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dreamspell_library 's review for:
A Cursed Kiss
by Jenny Hickman
This had the potential to be a solid 4-5 stars.. I really liked a lot of the story- especially Tadhg. Comparisons to Rhys from ACOMAF are definitely accurate, Tadhg was the highlight of this book.
mild spoilers to follow.
Tadhg was great- angsty, powerful, flirty, 'touch her and die' protective all while being vulnerable, cursed, and just wanting love. Can I say how much I love love love when the mmc falls in love first and actually admits it!
The world building was great- fae and humans fight (not super original, but why mess with a good thing?) but Hickman went further- the ignorance and prejudice of humans have led to humans actively hunting and murdering the fae with zero regard because of their fear. I love how Tadhg slowly opened Keelynn's eyes to her own narrow world view. I would've liked to see more interaction with other fae, esp the pookas!
Bonus! Irish mythology! I've always been obsessed with the Tuatha de Dannan and irish fair folk, so I loved seeing that in a fantasy romance book!
The romance. gah I just swooned everytime Tadgh and Keelynn had a flirty interaction. And there were some amazing lines that got my stomach fluttering.
What I didn't like:
Keelynn. sorry. I kept expecting her to get better. The first half of the book she does an excellent impresson of a ttsl heroine pretending to be a 'strong female character.'
-she makes a deal with a witch who curses her and never once thinks that maybe the witch might be lying? even after it's revealed that the witch cursed her?
-she decides to go gallivanting off to kill an immortal fae prince with zero combat training, zero fighting skills, zero help, zero protections. and she legitamately thinks of this as her purpose in life for half the book.
-her wishy-washy attitude towards love and her feelings between robert and Tadgh. I get adding angst and resolving a past flame plot point, but her feelings went from one to the other and back again so quickly I got whiplash. She's starting to feel for Tadgh, but she jumps at the chance to make out with robert. Then he does a bad thing and now she's all team-Tadgh? She needed her curse to tell her that her feelings have shifted? how dumb.
-because her feelings never really got to be fleshed out, the ending with the two of them felt rushed and not satisfying.
I didn't like the villian.
I don't like it when a female villian is only a villian because she was scorned by a man. esp hundreds or so years ago and she's still trying to kill him and the fmc even after she cursed him. She can't get over it? It would've been nicer to see her become a sort of anti-hero. Like, she won't help Tadgh, but to try to murder everyone because he slept with her and didn't love her? I thought we were leaving 1-dimensional female charcters behind in the 2020's.
aaand the pacing. sorry.
I think if this was a traditional NA trilogy or duology it would've been better- would've given readers more time to see Keelynn and Tadgh as an actual couple while still doing all the excess plot points that were in this book.
I found it odd that the interaction with robert and keelynn's wishy-washy feelings happened after what I would've considered the half way turning point of Keelynn & Tadgh's relationship. He had just saved her life, bound them together, and then we have to deal with a half-baked love triangle with a fmc who can't even decide for herself who she actually likes? and then when robert does something bad she turns to Tadgh the very same night? talk about whiplash. I might've been okay with it if Keelynn gave any indication that she actually liked Tadgh in a romantic sense before reconnecting with robert. But it felt more like 'oh, i guess robert isn't the guy for me, I guess I'll just see where it goes with Tadgh.' ...and I think the triangle would've been better served earlier in the book.
Like I said, I like my romances to actually have a committed couple earlier in the book- not in the last chapter. esp if it's supposed to be a stand alone.
mild spoilers to follow.
Tadhg was great- angsty, powerful, flirty, 'touch her and die' protective all while being vulnerable, cursed, and just wanting love. Can I say how much I love love love when the mmc falls in love first and actually admits it!
The world building was great- fae and humans fight (not super original, but why mess with a good thing?) but Hickman went further- the ignorance and prejudice of humans have led to humans actively hunting and murdering the fae with zero regard because of their fear. I love how Tadhg slowly opened Keelynn's eyes to her own narrow world view. I would've liked to see more interaction with other fae, esp the pookas!
Bonus! Irish mythology! I've always been obsessed with the Tuatha de Dannan and irish fair folk, so I loved seeing that in a fantasy romance book!
The romance. gah I just swooned everytime Tadgh and Keelynn had a flirty interaction. And there were some amazing lines that got my stomach fluttering.
What I didn't like:
Keelynn. sorry. I kept expecting her to get better. The first half of the book she does an excellent impresson of a ttsl heroine pretending to be a 'strong female character.'
-she makes a deal with a witch who curses her and never once thinks that maybe the witch might be lying? even after it's revealed that the witch cursed her?
-she decides to go gallivanting off to kill an immortal fae prince with zero combat training, zero fighting skills, zero help, zero protections. and she legitamately thinks of this as her purpose in life for half the book.
-her wishy-washy attitude towards love and her feelings between robert and Tadgh. I get adding angst and resolving a past flame plot point, but her feelings went from one to the other and back again so quickly I got whiplash. She's starting to feel for Tadgh, but she jumps at the chance to make out with robert. Then he does a bad thing and now she's all team-Tadgh? She needed her curse to tell her that her feelings have shifted? how dumb.
-because her feelings never really got to be fleshed out, the ending with the two of them felt rushed and not satisfying.
I didn't like the villian.
I don't like it when a female villian is only a villian because she was scorned by a man. esp hundreds or so years ago and she's still trying to kill him and the fmc even after she cursed him. She can't get over it? It would've been nicer to see her become a sort of anti-hero. Like, she won't help Tadgh, but to try to murder everyone because he slept with her and didn't love her? I thought we were leaving 1-dimensional female charcters behind in the 2020's.
aaand the pacing. sorry.
I think if this was a traditional NA trilogy or duology it would've been better- would've given readers more time to see Keelynn and Tadgh as an actual couple while still doing all the excess plot points that were in this book.
I found it odd that the interaction with robert and keelynn's wishy-washy feelings happened after what I would've considered the half way turning point of Keelynn & Tadgh's relationship. He had just saved her life, bound them together, and then we have to deal with a half-baked love triangle with a fmc who can't even decide for herself who she actually likes? and then when robert does something bad she turns to Tadgh the very same night? talk about whiplash. I might've been okay with it if Keelynn gave any indication that she actually liked Tadgh in a romantic sense before reconnecting with robert. But it felt more like 'oh, i guess robert isn't the guy for me, I guess I'll just see where it goes with Tadgh.' ...and I think the triangle would've been better served earlier in the book.
Like I said, I like my romances to actually have a committed couple earlier in the book- not in the last chapter. esp if it's supposed to be a stand alone.