Maudits

Cursed #1

by Rhianne Aile, Luc von Cypher (Translator)

À la mort de leur grand-mère, Tristan Northland et son jumeau, Will, héritent de son Livre des Ombres et découvrent qu’une de leurs ancêtres, une sorcière rejetée, est responsable d’une magie noire qui affecte la famille Sterling depuis des générations ; le premier connaîtra l’attrait de la nuit et la convoitise de la lune... il deviendra une créature de cauchemars... jusqu’à ce que le véritable amour qui aurait dû être, soit enfin. Déterminé à redresser le tort ancien, Tristan traverse l’océan afin d’inverser la malédiction séculaire.

Benjamin Sterling n’est peut-être pas heureux seul – pas tout à fait humain ni accepté par les vrais loups-garous –, mais sa vie est prévisible, du moins, jusqu’à ce que Tristan Northland se présente dans son bureau sans prévenir et avec nulle part où aller. À cause de la malédiction qu’il porte, Benjamin a beaucoup de raisons de se méfier des sorciers et des Northlands, ainsi que de la tribu de loups-garous qui l’a toujours traité comme un paria. Mais avec Tristan à ses côtés, Benjamin voit son avenir transformé par deux émotions inattendues : l’espoir et l’amour.

Genres: M M Romance, Paranormal, Shapeshifters, Romance, Fantasy, Magic, Gay

190 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 1, 2007

About the author

Rhianne Aile has an unhealthy relationship with her computer, iced tea, and chocolate. Growing up, she split her time between Oklahoma and Chicago, making her equally fond of horses, skyscrapers, cowboys, and men in well-tailored suits. Facilitating retreats for women and authors keeps her traveling enough to stay happy.

Reviews

[LD Durham · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm going to be honest, this book really hit all the areas I find un-enjoyable in a werewolf story. And I really wanted to enjoy this book. I met the author at a convention and she autographed the book to me. I really wanted to like it after meeting the nice lady behind it. But I really, really didn't.

This was a pure, straight-up fluffy bunny story. Never mind the cover, because that is a complete fake impression of menace and darkness. This book wouldn't menace an 80-year old preschool teacher who'd never seen anything over a G-rating. I'm okay with some warmth and funny, maybe even a bit of fun silly romance in these stories, but my god. What this story did to my beloved monsters, I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. You know that scene in Addam's Family 2, where they lock Wednesday and Pugsley in that "Happy Cabin?" That's what I felt like reading this story.

The main character was just a chick with a dick. Not even a cool chick, either. An annoying, always crying, hug-happy, twit chick with a dick. It also used the over-done and unimaginative "chosen mate" thing. Honestly, I am so tried of that plot device. And the other characters! They were just cardboard cut-outs. No, even worse. They were tired old Disney movie charachtures. The housekeeper who is always cheery and always trying to put food in the menfolk's belly was the worst. She was insipid, annoying, and she didn't even make sense. A housekeeper who has always lived in the State of New York, but for some reason uses British wording? And says things like, "Oh, go on with you, you rascal"! What on earth?

The story goes from bustling, modern New York City to... 1800's England, apparently. The wolf guy isn't just a wealthy generic businessman with a country house upstate. No, he suddenly has a manor with tenants on his vast lands. And with a stable and stable boys. And, in a tense moment in the story, they walk to a certain place "on the grounds" that is important because they can't take the horses who get spooked by the wolves. You know what isn't spooked by wolves? Those new-fangled horseless carriages. How about an ATV or golf cart? I'm pretty sure you won't get thrown from one of those, m'lord. Oh, I'm sorry. They are called Master. "Master Tristan" and "Master Benjamin". My eyes ached from all their rolling.

Maybe I could have bought it, but I wasn't given anything to buy it with. No back up, no reasoning for the unrealistic environment and characters. It didn't make sense and I certainly wasn't swallowing it.

And then, horribly, the whole story went nowhere! Spoiler:The witch breaks the werewolf curse, but the man is now all weak and sad that he has been separated from his wolf. But he's okay with that since his 11-year old son will now be saved from the curse. Oh, then he is able to get his wolf back, yay! And then, in the epilogue, his son... decides to become a werewolf too, since he was "born to be this". Argh! Then it was all pointless?

What was really annoying was that there was always just enough... hope or something to make me keep turning the pages. After the first few pages in, I figured that it would be a fluffy, sappy piece but would have a Harlequin-type ending that made you think, "Okay, fine. It wasn't that bad, I guess" and make you feel a bit silly for enjoying it a little. But this book didn't have that due to the incredibly unsatisfying ending. On top of all that, I paid over $12 for a book full of typos.

I apologize if I sound bitter or nasty, but, like I said, this book jumped into every wading pool of fluff that I try to stay away from. This'll teach me to not get sucked into cool, dark cover art and a nice author behind the table.

[Elisa Rolle]

Cursed is a very original werewolf romance, since the werewolf is not the usual Alpha male all action and no words, he needs the help of his mate, and of his other friends, to arrive at the right conclusion of his story.

Tristan and his twin William are the direct descendants of a witch who cursed the Sterling family more than 500 years before. Now Tristan feels the need to put an end to that curse, and for this reason he meets the heir of the Sterling family, Benjamin, an american businessman. Benjamin has lost the hope to see the curse broken, and he has set his life to accomodate both his human than his wolf form. He lives part of the month in New York, and part in a huge estate in the country, where he can shift without problems. All his employees know about him being a werewolf, and protect and love him nevertheless.

When Benjamin smells Tristan's scent, he knows that the young britishman is his chosen mate. And Tristan has no problem to accept both the man than the wolf. But when, and if, he will manage to break the curse, the man Benjamin will love Tristan as much as the werewolf?

As in the other books by Rhianne Aile I read, the man on man relationship in the story doesn't arise any trouble in the people around. It seems like the author describes a utopic world, even more when Benjamin is a divorced man with a son, and we don't know if he is bisexual or only gay (he has had other gay relationships before Tristan). True there is the mate's matter: Benjamin clearly said that his ex wife wasn't his chosen mate, and that werewolves mate for life and Tristan is his true mate.

Tristan is an almost funny character. He behaves almost like a teenager sometime, all innocence and naivite, but he has the desire and the reaction of an adult man. Even if it is not clearly highlighted, I think he is younger than Benjamin, and so it's almost natural that Benjamin takes the dominant position in the relationship. But Benjamin is not the classical alpha male: he has the jelaousy issues of every real mated werewolf, but if necessary he can argue without growling.

Cursed starts a little on the quiet pace, but grews on a fastest rhytm in the second part of the story, that I found very well plotted. Also the curse's resolution is very original, and there is also a bit of humor in it. Cursed reminds me of other werewolf romance, where humor and paranormal are well mixed.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0979504821/?...

[Fencer_x · Rating 1 out of 5]

Some books are pricey because they're good; others are pricey because they're long. This one definitely fell in the latter category, and even then wasn't worth the price I paid for it.

It was in SORE need of an editor for one; someone please teach this author about proper use of point-of-view and how you never EVER switch POVs in the same paragraph/section! This is sophomore stuff, really!

The 'plot' was kind of thin, to be honest--the problem was resolved relatively quickly and painlessly, and it felt like a good 60% of the book was just mindless smut. I love me some porn, don't get me wrong, but too much of a good thing, really.

Another reviewer also mentioned how it felt like the author couldn't decide which era to place the book--modern day or pre-automobile-age, and I definitely agree. A stable boy? Really? Walking everywhere or riding horses?

This book reminded me why I stay far away from werewolf stories. I suppose I learned my lesson.

[Bubbles Hunty Honest & Direct Opinions · Rating 3 out of 5]

i really liked the first half of this book and the characters

then in the second half it was like the plot was pushed aside to work in as much sex as possible... we were even reading about sex between secondary characters that was completely unnecessary and pulled me out of the story. By the time the little bit of plot picked up again i didn't care anymore, I was happy i was able to stick with it long enough to finish the book.

