Curse of Hound and Princess: A Cursed shifter and Princess Whimsical YA fairytale Romance Fantasy, a perfect mix of ACOTAR and Bridgerton

by Lura Mayart

✨ A princess bride in disguise. A cursed Hound shifter. A fairytale love romanatsy written in magic. ✨

She was born with the one thing that could get her killed.

In a world where golden hair belongs only to monsters and traitors, Princess Taynrea has spent her life hiding her true color beneath layers of dye. Though born a bastard of King, she was given a home and a family by her stepmother, the Queen of Hyldora, who loved her as her own, and by her sister, who treated her with endless kindness.

When her sister is chosen as a bride for the distant High Court of Caeldora, Taynrea takes her place, not for glory, but to repay the love she was given.

But fate has a strange way of rewarding foolish bravery.

On the road, she rescues a wounded hound and carries him into Caeldora, the most protected high court of all five realms, hiding him away from prying eyes. What she doesn’t know is that the beast is no beast at all, but a cursed hound shifter with secrets of his own.

Together, they accidentally awaken a forgotten and forbidden world hidden beyond a mirror—a whimsical realm where the destroyed court of Wyndora has survived in secret, and where golden-haired people never needed to hide.

Now Princess Taynrea must dance among nobles, charm a prince who expected another bride, survive a queen who sees every weakness, and protect the secret that could end her life…

All while falling for the one creature who knows exactly who she truly is.

Perfect for readers who

🌹 Forbidden identity & hidden powers
🦋 A loving stepmother and stepsister
🐺 Cursed shifter MMC
👑 Royal court intrigue
💍 Replacement bride
🔥 Hidden heir / lost kingdom secrets
🪞 Magical worlds beyond the mirror
💛 Forbidden golden-haired FMC
⚔️ Slow-burn romance
🌙 Forbidden Golden Hair

321 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 2, 2026

Reviews

[Moni · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked it up because it said cozy read... but it was so much more! It had everything I wanted for autumn vibes, and the color-coded courts were super clever. I totally loved that.
The beginning was heavy on the world building, but once I got settled into the story, we got to the fall festival... I'm still wondering what happened with that festival gift, though. Maybe it is a setup for the next book? No clue!
However, I really enjoyed the second half of the book, it totally hooked me, and that ending is such a cliffhanger. I really need the second part... who did she choose, and what happened to Lumi??????

[Christa · Rating 2.5 out of 5]

Thank you to BookSirens for my copy! I love the cover art! Unfortunately, this book fell flat for me. There was sooo much potential but there were many grammatical errors and sentences that didn't make sense like it had been translated from another language and I was often confused, having to reread paragraphs at a time. The FMC is feisty and smart which is a nice change for fantasy/romantasy. Also, the dog under her skirts licking her (🐱) while she spoke with the prince 😳

[Molly]

I’ll admit it: I picked up Curse of Hound and Princess because of the purple cover. Yep. That was what drew me in.

Thankfully, the book itself turned out to be fantastic.

I really enjoyed this one. It has just the right amount of fantasy and magic, along with this sense that something much bigger is lurking in the background. There’s plenty of foreshadowing that more drama is coming, and by the end of the book, that drama definitely starts poking its nose into the story.

This is the first book in a series, and it very much ends with the feeling that there is more to come. Not necessarily in a frustrating way, but in a way that makes you curious about what happens next.

There’s also a romance of sorts, although it’s very light in this book. I suspect it might become more important in the sequel, but maybe it will and maybe it won’t. Either way, I’m curious enough to want to find out, so I’ll definitely be reading the second book whenever it comes out.

One of the things I especially liked was the balance between the magical and the ordinary. This is absolutely fantasy, not magical realism, but the magic feels grounded. It’s almost how I imagine magic would actually work if we had it. It can help you, but it doesn’t mean you suddenly get to sit back and let magic solve everything for you. You still have to actually do things.

Overall, this was just really, really good. I had a fantastic time reading it, I’m excited to see where the series goes next, and I 100% recommend it.

