Naomi Clark
Shadow Cursed (Brides of Darkness, Book 1)
Evernight (US: 15th February 2012)
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Lady Emmeline has returned home from an asylum after her parents’ deaths. But there’s a new inhabitant: Rainart, who has assumed the role of the manor’s Lord. But who the bloody hell is he? In a book Emmeline finds, the only Rainart mentioned is really old. Certainly dead by now, or is he? Shadow Cursed‘s title is a spoiler.
Not much plot here, certainly not enough to fill fifty pages, which are padded out with a romance that just doesn’t work, probably because neither main character is particularly likable. Emmeline is driven by lust, and Rainart isn’t worth fancying, so I didn’t cheer for them to be together. It’s a romance, of course, so it’s got a “happy ending” – another spoiler.
The setting confuses: is it historical or fantasy? Likely the latter, due to the unfamiliar place names, so really Shadow Cursed should be labelled as fantasy rather than paranormal. That’s likely the publisher’s fault. I would’ve preferred to read a story fully based in the asylum, Ottevar, as that’s the only thing that really interests me here.
