As much as I love fantasy romance, this book although spicy, felt childish. I get that the lust was the main thing to show here, but everything got rushed, the dialogues were empty and it was just chaotic - not in a positive way at all.

Not my cup of tea this time.

📖REVIEW📖
Title: A Curse of Blood and Wolves
Author: Melissa McTernan
Genre: Romance
Rating: ⭐️⭐️

📖Synopsis:
Is it possible to be drawn to someone you’ve never met?

When Ruby feels the eyes of a stranger in the woods, she knows she should be scared, that she should run away, but she can’t. Instead, she feels a thrill, feels drawn to this stranger who follows her in the woods. Yearns for his eyes on her every night as she walks home, hoping to hear the crunch of leaves under his feet that signals he’s there.
Will he ever reveal himself?
After all, fate doesn’t make mistakes . . .

📖Review: 2⭐️s ARC
So this is a reimagining of red riding hood. I feel like the author also got inspiration from Haunting Adeline? I like the premise of it and even the characters mostly. The delivery though is just off. It’s given me the ick in so many places. The spice is fine but comes out of nowhere. He’s not going to touch her, then he randomly decides to pitch to her for them to get it out of their systems. No slow change in this or wearing him down. Just like a switch is flipped. Then he ‘tastes’ her and knows she’s his mate? Somehow she’s also figured out she’s his ‘Mate’ from what she’s heard about werewolves from twilight?? I feel like the author tried to use the Mate trope that works well with say ToG but has just butchered it.

Sorry.

I shouldn’t have finished it but I really don’t like to not finish incase it’s redeemed later on. It wasn’t. Sigh

Oh and also why is it called a curse of blood and wolves. No mention of curses. Yes there’s werewolves and a small fight in it where she bleeds…. Huh?

*please note I received this ARC for free via NetGalley and independently decided to submit an honest review*

3.5 (RTC)
I’d like to thank NetGalley and One More Chapter for approving me for an ARC of this book. I buddy read this with my fellow smut pals, Bex and Amanda, who always deliver on entertaining notes and make a reading experience all the more enjoyable.

🌶️I went into this story expecting spice and in all honesty, it is probably the best part of the story. The lingering tensions between Rafe and Ruby were palpable and Melissa McTernan did not disappoint on the spice front.

🐺Whilst we are introduced to a lot of characters I didn’t feel like I really got to know them properly. Maybe this is something that will develop over the next few books but I wanted more depth to the characters. Having said that I’m intrigued about the three brothers and their complicated history. Rafe, frankly was annoying, Theo is cheeky but I have a feeling that Knox is going to be my favourite.

⭐This was a quick, easy read that certainly had its smutty moments. I’ll be checking out the next book just to see what happens next.

Not every book is right for everyone & unfortunately this wasn't the book for me.

I buddy read this & between us we had a mix of likes & OKs. I was firmly in the OK camp, with the spice being this books main redeeming feature, so I'll start there. This is not slow burn & it certainly isn't closed door, if fact some doors are very open with people looking in them 🤭

As for the story itself, if you removed the spice, very little happened. I considered DNFing several times as nothing was happening & I didn't really care for the characters. Rafe was annoying, repeatedly banging on about not being worthy while saving everyone, Ruby was all about saving her sister but then seemed to forget it when it actually counted, Lena was barely a side character. I love being shown a picture & with this we were very much told. It had YA vibes, but with adult spice.

That being said, I know this is a me thing as my buddies were much more taken with the story. So if you like spicy wolves & stalker vibes then check this one out.

*ARC Reader*

I received this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

This book is a dark retelling of Red Riding Hood, a tale featuring a cantankerous and fiercely protective alpha male main character, a spirited and resilient female main character, fated mates, a strict "touch her and you'll die" element, and brimming with a gradual build of intense attraction, scorching tension, and electric chemistry.

The story revolves around Ruby, who has consistently held firm in her belief in the supernatural, with a deep fascination for the occult, ghosts, and eerie, haunted dwellings, much to the chagrin of her sister, Lena. The two sisters find themselves orphaned following a tragic car accident that claimed their parents' lives. While Lena exudes a much brighter disposition, Ruby leans toward the gothic side, dressing in black skirts, sporting dark hair, pale makeup, accentuated by black eyeliner, and donning a pair of striking, lace-up boots. Her employment at the town's local bar often leads her through the shadowy woods, where an inexplicable sensation of being observed, stalked, pervades her. She understands the rational course of action should be to flee, yet her feet remain immobilized by an unseen force.

I gave this book 3 stars because I really felt the lack of world building. Especially in a fantasy read, I expect a good world building, and even though this books was great, I was a bit lost at times. I also wished to see more of the wolves' background.

Overall, if you're a fan of romantic fantasy with an alluring fairytale twist, this book is a must-read. I wholeheartedly recommend it and am eagerly anticipating the release of the second book!

I am obsessed with this! I could not put it down, I loved Rafe and Ruby and the little red riding re-telling - great chemistry between them and spice is 🔥. I am going to devour everything else Melissa has written.

This one just wasn´t for me. I like the realitionships to be a slow burn and this one felt like insta lust.
Also, the fated mates is not a trope that I personally enjoy.
I like were wolfs and all the alpha vibes but the male protagonist was not an alpha at all, a little tiny kitten at best.

If you like to read about fated mates, insta lust and an alpha that is not an alpha you should give this one a try.

For fans of smutty werewolf romance with a side of plot!

A new twist on the little red riding hood fairytale, we find Ruby being followed by the dark and mysterious Rafe on her walk home from work. Fate works in mysterious ways and the two of them are destined to be together!

I liked Ruby, she was a unique, witty character that you cant help but love! She fights for the people she loves and isn’t afraid of anything! I love the banter and witty comments between her and Rafe! Rafe is overly protective and seriously sexy!

I really enjoyed this werewolf romance, it was a quick, light and enjoyable read. I do wish there was more of a plot, as I feel it got lost in the romance aspect, however I know book 2 will develop this more!

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter for granting me access to this book in exchange for an honest review.

What a fabulous dark and twisted fairytale that is a recreative story of Little Red Riding Hood!! It's a sweet and spicy paranormal romance with 🐺werewolves, seers, woodland nymphs and 🧙‍♀️witches, grumpy overprotective alpha MMC, sassy/strong FMC, fated mates, touch her and die and filled with slow burn, hot tension and sizzling chemistry🔥❤️‍🔥!! OH MY!! The rich character development, atmospheric setting, perfect pacing and incredible plot all attribute to this AMAZING book! This is my first read by Melissa McTernan and I am a HUGE fan already! I absolutely loved this book so much!! ♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️

Ruby (Little Red) could feel someone watching her as she walked home from work through the woods. She is drawn to him and finds herself unable to resist his temptation. Rafe (big bad wolf) cannot get Ruby out of his mind so he follows her through the woods each night. Will he ever reveal himself to her?

I loved that fate doesn't make mistakes!! No matter their issues the two of them are destined to be together. All of the secondary characters (Rafe's family and Ruby's sister) were fantastic as well! However, I do wish there would have been a little more world building which I have a feeling will be divulged in the next book. Please be aware that it does end on a CLIFFHANGER!! 😩

Overall, I was completed captivated from start to finish! If you love a romantasy fantasy with a steamy fairytale then this is the book for you! I highly recommend and cannot wait for book two!! 💫💫💫💫

I wanted to love this book so badly, and while it was good it didn't quite meet my expectations. White is 1000% fine, not every book is for ever person! The characters were engaging and the romance built between the 2 MC's was cute - very contemporary romance feeling which kind of took me by surprise!

My expectations fell flat in the world building, As the first in a series I expected there to be groundwork and building for the rest of the series but if felt very rushed or just brushed by. I would have loved to see a bit more detail written in to really flesh this world out, but that may come in future books as well.

Overall this book was enjoyable, it does end on a quite abrupt cliffhanger, but I will be watching for future books in this series as it has tons of potential!

This was not the exciting little red riding hood and big bad Wolf romantasy I was hoping for. Unfortunately this story and characters fell very flat to me and I considered DNF’ing SO MANY TIMES. I pushed through and overall felt very meh about this.

Rafe was annoyingly stubborn to the point of idiocy- I do think it was meant to come across as a “tortured-past-trying-to-heal” sort of thing but the amount of circles he mentally went round I just found annoying. Ruby I quite liked- she was brave and knew what she wanted, she looked after those she cares about and embraced her differences. I was (and am) curious to her family past, but was disappointed with the lack of answers and actual plot in this story. This story focuses more on the relationship between Ruby and Rafe and I fell like it could have been so much more.
I also found that the flashbacks/memories could have been cut from the book, or written in differently- it was difficult to differentiate between past and present section, and I felt it didn’t really add much to the story.

***Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an e-Arc of this books in exchange for an honest review***

This started out a little confusing. I did get caught up, but it took a few chapters.

Then end left me a little confused again with Fee and Theo and if Lena fits in.

Thank you to NetGalley who provided me with an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

For me this was a nice fast paced read that dove straight into the story. There were elements from a range of classic re-tellings most notably Red Riding Hood and Beauty and the Beast and examples of some of my favourite tropes such as fake dating and fated mates.

The dual POV storytelling style worked very well I thought and the transition from the thoughts of one character to the other was very smooth and really helped with the pacing of the story.

The only disappointment I felt were several conversations that we are told about but not shown, if that makes sense, personally I would have rather been present for them.

I look forward to seeing the further development of the characters and story in the next book.

This review is made possible via an ARC through NetGalley.

A Curse of Blood and Wolves is a loose reimagining of Red Riding Hood and does indeed feature the steam it promises. The werewolves feel familiar but not wornout while the usage of Red Riding Hood feels apt. It's a good read if you want something decently fast-paced and romance focused with werewolves.

It personally is not for me because I wanted more Red Riding Hood and more of the tropes in the original fairy tale. I also would have liked to have seen more of the action in regards to the wolves chasing Ruby and more with Lena since she felt like such a catalyst. The novel does indeed deliver on its promises; I was just looking for something outside of what was promised.

A Curse of Blood and Wolves by Melissa McTernan is a fantastic modern retelling of Little Red Riding Hood.
I enjoyed ACoBAW a lot more than I originally thought I would.
This dark fantasy retelling was an intriguing slow burn story.
A steamy romance with interesting characters I just absolutely loved.
I enjoyed and look forward to another one by McTernan.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Thank You NetGalley and One More Chapter for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

Unfortunately, this book did not do it for me. From the beginning, I found the book off-putting, because at the 30% mark I still can’t tell what the world is supposed to be, since it has modern-day cultural marks but forests and beliefs that feel like a medieval fantasy. On top of that, the story starts with the protagonist frightfully walking through a forest while cognizant that an unseen man is following her. But she is also apparently a bit “thrilled” by this, and not completely and utterly terrified for her life like she should be. Shortly after, when the POV switches to our MMC, he is extremely turned on and horned up for this woman he has been following through the words but doesn’t even know the name of. He goes on in his internal monologue about not wanting to scare her… but he already has, so I don’t get it.

I skimmed through the first third of this book and didn’t find it gets much better. The romance is beyond slow to start, and I also don’t really understand what the point of the central conflict is, other than that she is human and he’s a werewolf and that’s a thing.

Perhaps if the start of the book hadn’t felt so unbelievable and jarring to me, I could have given this book a better chance, but after feeling like the beginning was too unrealistic and dismissive of the very real fears women have out in the world, I couldn’t get through this. To the author’s credit, she makes her female protagonist strong, which I always like, and the writing itself is structurally quite good, but given my own preferences in books, this just wasn’t my cup of tea. DNF at 33%.

*Thank you again to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.*

I've always been a fan of what people are now calling romantasy. This is a fun and simple book in the genre. Fun retelling of Little Red Riding Hood. Good book to cut your teeth on the genre.

1.5 / 5.0

Did you ever wish Edward Cullen was actually a werewolf? No, well then, this book isn’t for you.
Did you ever want to read hundreds of pages about people that have absolutely nothing to do with the point of the book? No, well then this book isn’t for you.
Did you ever wonder if smut could be both graphic and pedantic at the same time? No, well then, this book isn’t for you.

Basically, this book wasn’t very good. It didn’t even serve the one function it seems to have, to set-up the next book, very well. All these characters are just thrown at us and they stumble around here and there (mostly at one of 4 general locations), and there is no backstory explanation, no world building, and no resolution since (like I said) this just ends with the setup for the next book.

I won’t be reading anymore of this series, it is just not interesting and the characters had no endearing qualities that held me to want to read more. It’s not completely garbage writing, and the editor did a valiant effort to mend it together, but it isn’t good.

Until Next Time,
MC

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for access to this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Book Review 📚
A Curse of Blood and Wolves by Melissa McTurnan - 3.5/5 ⭐

Now, I was expecting a fantasy that kept me on my toes but I'd definitely describe this as more of a romance. If of loved to have seen more of a story and plot, but the romance genre kind of took over.

What I did read of the plot was actually amazing and I'd really love to have gone so much more deeper into that! The first half is quite a slow burn but it all starts to pick up really quickly in the second half. I really enjoyed the dual POV as it expands the story.

There wasn't anything bad about the book at all but I do wish there was more story and character development rather than the romance. But I did really enjoy the rest of it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins for allowing me to read this ARC - this is an HONEST review from my own personal opinion.

The setting of curse of blood and wolves is the present world with a dash of magic and fantasy. The FMC is fantastic; she has a strong personality, is obstinate, and is really relatable. The actions around FMC and her family are at the heart of the narrative. The romance and the plot are well-balanced, and this is a SLOW burn.adore Ruby and Rafe, despite the fact that occasionally I thought he could be a little too sensitive. I admired how comfortable they were with one another and their friendship.
I was extremely frustrated by his brothers, especially the older one, but I have a feeling everything will make sense in the upcoming novels. Theo was cranky but likeable, and I liked him.
I found it really annoying how much he talked about his previous relationship. Every time her name would come up, I could feel myself rolling my eyes.
Having said that, I nonetheless liked this book in its entirety. As a reader, I really enjoy the excellent pacing and well-written prose. If you adore friends and recommend this book to someone else, I'll definitely read the next one.