And yes, sometimes judging a book by its purple cover works out beautifully.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Res · Rating 5 out of 5]

ARC review
The opening was very different from all the books I have read. It was unique and the story started without any delays by rescuing the hound. The author caught me right there, which made me to continue reading without dnf to be honest.
It had everything from description, purple based court, magical objects, and tension between hound, FMC and second MMC. Perfect ratio of romance and the mystery.
I was initially confused between the mirror world and the real one. As I read, I understood that we are having the FMC's view, where she was also confused, at some point you could feel the essence of the princess within yourself. World-building was amazing, but I really wanted to know what the rest of the courts will look like. Also, the little history of the princess's own court.
They introduced Saeldora (if I'm not wrong), a coastal kingdom... I can't wait to explore that in upcoming books.
Like the cover, everywhere inside the book you could feel that purple whimsical vibe. If Bridgerton was based on Autumn with a little magic... it would be exactly like this book.
Overall, a very cosy read for me. It had everything I wanted as a romantasy girlie.

[Brandon Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, I liked this book. The FMC is a likable, feisty princess whose first instinct upon arriving at the kingdom of her soon to be betrothed is to sneak in a hound that had been shot by the palace guards. Princess Taynrea nurses the hound Grimmus back to health. Taynrea has taken her sister’s place to marry the prince. She is trying to fit in, but she has secrets she is trying to keep hidden – besides the hound she has in room. The mirror kingdom was an interesting concept, and I thought the plot was entertaining.

There was a scene with the “hound” that made me uncomfortable. Yes, it’s a shifter romance. Not a problem. The MMCs are not usually in their shifted forms for any romantic encounters, and I just didn’t think this scene was YA appropriate. Otherwise, the book didn’t have anything that seemed out of character for a YA book. I am interested to see where the story goes from here and will read the next book.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Hannah Boyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I truly enjoyed this book!! I haven’t read much fantasy and this was a good ease into the genre being more romantasy, the characters were truly loveable and i wanted the best for all of them 🫶 This was a very well written love triangle as often i find myself rooting for an individual wayyy more than the other but both guys were so loveable i just wanted our fmc to be happy! The book being based on a hound shifter was a really cool concept too which i enjoyed and that one scene was 🔥🥵. Definitely a book i would recommend as an easy romantasy read

[Newbookadventures | Joy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed Court of Hound and Princess! The world-building was really good, and I loved how easily I got pulled into the story. The tension kept building as I read, making me curious about what would happen next and leaving me thinking about the book even when I wasn’t reading it. Usually, books with cursed-animal shifters (or alike) are not my thing but in this case, in this story, i couldn't put the book down. It has a really good story and i hope there will be a book 2

[Lucy-victoria Godsall · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall I think this books was okay. I ended up giving it a 3 star as the story really picked up towards the end and I am intrigued to see what happens if there is going to be a second book. The book was a very slow building storyline and at times I was struggling to get through it but after the 50% mark I was able to breeze through the story.

[Grace White · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to BookSirens and the author for the opportunity to ARC read this book. The thing that instantly drew me in was the book cover that piped my attention. I loved the world building of this book’s world. The magic and the themes was super beautiful. It was a beautiful written and blend of both romantic and mystery elements. I enjoyed reading it.

[Kristin Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Received this book for ARC review

This was a fun easy read. Fantasy is my usual go to and it checked all the boxes.

You kind of knew what was going to happen before it happened hence the 4 stars but overall it’s a good “read on the beach” kind of book

[Kirsty Stagg · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun fantasy read, the beginning is quite slow building, but once you get a few chapters in, the pace picks up. 

The love triangle is well written with both mmc's being lovely, despite the tension between them.

[Karis · Rating 3.5 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️½

Thank you to the author for sending me an eARC of Curse of Hound and Princess in exchange for an honest review!

I really enjoyed this book! It was a fun fantasy read with a really likeable main character, mystery, magic, curses and quite a few twists that I definitely didn’t see coming.

The beginning was a little slow for me, and I was quite confused about what was happening during the first few chapters. Once the story started explaining more about why the characters were there and how everything connected, I became much more interested.

I really liked the relationship between the main character and Grimmus, especially as the story started revealing more about the curse and his connection to everything happening.

There were definitely moments where I was sitting there thinking “wait, what is happening?” 😭 especially with the mirrors, the moon, her hair, Wyndora and the curse. But the mystery kept me wanting to find out what was actually going on.

I really liked the main character and thought this was an enjoyable and easy fantasy read. The ending definitely left me wanting more

Overall, I’d give Curse of Hound and Princess 3.5 stars. I had a lot of fun reading it and would definitely be interested in seeing where the story goes next!