[Lily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tristan Northland is a witch and along with his twin brother owns an occult shop in London. When he learns that one of his ancestors is responsible for the curse that generations later is still turning every firstborn son of the Sterling family into a werewolf he decides to try and reverse the spell. Benjamin Sterling has been trying for years to find a "cure" for the werewolf curse placed on his family but has not had any luck. When the gorgeous man with the sexy British accent shows up at his office with an offer to help he can't quite believe him. However he is willing to let him try and they head off to Benjamin's country estate since it's close to the full moon.

By the time they get to the country Benjamin realizes that Tristan is his mate. His wolf is urging him to mate with Tristan but he fights it thinking that Tristan is only interested in righting the wrong done to his family. But his resistance doesn't last long and soon they are having hot mate sex all over the place in between trying to deal with the curse.

There is a complication because most packs think of cursed werewolves as unnatural and want nothing to do with them. In order to reverse the curse however Tristan needs help from the neighboring pack. Despite that Alex, the pack Alpha, doesn't want to help, his mate Raul convinces him. Tristan performs the ritual to reverse the curse but the results are unexpected and leave Benjamin in a precarious situation. Now they must all work together to save Benjamin and his wolf before it's too late.

When I first bought this book a while back it was sold with a cover showing a snarling wolf and not much else. Now the book is sold with a very nicely done cover. The original cover made it seem like this would be a dark and intense story. However that was not true. The book while dealing with curses, werewolves and magic has an easy feel to it and was quite easy to read. There are many sex scenes in the book and I did find myself skimming through some toward the latter half of the book. Benjamin is shown at the beginning to be a typical Alpha male with his larger size, domineering personality and possessiveness. But as the story goes along we see that he's actually a bit of a softy sometimes although not when the wolf perceives danger to his mate.

I liked the characters of Benjamin, Tristan, Alex and Raul. They are typical for this genre, the big strong Alpha and their mates that they must protect at all cost but were written well enough to be interesting. I also liked Will, Tristan's twin, who comes over towards the end of the story to help. The magic use gave the usual werewolf story a bit of a twist and even with the use of the insta-love, true mate theme overall I enjoyed the story. For the most part it is solidly written, the characters are interesting and even though there is not much conflict in the relationship between Benjamin and Tristan since they are true mates and destined for each other I was still satisfied reading their story.

[VVivacious · Rating 1 out of 5]

“What did I ever do to deserve you?”
“It must have been something really awful”

I am in complete agreement. What the hell is this book? I normally love shifter romances, I even like the ones that other people don't. But this one was just sooooooo boring...

The worst part is that the plot is quite good. The Northlands cast a curse on the Sterlings condemning them to be werewolves who would never get a woman's love. This was in the 1660s. But the Northlands too suffered the repercussions of this curse as all of their true loves would die sooner rather than later. All the plot needed was execution alas, that was sorely lacking.

What I would have loved was some intel into the magic, especially after seeing Tristan figure out the wording to reverse the spell, but we don't get any. In a way, it was like the story was being recited to me in the driest of voices without any inflexion. I was just not that involved in the story and truthfully the story doesn’t do a lot to draw you in.

All that was good about this book evaporated in the first 10% with the UST between Ben and Tristan. Because the sex was the most boring part of this book, I guess even the author realized how boring it was getting and she decided to use Raul and Alex for the sex scenes, but the sex just wasn't working and reading it was tedious as hell.

Personally, a lit bit more world building and fleshing out the plot would have worked wonders for the book if the sex scenes were reduced to nil.

A lot of things good about this book just never got their time in the limelight like the magic, seeing Tristan decode the curse, Will and Tristan and their connection, even Raul and Alex's story would have been more welcome instead, what we got was just sex, without any feelings, emotions and with no interest on my part.

The only reason I kept on reading this book was that it was so dry and had me so completely indifferent that there was nothing to erk me enough to just stop reading the book.

The other thing I found weird about this book was the whole Sterlings and Northlands lineage. I mean over three hundred years shouldn't there have been even one generation who had just daughters or one generation of males that didn't have any offspring or died really young... even if we take into account that daughters could have passed on the curse to their sons shouldn't they have a different surname. Same with the Northlands I mean did no woman in their family ever marry to take on a different name, in fact the fact that they have the same surname is more possible in their case as their loved ones died so soon but as Tristan mentioned many remained married to perfectly incompatible spouses so even more reason for the name to have changed since their lineage was passed down by woman as the magic in Tristan's family is from his grandmother's side. This ploy is used a lot of times but in this case, it didn't work because the curse was restricted to first born males on the Sterlings side so it should have died out a long time ago based on probability itself.

And another thing I didn't understand was how lycanthropy was supposed to be a curse when Ben and his son so willingly chose to be werewolves. I mean I personally thought the curse was being a one of a type monster in this world but no there were werewolves other than those who were cursed to be one. Ben’s son choosing to be a werewolf made it seem that they were better with the curse.

“Saints preserve us,” Mary muttered. “There are two of you.”
Will beamed at the gray-haired woman. “My grandmother felt exactly the same way, I assure you.”

And so do I, so I am definitely not reading the next in this series.

[Ana · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well. It was so predictable I want to throw up. It's all fluffy and roses and they're all so meek and calm when things are going so wrong it's not even funny. It's just lame and tiresome. Don't get me wrong, I liked the premise. I think it had great potential. The problem was the execution. It's so focused on the romance and the supposed "curse" that we don't actually get to know the characters in more than 200 pages. And when we do get some piece of the characters it's something annoying like Tristan's submissiveness or Benjamin's alphaness. Almost made me wish not to have been given anything about them at all. That's how cliché it was.
Tristan is the girl of the story. I liked him the first few pages and then simply couldn't care less. He's insipid, whining and doesn't appear to have any thoughts that weren't planted by Benjamin. And Benjamin? Oh God. He can't even bottom without his wolf going all alpha on them. Again...cliché anyone? Oh and the whimpering. If I don't read that word again is too soon.
Anyway...what really bothered me was the ending. That unsatisfying end that made me want to throw the damn book out the window. After suffering through this ill fitting plot and characterization I'm not even allowed a well written conclusion. Seriously.

[Jay · Rating 3 out of 5]

SlashReaders: This was another book that I picked up in audio format. I've noticed a couple of things in listening to audio books more lately/ That is that, word repetition is something I really notice more in audio than when reading (yes, repetition intended). Truth be told I'm not a big fan of werewolf books for one main reason. Pack dynamic's are often so similar that I find them boring and predictable. That aside, if you like werewolf books this was not a bad book. I liked the fact that the main characters were not directly involved with the pack for the most part. I also thought the idea of the centuries old curse, was fun. I think that Tristian's magic could have been a little more developed with a little less gloss.

So, the relationship between Tristan Northland and Benjamin Sterling is one of those, 'I want you, no I can't be with you.... must not.', 'Oh but I really, really want you.', 'He keeps pushing me away, what's wrong?', etc. Which is neither here nor there.

My biggest problem with this story wasn't pack dynamic, lack of concrete details concerning magic, or the somewhat annoying denial of attraction and beta reaction. No, honestly it was sex. I have a few pet peeves when it comes to long winded sex scenes. Rhianne Aile hit a few of them, 1) Overly descriptive sex scenes often become repetitive in their word usage (there are only so many words for a dick or a behind). The other problem with sex scenes of this ilk is they often become confusing, and it's hard to figure out who is actually where doing what. 2. Lips, in plural. This is a nit picky little thing that just... it bothers me because it just sounds wrong and brings up very amusing images to mind. But how can you nibble on someone's lips? You can nibble or suck on a lip, but both at once? 3.) If you are going to switch your point of view don't do it in the middle of a sex scene. It just makes it all the more confusing. A scene should be completed before you jump from one character to the other.

Beyond that, there were a lot of moments where characters set out to do something in this novel but then got sidetracked, decided to take a nap, etc. If something is so important it has to be done now, characters need to follow through. These were little things that would be a simple matter of wording, editing and scene sequence that could be easily fixed or focused on in the future.

So, I know that was a lot of negativity but the truth is there were some fun things about this book as well. I liked Tristan's single minded determination to fix things. While some things were rather obvious and dragged on a bit before the characters realized them, it was okay. Aile did something that I do really enjoy and that is, she included a number of strong auxiliary characters both male and female. I really appreciate an author's ability to do that. There is another book that goes with this one, the story of Tristian's twin brother Will: Betrayed by Rhianne Aile. I actually own a physical copy of this book, though I haven't read it yet.

[Shin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was a little hesitant about this book when I first read the summary and I'm not sure why. But can I say how glad I am that I still went ahead and bought it? It had everything a good werewolf book needs~ Plenty of action and intrigue to unfold with a good dose of males testosterone induced fights! The path to true love is never easy. After certain revelations made near the end about Tristan's twin brother William's mate, I'm desperatly waiting for "Betrayed", which will be Will's story. I can already see it being just as amazing and angst filled as this one! I think what captivated me immediatly in this book is the background historical settings of 1500's and the witchcraft. It really felt like we saw the centuries pass with both family even though the book doesn't give us much details besides that faithful night of cursing.

After being betrayed by her lover, Anne Northland, a once peaceful witch who specialized on healing, turns to darker magic in an effort to seek revenge and soothe her broken heart. Deaf to her twin brother's warning that using such strong magic would come back to them threefold, she sets about to cast a spell binding the Sterling family and any heir they might produce to the curse of the full moon. By succesfully casting her curse, her twin brother's fears come through, cursing the entire Northland family and their future heir to forever lose the person they love to an early death.

The centuries pass, and with them they see the hope of ever being free dwindling with both families' attempt to break the curses in vain.

Tristan Northland was always fascinated by werewolf, ever since he was young he set out to learn everything he could about them. Having in his possession his grandmother's diary retailing the curse of the Sterling's family, Tristan feels deep inside of him that he is the one to break the curse and end the centuries long suffering of both families. While Tristan's twin brother William is reluctant to let him go meet with the current Sterling heir, he sees in his brother's determination that nothing will stop him.

Benjamin Sterling is a man that has more or less learn to live with the beast inside of him but if he could spare that pain to his young son he would do anything in his power to rid his family of the dreaded curse that manifests itself at puberty.

When Tristan arrives out of the blue and introduces himself as "Northland", Benjamin is skeptical and doesn't think even he can break the curse. Still, he feels an instant attraction for Tristan and something inside of him demands he gives him a chance.

Sometimes a curse can be so much more than just that.

[Mandy Beyers · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book really interesting because unlike many werewolf/shifter books, rather than having only one type of werewolf there are two. The Northland family of witches is cursed because waaaay back in the 1600's a scorned pregnant female cursed her unfaithful lover's family - the firstborn of each generation of Sterlings becomes a werewolf. These are phelan, cursed werewolves, rather than "normal" werewolves, which are the bitten/hereditary types and have a pack. I thought that dichotomy was interesting.

Because of the curse Anne Northland cast and the way evil magic rebounds on its user, Anne's curse has caused all the Northlands to either never know love or to fall in love only to have their SO die young. The current generation of Northlands, Tristan and Will (twins), decide to see if it is possible to break the curse on both families. Tristan flies to America from England to see Benjamin Sterling and Ben discovers that Tristan is his mate. They go through quite a complicated process trying to break the curse and although things go fairly crazy when they way they originally choose backfires, eventually Tristan and Benjamin get their HEA. I really enjoyed the characters and the world-building, and many of the side characters were as intriguing as the main ones.

[Monica Vidal · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened the audiobook and lemme tell you: the guy who narrates it, needs a lesson on how to show emotion in his voice. Dude was flat and monotone and he ruined the book. I used to think over the top narrators were bad, but I’d take Shannon Gunn’s “over the topness” everyday instead of this guy. Not to mention one of the MCs were English but no English accent st all. My dude made the character sound American. I mean, WTF?!

