Review: A Cursed Embrace by Cecy Robson

A Cursed Embrace
by Cecy Robson
Series: Weird Girls #2
Publisher: Penguin
Publication date: July 2, 2013
Genre: Adult Urban Fantasy
Source: Purchase
Purchase*: Barnes and Noble/Amazon/Book Depository
My review of book one: Sealed with a Curse 

Celia Wird and her three sisters are just like other twenty-something girls—with one tiny exception: They are the products of a curse that backfired and gave each of them unique powers that made them, well, a little weird… After Celia Wird and her sisters help master vampire Misha save his family, their powers are exposed to the supernatural community of the Lake Tahoe region. But fame comes at a price, and being “weird” isn’t always welcome. To make matters worse, Celia desires the love of Alpha werewolf Aric, but his pack is bent on destroying their relationship to preserve his pureblood status. And once weres start turning up dead—with evidence pointing to the vampires—she must face the prospect of losing Aric forever. But the chaos only masks a new threat. An evil known as the Tribe has risen—and their sights are set on Celia and her sisters.

With Cursed Embrace, Cecy Robson has been added to my favorite authors list and The Weird Girls series is one of my favorite urban fantasy series. Fans of Kim Harrison’s the Hollows series and Patricia Brigg’s Mercy Thompson series will devour Weird Girls. Robson delivered an action-packed tale with characters I instantly connected with. She took me on an emotional roller coaster ride and I want more! Three world review: Intense, heart-breaking and brilliant.

The girls are all recovering from the escapades of the last novel and attempting to return to normal. *Pfft* Things are looking good in the love department, except for Celia who isn’t sure where she stands with Aric. When a dead raccoonwere shows up on their door step things are about to get ugly and normal it is not! Told from Celia’s perspective the tale kept me enthralled as we fought evil and Robson toyed with my heart and emotions.

While Celia is the most fleshed-out character, I adore them all. Each has a unique voice and it is easy to keep this cast of characters sorted. Stand out characters would be Bren who in my opinion is a total smart-ass and loyal to the end. Of the sister’s Celia and Taran are my personal favorites. To the outside world Taran is a total bad-ass, and confident, but inside she is this big old ball of heart and I’d totally go into battle with her or shoe shop. Celia is brave, caring, tormented and gads do I adore her. In battle she is quick, smart and fearless even as her personal life resembles a vortex sucking out her very soul. The girl's love interests are adorable, smexy wolves and we see some tender moments. The relationship between Celia and Aric is one smoking hot mess! I am totally 100% for them but my emotions shifted from elated to hunt him down and kill him. Ha! I understood him, but that doesn't mean I have to like it! All I can say is I better get my HEA even if it takes twenty books!!!!  Ari is swoon-worthy and I one of the aspects I like about weres is their possessiveness. That whole, “mine” mentality curls my toes. Despite the whole alpha thing he is also tender, romantic and respectful. This was/ is a total turn on. *swoons* Misha is back, and he totally wants Celia and isn't afraid to say so. While he makes his feelings quite clear, I give him credit for respecting Celia’s wishes. We have the tribal leaders, villains and other characters that both aid the plot and toyed with my emotions. Grrr!

While we see plenty of action and the threat is fascinating, the central theme in this second novel is the relationship between Aric and Celia Whatever it was, it kept me flipping the pages and caught up in the action. I verbally engaged with the tale shouting my frustrations, oohing and ahhing it was totally crazy and I loved every friggin' minute of it. Robson introduces us to a serious threat and makes us privy to some diabolic violence. While I learned more about the girls, their boyfriends and life in Tahoe, I really want to know more about the different supernatural beings and different classes of weres. Hopefully those things are answered in the next book. The girl’s relationships talk, shopping trips and boyfriend issues had me giggling aloud as these moments helped me catch my breath between the non-stop action scenes. The relationship between Aric and Celia was one hell of a ride. We get some seriously hot moments and a few  romantic ones.  The climactic scene right before the ending had me reeling, making the cliffhanger ending more manageable. I understood it, but dang it I want more. I immediately searched out the next book's release date and I am now counting the days.

