchase: The Book Depository + Amazon + Barnes & Noble

{Details} ebook, 312 pages. Published November 19th 2013 by 47North. Source: Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

{Rating} 4/5 -- I really liked it!

{Review}

"The moment I laid eyes on him, I knew he was trouble." (page 1, line 1)

What a fabulous first line! The story is intriguing, absorbing and creative. I appreciated how Grover Swank slowly revealed the tale, the curse and the role the curse keepers play.

Ellie has a good heart. And a lot on her plate, she's trying to help her family stay afloat, she's trying to save herself, to save the world. Collin. Big ego. Big talker. Curse Keeper. Secret keeper.

The fate of the world is on their shoulders but nothing is simple for them, their relationship is tumultuous and hot and sexy and they face many obstacles - one shaped liked Jabba the Hut - in their quest. The ending? The ending! My heart broke. I need The Curse Breakers.

{Paranormal Review} The Trouble with Fate by Leigh Evans

{Paranormal Romance Review} The Trouble with Fate by Leigh Evans

Meet Hedi Peacock. She's half Fae. Half Were. And all trouble…

I Have Two Words For Werewolves:

My name is Hedi Peacock and I have a secret. I’m not human, and I have the pointy Fae ears and Were inner-bitch to prove it. As fairy tales go, my childhood was damn near perfect, all fur and magic until a werewolf killed my father and the Fae executed my mother. I’ve never forgiven either side. Especially Robson Trowbridge. He was a part-time werewolf, a full-time bastard, and the first and only boy I ever loved. That is, until he became the prime suspect in my father’s death…

Bite Me.

Today I’m a half-breed barista working at a fancy coffee house, living with my loopy Aunt Lou and a temperamental amulet named Merry, and wondering where in the world I’m going in life. A pretty normal existence, considering. But when a pack of Weres decides to kidnap my aunt and force me to steal another amulet, the only one who can help me is the last person I ever thought I’d turn to: Robson Trowbridge. And he’s as annoyingly beautiful as I remember. That’s the trouble with fate: Sometimes it barks. Other times it bites. And the rest of the time it just breaks your heart. Again… (Blurb via Goodreads)

{Details} Mass Market Paperback, 344 pages. Published December 24th 2012 by St. Martin's Paperbacks. Source: library

{Rating} 3/5 - I liked it

{Review} 

"What do the tree huggers call it? Karma. (page 1, line 1-2)

I didn't expect it to be so depressing. And there is a bit of torture. Didn't expect that. Even so, I enjoyed the book. I thought it was original, Evans included some of the typical elements of fae and werewolves as well as giving her own twist and the intriguing ideas of mystwalkers and the amulets. And karma. Karma should get it's own entry in the list of characters.

Hedi (I can't tell you how many times I called her Heidi) has had a hard life, and it just keeps getting harder. But she's a survivor. And a liar. And a thief. She's also used to running away but now she's forced to stop running and face the past, to deal with the mother of all grudges and all the guilt. Oy, the guilt. I liked Hedi. I liked her sass, her devotion to those she loves and the way she just keeps going, refusing to give up or quit.

Bridge (Robson Trowbridge) has a lot in common with Hedi, loss, fear, the tendency to run. And they're both emotional wrecks. They are so imperfectly perfect for each other. While there isn't a whole lot of romance going on there are tender moments between Hedi and Bridge but they all have a cruel edge, a hurt, but they both know to savor the good moments when they come because they know those moments won't last.

Many fates are left up in the air at the end of the book but it left me wanting to know what will happen in book two, The Thing About Weres.