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A Cursed Blood Trilogy #1
Daughter of Ice and Darkness
Tired of the King and Queen's lies, Athea, a mortal Princess, knows they are hiding something far more deadly than anyone could believe. Setting out to discover the truth, Athea’s life changes in more ways than one.
Cozen is only thinking about getting retribution. He will do anything to get revenge for his father's death. Even if it involves kidnapping the mortal Princess.
As she tries to adjust to her new life in the Shadows with the Fae Prince, Athea embarks on a long and tedious journey of secrets and betrayals.
When her entire existence is revealed to be a lie, mortal or immortal? Athea must make the most important decision of her life
Is going up against what she knows best her only option? What if Athea's decisions lead Cozen and his court to a secret that threatens to destroy everything they've planned?
With a strong desire for vengeance, betrayal and deception appear unavoidable for Athea and Cozen.
A curse to be broken, secrets unleashing, is love enough?
Cozen is only thinking about getting retribution. He will do anything to get revenge for his father's death. Even if it involves kidnapping the mortal Princess.
As she tries to adjust to her new life in the Shadows with the Fae Prince, Athea embarks on a long and tedious journey of secrets and betrayals.
When her entire existence is revealed to be a lie, mortal or immortal? Athea must make the most important decision of her life
Is going up against what she knows best her only option? What if Athea's decisions lead Cozen and his court to a secret that threatens to destroy everything they've planned?
With a strong desire for vengeance, betrayal and deception appear unavoidable for Athea and Cozen.
A curse to be broken, secrets unleashing, is love enough?
542 pages, Paperback
Published May 1, 2023
20 people are currently reading
805 people want to read
About the author
Meaghen Howard
4 books31 followersMeaghen loves to write books that will make you cry only to piece your heart together by the end of her works. There is no limit to her writing, as long as she can explore different worlds and characters you can find Meaghen writing any genre as long as she can give you a good cry.
When she is not writing, Meaghen spends most of her days reading, always ready to talk about it with anyone who will listen.
When she is not writing, Meaghen spends most of her days reading, always ready to talk about it with anyone who will listen.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
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February 22, 2023beta read, feb 2023 - review and rating to come once I read the final version 🥰
June 15, 2023
THIS BOOK!!!
Are you kidding me? Fans of Throne of glass and literally any good fantasy with romance bits will absolutley LOVE THIS🥳 The way the world is buildt, its characters…? Chef’s kiss!
CANT WAIT FOR BOOK 2🫶🏻😚😚🤩🤭
Are you kidding me? Fans of Throne of glass and literally any good fantasy with romance bits will absolutley LOVE THIS🥳 The way the world is buildt, its characters…? Chef’s kiss!
CANT WAIT FOR BOOK 2🫶🏻😚😚🤩🤭
February 5, 2023
WHAT? I'M GONNA EAT THIS UP
December 16, 2023
3.75 stars.
okay, so DOIAD is the first instalment of the cursed blood trilogy. I loved the atmosphere and cozy feeling I got from reading the book. I am a winter lover, so reading about a book that gave 'winter forest' was everything.
it gave me, very lightly, 'beauty and the beast' in the first part/act of the story. just as in that the female main character (Athea) obviously gets kidnapped by the male main character (Cozen) and gets put behind bars in the palace's dungeon, and then later on gets princess treatment, but still locked up, in one of the extravagant rooms of the palace.
I think my favourite part was the (love?) story between Asher and Ezra. I'm usually not into MM romance subplots but I have to admit, the uncertainty and painfully tension was so good. especially because there is still an open end, and slow burn maybe, to it. I genuinely think the most exciting thing is to know whether their love story evolves and questions get answered in the following books.
also, curious where to willow's story will go, she is a fiery woman for sure. a hotheaded witch (literally) but with reasoning most of the time. I loved how Athea and Willow grew up together since teens and I wish to get more of their sisterly bond in the next books.
the thing that I would have appreciated more is if the love story between Athea and Cozen would have dragged on a little longer. that way it would've made the angst of/and wanting of each other a lot stronger. I really liked the love confessions but they would've felt more real if they were to say it a bit further into the book(s)/relationship, however the relationship is labeled or not.
the friendship between Asher and Willow, so funny, their bold wittiness and banter.
