Cloaked

Beyond the Curse #3

by Laura Greenwood

Life goes on around the cursed.

A hundred years ago, Hansel and Gretel escaped from the Witch's hut with more power and riches than they could ever have imagined. For decades they've lived in peace. At least until Keira and Philip arrived.

When young women begin to disappear from the nearby village, they take it upon themselves to uncover what's going on. But their past is about to catch up with them, and this time, even Gretel might not be able to save them.

A fantasy paranormal retelling of Hansel & Gretel mixed with Little Red Riding Hood. A Beyond the Curse story.

Genres: Fantasy, Vampires

104 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2014

About the author

Laura is a USA Today Bestselling Author of fantasy romance and urban fantasy. She lives in the UK, where most of her books are set, with her partner. When she's not writing, Laura can be found exploring worldwide cusine with her partner, drinking tea, and reading fantasy books. Laura specialises in quick reads, featuring healthy relationships and consent-positive moments, regardless of whether she's writing light-hearted romance, mythology-inspired modern fantasy, cozy fantasy or anything in between.

Discover one of Laura Greenwood's most popular series:
- The Apprentice of Anubis (mythology inspired modern/urban fantasy)
- Forgotten Gods (mythology inspired fantasy romance)
- Jinx Paranormal Dating Agency (mythology inspired paranormal rom-com)
- House of Blood and Roses (vampire romantasy)
- Amethyst's Wand Shop Mysteries (urban fantasy murder mystery)
- Scales of Justice (mythology inspired modern/urban fantasy)
- Purple Oak Oasis (cozy fantasy romance)
- Falhaven Castle (cozy fantasy romance)

You can find a full book list and more information on her website, or in her Facebook Reader Group.

Happy Reading!

Reviews

[Laura Greenwood]

Cloaked is now part of the completely revamped and rewritten Beyond The Curse series. You can find the new version (which is combined with Awakening) here: books2read.com/awakenedprincess

Changes include but aren't limited to: editing changes, complete removal of some scenes, POV changed to solely Keira, removal of paranormal elements to focus on the fantasy elements of the stories.

[Kathleen R. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Title: Cloaked
Author: Laura Greenwood
Series:Alventia series, book 2
Publisher: Nevermore Press
Reviewer: Kathleen
Release Date:July 15th, 2016
Genre(s): Paranormal Romance
Page Count:74 pages
Heat Level: 3 flames out of 5
Rating: 5 stars out of 5
Blurb:

Not every happy ever after goes to plan…
100 years ago, Hansel and Gretel escaped from the witch’s hut with more power and riches than they could ever imagine. For years they lived a peaceful life, until Phillip and Keira showed up on their wedding day on the run from Phillip’s father.
When young women from a nearby village start to go missing all evidence points to Red, an old enemy of Gretel’s, the four of them take it upon themselves to stop her.

Review:
A few years ago a movie came out about Hansel and Gretel where the sibling duo became witch hunters after being kept by the evil witch when they got lost in the forest and came across her home. To find another fairy tale that was give a new face lift was a joy and when I had the chance to read Cloaked, the second novel in the Alventia series, I was in heaven. Here was another rendition of the siblings and they were even stronger and bad a$$ than ever before! If that wasn't enough to reel me in, Keira and Philip were back again and ready to fight back in case anyone was foolish enough to follow them after the escape from the evil and watchful eye of Xavier. Cloaked takes off where Awakening finishes and concentrates on Gretel's story, how the witch becomes even stronger and how she and her brother were tricked into getting lost in the forest. The way that this story was written drew me in and kept me captivated from the very beginning until the very last page - which I easily realized was the dreaded 'c' word CLIFFHANGER. And what a cliffhanger it was: I never saw it coming and I'm certain that the photo finish would have captured my dumbfounded look on my face when I reached the last page. Keira and Philip's relationship is still as strong as ever and while the siblings train them to defend themselves, Gretel learns that women are disappearing in a neighbouring town and suspects her witch enemy to be the culprit. Knowing her magic would have her detected, Gretel has Keira take her place alongside Hansel. Cloaked isn't the most sexually explicit novel I've read in my life, but it's sensual and absolutely empowering - two women who we're used to seeing relying on men, we now see as strong and kicking some strong butt! It was such a great turnover that I couldn't put it down and my only complaint was that cliffhanger telling me that I'll have to wait until the next instalment to find out what will happen to our four heroes. The Alventia series has become by far one of my favourite series and Cloaked, the spark that gave me back the excitement I once felt for fairy tales as a child ten folds. Truthfully, I'll be biting my nails and counting down the days until Laura Greenwood's next release.





