Fantasy, magic and adventure with a fun strong female character named Mae. Yes, this will be a hit with young teens.
The story is fun and both a simple read so it will not overwhelm younger readers.
Good writing that will hold the readers interest and keep them reading to see what happens.
This is currently set as book one of a series.
Readers will enjoy this book if they go in without expectations or hoping for it to be like so many others,
Thank you NetGalley and the publishing company for the advanced e-book edition of the fun story in exchange for review consideration. All thoughts are my own

Title: The Curse of the Blessed
Author: C Tarkington
Genre: Fantasy, Romance?

Kind of remind's me of Goose Girl by Shannon Hale [Highly Recommended]
***A beautifully written book about a princess hiding from her treasonous servant who takes up her identity while traveling to a neighboring kingdom. She hides away in the palace farms and tends to geese, learning to speak with them as well as the wind. She must take back her identity before her servant marries the prince and claims war on their home so that she may take it for herself. The princess although engaged to a man she has only seen from afar while in disguise, can't help but fall in love with a handsome knight she meets after somewhat stealing his horse. 1st in a 4 part series called Books of Bayern.

WARNINGS: Sexual Assault
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Overview: My general thoughts about this book is honestly one of indecision. I both liked and disliked this book. The flow of events were well timed and the character themselves had the potential for greatness. However, there were many things that left me confused more than anything. I am glad I read this book, and would want to read the sequel if one were to be released. However, if anyone was expecting a great fantasy with action, adventure, romance, and magical qualities . . . there are many that would be disappointed to know that most of those qualities, although present, seemed slightly washed over.

Favorite Things: I loved that the strong female character, Mae, was actually a strong female character. She had the power, intelligence, and drive that many female leads say that they possess, but actually don't. In a book like Crave for example, the author annoyingly wrote about how strong a female character Grace was, over and over and over . . . and over again, without giving ANYTHING to prove it. The author of this book however, did a great job of showing and not telling when it came to Mae's strengths. She was brave, selfless, and honest to a fault. She didn't care too often about what other's said about her because she knew that their opinions did not matter at all.

Least Favorite Things: The female character constantly complains about how not many man would want to choose her over a pretty little petite woman like some of the other characters and yet had several men pining for her throughout the entire book. The romance was nothing more than forced connections and slight intrigue taken too far. The only romantic couple that made sense was Livi and Annie. They were two female noblewoman who'd grown up together and fell in love; only to be forced to keep (somewhat) hidden. SA was used by the father of one to "fix" her and failed. Yet they still somehow managed to be together often and not kept apart while traveling and staying in the castle? Surely the father would have wanted to send his daughter with someone that would keep them apart. If Mae could take her attendant, why didn't either of them? Forced or otherwise.

Opinions: The overall story was extremely predictable from the first few pages, and there were many aspects of the story that felt more like a copout, rather than finding a way to make things work out naturally. An example of this was setting up the idea that magic was thought of as evil and that many people have been taken away from their families never to be seen again. Only for the reverse to be found as true and that her magic which she thought of as a curse, many saw as a blessing. So much so in fact that the kingdom officials went looking for anyone with such abilities to possibly bring that magic back into the official bloodline of the king. Another situation I found this to affect is her relationship with the prince. The author used a "common loss" trope to tie the characters together, mixed with a bit of trauma, and a dash of sexual tension. It felt forced and almost cringe. Especially when having Prince Cade being so indecisive and extremely selfish in how he presented his feelings for her. Once moment he's kissing her and the next he's shoving her away and talking about another woman he'd rather marry. That he'd absolutely hate to marry her because he loved her too much. And although that made sense from his trauma, saying it only once or twice and moving forwards would have made his character more likable. Instead, all the way until the end he is trying to convince her through kisses to stay away from him and let him be forced into an awful loveless marriage with someone he's be okay to see destroyed and forced to have heirs with. Like . . . really?

The love triangle created started off pretty pleasant. With the princes friend, Lord Aimon, being charming and flirtations with the main character. However, it soon seemed a bit too strained. There was no choice between the two as there could have been. She began by choosing neither, yet flirting back with Aimon who she later tells she saw only as a friend. I was almost rooting for her and Aimon to start some kind of secret romance with Prince Cades approval. But then she suddenly fell for the prince out of nowhere. It just didn't feel right, but had the set up to be great. Mae's indifference from page one however made the attraction dull and sudden.

Just my mind wondering, but I wish there had been more depth in the triangle as well. For example, I almost kind of hoped that Aimon would have come out as bisexual. If he had once been in love with Cade, but decided to move on because of his role, and then began his attraction towards Mae, it would have brought that depth. Especially if Prince Cade had won her over in a more believable way, taking Aimon's second love from him. Yet he would have been happy for both of them having been in love with both in the past. With how Aimon's loyalty to Cade is written in this story, it wouldn't have been such a large stretch if the imagination for him to have possibly loved and held back his feelings for his best friend.

Felix is an un-needed side character that brings in absolutely nothing to the overall story whatsoever and is only there as a former love interest to mess with Cade and Aimon for all of two seconds before vanishing and reappearing whenever inconvenient. He leaves the woman he is supposed to be in love with in the possible care of would be suitors she is not so subtly using to possibly make him jealous while he has made it clear he only wants her. You can take his character completely out of the book and there would be absolutely no change at all to anything that happened. I am so confused as to why he was put in place.

The world is well described, pulling you in to the atmosphere of the main characters home. Initially i found Mae’s international with her environment and people around her very easy and organic, though that unfortunately seems not to be the case with some of the others further into the book. There were also a few punctuation errors early on.
Overall the story was very good, but half way through didn’t seem as fleshed or or maybe a little rushed.
All in all i would still recommend for someone that enjoys a little bit of magic, intrigue and a sassy lady.

For the digital copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review, I am grateful to NetGalley.
The book's premise was intriguing and kept me reading. I felt bored while reading and had to force myself to complete the book. Although the main heroine, Maela, was brave, sympathetic, and endearing, after a few pages her self-deprecating attitude grew tiresome. If Annie and Livi had been the primary protagonists, I would have liked the novel because they are two of my favourite characters. I read most of the chapters while pacing, although the final few were quite engaging. If the plot had a solid backstory, it might be a little more fascinating. I had high hopes for this book, but I was let down.

This one wasn't a winner for me. I loved the idea and the synopsis however the story in itself is just written in a way that my brain can't comprehend. The book has a lot of repetition, and dialogue.

I think the author would have benefited from a new pair of eyes for editing, as there were so many mistakes in this one.

This book sounded super promising, but unfortunately, it wasn't for me. The story has bones, but the writing style seemed to lean heavily towards conveying information through conversations, resulting in dialogue that (to me) felt oddly formal and stiff. As a result, I found it difficult to get really engaged with the book.

That being said, I liked the tropes that were in the story - a girl with magic hidden for her safety, a competition for the prince's hand, secrets and political intrigue. I also generally liked the characters, though I wish there was more background and POV across the board.

In sum, the story fell a little flat for me given my particular preferences, but there's enough there to enjoy if you prefer lighter fantasy stories without intricate world-building, complex magic systems, etc.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

1.5⭐️ 1.5🌶️

This is not going to be a positive review. The main plot was interesting, but I found myself remembering that these were two seventeen year olds going through a bachelor-esk situation… and that felt icky.

The beginning world building felt like learning about things through two gossips. I would have preferred it to have been inner monologue or showing it rather than telling through very stiff dialogue that continued throughout the entire book. Every conversation the FMC had with one person, she had with 3 others, and we were a party to every single moment. It was horribly repetitive and felt like everything took a million years to play out.

I ran into no less than 20 large editing mistakes, between punctuation or incorrect spelling, even so far as the word subconscious being used instead of self-conscious.

When it comes to the characters themselves, I found the prince to be flat, one note with nearly a character arc. The FMC was annoyingly lacking any self-assurance, no matter how many time she said she knew who she was and what she wanted… which felt like every other paragraph. Repeatedly she was self-deprecating and protested anyone giving her a compliment without backhandedly turning it away from herself.

Every supporting male character is written in a way that is adoring or loving toward the FMC… Which made things confusing until process of elimination brought us to knowing that the prince was the love interest at more than 55% through the book.

The ending was fast, I enjoyed the pace and the plot planned out… but the ending made me question if it was supposed to be a cliffhanger or just a unsatisfying ending, if it was a true ending at all. The stakes weren’t high enough. There was no pull to needing resolution. I find that I can fill in some blanks on my own and be pretty satisfied without having to put myself through a second book.

I’m sorry that this was so negative. The basics, like punctuation and spelling make it very hard for me to finish a book, no matter how much I’m enjoying myself.

Thank you to NetGalley and C Tarkington for the advanced reader copy of The Curse of the Blessed in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

What a fun YA fantasy read! I thoroughly enjoyed it!

We follow Lady Maela Llewelyn, Mae, a young woman who loves her family, her people, and her land. She has also been blessed with a wonderful gift but does not start out seeing it as so. She struggles with hiding her gift all while watching her people weaken and suffer more and more every passing year.

While in the orchard one days, Mae witnessed a child in danger. Unable to stop herself, she saves the child but her power has been witnessed. She does not regret saving the child, but her life path has been irrevocably altered.

She is convinced to travel to the palace to partake in an event meant to find the young prince of the kingdom’s bride. She has no interest in the prince in the least and no ambition to become queen. She does see the potential of being present in the palace though. She would be able to plead for assistance for her people who are already stretched thin.

She travels to the palace with her uncle. Once there, there are many that look down on her because of where she comes from. Though, she is not without friends. Mae meets Livi and Anna on her journey to the palace as well as befriending the highest lord of the land and often finding herself in the company of the prince.

There is more happening below the surface though. A conspiracy it would seem. If only Mae knew how best to protect the people she loves and herself.

I had a lot of fun reading this. It was a quick read. Very much along the lines of my usual fantasy adventures if tampered a bit for a younger audience.

The story is fun and simple. I did find our main character, Mae, a bit obtuse. There is not much of world building in this book, however, I quite enjoyed how uncomplicated the magic was. It just was.

I would recommend this to anybody who loves a good female led fantasy story. Especially for younger teens.

C. Tarkington has written a great book! But I honestly can't help but wish it were the beginning of a series.

Mae has hidden her powers her entire life. Suddenly she is thrown into a situation that could benefit her people. She travels to the capitol to enter a "contest" to become queen.

The book is heavy with scene after scene of conversation. Although this is a turn off for some readers it did not bother me much. The book is less than 300 pages, the story is engaging. The main character, Mae is likeable. Lady Henrietta is detestable, the Prince is complicated, the Highest Lord of the Land is interesting and charming and the Council of Holy Ones and the High Holy One reek of power and a sort of evil. I sincerely hope the book is the beginning of the series

Thank you to C Tarkington and NetGalley for a copy of this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I was expecting a lot from this self published fantasy by C Tarkington and was left a little disappointed.

The story follows Mae, a magic possessed Lady of her impoverished area, Adaria, and her attempts at gaining equality and aid from the crown family.

When the Prince is announced to be in need of a magic wife through way of a competition, Mae’s life is turned upside down as she grapples with controlling and loving her magic instead of the fear that had been ingrained at a young age.

Mae agrees to leave for the competition with the ulterior motive to make alliances and deals for the sake of Adaria and her family. All is not as it seems, as the friends she makes along the way are holding more secrets than she can count.

