Peeraphan "Punch" is a post-college twenty-something working for a dance company in San Francisco. While at rehearsals one night, Sirin, a friend and fellow dancer, brings her a beautiful pair of vintage red shoes. After Sirin convinces Punch to wear the shoes during rehearsals, Punch finds herself trapped by the curse of The Red Shoes. Bennet, a centuries old born vampire, was hoping to track down The Red Shoes before they found their way onto the feet of their next victim. Normally, Bennet would have allowed the curse of The Red Shoes to take its course, but there's something about Punch that compels him to try and save her life. Bennet whisks Punch away to a hidden mythological world of vampires, werewolves, and fairies where sparks fly as they work together to try and break the curse of The Red Shoes before it takes her life. Along the way, Punch comes to learn she's not quite human herself and has much more untapped power than she expects.

I was initially really excited by the premise of Wings Once Cursed and Bound. I went to Thailand last fall and thought it would be really cool to learn more about Thai mythology through this new fantasy series. However, I found out pretty quickly that I was not getting the story I expected. This book's pitch does not paint an accurate picture of what you're actually getting. Perhaps if I'd read Sarah J. Maas or Jennifer Armentrout before, I'd have had a better idea of what I was getting. This is not a historical fantasy centering Thai mythology with a secondary romance plot. This is an urban fantasy romance with most characters being from well-known European mythology (vampires, werewolves, witches, fairies, dragons, etc.) Punch is a Thai mythological being called a kinnaree, although the story has very little to do with that. In fact, she doesn't know what that really means nor do any of the other characters. It's teased that future books in the series will delve more into the mythology of kinnarees; however, that's not enough to keep me reading at this point. I did not enjoy Drake's writing style; I felt like I was reading YA rather than an adult book. Additionally, I am not a fan of insta-love, especially when not executed well. The whole story takes place within several days where we're constantly told the characters are falling in love with each other, but there's nothing in the writing that makes me believe this romance. I hope this book finds its audience, because I am not it.

Thank you to Net Galley for my e-arc. All views are my own.

Wings Once Cursed & Bound, by Piper J. Drake, follows Peeraphan Rahttana, also known as Punch, a woman hiding her identity as a kinnaree, a mythical Thai bird princess. When she's tricked into wearing the cursed red dancing shoes of legend, a vampire named Bennett sweeps her into a world of supernatural beings while they try to figure out how to save her from the curse. As she and Bennett grow closer and Peeraphan finds herself appreciating the chance not to have to hide her identity, she ultimately must face the truth of what she is and whether she is willing to do what it takes to keep her newfound freedom.

This book had a lot of promising aspects, but ultimately falls short in a lot of ways.

I did really enjoy the worldbuilding aspect of it. The interactions of different supernatural beings from all over the world was super interesting and wasn't really something that I had seen in urban fantasy before. While I do think the worldbuilding could have been done a little better, I do also recognize that this book works on a very compressed timeframe, taking place over the course of a day, and that those details might not have been realistic to explain.

The Darke Consortium, the organization that Bennett is part of and which deals with magical artifacts, was definitely intriguing; each of the members that we see are unique in their magic and in personality. This book is planned to be the first in a series, and I assume that missions for the Consortium would make up the bulk of the stories covered. I would be interested to see where the series goes; there's a lot of scope within the world Drake has created that there are many different ideas to be explored, and I think that it could only improve from this first book.

I think the biggest of this book's problems was that it was trying to expand a plotline into a full novel that simply did not have enough going on. Taking place over only 24 hours and without any real subplot beyond the poorly-executed romance, the book drags despite being only 300 pages long. The story of the magic shoes was quite simplistic and simply did not give the novel enough substance to work with.

The whisper-thin plot might have been okay if the characters were more interesting, but unfortunately I could not tell you a single defining trait of either Peeraphan or Bennett, our two protagonists. They quite literally have no personalities, beyond Bennett having a shred of the typical adult romantasy "alpha male" archetype. Their backstories are virtually non-existent, and there is no sign of character development. The latter is excusable due to the compressed timeline of the book—I'm not expecting full character arcs over 24 hours—but literally anything to make me care about these characters would have been appreciated. Additionally, their romance arc is far too insta-love-y for my taste; there is no development or anything, but they are still completely obsessed with each other by the end.

