I had such high hopes for this book. The premise is fascinating, I was drawn to the promise of Thai folklore in an urban fantasy setting. The Dark Consortium is an interesting agency to have operating in secret alongside hapless mortals. And The Red Shoe? One of my all-time favorite fairy tales and ballets.

What I got was poorly thought-out Twilight fanfiction absent a logic train. I tried to push through. I shelved my criticisms, turned my brain off, and hovered my hand over the "I Believe" button, and then 30% into the book I was treated to a Navi-knock-off directly quoting The Legend of Zelda.

And this was right on the heels of a moment where the love interest, Bennet, is shocked! that an adult woman with a brain figured out the loophole to the binding oath he'd taken.

The oath? I will not prey upon any member of my household.
The loophole? Punch is not a member of his household, and therefore he can feed off of her in order to NOT DIE.

How a centuries-old vampire was too stupid to figure out that his oath wasn't ironclad (really, it was a rowboat with a multitude of fist-sized holes holed into it), is disgraceful.

Oh, and did I mention he wears reading glasses just because?

I'm not kidding, this is the actual quote: "Bennet looked at Thomas over the wire rims of his glasses. Bennet didn't need the glasses, being a vampire with supernaturally acute senses including sight, but he found the effect satisfying."

So. If a Manic Pixie Dream vamp[ire is your kind of thing, dive right into Wings Once Cursed and Bound, I guess.

And yes, I'm aware this review doesn't make me sound like much fun, but if you're writing satire of a genre, at least market the book in such a way. use words like "unhinged", "humorous take", "quirky", or "tongue-in-cheek". I would absolutely be on board with a book poking fun at the enjoyable ridiculousness of SJA and JLA. But market it in such a way that a reader isn't expecting urban fantasy and paranormal romance that makes sense.

Interesting fantasy romance with Thai mythology woven in. I haven’t read other books with Thai mythology so the premise was intriguing to me. It was an enjoyable read that seems to be setting up later books. The beginning of the story had me completely hooked. Later events are a little rushed and confusing at times. There’s still a lot I’m waiting to learn about the kinnaree and the consortium, so I will definitely be reading the next book. Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for the arc.

This book was a hot mess and while usually that would turn me off it somehow just seemed to work for the story. I loved how this story began; the tale of the red dancing shoes is one that i remember as a child so i was really drawn into what was happening. I enjoyed the characters but there wasn't much development within themselves over the arc of the story which i would have expected due to the story line. It didn't really retract from the book it's self but i would have loved to see more growth with Punch especially. i loved all the mythical creatures that show up in this book. It was really neat to see ones that i knew and learn more about ones that i hadn't heard about before. All together i am excited to see where the Mythwoven series is going to go next and look forward to the next book.

Punch (who we later learn is named Peeraphan) is a dancer who receives a new pair of shoes prior to a performance. She is unaware that the shoes are cursed and whoever wars them cannot take them off and will dance to their death.

Bennet was on his way to intercept the cursed shoes but was too late. He finds Punch wearing them, but when she's able to stop dancing while still wearing them, he's surprised and confused. He then saves her from a vampire rival and the two are thrown together.

I liked the Thai mythology and mythology. I wish they had delved more into the mythical creatures and the supernatural. I needed to know more about the myth as I had no prior knowledge.

This book held my interest enough that I would read the next one hoping that one pulls me in further. I would have liked the romance to be amped up more as well.

I would say I don't think the marketing of this being like a Sarah J. Maas book holds up. But it was still an interesting read and would have been more so with more of the mythology being told.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Sourcebooks Casablanca and Dreamscape media for both an ARC and ALC in exchange for my honest review.

You’ll be into “Wings Once Cursed & Bound” if you like:
Finding love again tropes
Brooding, stoic male leads
Feisty, a teeny bit eccentric female leads
Lots of mythical, fantasy beings

Dance.
Magic.
A secret society that reminds me of The Librarians.
References to stories, myths, and ballets I'm not sure I know but sound intriguingly familiar.

There's the torn heroine, caught between who she is and who she wants to be. Between following her heart and running from vampires. (Literally.) Or maybe running to?

And a menagerie of fae. Vampires. Werewolves. Mermaids. Witches. Maybe many more! And Punch: kinnaree.

My only question is, why do these stories always take place in the Pacific Northwest? Is it truly that magical?

