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Release Review: One Cursed Rose: Rebecca Zanetti

by - Tuesday, June 25, 2024

One Cursed Rose
Rebecca Zanetti
Grimm Bargains, Book 1
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Information is power, and those who control it live like gods.

In my world, billionaires play deadly games of insult and influence where magic is the dirtiest weapon of all. Here, even a powerful princess can be swallowed by the darkest of shadows . . .

My name is Alana Beaumont, and due to a recent tragedy, I’m the sole heir to Aquarius Social, a family business being systematically dismantled by an unseen enemy. My father’s solution is to give me in marriage and create a coalition with a competing family, so I’m torn between my thirst for revenge and my duty. Now I just have a week to finish my hunt before the wedding.

There’s nothing like an assassination attempt to cut short the best of plans—even worse is my unwanted rescue by Thorn Beathach, the Beast whose social media empire is driving Aquarius under. The richest, most ruthless of them all, he protects his realm with an iron rule: no one sees his face. When he shows himself to me, I know he’ll never let me go.

Thorn may think he can lock me in his castle forever, but I’m not the docile Beauty he expects. If the Beast wants to tie me up, I’m going to take pleasure from every minute of it . . .and we’ll just see who ends up shackled…

For fans of Scarlett St Clair and Sarah J Maas, New York Times bestselling author Rebecca Zanetti explores the forbidden and the taboo in this modern twist on Beauty and the Beast – the first in a seductive new dark romance series set in a world where information is power, and those who control the flow of information live like gods…

“Sexy and utterly engrossing!” —bestselling author J.T. Geissinger


 


One Cursed Rose is a dark romance, suspenseful thriller with fairytale ties ins and some completely original threads.

Alana Beaumont is a socialite and heir to her family’s social media company. She is savvy, but is very careful about the face she wears in public, playing the role the public wants to see. Her father wants to arrange a marriage to help save the company, and though she wants to help the company in any way she can, she isn’t happy about the match her father has chosen.

Thorn Beathach runs a rival company and is so enigmatic that no one really knows much about him. He is an unlikely hero when he rescues Alana from a would-be assassin. He quickly follows the rescue up with a kidnapping, hiding Alana while he looks into who issued the threat against her.

These two are quite opposite. While both are brilliant, she is light and optimistic, while he is dark and broody. The attraction builds as Alana stays in his home, he works to make things safe for her, and she spends time in his vast library reading up on the crystals that power so much of their world.

The fairytale tie-in is what drew me to this book in the first place and it did not disappoint. The Beauty and the Beast connections are vast, but there are also plenty of unique aspects to the story. The crystals are one such aspect and while they added to the suspense of the story, I wish more of the lore that Alana spent her time reading about and learning was shared with readers. These crystals play a huge role in why Alana and Thorn must work together and there were pieces of the lore that I wish I understood better.

This is also a very dark romance. While some of the darker aspects were not my favorite parts of the book, they are part of these characters (particularly Thorn) and I understood their presence in the story, even if I skimmed over some parts.

This was an interesting start to the Grimm Bargains series and it was interesting to pay attention to the other fairytale tie ins from the other characters and families mentioned. I look forward to seeing what else comes from this world as the series grows.
New York Times, USA Today, Publishers Weekly and #1 Amazon bestselling author Rebecca Zanetti has published more than sixty novels, which have been translated into several languages, with more than five million copies sold world-wide. Her books have received Publishers Weekly starred reviews and have been featured in Entertainment Weekly, Woman’s World, and Women’s Day Magazines. Her novels have also been included in Amazon best books of the year and have been favorably reviewed in both the Washington Post and the New York Times Book Reviews. Rebecca has ridden in a locked Chevy trunk, has asked the unfortunate delivery guy to release her from a set of handcuffs, and has discovered the best silver mine shafts in which to bury a body…all in the name of research. Honest. 

Find Rebecca at: www.RebeccaZanetti.com


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