REVIEWED by Jen B.
TITLE: The Curse
SERIES: Witches of Salem #1
AUTHOR: T.S. McKinney
PUBLISHER: Painted Hearts Publishing
LENGTH: 166 Pages
RELEASE DATE: August 3, 2017
BLURB: Witches. Warlocks. Hocus Pocus.
I didn’t believe in any of those things. To be honest, the only thing I really believed in….really had faith in its existence, was bad luck. There was too much proof of it in my life to deny it.
As it turns out, the bad luck that accompanies me wherever I go escalated to a heightened level following a visit form a long-lost relative I didn’t even know existed. She starts spouting nonsense about my parents really loving me (even though they committed suicide a few days after my birth), how my mother tried using witchcraft to save their lives…and how there is a curse hanging over my head that requires my death on my twenty-fifth birthday. Supposedly all the Bailey men commit suicide on their twenty-fifth birthdays due to this curse.
Total craziness, right?
Wrong.
A small dash of intrigue and a heaping-helping of fear cause me to pack up and head to Salem, Massachusetts – where it all started. Here’s my biggest problem: my twenty-fifth birthday is only a couple of weeks away and I’m having these very sensual dreams about a man I don’t know.
I might not know him, but I sure want him.
This was a really sweet and fun story. Nico is soon approaching his 25th birthday when he finds out everything he thought about his parents abandoning him might have been wrong. Not only that, but that there are witches and a curse, and he is all but doomed unless he finds a way to stop it. So, he travels to the place it all began to search for clues.
When he gets there, he learns more about the curse and about Corbin, the man he is supposedly tied to and is very much involved in the curse as well. He meets Alastair, a young man who friends him and vows to keep him safe. Alastair is from Corbin’s coven, so he knows all about the curse and what is involved.
I loved the tone of this story. Nico doesn’t believe in magic or curses, but it doesn’t take long for him to change his tune. He has a great sense of humor throughout and I loved how open he was to his attraction to Corbin. They had a great love story and fabulous chemistry.
There is plenty of excitement and anticipation as Nico and Corbin try to find a solution and solve the mystery. Their families have quite a history and Nico is finally getting some answers, some to questions he didn’t even know he had. His family and parents played a big role even though they weren’t part of his life for very long.
I also loved all the witchy stuff here, from the folklore to the actual powers and even the curse. It had unique aspects which I found refreshing and entertaining. This was a great start to a series, but to say much more would give too much away. Suffice to say, if you like witches and fun characters with some sexy mm thrown in, be sure to give this one a try. I really enjoyed it and can’t wait to see what’s in store next. Hopefully Alastair will get to tell his story, and now what the twin issue has been straightened out, maybe he can finally get his man. Definitely recommend.