Fans of urban fantasy with kick-butt heroines and smexy weres and vampires need to check out Cursed Embrace and the Weird Girls series. Curse Moon a novella will be released in December and Cursed By Destiny book three will be released in January of 2014. *are we there yet?*

Four and half cups of coffee out of five

Review: Sealed with a Curse by Cecy Robson

Sealed with a Curse
by Cecy Robson
Series: Weird Girls #1
Publisher: Penguin
Publication date: December 21, 2012
Genre: Adult Urban Fantasy
Purchase*: Barnes and Noble/Amazon/Book Depository 
*purchase through buy links supports this blog

Celia Wird and her three sisters are just like other twenty-something girls—with one tiny exception: They're the products of a curse that backfired and gave each of them unique powers that make them, well, a little weird… The Wird sisters are content to avoid the local vampires, werebeasts, and witches of the Lake Tahoe region—until one of them blows up a vampire in self-defense. Everyone knows vampires aren't aggressive, and killing one is punishable by death. But soon more bloodlust-fueled attacks occur, and the community wonders if the vampires of Tahoe are plague-ridden. Celia reluctantly agrees to help Misha, the handsome leader of an infected vampire family. But Aric, the head of the werewolf pack determined to destroy Misha's family to keep the area safe, warns Celia to stay out of the fight. Caught between two hot alphas, Celia must find a way to please everyone, save everyone, and—oh, yeah—not lose her heart to the wrong guy or die a miserable death. Because now that the evil behind the plague knows who Celia is, he's coming for her and her sisters.  This Wird girl has never had it so tough.

Reviews from peers led me to purchase Sealed with a Curse the first book in the Weird Sisters Urban Fantasy series and I finally read it during the Take Control of your TBR pile challenge in March. Robson presented three sisters with special abilities she added some smexy weres, a master vampire and a suspenseful mystery. From the first page I knew I was in for one heck of a ride. With loveable, snarky characters and troubles galore I quickly consumed this and wanted more.

We first meet the Wird sisters as they enter vampire court charged with murdering a vampire. Celia is a shifter with a tigress living inside her. Emme can heal and has telekinetic abilities. Taran can work magic and Shayna’s ability is to turn anything with a point into a deadly weapon. From the first pages their individual personalities and unique voices are present as they try to keep themselves from being vampire food. When it becomes apparent that bloodlust was to blame the girls are cleared but now Misha the master vampire who wanted them dead is asking for help. Add in some smexy Weres and the tale that unfolds is fast paced, action packed with suspense, mystery and a little romantic heat.

I quickly formed an attachment to the Wird sisters. They are all quite close due to tragic events in their past and we quickly learn why one family has so many unique and different supernatural abilities. Apparently they were cursed and  are supernatural freaks; not quite human and not quite a classifiable supernatural creature. They live in a lovely Victorian that backs up to the lake in Tahoe and work at the local hospital. Until recently they have kept a low profile but the cats out of the bag so to speak. Celia is the responsible one, kind of the mother hen. She doesn’t see herself as beautiful or even pretty but she protects her sisters like a mama lion and she gets involved in everything going down because she cares how it will affect the humans. This tale really centers on Celia and we slowly get to know her siblings. Ari is an pureblood werewolf who just may be strong enough to handle Celia and her tigress. The interaction between all of the species was interesting and at times intense. I love Were mentality when it comes to their woman and at times I giggled. Misha oozes smexy but cannot hold a candle to Ari, at least for this chick. All of the secondary characters had unique voices and whether you love them or hate them you will find them memorable.

The world-building was unique especially as it deals with the girls and their abilities. It is really hard to classify them and I found it quite clever. While we know about the tragedy and the curse I am hoping we will learn the how and why in future books. The author slowly revealed the girls abilities and they were cool, quirky and at times hilarious. The author’s descriptive voice gave me a stunning visual of the characters and the world around them. The overall mystery was suspenseful and the reveal of the villain took me by surprise. Events unfold at a blurring pace and I completely immersed myself in the world Robson created. The only shift occurred during some of the intense battle scenes as I tripped up a few times and found myself re-reading. I am hoping it was just me and I quickly feel back into the story. The romance was sweet, despite some bumpy moments and communication issues.

Sealed with a Curse was a clever start to this urban fantasy series. A Cursed Embrace book two will release in July and I cannot wait to get my hands on it. With a unique storyline, developed characters and tons of supernatural creatures this series is sure to please.

Four and half cups of coffee from the Dam Café in Lake Tahoe

This weekends Clean Sweep Challenge Schedule

 Saturday May 4th
9am (EST) Barbara @ Basia's BookShelf
4pm (EST) Thuy @ Nite Lite