That said, the book has some major flaws. For starters the author changes POV’s in the middle of the paragraphs and lemme tell you, when you are listening to an audiobook it is very hard to keep track of who you are listening to, specially when the narrator doesn’t help. Another thing that bothered me: I was extra confused with the time they were living in. They had cars and cellphones but at the same time they had stable boys (??) and ppl riding horses to get to places and I was like DA FUCK?!

It’s a werewolf/shifter kinda thing and it’s pretty damn hot, I’ll give it that. I’m just sad that the narrator read the sex scenes with the same emotion I read a medicine leaflet. Seriously. SAD.

Anyways, I’m easy to please and I wind up enjoying it as much as possible with the bad narration. YES. I AM GOING TO KEEP SAYING IT WAS BAD UNTIL THE END OF TIMES.

[Jo * Smut-Dickted * · Rating 4 out of 5]

Intriguing and sweet story with just a bit of grit about a cursed werewolf and the witch who is a descendant of the one who cursed his family. Very character driven but with a lot of redemption the last 1/4 of the book. Things go a bit differently than some folks might think. Because there are episodes in the historical part there is a real nuance to the story - it feels fully developed and it is simple to comprehend. No complicated magic here - an ode to earth magic in all its beauty. Recommended!

[Ashley♥Alexis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the book. I think it's the first shifter story I read when the person was literally cursed. I did find it odd that Tristan was from England and I didn't get an English feel from him at all. I mean seriously at that point why bother saying he was from england. I didn't think i'd care about reading the second book in the series but my interest is piqued so I think i'm gonna have to.

[Mocha Haven · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was disappointing. Half the book was long drawn out sex scenes. So long, it became boring. The other half was...lacking. The story concept is an excellent one but execution of the story idea was just...okay.
Just 2 Stars.

[Teduncho · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is horrible. It really got on my nerves. I don't recommend it to anyone. It was a complete waste of my time.

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unremarkable, but not terrible. Definitely one of those gay romance novels where one man is marked as submissive and might as well be a female.

[Karla · Rating 1 out of 5]

****Audiobook Version**** This was an ok book, the beginning was interesting enough which kept me from dropping the book, then I just forced myself to finish it since I already invested my time to it. There were some decent parts (few) that made me stick around despite all my mayor issues with this book. Yes there was lots of sex which I don't mind (ok who am I kidding I love me so good hot steamy sexy times) which this book didn't deliver, they just felt meh! Then again I might've (maybe) had a diffent experience with the story if I would've read it instead of listening to the shitty af audiobook. The reason I say shitty af audiobook is because the narrator was shitty af & quite awful, he pretty much ruined the experiencia for me, I hope he has another job because I seriously can't imagine him making a living as a narrator. The plot was cheesy, it had some few ok times but overall it just didn't flow smoothly to me it felt at times stilted and repetitive which made it drag into boring at times. Then there were times where it felt too rushed like the author didn't know how to tie everything together, this book had potential to be a really good story but it just felt like the author gave up early on & decided to just finish the story for the sake of finishing it to publish a book. Again, maybe the crappy narrator ruined the the story for me & the e-book version might've been much more enjoyable resulting in a more cohesive experience. I can't say this enough but DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY & TIME on this Audiobook. I was gifted with the 2nd audio awhile ago sooo...I guess I will challenge myself to get through it, if for no other reason as of me being curious about Will's story & to see if the author decided to make up for the 1rst book & improved on her writting, oh and also there is a different narrator so we'll see how this goes.