I liked this a lot. Wings Once Cursed and Bound is an intriguing start to a paranormal romance series. It is getting marketed as “for fans of Sarah J Maas and Jennifer Armentrout,” which I think is setting up assumptions about the book that won’t hold up. It is a fantasy romance, but it’s set in an alternate universe Seattle, not a fantasy world.

Peeraphan, called Punch by her friends, is at a dance rehearsal when she is offered a gorgeous pair of red shoes. She is entranced by them. Just as she puts them on, we meet Bennett, a vampire who has been tracking the shoes, hoping to get them before they wreak havoc. The shoes are the cursed red shoes from the Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale. Instead of dancing until she dies, Punch is able to start and stop at will. Peeraphan is a kinnaree, a Thai bird woman. She can resist the compulsion, but not indefinitely.

Bennett convinces Punch to leave with him when a vampire from a rival shadowy organization shoes up also hoping to collect the shoes from her corpse. They escape after a fight to Bennett’s house, which is also the headquarters for a supernatural organization tasked with tracking down cursed and magical items.

There are fight scenes and moments of life threatening danger, but overall, Wings Once Cursed and Bound is gentle. There is no jealousy, no love triangles (yet), no one planning to serve Punch up as bait. There are a lot of conversations and introspection, and refreshingly, no one gets defensive about Punch being at headquarters. Everyone’s focus is getting the shoes off safely and neutralizing them so they can’t harm more people. The characters come from a many different folklores and mythologies. The vampire and the werewolf growl at each other, but have worked together for centuries. Even Punch’s pet sugar gliders get respect.

It isn’t perfect. The talking could have been tightened up. It isn’t explained why Punch was given the shoes, and the explanation I pieced together doesn’t quite work. I might have missed an essential detail, so this might be a me problem.

Those quibbles aside, Drake lays the groundwork for a really interesting series. There’s an antagonist that I’m sure we haven’t seen the last of, two nine tail fox (kitsune) shifters (setting up a nice why not both situation for the witch), and a dragon I hope we get to spend more time with. Drake also introduces the possibility of a battle corgi and Yes, Please!

Tropes: found family, my boyfriend is a corpse, monster boyfriend, secret supernatural society, come with me if you want to live, witches, dragons, fae, the centuries old werewolf who follows his family, insta-love, medium spice.

CW: magical shoes attempting to cause the wearer’s death, grief, kidnapping.

I received this as an advance reader copy from Sourcebooks Casablanca and NetGalley. My opinions are my own, freely and honestly given.

Similar Books (Beta)

DNF on this title. While the description and inclusion of the Thai culture interested me, the pacing of this book was haphazard. This book would had benefitted from an introductory chapter before jumping immediately into the story. The rapid introduction of the main characters left little room to develop affection to continue on with the story. This problem continued throughout as the author added even more side characters that had little development within several chapters, which can get overwhelming to readers. I may give this a try again when it comes to my library, but at the time, this book failed to keep my interest.

4⭐️ 1🌶️

- M/F
- Asian American Rep
- Thai mythology
- Vampires/Fae/Werewolves/Dragon
- Cute animal sidekicks
- Epic journey/ quest
- Cursed objects

I really enjoyed this book! Piper wove such a vibrant story that beautifully combined Thai mythology with mythologies from all over the world to create an eclectic cast of characters that I loved so much!

One day a mysterious donation shows up while Peeraphan is at dance rehearsal that includes a pair of beautiful red satin dancing shoes that fit her perfectly. But little did she know that these shoes are cursed to make the wearer dance to death. With the help of a sexy, stoic vampire and her long lost cousin, who happens to be a werewolf, Peeraphan embarks on quest to discover how to remove the shoes. Along the way she meets a host of other supernatural beings and accepts that she might not be as human as she thought.

I loved these character so much! Peeraphan was such a kind and open minded person who risked her own safety to save Bennett when he was injured trying to protect her. But she wasn’t a pushover. I died when she called Bennett on his crap. I loved that she was a Kinnaree! I think I’ve only read about them in one other book and they are really interesting and beautiful!

Bennett was the sexy vampire boyfriend of our dreams. He promised never to care for another after he outlived his human lover. But he was unable to resist Peeraphan who accepts and loves him without judgement. I loved the enemies to friends banter he had with Thomas and how Peeraphan called it a bromance.

My absolute favorite part is this book was the running joke about Peeraphan not being “too dumb to live.” As someone who absolutely loathes dumb characters and often says they were too dumb to live, this just spoke to my soul and made me incredibly happy.

