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Before my tear-filled gaze, fiery letters and shapes climbed my arms. The spell was invading me. I knew instinctively that, like a snake bite, if the magic reached my heart or my brain, I’d die...


After a disastrous attempt to steal a fey amulet, Wren is on the run and her seven brothers turned into wild swans. She has to break the spell, but who can she turn to?

Meanwhile, Devlin Brannan, her family's enemy, is tasked with stopping her at all costs.

Book 2 in the Cursed Sisters Trilogy

262 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 12, 2019

4 people are currently reading
79 people want to read

About the author

Joss Stirling

36 books2,524 followers
Joss Stirling is a British novelist. Her first novel under this name was the internationally successful, Finding Sky, which is followed by five others in the same series entering into the savant world of young people with special powers. Central to the story are the Benedict Brothers, seven talented guys from Colorado.

In a second series, Struck, Joss begins a new world of detective romance. The first three parts are: Struck (#1) and Stung (#2), and Shaken (#3) and Scorched (#4). Joss introduces readers to four new heroes - Kieran Storm, Nathan Hunter, Joe Masters and Damien Castle, who all attention the Young Detective Agency. The first part, Struck, won the Romantic Novel of the Year 2015 in the UK.

Her new series, PERIL, a paranormal love story set in the near future, is out 13 July 2017.

Joss lives in Oxford, England. She is married with three children.


Stirling also publishes under two pen names: Julia Golding and Eve Edwards.

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5 stars
47 (41%)
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44 (38%)
3 stars
20 (17%)
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2 (1%)
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
Profile Image for Annette.
3,857 reviews177 followers
April 20, 2021
There was a time I was following Joss Stirling and her writing. And then she wrote a horror story, which I'm obviously not gonna read, because I'm a huge chicken, and I somehow lost touch. And then all of a sudden she appeared on my timeline again when releasing the third book in this series. My cue to start my catch up, because this sounded like my thing! The first book was everything I had hoped it would be and I was therefore very excited to start the second.

I have to admit that I needed a little while to really get into this book. And that's mostly because I just don't like road-trips. People traveling from A to B, no matter how exciting that journey might be, is just not something I enjoy. However, once our characters settled a little and we were diving into the real mystery, I just couldn't stop reading. Because that road-trip might not have been my thing, but it did lead to a few very exciting plots!

Of course there's the mystery of the dark magic and the curses. We already met Wren's sister in the first book, and we read some more of her in this one, so we knew a little about the curse, but it was quite clear that Wren's curse, although it had some similarities, was different. What I enjoyed most though, was that Wren, with her curse, had learned to navigate the world. She maybe couldn't talk, but she could communicate and she did manage to bring across what she wanted.

It was one of the reasons it was so much fun to watch her interact with her future boyfriend. They just got each other on a level that goes way beyond words. And it wasn't just a one side thing, even though Wren liked to think that for a long time. He understood the meaning behind her gestures and expressions and she understood the message behind his bluntness and sarcasm. I'm pretty sure they're gonna be an amazing couple for the rest of their lives!
Profile Image for Jamie Lee Zonneveld.
1,687 reviews51 followers
December 12, 2019
Stinging Nettle is the second book in the Three Sisters Trilogy by Joss Stirling. This book is based on the favorite fairytale of Joss Stirling.

In the first book we met Linny en Quinn, in this book they're searching for her sisters. In this book we follow Wren, Linny's zusje. Wren doesn't have memories further back as when her 7 fey brothers found her in their barn. To help her brothers she sneaks in the house of their enemy, the Brennans, to steal a magical amulet. But something goes wrong, her brothers end up as swans and she goes on the run. Devlin Brennan is tasked with finding her and bringing her to his father.

I loved Wren's story and I can't wait for the third book because I love this series. I really love this authors writing style, she is really one of my favorites.
Profile Image for Nina.
107 reviews
August 24, 2024
Very good, not at good as first but goes along with the same pattern so is nice
LOVE the Linny and Quinn in this
Devlin and Wren are good too though
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
24 reviews
December 15, 2019
What a fantastic story! The narrative is so engaging and powerful and the characters so memorable that the fairy tale it is based on is truly given new life. It is natural to want to compare the second book in the series with the first. Wren is easier to root for than Linnet and her character is witty, loving and resilient. Wren’s feisty attitude and fierce loyalty to her family is expressed unequivocally in the opening chapters. The pace of the story is gentle and kept interesting with Wren’s witty banter and the frequent changes in setting.

Putting the needs of others first and persevering even when the odds are against you are themes that echo throughout the story making it an inspiring read. Shay was very nicely developed as a character in this book. His ability to manage his subjects is something to be marvelled at. Similarly his fallibility and his willingness to admit his mistakes lends new meaning to his right to rule. It was great having Quinn appear but I missed Conall, Sian and Jack.

Devlin. Now, he was difficult to trust in at the start and Linnet’s initial reaction to him is actually quite understandable. However, pairing him with Wren inexplicably just works. Through her silence, she helps him to discover and be his best self. I would actually like to see more of Devlin and Elowen in the next book. Having the brother-sister duo stand by each other was refreshing. What I love about Joss Stirling’s books is that they place great emphasis on sibling ties against the background of rich fantasy and romance. Joss Stirling however outdoes herself in this book as we have four teams of siblings; coming together in a climactic ending with its nearly full cast finale.

I can’t wait to be introduced to Finch and for the Three Sisters to be (finally!) united once more.
2 reviews
January 23, 2021
Cuando leí el libro, enseguida supe que releer el primero era la única opción. Tantas cosas que, en mi opinión, carecieron en este segundo libro.

Comenzando por los protagonistas: wren y devlin
Los sentí... blandos, callejón bajo en la barra que establecieron Quinn y linny. Mientras que Quinn y linny tuvieron una relación creíble con altos y bajos, algo all que todos nos podemos relacionar, esta de vio más... inalcanzable y a la vez menos creíble. Por mi cabeza pasó el pensamiento de un posible retelling de hadas como bella y la bestia. Wren, “prisionera” de devlin, en un lapso de 1-3 días ya estaban arriesgando todo por el otro. Es bonito creer que el amor funciona de esa manera, al hartarlo eres capaz de dar tu propia vida por protegerlo, pero es una ilusión de lo que verdaderamente es, ha lo que me hace pensar que este libro tiene un público mucho más joven de lo que promocionan.

Hablemos de la historia, aunque fue interesante y para nada tediosa de leer, con personajes altaneros como la magia, sigue siendo menos impresionante que la primera. Emoji, tristeza, miedo, desesperación y calor, confusión, son algunas de las emociones que me inundaban al leer la otra mitad del primer libro, muestras que con esta, esas emociones llegaron al final y no alcanzaron los mismos niveles.

En conclusión, el libro cayó corto al primero, no es malo, pero no fue mejor. Leeré el tercero para ver como finaliza toda la trilogía. Una lectura ligera y divertida es como yo describiría este libro. ¿Bueno? Si. ¿Excelente? No, pero este trabajo si es una mejora a sus últimas obras, por mucho.
4 reviews
December 13, 2019
A great sequel for the cursed sisters series! We here follow the story of the second sister and learn how the curse affected her and a bit about what happened after Linny died first time.

When I first got my hand on it I couldn't put it down again.
Joss can something with her books. She creates worlds that is so different from the one we are living in, bit does it so that it easily could be real.
I can't wait for the last one!
The story is like the first one, and different at the same time.

Again she use what is known and twist it to be her own, like she did with the story of Atlantis in the Peril series, she now uses inspiration from fairytales.

It is a must read!
2 reviews
December 18, 2019
I challenge you not to sweep right through this tantalising novel!

As usual Stirling blends the genres of fantasy, myth and romance perfectly, creating a spine tingling novel seeded with lesser known myths and legends, like the Wild Swans of Coole, whilst also constructing a twisting tale of romance.

Through her complex and fierce characters, Stirling manages to deal with key issues like familial relationships, morality and loyalty in a simplistically complex way which will engage all who read it.

If you haven’t read this series already, I can’t recommend it enough, it’s a perfect feel-good read to curl up with or on a beach or sofa.
2 reviews
December 12, 2019
Another great book by Joss! I loved how she weaved one of the lesser known fairy tales, The Wild Swans at Coole, into this story. It made it unique and intriguing. The characters, as always, were well thought out and compelling and I like the fact that this book gave us different points of view. It was a magical and spine-tingling read and a good follow up to Deadly Nightshade. I cannot wait for the third book to come out and I would absolutely recommend this to anyone I know!
Profile Image for Georgia.
141 reviews
February 21, 2022
I think I have sadly now read too much new adult/adult fiction to be as in love with Joss Stirling's work as I was when I was younger. I still really enjoyed this book, Joss Stirling will remain one of my favourite authors forever, and I would recommend this to a ya audience as these books just hit the spot!
24 reviews
April 2, 2022
Another excellent trilogy

I have read all of Joss' previous books, and this trilogy did not dissapoint. I loved the references to fairy tales that I read as a child, her characters are well developed and intriguing.
Profile Image for Rebecca.
126 reviews
February 2, 2024
Nice. Also, Flint is the bestest boy. He deserves all the bacon.
Profile Image for Rachel Langford.
6 reviews1 follower
March 4, 2021
First I went back and reread the first novel in this series and then I had to reread this book to check for spelling mistakes etc as I read it so fast the first time i partially skimmed over some parts and hence my review is late.

Its amazing. I have not been this invested in a book since her Stirlings first novel Finding Sky. The story is gripping from the get go and like I said was reading it so quickly I skimmed over parts. My second read was so much more successful and I loved it and found so many more quirks.

As I was reviewing this book as part of her 'super-readers' group we had a little foreword from Stirling that its based on her favourite fairytale and that we'll soon spot it. I can honestly say I didnt pin point it and the story was wholly her own. There were elements from many old fairytales and folklore but it was all so entwined I wouldn't say its based on any one personally.

Im hoping there is another book in the series and cannot wait to read it. Would definitely recommend.

Thank you Stirling for the opportunity to read this.
Profile Image for sophia.
138 reviews2 followers
April 15, 2021
I loved this! The development of the relationship was fantastic, I loved the story and fairytale it was based on, and the way we had different POVs as well! I’m so excited for book 3! I also loved all the relationships in the book, whether it was brother-sister, romantic, father-son, etc!
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews

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