Tag Archives: Once Upon a Curse

Review: Withering Rose (Once Upon a Curse #2) by Kaitlyn Davis

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No-Brainer

Title: Withering Rose
Author: Kaitlyn Davis
Publisher/Year:  CreateSpace 5/16/16
Length:   201 Pages
Series:  Once Upon a Curse #2

Overview

What if Beauty was cursed, and the Beast was the only one who could save her? Don’t miss WITHERING ROSE, a dystopian romance from bestselling author Kaitlyn Davis that reimagines the classic fairy tale of Beauty & The Beast.

“As the heat finally disappeared, I felt the bloom blossom in the very core of my soul, a rose just like my name–a ticking clock hidden behind a façade of beauty. From that moment on, my life would become a countdown, and all I could do was wait and watch as the petals of time slowly started to fall.”

Omorose Bouchene has a secret–magic. There’s only one problem. At the age of seven, an earthquake struck, catapulting her into a new world. A land made of skyscrapers and cell phones. Fast cars and fluorescent lights. A land where magic isn’t supposed to exist and anyone who wields it is the enemy.

But after ten years of hiding, she’s desperate to find a place where she can be free. Because all magic comes with a curse, and her curse is time–every ounce of power she uses strips days off of her life. The clock is winding down, and the only option left is to escape to the realm of the Beast. But the king of monsters isn’t what he seems. And the more Omorose opens her heart, the more she comes to realize that the only person she may need to fear is herself.

My Thoughts

I really do enjoys books that are evolutions of fairytales and that’s what this this.  you know that the first installment in a sense was sleeping beauty, and this was Beauty and the Beast.  I can’t wait for book 3 – for Cinderella.

Anyhow, as you remember from the last page(s) of the first book, Asher learned that his ‘fiance’ was captured by The Beast and he was off to save her.  of course to the dismay of Jade – the woman that proclaimed her love for him, and well, she thought it was reciprocated.

In this 2nd book, we meet Omorose, initially back about 10 years when the earthquake happened and the worlds merged.  she was with her father, traveling to see Prince Asher and her world changed for ever.  She experiences the transfer of magic meaning that her mom is dead, likely her sister as well, and they are then captured by the common day folks that live on Earth and put in jail cells for years.  It’s only when they are allowed to be transferred to the Midwest Command Center since her father offers to trade information on the magical realm for their bits of freedom that life changes a bit more.  Of course, everyone is terrified of anything related to magic, and they are outsiders.  Omorose has to find ways from time to time to release her magic since it builds up inside her and it’s something that she learns that comes more frequently as time passes.  It’s also when her father reveals one more bit of the curse, that women with the magic only live 25 years after they get the magic that makes Omorose think of a plan to escape.

This takes her to the mountains where the ‘Beast’ lives – he’s one that also has magic and has the ability to shapeshift into other forms.  usually that of a Bear which is quite scary.

As you can expect this is where the merging of Beauty and the Beast really happen, of course though with Beauty being the one that’s cursed.  While with Cole (The Beast), she learns about how humans got magic, and even how her family got it and is disgusted – with the result of her needing to find a way to get rid of it.  There’s a woman who came to the mountain kingdom years ago and stole Cole’s family’s magic and put a curse of her own on them, making them stay in their animal form.

Together cole and Omorose work to find a solution and a way to get rid of the curse, and of course at the same time grow closer and in love.

Just when they think they’ve cracked the code, things get pearshaped, and we see that Asher and Jade show up – one with guns blazing.  The people from the base where Omorose ran from are now on the hunt and are planning to blow up the kingdom, and Omorose’s father goes missing.  If that weren’t enough, they’ve found a solution that may work, but of course as we saw in book 1, it means that someone will do something stupid to sacrifice themself and well, it never ends well.

The nice thing i that we get to see the lead in to book 3.  I can’t wait to see how Ella and the Fairy get along, and i think that we all know that the Fairy can’t be trusted, so it’ll be quite fun to see who’s on what side and who will win.

On that note – have a great day all!

Review: Gathering Frost (Once Upon a Curse #1) by Kaitlyn Davis

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Title: Gathering Frost
Author: Kaitlyn Davis
Publisher/Year:  CreateSpace 2/4/15
Length:   306 Pages
Series:  Once Upon a Curse #1

Overview

Will the prince’s kiss be enough to revive her frozen heart? Don’t miss GATHERING FROST, a dystopian romance from bestselling author Kaitlyn Davis that reimagines the classic fairy tale of Sleeping Beauty.

“I wish I could say I was the hero of the story. A resister. A rebel. Someone who lived to bring an end to the queen who stole my childhood–my mother, my life, my very world. But I’m not. I’m not the good guy. I’m the one who puts the good guys in their graves.”

Jade was only a little girl when the earthquake struck. Before her eyes, half of New York City disappeared, replaced by a village that seemed torn out of a storybook. Horses and carriages. Cobblestone streets. A towering castle. And, above all, a queen with the magical ability to strip emotions away.

Ten years later and Jade has forgotten what it is to feel, to care…even to love. Working as a member of the queen’s guard, she spends most of her time on the city wall staring at the crumbling skyscrapers of old New York. But everything changes when the queen’s runaway son, Prince Asher, returns. Under his relentless taunts, her blood begins to boil. Under his piercing gaze, her heart begins to flutter. And the more her icy soul begins to thaw, the more Jade comes to question everything she’s ever known–and, more importantly, whose side she’s really on.

My Thoughts

I’m a pretty big fan of fairy tale adaptations – so think the Cinder books with a dystopian twist and that’s what we get here.  It all starts in New York City on the day of a huge earthquake and it’s not just that the plates move and crevices emerged, but a castle from another realm appears and things go from normal to interesting really quick.  Jade – who is just a small child when this happens is wood by a princess who then ices her heart over and then our story really begins.

What we learn in this story is that the castle that has emerged is Kardenia – which is a magical land under the rule of a Queen who has powers to take away emotions of anyone she chooses to get them to do her bidding.  Those who are under her spell really have no chance of anything else but the life that she wants for them.  Jade has always been a bit tougher though – and well, we see that her strength is what gets her into trouble and then into a place where she’s given a role to bring someone back.

That someone is Asher, the queen’s son who ran away years before, and the story from there is one that takes us across both doing what’s right for yourself to opening yourself up to doing what may be right for someone else.

As part of Jade’s job – she’s been asked to be captured by the rebels – the side that Asher is on, and in doing that, she has the chance to see what life is outside Kardenia.  Asher brings her books to read and games to pass her time because he’s developed a sweet spot for her, and well, it’s in these stories that we see the element of fairytale come through even more.  It’s the story of Sleeping Beauty that rings closest to Jade and as we see this story progress – we see many parallels.

So what we get here from our author is a sweet story of the fantasy bits and young adult coming of age.  There’s sweet romance going on, but will it last or will it be more Romeo / Juliet style.  i think that you need to really invest in this story to find out.  I like the role that Jade takes and only hope that her ending is a happy one.  The nice thing here is that we’re given a big twist at the end, and a journey that we thought was complete is just beginning and it’s getting so much more complicated.

On that note – happy sunday all and i’ll be back soon!