Book review - Cursed by Rhianne Aile

I’m not a big fan of werewolf literature but I picked up “Cursed” because of the gay aspect of it.  And I enjoy a good sex scene but Rhianne Aile lays it on thick.  It seems as if the novel was too short so she inserted numerous sex scenes just to lengthen it.

Basically the story is rather ho-hum.  Tristan’s ancestors cursed Benjamin’s ancestors and now Tristan is trying to remove the curse.  He casts a spell to separate Benjamin from his wolf.  It succeeds but it turns out to be a bad thing.  So he has to reverse the spell.

Aile’s writing style is difficult to follow since she head-hops from one character to another, to a third and sometimes to a fourth by paragraphs, instead of separating points of view by scene changes.  The reader gets confused at who is thinking what and when.  I found myself re-reading passages to clear up my confusion.

The characters are not well-developed either.  The reader gets a glimpse of their pasts and personalities but not enough to connect with them.  Instead of connecting with them, the reader becomes a voyeur in a sense.  Mary the housekeeper, is the only female in the story beyond the prologue.  She is a delightful character but totally cliché.

Then there are the sex scenes.  From the middle of the book to the end, they are so frequent they become tedious.  I found myself flipping through the pages to skip over the last few.  Only one or two of them advance the plot.  The rest are just filler.

If explicit porn is your thing, you may enjoy this book.  However, if you desire something with a little more substance, look elsewhere.