Overall, though this book was quite promising in its setup and worldbuilding, its execution left a lot to be desired. I think it probably could have been more successful if it was shorter in length or focused more on character; this very easily could have been a solid coming-of-age story for Peeraphan, but splitting her page time with Bennett and not actually developing that aspect of the book beyond a single chapter simply makes this book full of missed potential. I would still recommend giving it a shot if you're looking for a quick read in an interesting urban fantasy setup, Despite this book being a hot mess, it was still kind of a vibe, and I really do think that this series has potential. Ultimately, however, I can't give this installment any higher than a 3/5.

This book is totally underrated! I highly enjoyed this read, and I think the blurb is very misleading. I wouldn't comp it to SJM and JLA like the it says, but maybe KF Breene or Ivy Asher. It's definitely an urban fantasy/paranormal romance which I loved because I can never get enough of vampire love interests. I might even go as far as to label this one cozy, as there's a ton of elements that fit the type with found family, fairytale objects, and supernatural characters of all types. It's multi-POV, and each character has a distinct tone of voice which I really appreciated. There's also a ton of sexual tension, and even a few really good spicy scenes. Overall, this book was such a pleasant surprise for me, and I'm looking forward to reading more of this series!

I was intrigued by the premise of this book but found the execution to be lacking. The characters seemed too powerful and clever, the only mistakes they seemed to make were in their relationships with each other. And the book goes to great lengths to try and convince of us how powerful and incredible and amazing the characters are compared to other people. Personally I don't enjoy reading books that treat their characters this way. Its a vampire story so I expect the vampires to the stronger and faster than anyone else to have certain territorial and possessive tendencies, but they should still be flawed and capable of making mistakes, otherwise they're boring to read about.
I also felt that the romance between the two main characters developed too quickly. Almost as soon as they saw each other they wanted to jump each other. There was no easing into attraction as they got to know each other, they just immediately were attracted to each other and in love.
The supernatural and fantasy elements were really cool and I loved that it was heavy on Eastern mythology instead of just focusing on Western mythology, but the story itself just didn't do it for me.

This was an enjoyable first book in a series. I like the idea of mythical items out in the world and supernaturals are out there hunting them down like a treasure hunt. This book started off with plenty of action and I was hooked from the beginning. The pace did slow quite a bit while characters were introduced and the world was set up. It felt like a long time had gone by but in actuality is was only a few days. This resulted in a sort of insta-love scenario but it didn't quite feel like one. I'm interested in reading more books in this series when they come out.

Four and a half stars

Peeraphan Rahttana’s cousin hands her a gorgeous pair of dancing shoes during rehearsal and she tries them on, not recognizing that they are enchanted. Bennett Andrews has been tracking these cursed shoes and is sorry to arrive just in time to see them claim a victim…

A born vampire, Bennett has centuries of experience in the supernatural world. Peeraphan’s not a creature he’s familiar with, though he if he’s honest with himself, he’s deeply attracted to her and her bright and intelligent curiosity about herself and her place in this world. A kinnaree, a bird creature from Thai mythology, Peeraphan feels as if she’s sprung fully formed from nothing, without others around to guide or inform her.

Piper J Drake’s Wings Once Cursed and Bound is the first in her Mythwoven paranormal fantasy romance series, and is a captivating adventure. Bennett and Peeraphan are thrown together by virtue of these dangerous shoes, and find more in common than they might have imagined. Bennett’s household and associates provide an excellent secondary cast, and I’m eagerly awaiting the next in this imaginative series!

Punch a dancer is thrust into a magical world that she felt but never saw by stepping into new dancing shoes. The shoes happened to be cursed and stuck to her feet but they aren't acting like they usually do with mortals which fascinates the one that followed the shoes to retrieve them.
Before this book I didn't know about the kinnaree which in their own mythology are similar to vampires. I haven't read any Thai mythological creatures before. Googling it I have seen golden statutes before of the female with the bird like body and feathers.
Punch (Peeraphan) and Bennett have a very interesting dynamic as teacher and student, predator/prey, slow burn attraction as they try to remove the shoes.
There are so many creatures in this story then a plot to steal some of the artifacts which is more a double cross within Bennetts group. I did not see that coming. I am excited to see what happens next in their relationship in the next book and what adventures they get into.