I was a little lost sometimes as to what really was happening, but at the same time I do get that DOIAD is more of a set up for what is really about to happen in the next books, I hope the pacing will start pacing up a bit more too, which is usually the case with most fantasy series, so I don't take that too heavy, yet, in my opinion about the writing.
the ending had my in chokehold, what was that? jaw dropped and in shock?
ps. I still get emotional over that fact that Meaghen mentioned me in the acknowledgements of DOIAD. she's the actual coolest for daring to chase her dreams and write this debut. I'm really proud of you, bestie.
AND, I created a playlist for it, definitely recommend listening to it whilst reading the book.
okay, so DOIAD is the first instalment of the cursed blood trilogy. I loved the atmosphere and cozy feeling I got from reading the book. I am a winter lover, so reading about a book that gave 'winter forest' was everything.
it gave me, very lightly, 'beauty and the beast' in the first part/act of the story. just as in that the female main character (Athea) obviously gets kidnapped by the male main character (Cozen) and gets put behind bars in the palace's dungeon, and then later on gets princess treatment, but still locked up, in one of the extravagant rooms of the palace.
I think my favourite part was the (love?) story between Asher and Ezra. I'm usually not into MM romance subplots but I have to admit, the uncertainty and painfully tension was so good. especially because there is still an open end, and slow burn maybe, to it. I genuinely think the most exciting thing is to know whether their love story evolves and questions get answered in the following books.
also, curious where to willow's story will go, she is a fiery woman for sure. a hotheaded witch (literally) but with reasoning most of the time. I loved how Athea and Willow grew up together since teens and I wish to get more of their sisterly bond in the next books.
the thing that I would have appreciated more is if the love story between Athea and Cozen would have dragged on a little longer. that way it would've made the angst of/and wanting of each other a lot stronger. I really liked the love confessions but they would've felt more real if they were to say it a bit further into the book(s)/relationship, however the relationship is labeled or not.
the friendship between Asher and Willow, so funny, their bold wittiness and banter.
I was a little lost sometimes as to what really was happening, but at the same time I do get that DOIAD is more of a set up for what is really about to happen in the next books, I hope the pacing will start pacing up a bit more too, which is usually the case with most fantasy series, so I don't take that too heavy, yet, in my opinion about the writing.
the ending had my in chokehold, what was that? jaw dropped and in shock?
ps. I still get emotional over that fact that Meaghen mentioned me in the acknowledgements of DOIAD. she's the actual coolest for daring to chase her dreams and write this debut. I'm really proud of you, bestie.
AND, I created a playlist for it, definitely recommend listening to it whilst reading the book.
November 11, 2023
i flew through this book. there's no other explanation to that because i normally read 500 page books in DAYS.
omg what an experience this was... it's so hard to form words right now.
Meaghen is an incredible author who knows her way with words let me tell you that. the way she captured every detail and blends the world building with the plot and the romance. that is some pro work!!
also our two main characters Athea and Cozen gave me big cruel prince vibes AND I LOVED IT!!
the plot twists, the secrets, the betrayals, and THE ENDING!! girl how dare you do this to us😭
the romantasy, although i think a little bit heavy on romance for my liking, is a good blend and maybe i'd wish they were a little more slow burn-ish but other than that i really enjoyed this book and i'm also really excited to see where the following books will drag us.
Meaghen if you read this, i love you both as a person and as a writer (and i'd be glad if you didn't make us wait long👉🏼👈🏼) and i'm glad i picked up this book🤍
omg what an experience this was... it's so hard to form words right now.
Meaghen is an incredible author who knows her way with words let me tell you that. the way she captured every detail and blends the world building with the plot and the romance. that is some pro work!!
also our two main characters Athea and Cozen gave me big cruel prince vibes AND I LOVED IT!!
the plot twists, the secrets, the betrayals, and THE ENDING!! girl how dare you do this to us😭
the romantasy, although i think a little bit heavy on romance for my liking, is a good blend and maybe i'd wish they were a little more slow burn-ish but other than that i really enjoyed this book and i'm also really excited to see where the following books will drag us.
Meaghen if you read this, i love you both as a person and as a writer (and i'd be glad if you didn't make us wait long👉🏼👈🏼) and i'm glad i picked up this book🤍
June 5, 2023
1 star☆ review
This book wasn't it for me.