[Monika · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was so excited to see the combination of the shifter world and the magical one. Unfortunately, it did disappoint. Tristan is so nice and trying to be so helpful, but Benjamin can't seem to stop himself from making it harder on both of them and from restraining them from what they both want. I really didn't think the added "triangle" with Raul was needed. There was really no need to talk about other sexual partners, he could have just been happy that Benjamin saved him from death, there didn't need to be relationship that just made it all so pretentious (like the author was adding some drama that didn't need to be there). I also think it would have been better if the book was written only from the points of view of the main characters and not everyone else as well. I would have been interested in the next book (because of shifter/witch relationship again), but I don't want to be disappointed again.

[Teresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I liked the premise and most of the characters, the repeated use of "the Brit" or "the werewolf" or "the witch" rather than the characters names, got old fast, especially during love scenes. It distanced me from the characters too much.

[Rissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I always enjoy reading shifter stories! I'm always curious as to how the author will show how they came to be and explain their world.

This was a different take with family curses and pack rules/hierarchy! It was definitely a very interesting read! :)

[Karen Dubois · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an enjoyable story - lots of steamy scenes not only between the main characters Tristan and Benjamin, but also between secondary characters Alex and Raoul. Looking forward to the next book in the series with Tristan's twin Will.

[Sylvester · Rating 2 out of 5]

A below the average erotica about two werewolves trying to reverse the curse. It hits all the cliche points and the writing was rather awful, as if the author never knew how men talk to each other.

[Jimmy Hanson · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is so much going on in this book, sometimes it's hard to sort it all out and get it straight. There is the beginning, of the original curse being put into motion. Then there's Tristan and Will in present day - twins who have a stronger bond than most twins [touches on, but doesn't fully go into detail about:], and then suddenly one is zipping across the world.

Okay. Now we have Tristan who is a nervous/shy/sort-of-hyper young man who is eager to try and fix a curse his family did generations ago and rid Benjamin of his curse - the werewolf [oh, not to mention Tristan's family has his OWN curse to worry about, where their true loves die an early death:]. There is the CONSTANT internal conflict of Benjamin and his wolf over EVERYTHING. Then there is Mary, the mother figure, Conrad [who I forget did what:], Josh the stableboy [I think he was a stableboy ...:], Alex the "King" of the wolves ["King"? Of wolves? Seriously?:], Raul the consort of the King of wolves [who, incidentally, is the Beta-turned-outcast of his own pack and who, when he came to this area ended up being a brief lover of Benjamin's before he met Alex and became the Consort:].

Then there's the whole difference between a werewolf and a phelan, a born-wolf and a cursed-wolf, prejudices by one for the other, the spell that is somehow discovered to undo what was done but which mucks it ALL up, the sacred places that are found and explained and fawned over, the cry for help to undo the second spell that mucked things up and the realignment of ...

whew.

Good, worth reading, but damn. Could have taken a LOT of things out to reduce the clutter and made it so much better [like honestly ... did there HAVE to be three sacred areas, did Raul and Benjamin HAVE to have been previous lovers, did Raul's history even NEED to be gone into such depth in this one since the next novel is about him and his casting out...??:].

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review is for the audiobook version, narrated by John Lamberti. The reading is ok, but I feel it could have been better. At times it was a bit choppy/disjointed, maybe because of issues with the audio editing. There are also rapid perspective changes in this book, and I feel that the narrator could have used better pacing to reflect that and avoid confusion. Also if he'd used different voices for the characters it would have made dialog more easy to follow. I would have given the text version of this book 4.5 stars instead of 4.

Cursed is a magical and sexy romance. The characters have good depth and personality. The story caught my interest from the start and is engaging throughout. The story is unique and interesting, and the pacing is great. The smut-to-plot ratio is a little heavier on the smut side than what I would prefer for this story. But that said, the sex scenes are well written and hot.

Even though this is the first of a series, it is also great as a stand-alone book.

I highly recommend this for anyone looking for a highly erotic paranormal romance.