Mix that with a minor enemies to lovers and The Cursed of the Blessed was born to be a successful fantasy romance, however that was not the case for me.

The world building at the start as well as some juvenile dialogue threw me from the book and ruined what was supposed to be the book’s introduction. I struggled to believe and relate to Mae’s goals as she came across as very “not like other girls”. Her struggles with high society were very real but many of her worries felt a little juvenile and easily fixed. The story did pick up towards the end with the mysterious new magic and I’m excited to see where the next book may take Mae and the Prince, however it seems written for a younger audience than myself.

That being said, I have rated this novel 2.5 out of 5 stars (rounded up to 3)!

The cover is beautiful and I was immediately intrigued by the blurb.

While I felt like this story is written for the younger side of YA, I really enjoyed this book. There are two instances that are inappropriate for younger readers so be wary, but overall the story, characters, and writing lean towards a younger audience that enjoy other royalty series, such as The Selection or even Red Queen.

Mae is our MC and though this is told in a 3rd POV, she is the central figure and we see pretty much all of the story from her side. As she struggles with her power, politics, and even her own heart, Mae finds that she is stronger than she, or anyone else, ever imagined. I loved how passionate Mae is about her people, her land, and how much she wants to fix things. When presented to the king, she immediately raises her voice to express her concerns. The same with the Prince. As the book continues, and Mae (and the readers) learn more about this world, she feels like she should expand her kindness and fortitude to help everyone, and not just her own people. There are ~Chosen One~ vibes, as well as a love triangle (though it is rectified within this novel instead of being dragged out over multiple books, which was refreshing). This is a slow start, but picks up nicely and has a decent pace.

One thing I was not a fan of was this book was mostly made up of dialogue. Almost all the world-building came through Mae speaking with others. And was repeated over and over again. I think because of all the information that was trying to come through, a lot of the dialogue felt stiff and awkward. It was tiring to read. There was one point at the end of the book where Mae herself questions why everyone needed to talk to her all the time. GIRL, SAME!
I feel like perhaps some of the world-building, and even some of important plot points, could have been discovered or revealed in other ways, such as a book, or exchanged in a note. It is stated several times that the MC and the prince love to read, they even visit a library, but are too caught up speaking to each other to ever pick up a book! Okay, well that's not fair. Mae does look at a few books, but they do nothing to drive the plot forward.

Other than the constant dialogue, I enjoyed the characters, and the plot. A lot of the secondary characters were rounded out really well, with their own stories, hardships, and triumphs. There is a larger piece to this novel being teased out, so I expect this to be a series. Don't expect a lot of answers in this first book, as there will definitely be more questions than anything.


What I'm hoping to find out as the series continues:

Mae's powers are beyond what anyone has seen for a long time. Why? Where do her powers come from? How exactly do they work? Is there anything Mae can't do?

There is a power struggle within the realm of Gelardia. Who is really pulling the strings? What exactly are they trying to accomplish, besides gaining power? How does Mae fit into all of it?

How will Mae adjust to playing a bigger role in politics, and the welfare of not just her own people, but an entire nation?

Will the Prince ever get over his own trauma so he can just be happy?????



Thank you to NetGalley and publisher for granting me this book for free in return for an honest review! All opinions are my own.

Thank You Netgalley and the publishers for sending me and allowing me to read this E-ARC.
This book was just okay. The beginning was very slow and I found myself bored while reading it.

Thank you to NetGalley and author, C Tarkington for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review. The Curse of the Blessed is a magical world mixed with The Bachelor.
I enjoyed the main character Lady Mae's spunkiness and intelligence. I also liked the side character, Leanna, and her character arc. Sadly, the romance fell a bit short and the worldbuilding was too reminiscent of other recent fantasies. If you like The Selection series- pick up this book!

Lushly developed but speedy timeline or in other words I would have read another book on the stories her father taught her. Or the history of the political would make another story. It wasn’t lacking but created a desire to have more of the story to read/know. Tell me more.

[Blurb @goodreads]
Lady Maela Llewelyn loves her family and her land. Every year she sees her people growing weaker and sicker as the kingdom demands more and more resources from them. All the while, she hides inside her a magical power in fear she will be taken away by the High Holy Council.

After saving a young girl working in one of the orchards, she is seen using her power by her uncle, who sits on the High Holy Councile and other priests with him. Her uncle convinces her to go to the palace to participate in an event meant to find the crown prince’s bride and the next queen of the kingdom. Mae has no desire to wed the prince, but she sees a chance to speak to the king about her land’s problems and train with her mystical powers.

📍Thoughts
The blurn is as underwhelming as the ending. The FMC was actually described as someone kind, witty, brazen, high born yet humble and ultimately powerful. She is quite likeable. She is the type of a fantasy character that depicts a bad ass queen in the making and has a whole lot potential to be more. I actually pity her that in every chapter at least 4 or more characters needs to talk to her about something. She felt tired dealing with people and honestly, I am right there with her.

Plotline. Think of Selection x Bachelor mixed with magic. There were some really great moments and intricacies that was woven in their somewhere, however, I think the author did not have a clear direction how to wrap up the book.

I can count at least 4 times FMC over heard conversations about rebellion and misuse of power but the identity of the supposed villains were not even explored or uncovered on the book. The selection finale in itself was a big wonk wonk that I had to ask myself, that was the big ending?

Chapters 1 to 15 talked about the FMC's background and travel to the palace. 16 to 27th talked about the budding romance betwen FMC and the prince (with some side High Lord in the mix) so I was really looking forward to the last 3 chapters where everything is revealed. Like why is FMC the most powerful one, what made her magic stood out, what made those on Holy Council want her so bad, etc. And all I got was a downward spiral of an ending. Sure, FMC got the Prince at the end but even then, I have no idea how her and the Prince fared given that the author ended the book with the sad version of a wedding.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this novel. I encourage you to check this one out!

The Curse of the Blessed sounded like a really great idea from the description, and I was eager to give it a chance! C Tarkington has a lovely prose and way of building her world, however I was left wanting when it came to the dialogue and the chemistry of the characters.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

I want to start by saying that the cover for this book is absolutely gorgeous! It pulled me in right away. The writing of this book was fluid and the plot very well thought through. I loved how we were told what magic felt like for the character, that is not something you see in most stories that have a magic element. I overall loved the characters but I personally wish there had been more character development. But other than that I would recommend this for anyone that loved The Selection but wanted some magic involved.

The Curse of the Blessed had an intriguing premise, but fell flat for me. The characters had potential but the writing did not match the interest level of the story and the characters for me. There were many errors in the ebook version that I read and that made the reading experience anything but smooth. I am willing to give the author's other books a chance and hope the execution works better for me in those than in this one, since the story line and the characters appealed to me enough to finish even though the reading experience was not the best.

Thank you Netgalley and publishers for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The premise of the book had me hooked! I looked forward to the palace and the rules of the court. Mae, our main character, is strong willed and loves people around her so much. I especially love her relationship with her young brother.

I also enjoyed the way the author described how magic felt for Mae. It felt whimsical, so personal and new. Most books don’t go into the way their magic feels with so much intent, and it was a nice element because Mae had to hide her magic.

Unfortunately, the dialogue was distracting and her interactions and growth did not feel authentic to me. She felt indecisive yet decided, it was so strange. She had a huge secret hidden from her for years that impacted her negatively, but as soon as she finds out the truth she just accepts it and moves on in this monotone-like manner. Where were the feelings and reactions of this character? She felt incomplete.

As for the court and her journey, it did get more interesting because the prince was a character with depth! But again, the dialogue was worded strangely and I honestly didn’t feel much chemistry between our MC and any character.

The ending leaves us wanting more and hints at a sequel. I’m still curious to see where this goes but I hope next time the characters feel more complete!