Cursed by Destiny by Cecy Robson
Narrator: Renée Chambliss
Series: Weird Girls #3
Published by Tantor Media
Published on: January 7, 2014
Genres: Urban Fantasy
Length: 11 hours
Format: Audiobook
Source: Purchased
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Celia Wird and her three sisters are just like other 20-something girls—with one tiny exception: they're products of a backfired curse that has given each of them unique powers that make them, well, weird…
Celia’s a girl in trouble. Her heart is bound to Aric, but he is a pureblood were who must deny her or risk condemning his species to extinction. And that’s just her love life. She’s also been called to take down a group of demon terrorists looking to overthrow the paranormal world. (No pressure.)
In order to bring them down, Celia must ally herself to Misha, the master vampire who has made no secret of his desire for her.
And if that weren’t enough misfortune for one girl, a clairvoyant’s prediction could destroy Celia and Aric’s love for good. The only way to protect the world from unbridled supernatural terrorism is for Celia to bind herself to her destined mate. And that doesn’t appear to be Aric…
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The WEIRD GIRLS series appears to be moving further away from Urban Fantasy territory, and more into the Paranormal Romance zone with every installment. Celia & Aric’s romance has taken center stage, and the amount of action is on the decline. Now, that’s not necessarily a bad thing, just not what I expected when I originally picked up the first book. I also spent a significant amount of time thinking that I’d imagined a major twist only to stop mid-listen to read A CURSED MOON, and realize that yes, the novella is a must.
The primary culprit that’s prevented me from giving any of Cecy Robson’s novels a 5-star rating remains the on-again-off-again relationship between the protagonist and her mate. It’s been dragging on for three volumes, and although the couple does make a bit of headway in this latest addition, I strongly suspect that the drama is far from over. I enjoyed delving deeper into Aric’s side of the issue, and Celia’s maturity level with regards to her love life has come a long way, but there is still much work to be done.
The romance-centric plot also halted the Alliance / Tribe thread in its tracks to a certain extent. The pacing was much slower, I’d even go so far as to say that it dragged, and I finished this installment feeling like not a whole heck of a lot happened. The oldest Wird sister fine tuned her skills under Misha’s tutelage, and the other three siblings definitely helped to liven things up, but a key event being slipped into a novella is a personal pet peeve of mine, and I’m still not 100% sure how I feel about the ending.
I plan on checking out other titles that were narrated by Renée Chambliss because she has a nice range of character voices considering that these ones required two versions on account of their human and beast halves, and although the angst wasn’t my cup of tea, I thought that she expressed the on-page emotions wonderfully. I also think that the writing held her back a little, especially in this particular audiobook, and am curious to see what she’s capable of under different circumstances.
CURSED BY DESTINY was the lemon of the WEIRD GIRLS series.
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Owner, designer and main blogger behind Rabid Reads. Avid book reader, snowboard bunny, video gamer and Supernatural fan. I love all things paranormal, werewolves especially. Oh, and I’m Canadian, eh!
I’ve read a few series that started off as UF and switched to PNR. The one that comes to mind in Nalini Singh’s Guild Hunter. She started off following a single couple and then each book followed a different couple. The amount of action in each book didn’t drop though. The series arc was still very strong, so it still works. I know I read a lot more PNR than you do, but I like ones that still have a ton of action. I hope that the next one works out better for you.
Melanie recently posted…Review: Hell’s Geek by Eve Langlais (@mlsimmons, @EveLanglais)
It does veer toward the romance quite a bit and stays there throughout. And you are so right about the high level of angst.
Hm… I don’t love it when they go PNR, but if it works, I’m fine with it. I’ve been meaning to start this series for a while now. I really need to get to it.
Melissa (Books and Things) recently posted…Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
These are so fun and intense
You are tougher than I am. I gave in after book 2. I just couldn’t deal with the hot mess of the Celia and Aric’s on again, off again, will they, won’t they.