I shouldn't of given in to the tiktok hype, but like my ancestors I was duped and deceived. This book was recommended by mutual's I follow on social media, they praised it for the romantasy genre and the characters especially. What they failed to mention was how it ripped off multiple popular fantasy books, is plagiarism no longer a thing in books?
"the rising bring their children the king and queen", an event where second sons and daughters go to the king and queen to ascend. Then as they're doing the ceremony they're being attacked, exactly like the first part of From Blood and Ash.
"Daemanti" ACOTAR: Daemati, controlling and entering people's minds.
"Ironclaws"- Ironteeth (Throne of Glass)
"Whiterpeak" "Whiterpeak coven"- Blackbeak (Throne of Glass)
"Nesrin"- Nesryn" "Erewyn"- Erawan (Throne of Glass)
"Driges"- "Valg" using magic and blood for monsters. (Throne of Glass)
Reminds me of A Court of Thorns and Roses and Throne of Glass.
It felt like a bunch of different plots from multiple books thrown together to make an undigestible smoothie, to say in better words.
Also, "Sup bro." appearing on page 238, what is this?
The world building was lacking, it had more dialogue and the main character passing out more than anything else. I always give fantasy books a chance before I hit 100 pages, but after 100 pages I wanted to scream.
The love interest Cozen was dense and lacked substance, the instant love between him and the main character Althea was worse than the wattpad books I read in middle school. But he was the only character I didn't dislike as much as the other ones. The FMC Athea was the most annoying and cringe protagonist to date, even more worse than Bella Swan from Twilight.
The things she was saying in a fantasy novel were not genre accurate, the display of "feminism" in the middle part of the book reminded me of awkward male teachers trying to show their support on international woman's day by saying, "women can do what men can do." The repetition of her passing out over and over again, became over excessive that I was confused if the author ran out of things to do to the main character?
The gay couples in the book were that of the same as all gay relationships in the media, falling into the trap of being portrayed as queer people not getting happy endings or just being there for the sake of saying you have LGBTQ characters- to appeal as though you have representation on your book. I say as a gender-queer person.
The ending and entire plot was extremely predictable, I didn't find myself holding on to the edge of my seat as I do with most fantasy books. Overall, I cannot fault anyone for that since it is a tiktok book and is for that kind of audience. I'm disappointed with how this book was and the time I spent reading it and finishing it today. It was decent, not the best but that can be expected for a first book sometimes, might read the next one.
If you want books similar to this vibe, I recommend Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon, Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco, Zodiac Academy by Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti.
This book wasn't it for me.
I shouldn't of given in to the tiktok hype, but like my ancestors I was duped and deceived. This book was recommended by mutual's I follow on social media, they praised it for the romantasy genre and the characters especially. What they failed to mention was how it ripped off multiple popular fantasy books, is plagiarism no longer a thing in books?
"the rising bring their children the king and queen", an event where second sons and daughters go to the king and queen to ascend. Then as they're doing the ceremony they're being attacked, exactly like the first part of From Blood and Ash.
"Daemanti" ACOTAR: Daemati, controlling and entering people's minds.
"Ironclaws"- Ironteeth (Throne of Glass)
"Whiterpeak" "Whiterpeak coven"- Blackbeak (Throne of Glass)
"Nesrin"- Nesryn" "Erewyn"- Erawan (Throne of Glass)
"Driges"- "Valg" using magic and blood for monsters. (Throne of Glass)
Reminds me of A Court of Thorns and Roses and Throne of Glass.
It felt like a bunch of different plots from multiple books thrown together to make an undigestible smoothie, to say in better words.
Also, "Sup bro." appearing on page 238, what is this?
The world building was lacking, it had more dialogue and the main character passing out more than anything else. I always give fantasy books a chance before I hit 100 pages, but after 100 pages I wanted to scream.
The love interest Cozen was dense and lacked substance, the instant love between him and the main character Althea was worse than the wattpad books I read in middle school. But he was the only character I didn't dislike as much as the other ones. The FMC Athea was the most annoying and cringe protagonist to date, even more worse than Bella Swan from Twilight.
The things she was saying in a fantasy novel were not genre accurate, the display of "feminism" in the middle part of the book reminded me of awkward male teachers trying to show their support on international woman's day by saying, "women can do what men can do." The repetition of her passing out over and over again, became over excessive that I was confused if the author ran out of things to do to the main character?