Review Copy of Cloaked provided by the Author, Laura Greenwood for an honest Review.
Reviewed by Kathleen from Alpha Book Club

[Merissa (Archaeolibrarian) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cloaked is the second novella in the Alventia series, and we continue on our journey with Keira and Philip, and Hansel and Gretel. We find out more about Gretel's history with Red, and Hansel is a conundrum that Philip is curious about.

This is well written and continues to delight. The story itself is enthralling, and the characters and world are interesting. In the Disney versions (which are a lot fluffier than the originals!), Sleeping Beauty doesn't really do anything, and Gretel has to rely on her brother for everything.

In the Alventian versions, these two ladies are kick-ass!!! Definitely not afraid to take the lead and/or defend themselves, but also very happy being with a man too. They don't see anything wrong with a chivalrous male by their sides.

With a cliffhanger ending, this is a wonderful addition to the series and will leave you wanting more.

* I received this book from the author in return for a fair and honest review. *

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Sep 16, 2016

[Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received Cloaked as an Arc.

I have no words.......

That's a lie, I have so many words about this book. For starters, I am absolutely wrecked!!!!!!!

I absolutely loved Awakening and I was super excited to read cloaked!
I was a little apprehensive to start because I really wanted this book to be about Phillip and Kiera again, but I was also interested about Gretel.

So the story starts and Gretel's past is revealed a little more, and I have got to say, far out that poor girl had a rough life!
I was pleasantly surprised to find that the book was partially Gretel's point of view and the other part Phillip and Kiera.

I loved that there was a story within a larger story in this book. The larger story surrounds Phillips father, but Cloaked focused on the kidnapping of young women in the town, which I have no doubt fits into the larger story.

We saw more of Gretel than we did Hansel in this book, but you definitely noticed him in every scene he was in. I loved their relationship as brother and sister, but I also really enjoyed their friendship.

Phillip and Kiera, what can I say, I loved their relationship in the first book and that only continued into Cloaked. What was amazing, is that Laura managed to make me so invested into these clients that I felt everything they felt! I loved seeing things through their eyes. They are such an amazing couple ❤️

The ending... Laura, you absolutely killed me with that ending! It was just so raw and emotive, it was so bittersweet and beautifully tragic.
I cannot wait until the next one, I literally am just stunned at the turns of events in this book! I need information now!

[Lisa Eiff · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this short read. I say 'short read', because it reads like a novella. I started read it this morning, and was able to finish this story in only a few hours time. That being said, I found it enjoyable, though it ends with a rather large cliffhanger.

This story is a bit different than the first two books I've read in the Beyond the Curse series. The others were basically retellings of classic fairy tale stories, but this book tells the story of what happens to both Hansel and Gretel far after their bread crumb affiliated fairy tale came to an ending. In this book, you learn that the two have come into their own many years later (the retelling of this story is made apparent by Gretel sharing a recap of the story), and have since befriended a vampire couple.

The story gets interesting when we learn that women are disappearing, and Hansel, Gretel, Keira and Phillip work together to try to discover how it's happening and why. I told you before this book ends with a rather massive cliffhanger, but I'm hoping to find another book by Laura Greenwood that will help clear up how this story really ends. I would recommend this book to anyone that enjoys paranormal romances, fantasy books with quite a bit of adventure, or fairy tale retellings.

[Laura Greenwood]

Beyond the Curse and the sister series, Children of the Cursed, will re-release in late 2020 with a completely re-written book 1-2. They will have the same covers (the gold ones) and follow the same plot, but with fresh writing.

Beyond the Curse Series:
1. Awakening
2. Cloaked]

Prequels:
1. Betrayed
2. Accursed

[Leslie Sanchez · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series gives a whole new look to the fairy tales we grew up with. I loved that Hansel, Gretel, Phillip and Kiera have a home together, away from Phillip's father. They devise a plan to find out why local village women have been disappearing. We also get background on Gretel's power and more questions about Hansel. At the same time we get to share Phillip and Kiera's bond grown stronger. This story had more twists than I expected and it was great! I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book.

[Christinaraven · Rating 5 out of 5]

The third book that is loosely based on a fairy tale with a twist. I like this series as it is really twisted and fun and I do not quite know what is going to show up next. I received a free copy and I honestly liked the third book. It was a quick read and a little darker then the others. It answered a few questions that I thought of from the first 2 books abut left me with a few more. Darn, I'll just have to keep reading the series until I get the answers. I got to visit with everyone from the other books and that was fun.

[Brittany VanLanen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holy cliffhanger!

This is the 3rd in the dark fairy tale series. We learn so much more about the characters and isn't really following the fairy tale theme here but more developing the characters that are already in play. I love Keira and Philip and of course Hanzel and Gretel. What I love most is that all the MCs are fierce and determined. I can't wait to see what happens next!

[Tera Comer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the third book in the Beyond The Curse series and we find out that not every happy ever after will go as we thought. I love the world building in this series as well as the retelling of certain characters. We continue on from the second book and we watch as the group is trying to find out exactly why local women have been disappearing. During this time we find out a few things about several of the groups past. I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book.

[Fiona Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another fabulous story

I so love this retelling, it’s full of nasty people and nice people. I know which ones I prefer. Kiera and Phillip have been staying hidden from the King. Hansel and Gretel are helping to train Kiera to defend herself. They hear of young girls being abducted, they think their plan will help them to stop whoever it is. Unfortunately all things do not go as planned. Grab a copy, a cuppa and a sunny spot and enjoy. Highly recommend.

[Ola Adamska · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was intriguing and allowed even better insight to The World created for Beyond The Curse Series.
Women get kiddnapped and main characters needs to investigate it. Where will it lead Them?
This story shows That not every retelling needs to take couse we thought it Would.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

The perfect mix of light and dark, in true Grimm fashion - Hansel and Gretel retold with an evil Little Red Riding Hood and more! Looking forward to reading the rest of the series! Engaging storytelling, definitely stands out amidst the recent fairy tale retelling surge.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This second book in the series is an excellent mix of Hansel and Gretel, Little Red Riding Hood, and its own special blend of storytelling. I loved it, and would definitely recommend it to anyone who likes adult fairytale retellings.

[Joetta Spurling · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book 3

Kindle Unlimited Purchase

Wish book 4 was out already.... September is so far away.... Start with book one... Couldn't put it down

[Crystal Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a good continuation to this series, but could also be read as a standalone. While it does make mention to the previous book in the series, the main characters are different from the previous book.

I do love how this is a strange re-telling of the Hansel and Gretel book, but it’s also completely different. And it also brings in the story of Little Red Riding Hood. Which I thought was also cool and different.

Hansel and Gretel were both characters that were easy to connect with, and their history is really explained in this book. Especially with how the past of Gretel comes into play.

There’s action and suspense that kept me on the edge of my seat wanting to find out what was going to happen next.

My only complaint would be that it felt, to me, a bit rushed at points and felt like it could have been expanded upon and been even more enjoyable. I’m not saying that I rated it 4 stars because it was shorter, just that I felt like more could have been added to fill in the gaps and fleshed it out a bit more.

Overall, a good read that I did enjoy. I would continue to read this series in the future.

*Copy provided for review*
Reviewed by Crystal Marie for Crystal’s Many Reviewers