As much as I loved this story, it was written in third person POV and I always struggle a little with this and is the reason for 4⭐️.

I loved the whole cast of characters in this book and I can’t wait to see what happens next. I wonder if the next book will focus on Peeraphan and Bennett or if maybe we’ll get one focused on Thomas.

Catherine Walsh’s Holiday Romance was my favorite holiday romance of 2022, so I was excited to dive into another of her novels. The Matchmaker is set in a small Irish village called Ennisbawn where Katie Collins has grown up, raised by her grandmother after her parents died in a car accident when she was five.

Ennisbawn isn’t a fancy place, but its place in the hearts of its inhabitants is large. Katie works in a pub run by Adam, who acted as a sort of father figure for her. Outside the pub, there’s a wishing well where her parents met. Katie still lives with her granny and spends her days with her two best friends whose lives also center around the pub.

Change is coming, though. A wealthy real estate developer has bought up large swaths of land in Ennisbawn and is building a luxurious hotel. Led by a team manager named Josh and his contractor, Callum Dempsey, the builders have disrupted Katie’s every day, starting each morning when she’s awakened by the sound of construction vehicles. Katie is filled with resentment . . . and with interest. Callum is incredibly handsome, and he doesn’t seem to be quite as committed to the destruction of Ennisbawn as his boss.

Still, all things considered, Katie doesn’t love the plan, but she’s resigned to it . . . until she discovers that—through a series of legal machinations—they’ll be knocking down her beloved pub to make way for even more hotel-centered building.

So, Katie sets out to do the only thing she can think to do: revive the traditional match-making festival, emphasizing the tradition and culture that will be wiped out by the hotelier’s plans, bringing positive media attention to the village and negative media attention to the company’s project.

The only problem? The festival has dwindled—like the town—over the years, so it’s more of a recreation than a revival. But Katie is (or may be?) up to the challenge.

Just like Holiday Romance, The Matchmaker shines because of its characters and because of the authentic way that Walsh builds their relationship. The premise of each of these novels may be just outside the bounds of reality, but the relationships develop without the normal false barriers and miscommunications that plague some romance novels. Katie is a refreshingly self-aware protagonist, and Callum is just great: sincere and down-to-earth in his developing feelings for Katie and for the town. I also absolutely loved the secondary characters—Katie’s friends and family—who bring such a richness to the novel. Catherine Walsh is an author whose backlist I must dive into soon!

Peeraphan, aka Punch, is a dancer. She is given a pair a beautiful red shoes and as soon as she sees them, she must put them on. Bennet works for a consortium that hunts down supernatural objects. He was sent to retrieve the red shoes that will compel the wearer to dance until they die. Now that someone has put them on, he’ll have to wait until they die so he can safely retrieve the dangerous shoes.

Wings Once Cursed & Bound has a promising premise. The mysterious consortium reminds me TV shows like The Librarians and Warehouse 13, two shows I’ve watched numerous times. I was eager to learn more about the Thai mythology and the secrets of Peeraphan’s supernatural lineage.

That said, I was over one-third into the story, and I hadn’t connected with the characters or the situation. I found myself skimming sections, waiting for the story to go deeper than the superficial introduction. There was action, but I felt like I was on the surface, and I wanted to delve deeper. Peeraphan knows so little of herself and who she is; Bennet doesn’t understand why he suddenly cares for someone else. I think because they don’t understand themselves, things stay on the surface. While I understand that there was still a lot of story left when I stopped, I just couldn’t care enough to continue and find out.

This is one that I’ll keep on my bookshelf with the hopes of picking it up again someday, and if you read it, let me know your thoughts. Sometimes a short break is all that’s needed, and then I can pick it back up.

My Rating: DNF

NOTE: I don't give ratings to books I don't finish, however, Netgalley requires a rating. So I rated it 2-stars only because I had to include a rating.

4/5 ⭐
1/5 🌶️
4/5 🎧

I really enjoyed this new world that Piper brought to us, paranormals in a human led world with suspense, mystery and more. I really loved the Thai myths mixed with your standard vampire, werewolf and faerie lore. Piper even has breakdowns of the stories she used in WOCAB at the end of the book, which were fantastic. It was just a smidge spicy and a very slow burn, but it was perfect for this plot driven story.

I listened to this one and really loved Cindy Kay's narrating although it got a star docked just because it was a dual narrated story with only one narrator. If Bennett had had his own voice this would have easily been 5 stars. Cindy did a great job with Peeraphan and Marie and I did enjoy her male voices too.