The gay couples in the book were that of the same as all gay relationships in the media, falling into the trap of being portrayed as queer people not getting happy endings or just being there for the sake of saying you have LGBTQ characters- to appeal as though you have representation on your book. I say as a gender-queer person.
The ending and entire plot was extremely predictable, I didn't find myself holding on to the edge of my seat as I do with most fantasy books. Overall, I cannot fault anyone for that since it is a tiktok book and is for that kind of audience. I'm disappointed with how this book was and the time I spent reading it and finishing it today. It was decent, not the best but that can be expected for a first book sometimes, might read the next one.
If you want books similar to this vibe, I recommend Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon, Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco, Zodiac Academy by Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti.
December 23, 2023
thank you meaghen for creating asher delacroix🙏🙏🙏
August 11, 2023
this was such a good book! i couldn’t stop reading it and i’m WAITING for the next book!!
June 6, 2023
5⭐️
OMG!! you giys this book was INCREDIBLE. it’s the first in a adult fantasy triology and it was so so so good. if you are a fan of the Cruel Prime trilogy or the Throne Of Glass trilogy i definitely think you should check out this book. Meaghen is an incredible story writer who manages to seamlessly blend in the world-building the romance between our two main characters Athea and Cozen
to put it simply, this book is about a mortal Princess,Athea,who gets kidnapped by the Fae Prince, Cozen. Cozen wants revenge over his fathers death. But while Athea spends more time with Cozen and his court , they soon find out a secret that could ruin everything they had planned. Athea is now forced to make a life’s changing decision.
the book is the perfect blend of fantasy and romance and i absolutely LOVE this book. the had the same vibes as one of my favourite Disney movies, Beauty and The Beast, so if you’re looking for a fantasy book with similar vibes I highly recommend you read this book.
OMG!! you giys this book was INCREDIBLE. it’s the first in a adult fantasy triology and it was so so so good. if you are a fan of the Cruel Prime trilogy or the Throne Of Glass trilogy i definitely think you should check out this book. Meaghen is an incredible story writer who manages to seamlessly blend in the world-building the romance between our two main characters Athea and Cozen
to put it simply, this book is about a mortal Princess,Athea,who gets kidnapped by the Fae Prince, Cozen. Cozen wants revenge over his fathers death. But while Athea spends more time with Cozen and his court , they soon find out a secret that could ruin everything they had planned. Athea is now forced to make a life’s changing decision.
the book is the perfect blend of fantasy and romance and i absolutely LOVE this book. the had the same vibes as one of my favourite Disney movies, Beauty and The Beast, so if you’re looking for a fantasy book with similar vibes I highly recommend you read this book.
April 23, 2023
i may be biased because I wrote this BUT if you’re into fantasy— romantasy or you need something that gives you the same feeling throne of glass did?? YOU SHOULD READ THIS
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February 22, 2023Reviewing this when the final copy is out!!!! The ending tho- BFFR HOW DARE YOU
August 25, 2024
[5/5]
shadow daddy?? fae?? dragons?? ice powers?? badass fmcs?? queer characters?? angst?? witches?? enemies to lovers?? talking through MINDS?? (there’s a word for this i just can’t think of it) SIGN ME TF UP
AHHH finally attempting to write a coherent review on this masterpiece of a book.
this is the first book in a wonderful adult romantasy trilogy! MY GAWDD if this was the first book, I can’t wait for the next two.
i buddy read this with the lovely Steph and we were supposed to finish it in December but we both finished it in 2024 OOPS. 👀
anyways….ANWBSKSBSOSBSK.
that was my brain after that ending cause WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK. it was an ending that made me sob so hard and then it said “to be continued” and i was like NO. NO WHAT THE HELL WHERES THE NEXT PAGE?!?!?! how cruel is that! i secretly loved it bc now I’m super hype and can’t wait to get my grabby little fingers on A WINTERS SECRET.
the characters in this were literally so amazing. athea, my girl!! she’s so funny and badass and literally just a queen. like everyone bow down to her rn. 🙇♀️🙇♀️she’s stronger than i am bc everything she went through in this was so chaotic lmfaoooo. I’m excited to see her grow more in the next books!!! the ending had me wanting to hug her so badly.
