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Cursebound
When poker shark Cole Tiernan goes all-in on his relationship with witch lawyer, Delilah York, he expects magic. Or at least a few glowing candles in the bedroom. What he doesn’t expect is to become the next victim on her ex's hit list.
When Delilah York broke up with her ex, she expected it to go the way all her divorce lawyer negotiations went: with a division of assets and a good riddance. But her ex, a powerful witch turned hotel owner, began killing off her loved ones via magical means in a sick form of revenge. The only way to stop him from killing her new love Cole is to bind him with a curse that prevents him from doing harm. But when their plans go awry and Delilah's ex kidnaps her, Cole has to find a way to rescue her the old fashioned way: without magic.
When Delilah York broke up with her ex, she expected it to go the way all her divorce lawyer negotiations went: with a division of assets and a good riddance. But her ex, a powerful witch turned hotel owner, began killing off her loved ones via magical means in a sick form of revenge. The only way to stop him from killing her new love Cole is to bind him with a curse that prevents him from doing harm. But when their plans go awry and Delilah's ex kidnaps her, Cole has to find a way to rescue her the old fashioned way: without magic.
250 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 28, 2016
2 people are currently reading
14 people want to read
About the author
Rachel Shane
24 books165 followersRachel Shane studied Creative Writing at Syracuse University and now works in digital Project Management in New York City. She lives in New Jersey with her husband, young daughter, and a basement full of books.
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July 26, 2018
A lot of fantasy readers scoff at the adult urban fantasy genre and while I never condone scoffing at anyone’s reading tastes, I can sort of understand why. In my mind, and I’m sure a lot of other readers’ minds too, adult UF too often = sexytimes with paranormal creatures. There is often a lot of romance and not a hell of a lot of plot or characterisation which is just not, personally, my sort of thing. Luckily, Cursebound manages to balance those two critical elements perfectly while also incorporating the mandatory swoony romance.
My favourite part of this story, by far, was the magical lore. As someone who has wanted to be a lawyer/detective/cop since the first time she picked up Nancy Drew at age five, having a magical system tied to the law was the perfect way to get me engaged. In this world, spells and curses worked like legal contracts that bind the castor in a ‘contract against nature’. Incantations/chants are spoken in legalese and witches have to find loopholes in the contracts in order to undo any curses (which is our protagonist’s job). The entire system was all written so cleverly that I couldn’t help but love it. It was easy to understand without seeming too simplistic. Infodumping was practically nonexistent; all of the information we needed was as organically incorporated into the story as possible. It was honestly all done so brilliantly that I’m still in awe.
However, I think the main reason why I could not put this book down was because the plotline was so damn addictive. I managed to easily whiz through this book in a single sitting. I just could not put it down! It does draw on some cliched tropes but it did do a lot to avoid the pitfalls of those tropes. Well, as much as possible. For example, the story’s antagonist was actually harder to defeat than the characters had anticipated and I really appreciated that it was not as cut-and-dry as it could have been. The heist was also just so much fun to read about. I have no idea what it is about heists but their planning and execution makes for some fantastic scenes. Surprisingly, I also have to admit that I was surprised by a couple of plot twists in this series. I did not see them coming!
What made this story slightly less enjoyable was our co-protagonists, Delilah. She was harder to warm up to than our other co-protagonist, Cole, and she was just not as well-developed as I would have liked. Maybe this is just because I completely favoured Cole and - in comparison - she could just not live up to my expectations? Whatever it was about her, I am glad that we got to read from Cole’s POV as well. He was hilarious and thoughtful. His poker hobby/job was also fascinating. I knew literally nothing about poker before reading this book so exploring how the game worked from a professional’s perspective was really interesting. While I did struggle to follow what was happening at some points (during the actual matches/games/whatever they are called), I appreciated how the author was able to convey the tension of the game.