Peeraphan and Bennett were really fun main characters. Their chemistry and angst was really well done and I loved them both. Bennett's fear of loving was paired perfectly with Peeraphan's optimistic and open armed view of love, the way they came together in the end was so sweet. It somehow still felt like an instalove situation despite the slow burn too.

I don't have any details for what's next in the Mythwoven series, but it felt like Peeraphan and Bennett's story was wrapped up in a way that the next story could be a continuation of them or a different set of characters. Either way I am so excited to see what Piper has in store for us next.

DNF. I didn't finish this book when I realized what this story was about and this fantasy with vampires just doesn't hold my interest. But I do appreciate net galley for giving me this book to review.

I loved this book more than I thought I would. The characters are cute and the plot is great. I did wish that the story was a little longer and delved into the characters personalities and made the connections a little more developed than they were. At times it felt like things were rushed and I wanted more detail. Other than that I really can't wait for book two

I really enjoyed this unique urban fantasy. It had a surprising playfulness to it that I wasn’t expecting but made for a really fun story. I found the world and the characters interesting and I like that it acknowledged the absurdity of some of the situations, instead of taking itself super seriously and/or expecting the reader to completely suspend their disbelief. Also…Peeraphan and Bennett ACTUALLY COMMUNICATE LIKE ADULTS! How novel! The miscommunication trope is one of my pet peeves so having the opposite of the that - realistic, mature communication was an absolute breath of fresh air and I loved it.

Overall a fun fantasy that I would happily read again and will be definitely be keeping an eye out for sequels.

Sadly, this book was disappointing. I am a huge fan of SJM, and this should not be advertised as being in the same realm as her books. I wasn’t able to connect with Punch or Bennett and going between POVs in third person was awkward. The writing was at times hard to follow; sentences were too long, conversations were weird, this felt more like a first draft than a book ready yo release. I did DNF this book, I just did not want to read any more of this book. Thanks to the publisher for the chance to read.

I was very much was excited to read this book. It was promoted for fans of Sarah J. Maas and Thai mythology. I am a fan of Sarah J. Maas. And I'm always interested in learning about mythology from other cultures.

Sadly, this book didn't make connections to either promotion. I would not put this in the same category of the books written by Sarah J. Maas. This is an Urban Fantasy book with supernatural creatures (vampires, werewolves, witches, etc). with a unhealthy romance between Bennett and Punch. I only say it's unhealthy as this book takes places over a 24 hour period, and by the end of it the main characters are talking about love and moving in together. There's also a huge lack of mythology in this book. Yes, it's mentioned but that's it. It seems all the supernatural creatures know about the kinnaree. But no one wants to give up that information for the reader.

The double third-person POV was also strange. I don't mind a third-person POV story but having it switch between the characters was odd. And they hardly talk to each other!!! The reader only learns information from the characters through their thoughts rather than their interactions with each other.

I enjoyed reading this fast paced , suspenseful urban fantasy book. The author did an excellent job blending the Thai folklore with the urban fantasy world. The main characters were bold and the dual pov chapters made it easier to fully understand the story. I enjoyed the slow burn romance and the time they took to develop their relationship. I look forward to the second in the Mythwoven series.

I will not try to be harsh because the book was not bad. I enjoyed it, but it could have been better.
It was incredibly fascinating to read about Thai mythology and Kinnaree because I had never read anything about it before.
To be honest, I don't think we needed so many POVs. It seemed a little bit too fast-paced to me because there was so much information and many things thrown at us in a short period of time. Also, I could not see Bennet and Punch as a couple at all so the romance part could have been skipped altogether.
Bennett didn't strike me as a really interesting guy in general, while Thomas piqued my interest. Overall, it wasn't horrible, as I said I enjoyed it, but any comparisons to Maas's books would be misleading. The book's cover is stunning!

Wings Once Cursed & Bound
2.5 Stars

Wings Once Cursed & Bound had the potential to be great, but completely fell flat for me. I couldn't just fall into this book and enjoy the experience. This book was all over the place. Plots and characters are not completely fleshed out. There are holes in the story that I can't overlook. The politest thing I can say is, it reminds me of when Kindle Unlimited started publishing a lot of un-edited books. I got sick of waiting for something good to happen. I did finish this book, so I can't say I'd recommend it.

All in all, I just think this book reads like a WIP. It feels rushed and not complete. If the author gave it a little more time. It would have made a big difference.

Thank you, NetGalley and SourceBooks, for an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.