Heather Book Savvy Babe's Reviews > The Cursed

*This review was first published to Book Savvy Babes Blog*

4.5 of 5 Stars

The Cursed is my favorite kind of paranormal read; a book that blurs the genre lines between paranormal romance and urban fantasy. The Cursed features a kick-butt, snarky heroine, an urban fantasy setting full of magic and supernatural creatures, and a sizzling romance that heats the pages. Alyssa Day has me hooked on this new series, this is one urban fantasy and paranormal readers do not want to miss.

When the book begins, Rio is a "mostly human" woman trying to get by and survive in Bordertown, a supernatural city pocketed away in New York. Rio's life suddenly gets complicated, she gains unexpected enemies and turns to the hot wizard/private investigator Luke Oliver for help. Luke and Rio have known each other in passing, but Luke has done his best to avoid the temptation that is Rio. When Rio needs help, he can't help put step in and do his best to protect her. Rio is more than she appears, and as her 25th birthday approaches, the danger to Rio rises as does the sizzling attraction between them.

I happen to love snarky, kick-butt characters and Alyssa Day has delivered some excellent characters in Rio and Luke. The dialogue and interactions between Rio and Luke are very witty, sarcastic, and thoroughly entertaining. I wanted to share and example, and this is not a spoiler and it's a pretty fun teaser (I was highlighting all over the place in my e-reader).

""Seems wrong, doesn't it?" Rio asked, shoving her hands in her jeans pockets and affecting a nonchalant pose when she felt anything but.
"What"
"Listening to Barry Manilow on the way to the evil villains lair. Seems like it should be AC/DC or a soundtrack of evil cackling maybe." "(page 63 on my e-reader)

I love that Luke and Rio do their best to stay true to themselves while life throws them road blocks and changes and adjust to having someone significant to share life with. Luke has some serious power that gets ramped up by his protective instincts towards Rio. I love Luke and Rio as a couple. As more of Rio's mysterious background is revealed, the story becomes even more intriguing and complex.

The setting and world-building of The Cursed is fantasic. Bordertown is an intriguing place, a world hidden within the human world with ties to various different dimensions. Bordertown is full of paranormal beings of all kinds, from various realms and magical abilities. There seemed to be no end to the different types of supernaturals that popped up throughout the story. Luke is the go-to guy to solve problems in Bortertown, and the problems are as varied, complex, and as unexpected as the supernatural entities that inhabit Bordertown.

I only fell deeper into the story as I read. As I stated earlier, Alyssa Day has completely hooked me into this new series. The Cursed is a fast-paced, entertaining, I-didn't-want-to-put-it-down book and I absolutely want to read more in this series. The secondary (and other various side characters) are well-developed as well as the protagonists and I am itching to see where this series will go. The Cursed is only book 1 in this brand new League of the Black Swan series. I sincerely hope that there are many more books to come. Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy readers, I absolutely recommend giving this book a try.

*E-galley provided in exchange for an honest review*