Thank you sourcebookscasa for the e-ARC for my voluntary and honest review.

I liked this book a lot! Creative world building, promising romance, plot moved at a decent clip. 5 stars.

✨i’m so surprised by this read! it’s super unique and full of rich thai mythology and paranormal creatures. the protagonist is likable yet flawed and unsure of herself, dealing with being non human and cursed early on in the story. we meet a brooding, handsome vampire love interest… who is besties with a werewolf?!? and this might all sound like too much (I thought it would be) but there was not a single moment where i felt overwhelmed by all of the different mythological creatures/plots that weave throughout the story.

✨this is a great first installment to a fantasy series that i assume will focus on a new mythological story with each installment. with that, there are mentions of many myths in this story that are glanced over, that could’ve gone into more depth, but with the idea of more books to dive deep into other stories I felt like the amount of time that was spent on each mention of different creatures/myths was genius. we got enough, leaving us wanting a little more, but not feeling dissatisfied!

✨the romance in this story was something that was obviously going to happen from the beginning. both main characters are soooo into each other and they have many moment of spice throughout the story. it’s not too much, more so happening at the end with the conclusion of the main plot, but their moments are steamy and sweet and perfect for each character.

✨thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for allowing me to read this eARC in exchange for my honest review!

This was very enjoyable! There is an amazing exploration of supernatural creatures that exist in myth and folklore across the world. The main character, Peeraphan, herself is a supernatural being and once she is introduced to the greater world beyond that of her human one, she is determined to learn everything. The romance progressed way too fast for my liking but nearly every other element had me intrigued the whole time!

3 1/2 stars

This was a fun new fantasy series. I enjoyed reading about different mythical beings along with the standard vampires, fae and lycanthropes. It took me a bit of time to settle into the storyline as it didn't flow easily for me initially. However, once the story fully kicked in, I was drawn into it. I'm not surprised if a new fantasy story takes a while due to necessary world building and so forth but this one almost felt repetitive for a bit and just slow paced. That said, I do feel as if it could have benefited from some more solid world building because it felt a bit patchy in places. Regardless, it still a series I will continue once the additional book/books are released as I'm curious to see where else the author goes with the plot.

Thai mythology isn't something I"m very familiar with so I was interested in reading about it. The bird princess, Kinaree was a refreshing new character to understand. In addition, having the idea of combining the fairytale about the Red Shoes was a clever way to enrich the story. Of course, I was also drawn in by the spicy relationship between Peeraphan and Bennett. Anytime a vampire is involved you can sign me up.

There is definitely a good setup for the rest of this series. I'm hopeful that now that I have the characters somewhat figured out and understand their world a bit, the next book will reel me in quicker. Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. I voluntarily chose to read and review it and the opinions contained within are my own.

3.5/5*

This was an interesting concept and while i have read mythology retelling books, seeing how Thai mythology was represented was very intriguing and though i felt that there were a few things that slowed at times and there were some scenes that could’ve felt that it was adult fantasy rather than YA, i did enjoy the book and looking forward to seeing what will come in the next book.

I'm really mad that I didn't like this one more. It's not awful. It's not even bad. It's just that the sum of its parts didn't add up to the greatness it could have. I mean, we've got all the classic supernaturals with the added coolness factor of an introduction to a Thai bird princess and the red shoe folktale, it should have been an epic story. Instead, we get a solid story but one that only differentiates itself from the many like it by including a new culture. That made me sad.
The plot is pretty standard. Peeraphan is an independent woman, who is secretly a kinnari, that gets trapped in the red shoes of folklore. She's saved and taken to a place where she can get help by the taciturn vampire, Bennet. It turns out Bennet is part of a group of supernaturals that work on collecting and keeping safe the items of myth and power of the world, but his interest quickly turns out to be more for the woman wearing the shoes than the shoes themselves. It's a race against time to get the shoes off before they force Peeraphan to dance to her death.
I didn't really think there was much new material in the plot, but it is used to the author's advantage in the fact that the characters are interesting and there is a clear setup for way more to come. Honestly, I found the side characters way more interesting.
So despite how much I love the fact that we're getting a kinnari in Western urban fantasy, I'm not moved to shout about this one from the rooftops.
All that said, I do think I'll follow the series simply because I'm intrigued by the world and characters Drake created. There's a spark in this story of something greater and I'd like to see if it lives up to the potential implied.

Very grateful to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for the chance to read and review!

3.75stars-WINGS ONCE CURSED is the first instalment in Piper J. Drake’s contemporary, adult MYTHWOVEN paranormal, romance series focusing on a group known as the Darke Consortium, made up of several supernatural powers. This is Peeraphan ‘ Punch’ Rahttana, a Thai bird princess known as a kinnaree, and ancient vampire Bennet Andrews’ story line.

Told from several limited omniscient third person perspectives including Bennett and Peeraphan WINGS ONCE CURSED follows in the wake of the attempted abduction of our story line heroine. Peeraphan Rahttana aka Punch is a Thai bird princess, a mythological kinnaree, and the target of a collector of rare items, artifacts and creatures. A gift of a pair of red satin dance slippers imbued with magical yet deadly powers from an unknown benefactor finds Peeraphan beholden to her would-be rescuer, ancient vampire Bennet Andrews, as they search for a cure to the never ending dance. With the help of several members of the Darke Consortium including vampires, witches, shifters, fae and sidhe, Peeraphan must venture onto a journey of truth, a journey in which Peeraphan’s legitimacy and certainty will free her from the ‘dance of death’. What ensues is the building relationship between Bennet and Peeraphan, and the potential fall-out as the collector makes good on his desire for our heroine, and Bennet must come to terms with the past.

The relationship between Peeraphan and Bennet begins as a rescue but Bennet is gravely injured and our heroine must ‘donate’ blood in order to save his life. Connected at a visceral level, Bennet and Peeraphan must search for a remedy or fix to remove the red satin slippers that are controlling our heroine’s life. Bennet struggles in the wake of losing someone he loved, someone whose life span was limited, someone he compared to Peeraphan Rahttana. The $ex scenes are limited but passionate without the use of over the top,sexually graphic language and text.

WINGS ONCE CURSED is a story steeped in Thai and Asian mythology with a large number of supernatural beings including dragons, vampires, shifters, fae and witches. We are introduced to several members of the Darke Consortium, responsible to locate and retrieve objects of myth and magic: Werewolf Thomas, witch Marie, Bennet’s personal assistant Duncan, winged Fae Ashke-the head of security for the Darke Consortium, Asamoah, and Peeraphan’s sugar gliders Toby and Cori. The requisite evil has many faces


WINGS ONCE CURSED is a story of power and control, obsession and greed, magic and the supernatural, acceptance and understanding. The premise is intriguing and enchanting but the early chapters were more telling than showing, often to the point of discomfort. The romance is fated and tender; the characters are edgy and spirited.



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This books was a wonderful mix of romance, adventure, and Thai mythology. This is my first time reading anything from this author and it was a pleasant surprise. I was liked the tie-in of fairytales and foklore of other cultures. It was so easy to all into the story. I do wish for a bit more romance, but it was sufficient as I'm a huge fan of having a chance to experience folklore and fairytales in a different way. I def give this a 4/5 and can highly recommend this one! Thank you to NetGalley, Piper J. Drake, and SOURCEBOOKS Casablanca for the chance to review this lovely book. I look forward to the next adventure in the series!

First off, I have no idea what is going on with that marketing. This is a straight up paranormal romance, urban fantasy set in Seattle. It’s also the most refreshing vampire and werewolf book I’ve read in a long time.

Peeraphan is getting ready to resume rehearsing for a community dance recital when an acquaintance offers her a beautiful pair of red dance shoes. Enthralled by them, she can’t help but put them on – and ignore the niggling sense of disquiet she’d felt a few minutes before. Unbeknownst to her, she’s now become involved in a power struggle between two groups of supernatural beings: one who wishes to locate and safely store magical artifacts, and one who wishes to sell them to the highest bidder. Both expect her to now be cursed to dance until she collapses, except that’s not what happens because Peeraphan has a secret of her own. And for someone who for so long has been the only supernatural being among humans, suddenly being embroiled in their world – even with a deadly curse hanging over her head – may be what she’s been waiting her life for.

“There are no hand-me-down notes for the self-taught diaspora, especially when one is a supernatural no one realized actually existed[.]”


The book is told in the third person and from multiple POVs, but the most common one was Peeraphan’s. A child of Thai immigrants, very little is known about her own kind, the kinnaree, even by her own family, and it reminded me of real life issues faced by diaspora kids. Peeraphan’s also acutely aware of how different she is. I felt her frustration, her need to prove herself independent from her family, how even as a child she preferred to hide away and read rather than spend time with them. But while that could make her bitter, instead she’s left yearning to fit in somewhere. Which means that once she encounters Bennet and the rest of his organization, well, let’s just say they’re not getting rid of her easily.

Despite, ya know, having a pair of really awesome MURDEROUS shoes stuck on her feet, she still exhibits a child-like wonder and excitement about each new supernatural experience, whether that’s flying or meeting a sidhe or commenting on how vampire’s fangs work. And that last one – there were so many times I wanted to yell “Girl, PRIORITIES” at Peeraphan, but rather than being frustrated I was honestly amused. Another usual source of frustration – the insta-lust between the main characters – was also assuaged by the humor. Peeraphan herself comments on how quickly she’s falling for Bennet, frequently reminds herself not to make “Too Stupid to Live” heroine mistakes, and generally seems to not take herself too seriously.

Refreshingly enough, everyone acts like grownups. All of Bennet’s colleagues accept Peeraphan and treat her with a sort of briskly efficient “well, let’s see how to solve your problem” with sympathy but no pity. It’s delightful found family goodness, though given the amount of characters introduced and the obvious focus on Peeraphan and Bennet, not enough of it. There’s no jealousy, no love triangles, none of that. The closest is Bennet and Thomas’ alpha grumpiness at each other, which Peeraphan hilariously pegged from the first minute. There’s some particularly adorable bonding over food.

Another thing I really liked is the blending of lots of folklore. While the red shoes are Western European, Peeraphan’s origins are obviously Thai, as is Thomas the werewolf. Marie the human witch is part Chinese and part Korean, there’s a sidhe butler, and some other southeast Asian-inspired creatures. There’s also a particularly ingenuous and thought-provoking take on how only a person “free from sin” could remove the red shoes. And overall the plot, if a bit predictable, is enjoyable enough that I basically read this in a few hours because I couldn’t put it down.

There are some places were the book goes off the rails and it’s obvious that Choices Were Made. Peeraphan literally calls Bennet out on his straight-from-the-movies “come with me if you want to live” introduction. She muses about comparisons to another book containing vampires and werewolves. There’s a scene where Peeraphan schleps a wounded Bennet through Seattle on an electric scooter. The book doesn’t take itself too seriously. The whole book is sort of relaxing, which is perhaps not the word you want applied to, you know, a book involving cursed magical artifacts and heists and possible death. It sometimes felt like a tonal mismatch, but on the whole I enjoyed the whimsy.

There are some giant plot holes, most of which can be hand-waved away, but the ending frustrated me. There were several bits of what seemed like very important information dropped by the villains. And then good guys don’t even mention in passing that they’re going to follow up those leads. I mean, it’s perfect sequel bait right at the end of the book! I really do hope there’s a bit more information about supernatural society in general in the next book.

Needless to say, I want more stories about magical artifact retrievals and can’t wait to see what happens next in this series (and if Marie happens to see a certain pair of kitsune again!).