Delilah and Cole’s romance did make me swoon. I’m not going to lie about that. Was it cheesy? Completely. Was it underdeveloped? Yes, a little. I will admit that it really was not the best-written romance I have ever read but I think that will be conveyed to everyone the second you start the book as it opens with a sex scene. I do not think that opening with this particular scene was in this book’s best interest as it just did not convey the story’s overall tone. There is obviously a romance in this book that does play a pivotal part in the overarching plotline but there is still a lot more to the story than Cole and Delilah’s relationship. I hope this scene doesn’t deter away readers who are not of the overly romantic UFs.
Overall?
If you love light-hearted adult urban fantasies and are looking for something well-written and entertaining, this is definitely something I’d recommend. I adored the magic system of this world and found the plotline addictive. The romance was a little bit too cheesy and the sex scenes were maybe a little bit too much. However, if you take Cursebound with a pinch of salt - and know you should just be here for the entertainment value, not looking for a literary masterpiece - then you’ll find yourself enjoying it. I’d bet on that.
Review copy provided by the author for an honest review.
My favourite part of this story, by far, was the magical lore. As someone who has wanted to be a lawyer/detective/cop since the first time she picked up Nancy Drew at age five, having a magical system tied to the law was the perfect way to get me engaged. In this world, spells and curses worked like legal contracts that bind the castor in a ‘contract against nature’. Incantations/chants are spoken in legalese and witches have to find loopholes in the contracts in order to undo any curses (which is our protagonist’s job). The entire system was all written so cleverly that I couldn’t help but love it. It was easy to understand without seeming too simplistic. Infodumping was practically nonexistent; all of the information we needed was as organically incorporated into the story as possible. It was honestly all done so brilliantly that I’m still in awe.
However, I think the main reason why I could not put this book down was because the plotline was so damn addictive. I managed to easily whiz through this book in a single sitting. I just could not put it down! It does draw on some cliched tropes but it did do a lot to avoid the pitfalls of those tropes. Well, as much as possible. For example, the story’s antagonist was actually harder to defeat than the characters had anticipated and I really appreciated that it was not as cut-and-dry as it could have been. The heist was also just so much fun to read about. I have no idea what it is about heists but their planning and execution makes for some fantastic scenes. Surprisingly, I also have to admit that I was surprised by a couple of plot twists in this series. I did not see them coming!
What made this story slightly less enjoyable was our co-protagonists, Delilah. She was harder to warm up to than our other co-protagonist, Cole, and she was just not as well-developed as I would have liked. Maybe this is just because I completely favoured Cole and - in comparison - she could just not live up to my expectations? Whatever it was about her, I am glad that we got to read from Cole’s POV as well. He was hilarious and thoughtful. His poker hobby/job was also fascinating. I knew literally nothing about poker before reading this book so exploring how the game worked from a professional’s perspective was really interesting. While I did struggle to follow what was happening at some points (during the actual matches/games/whatever they are called), I appreciated how the author was able to convey the tension of the game.
Delilah and Cole’s romance did make me swoon. I’m not going to lie about that. Was it cheesy? Completely. Was it underdeveloped? Yes, a little. I will admit that it really was not the best-written romance I have ever read but I think that will be conveyed to everyone the second you start the book as it opens with a sex scene. I do not think that opening with this particular scene was in this book’s best interest as it just did not convey the story’s overall tone. There is obviously a romance in this book that does play a pivotal part in the overarching plotline but there is still a lot more to the story than Cole and Delilah’s relationship. I hope this scene doesn’t deter away readers who are not of the overly romantic UFs.
Overall?
If you love light-hearted adult urban fantasies and are looking for something well-written and entertaining, this is definitely something I’d recommend. I adored the magic system of this world and found the plotline addictive. The romance was a little bit too cheesy and the sex scenes were maybe a little bit too much. However, if you take Cursebound with a pinch of salt - and know you should just be here for the entertainment value, not looking for a literary masterpiece - then you’ll find yourself enjoying it. I’d bet on that.
Review copy provided by the author for an honest review.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews