BEAUTY AND THE CURSE BY K.M. FAWCETT AND CATHY TULLY

Review by Kristal

Book Blurb: Cursed by a jealous witch, wealthy recluse Anabel Charming is destined to grow uglier with each passing year. Only by having sex before her twenty-first birthday can this virgin’s spell be broken. Yet no man will agree to sleep with the humpbacked, pockmarked, one-leg-shorter-than-the-other “Freak of Park Avenue.”

When handsome Chase Singleton shows up on a quest to retrieve his grandmother’s long-lost talisman, which Anabel now possesses, Anabel is willing to give up the jewel…if Chase agrees to break her curse. With two days left before her chance at a normal life is lost forever, Anabel and Chase discover the reality of beauty, the power of sexual healing, and the meaning of love.

 Here’s what I thought:  BEAUTY AND THE CURSE is a delightful short read. Anabel is desperate to break a hideous curse and Chase needs her talisman to save his grandmother. So, they make a deal. Sex for the talisman. Only the hero isn’t looking for a wham-bam-thank you-ma’am slam dunk.

Oh, he’ll honor the deal, but first he wants to show Anabel the beauty he sees in her. Of course, she has a hard time believing him and eventually concludes that he’s been mocking her. It’s quite a heart-wrenching moment, for both of them and Chase leaves. Eventually he returns, thinking he’s found a magic cure for the curse. But, in the end only true love frees Anabel from the spell, allowing them their own happily-ever-after.

Now, the story has a couple of other eccentric characters—Chase’s good witch grandmother, and my favorite—Jinxy, the little purple dragon who is Anabel’s companion and guardian. Jinxy adds a delicious flavor, and some comic relief to the tale. Especially when he coaches Anabel on how to seduce Chase based on what he’s learned from watching Grease.

One sweet, tender love scene beautifully reveals Chase’s sincere nature as he falls in love with Anabel. Because of this revelation, the fall-out afterward really gripped me and when he races back to “save” her, I felt his urgency.

BEAUTY AND THE CURSE is a collaboration and it’s remarkable that the writing styles are so well blended that I didn’t notice where one author ended and the other began. I was utterly charmed by this brief tale, and if you like contemporary re-tellings of classic fairy tales, I think you’ll like this one too.

Genre:  Contemporary Fantasy Romance

Length:  Short Story—77 pages  1347 KB

Book Format:  eBook

Publisher & Imprint:  StoryFront

Blush Quotient: Pink

SG rating:  4

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Author Scoop: K.M. Fawcett writes sci-fi and paranormal romances and enjoys stories filled with adventure and strong, kick-butt heroes and heroines. She is currently working on book three in her thrilling sci-fi romance series, The Survival Race. Please visit her on Facebook, Twitter, and at http://www.kmfawcett.com.

Cathy Tully writes contemporary romance, sweet romance, and women’s fiction. Her sweet romance, All You Need Is Love, is available through Astraea Press and Amazon.com. Cathy’s novella Marrying Mr. Right and Training Travis, a contemporary romance, are both available through the Wild Rose Press and Amazon.com. Cathy can be found on Facebook and at http://www.cathytully.com.

This book was provided by the authors for an honest review. No other compensation was offered received.