I received an advance review copy of this book from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

The concept of this book is very interesting and I really enjoyed the variety of creatures included in this story; some I already had heard about but some were new to me so that was very fun! I do however feel like the author tried to achieve a ton in one book and as a result, the story and characters as a whole were not as fleshed out as I would've liked. Because of the latter, I also felt less attached to the characters/less invested in the relationships in this book. For example, certain key moments in the relationship between the two MCs felt a bit like just checking boxes instead of the significant moments they were supposed to be.

Content warnings: sexual content, violence.

Thanks to Sourcebooks Casablanca and Netgalley for the ARC for review. All opinions are my own.

I was provided both a print and audio ARC of this book via Netgalley.

I really enjoyed this! It has a huge cast of fantastical and mythical beings that work together to find magical artifacts. This follows Peeraphan aka Punch on a magical adventure after she steps into the famous cursed "red shoes" from the Andersen fairy tale at dance practice. Punch is able to resist the curse of the shoes for a time, but they begin to take a toll on her and no one is sure when she will break. Enter the Dark Consortium and their representative Bennet, who not only wants to collect the shoes but is also interested in protecting Punch and help her explore her not quite human side. Bennet agrees to help Punch break the curse of the shoes and in doing so he introduces her to a world filled with magic, supernatural artifacts, and beings she never knew existed.

I thought this was a fun take on a retelling mixing the Red Shoe fairy tale with a bit of urban fantasy. mythology/folklore, and some paranormal romance. This sets up a solid foundation for the series and I'm excited to see where the author takes Punch and Bennet next. There are quite a few side characters to keep track of, but the main focus is on Punch and Bennet. I look forward to getting to know all of the characters more as the series develops as we only get to know them on a surface level.

This has some mild steamy scenes toward the end. They aren't super graphic and detailed but they aren't closed door/fade to black either. You certainly know what is going on. I actually thought this book was fine for a YA audience until we got to those parts then it was definitely suited for the more mature/adult reader. The romance between Punch and Bennet does develop kind of quickly, but that isn't uncommon in urban fantasy type of books.

I love anything with a mythology and folklore background and I hope to see more of Punch's kinnaree heritage explored and explained in the next book. I haven't come across Thai myths previously and I'd really like to learn more about the kinnaree and the bird princess lore. We get a bit of it in this book, but I hope the author delves more into it as Punch learns more about herself and her abilities as the series progresses.

Overall I really enjoyed this book and I'm looking forward to more books in the series!

First thing first, the cover of this book is gorgeous, and I requested this book just for that. When the description said Thai princess, myth, and cursed red shoes, I couldn't resist. I definitely applaud the author for bringing in so much diversity in the characters and the South Asian folklore.

This book has every supernatural being in it. A vampire, a witch, a werewolf, a fae, and more. A world of humans and supernatural beings living together is a fantasy that I think could be possible. Punch is a dancer who is from Thailand but settled in the United States, knows that she has magic. This magic is undeveloped because her parents have never told what exactly she is. Enters the red shoes and Bennet with whom she finds new friends and herself.

The concept is amazing, and I enjoyed some portions of this book a lot. The camaraderie between the characters together was excellent. However, there were places where the novel falters. Especially the dialogue delivery in some places was stilted and very childish. Punch saying Oh and Wow for everything was getting to me. Having said that, I am really interested in seeing how the characters are fleshed out in the future series.

Thank you, Sourcebooks Casablanca and Netgalley, for this book.

This cover is gorgeous!!!! Incorrectly advertised as a comparison to SJM, Wings Once Cursed and Bound is an urban fantasy with little to no worldbuilding other than mythological creatures exist (vampires, werewolves, fairies, etc) and exist alongside us in secret. Punch herself is a being from Thai mythology (a kinnaree) although she doesn't really understand it in the beginning. I think it is important to understand that Drake's past books have been contemporary romance. Wings is her debut into the epic fantasy series genre. This definitely has a debut vibe with so much potential, however has other parts that needed work. Once I switched my expectations to romance, I enjoyed this a lot more. Spicy scenes were spicy and the plot moved along enough to keep me interested. I'm also a sucker for anything with vampires in it. I liked how it all wrapped up and left the story open for more in the series. I will likely read the next in the series.