*I received a free copy of this audiobook to read for Inked Rainbow Reads in exchange for an honest review.*

[Rici · Rating 3 out of 5]

Das Cover ist hier gut gehalten. Besonders mag ich hier die magischen Zeichen um den Mond herum, da auch hier Zauberei eine große Rolle spielt.
Wir haben in dieser Story die Zwillinge Tristan und William, die die Zauberei zu einem gewissen Grad beherrschen. Tristan macht sich auf dem Weg einer verfluchten Person zu helfen, nämlich Benjamin. Dieser möchte nicht, dass der Fluch sich auf seine Familie ausbreitet. Natürlich bildet sich eine Romanze zwischen den beiden, aber zuerst muss der Fluch gelöst werden. Dabei haben die beiden eine Verbindung dank ihrer Urahnen. Und so einen Fluch zu brechen ist nicht sonderlich einfach.
Eigentlich hat diese Story alles was man braucht – aber irgendwie fiel sie für mich etwas flach aus. Vielleicht lag es daran, dass ich es zu schnell gelesen habe, weil nach beiseitelegen des Buches dachte ich, ich hätte aller 2 Seiten eine Sexszene gelesen.
Fazit:
Gute Story Idee, Ausarbeitung ist ebenfalls gut, hat ein paar Stellen die sich etwas ziehen, aber dennoch wünscht man den beiden ein schönes Happy End.
Daher vergebe ich 3 von 5 Sternen.

[Preston · Rating 3 out of 5]

Twins, Witch, Werewolf, Magic, Curses and the best cook ever to serve guests baked goods at all hours of the night! What more could you want? I know what I'd want—less sex. My biggest complaint is that every other chapter is all sex. There is more sex than there is story. I would have given this story 4 stars if it did not have more sex scenes than a porn video.

I was mostly delighted with this oddly pleasing book until the end. The epilogue is about the MC werewolf's son which didn't seem important to me. The author hinted that the MC's oddball twin brother might also find romance ironically with the MC's twin brother but nothing is comes of that. The story of a set of twins each finding love with a pair of twins where it's most unexpected would have been great to have made a little story as the epilogue.

I don't understand why these authors don't consult me first so they don't make this kind of mistake.

[Jordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was so much fun!! It involved all of my guilty pleasures wrapped up into one book: werewolves, true love, absurd levels of homosexual pairings, mysterious estates, magic, drama and happy endings. It felt like my version of the paperback romance novels you find old women and nurses reading behind the counter-- that is meant entirely as a compliment. The paperbacks I refer to are addictive, honest in their intention, and incredibly fun to get lost in for an afternoon or two. I fell in love with the characters in Cursed, enjoyed the werewolf lore in this world, and not to mention the explicit material was well-written. I've got a handful of friends who will enjoy reading Cursed, so I'll definitely be passing along the word.

[Barb ~rede-2-read~ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this story of Benjamin, a werewolf who's family had been cursed by a witch in the 17th century. Every first born son would be a werewolf. Tristan, a witch from England, and the direct descendant of the witch who appllied the curse, arrives uninvited at Benjamin's place of business and announces that he's there to break the curse placed by his ancestor.

The story that ensues is good but not complex. For those who love lots of sex scenes, this book has them. I can't resist starting the next book in the series right now. Tristan's twin brother Will was introduced in this story and he'll be the focus of the next one. Looking forward to reading Betrayed.

[Lioness7 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cursed was a very interesting story with a unique take on werewolves. It dealt with some of the evolving from a curse by a witch.

I loved the storyline and the main characters. I also loved the side characters and their acceptance of their being werewolves. It was refreshing having humans not panic when someone shifted.

The one thing about the book that I didn’t understand was how much of it told about Alex and Raul. They weren’t the main characters but still had a lot of page time.

Overall, I had a good time reading this book. I also liked the hints given about Will having his own story coming up. I liked him and can’t wait to see what happens.

[Mountie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this one and though it was one of the better M/M were novels I had read. I am looking forward to the sequel and Will and Raul's brother's story. I liked that is was novel length. Sometimes finding an ebook that is over 250 MS Reader pages can be difficult, but this one was twice that length, allowing for a good story to be told.

If I had to give a synopsis it would be "Be careful for what you wish for, because it may come true." It was a good twist and Rhianne worked it well to a satisfying conclusion.