COZEN. mr grumpy who is also so possessive UGH he’s so funny. “nobody fucking touches what is mine” yes sir of course sir whatever you say sir I’m at your mercy sir 🫡 i feel so bad for him though like he deserves the world🥹
YK WHO ALSO DESERVES THE WORLD? ASHER MF DELACROIX!!!! ngl i was wary of him at first but when THAT chapter came in, I WAS SOBBING SO FUCKING HARD. my jaw dropped and i had to process what the hell i had just read. i hope he gets a happy ending in the next books and we get to learn more about him and his past bc OUCH. 🥲🥲
willowww. my favorite witch! the amount of whiplash I got from liking her to hating her to loving her was so funny. she deserves the world.
honestly idk how to feel about ezra but i love how he’s just like there for athea 24/7. it’s very nice of him. but I’m on the other team IFYKYK. 👀i must know more about him and his past though.
the fantasy aspects and the world of this were very well written. it was easy to feel like i was right there in the book with all these characters.
the only tiny flaw i had with this book is the grammatical errors, but they didn’t take away from the story at all so i am keeping the rating at exactly 5 stars. 🥰🥰
ALRIGHT LETS WRAP THIS UP!
this book was excellent. i loved it. i need the second one like yesterday. GO READ IT AND SUPPORT INDIE AND DEBUT AUTHORS!! ok bye bye 🫶🏾🫶🏾
pre review: THAT FUCKING ENDING WAS FOULLLL
shadow daddy?? fae?? dragons?? ice powers?? badass fmcs?? queer characters?? angst?? witches?? enemies to lovers?? talking through MINDS?? (there’s a word for this i just can’t think of it) SIGN ME TF UP
AHHH finally attempting to write a coherent review on this masterpiece of a book.
this is the first book in a wonderful adult romantasy trilogy! MY GAWDD if this was the first book, I can’t wait for the next two.
i buddy read this with the lovely Steph and we were supposed to finish it in December but we both finished it in 2024 OOPS. 👀
anyways….ANWBSKSBSOSBSK.
that was my brain after that ending cause WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK. it was an ending that made me sob so hard and then it said “to be continued” and i was like NO. NO WHAT THE HELL WHERES THE NEXT PAGE?!?!?! how cruel is that! i secretly loved it bc now I’m super hype and can’t wait to get my grabby little fingers on A WINTERS SECRET.
the characters in this were literally so amazing. athea, my girl!! she’s so funny and badass and literally just a queen. like everyone bow down to her rn. 🙇♀️🙇♀️she’s stronger than i am bc everything she went through in this was so chaotic lmfaoooo. I’m excited to see her grow more in the next books!!! the ending had me wanting to hug her so badly.
COZEN. mr grumpy who is also so possessive UGH he’s so funny. “nobody fucking touches what is mine” yes sir of course sir whatever you say sir I’m at your mercy sir 🫡 i feel so bad for him though like he deserves the world🥹
YK WHO ALSO DESERVES THE WORLD? ASHER MF DELACROIX!!!! ngl i was wary of him at first but when THAT chapter came in, I WAS SOBBING SO FUCKING HARD. my jaw dropped and i had to process what the hell i had just read. i hope he gets a happy ending in the next books and we get to learn more about him and his past bc OUCH. 🥲🥲
willowww. my favorite witch! the amount of whiplash I got from liking her to hating her to loving her was so funny. she deserves the world.
honestly idk how to feel about ezra but i love how he’s just like there for athea 24/7. it’s very nice of him. but I’m on the other team IFYKYK. 👀i must know more about him and his past though.
the fantasy aspects and the world of this were very well written. it was easy to feel like i was right there in the book with all these characters.
the only tiny flaw i had with this book is the grammatical errors, but they didn’t take away from the story at all so i am keeping the rating at exactly 5 stars. 🥰🥰
ALRIGHT LETS WRAP THIS UP!
this book was excellent. i loved it. i need the second one like yesterday. GO READ IT AND SUPPORT INDIE AND DEBUT AUTHORS!! ok bye bye 🫶🏾🫶🏾
pre review: THAT FUCKING ENDING WAS FOULLLL
January 19, 2025
Performed better on the tiktok videos than it did on paper, quite disappointed. Not a good way to start off my year.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews