Curses, Foiled Again

I really enjoyed the fantastical elements of this book, but it may not be for everyone. There is some murder (not described in too much detail, and usually in self-defense), descriptions of blood, and blood drinking by vampires, and an unsuccessful suicide attempt.
This book had an interesting take on vampirism as a curse, and a curse with three possible variations. The rose on the cover was also an interesting addition to the folklore. The world building was pretty good for a romance novel, and I liked the way vampires, witches, fairies and the like are all worked into the world. While the focus was on the gay romance of the leads, there were also lesbian, and possible bi characters, as well as closeted characters to fill out the book.
The build up of the relationship between John and Felix was fun. I enjoyed Felix's puppy dog actions, and John's amusement at the vampire pursuing him. The dialogue is enjoyable, the characters are relatable, and the world feels fleshed out. I wish it was twice as long, or had a sequel, though the ending leaves little room for it. It was nice to see witches and vampires together without little drama, and witches who trust vampires over each other. Astray also is a heart stealer, and John's devotion to her will speak to any cat lover.
Great book!

This is a book about bad people and good people working together to fight an evil person. That’s simple but this author executes it so well. Felix is a vampire so he can’t help but be bad. His vampiric curse prevents him from caring about anything…until he meets John. John is a self-pitying witch that has a good heart but gets caught up in only thinking about himself. Felix falls for him right away but it takes a lot longer for John to start to care. But when he does, they make a cute paranormal couple.

Felix’s sister Cat and John’s friend Lo are excellent supporting characters because they both help to make Felix and John better men while being bad ass in their own right. I also loved the way spells work. I wish saying silly rhymes would grant all of my wishes. It also would be fun to curse something to suffer horribly with what is basically a rap song. I wish all I needed to curse someone was dope rap skills. Another awesome aspect of this book was all the references to old Hollywood. Fans of black and white movies will appreciate that.

My favorite thing about this book was the love story. It wasn’t hearts and flowers, although blue roses are significant. It was more like “Well you’re cool and keep wearing me down so I might as well fall in love with you too”. I found that this kind of romance made way more sense for the characters but was also humorous and light hearted which provided a nice counterweight to the book’s darker tones.

I enjoyed this so much! It is was a very entertaining story and a pleasure to read. The best aspect of this book was the characters.

I do think it must be difficult to write a paranormal story which is fresh, exciting and also engaging, because vampires, witches, werewolves and all the other paranormal creatures have been done to death. In this story we have witches and vampires coming together and it is a really engaging story which held my attention from start to finish.

Felix is a vampire. He lives with his sister Cat, who is also a vampire, and her husband Richard who is a very powerful witch. Life, such as it is, is good for Felix. He spends his time hunting and sleeping and not much else. That's all there is to it until one day he meets someone who isn't scared of him and whom he can't bite. John who is a witch, was just going home after his normal shift serving tables at a local restaurant when he bumped into a vampire. After getting rid of the pesky vampire John thinks nothing of it until he notices that the vampire is stalking him. This is more than John needs because he already has an age old curse on his life, one that has brought nothing but death, pain and loss to his life.

Unfortunately despite ducking and diving John can't get ride of the persistent pesky vampire. As John gets to know Felix the two of them develop an attraction for each other and when John confides in Felix and tells him all about the curse Felix decides in his own bumbling way to do something about it.

When the dark witch Richard comes up with a plan, John and Felix both realise that they are being forced into something that is dangerous and unacceptable but how can they stay ahead of Richard's dark plans when John's curse itself is growing darker. Together with the help of their friend Lo they decide to work together to end the curse and to stop Richard's dark plans but this is easier said than done.

This is a lovely romantic adventure with some really refreshing and well develop characters. The story is fascinating with both darkness and light mixing so well together and it is also laced with humor. There are parts of the story that are quite tense, others emotional, others funny and lighthearted. The romance is realistic and gradual, and then there are friendships and a coming together to defeat dark powers and unravel an age old curse.

It is a really good story and a lovely one to end my reading year with. I haven't read anything by this author before and she will definitely be someone I will watch for in 2018.

Copy provided by Nine Star Press via Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.