Review: The Cursed One

We first saw the connection between Gabriel Wolf and Lady Amelia, in The Dark One, the first in the Wild Wulfs of London series.  Now, we’ve finally gotten the payoff. Lady Amelia has married Roger Collingsworth and is about to start her honeymoon at his country estate when she is attacked in the bedroom. At first she thinks it is her groom, but the voice is a growl and the hands violent, so she fights back.  It just so happens, Gabriel stops by on his way to Wulfglen. Despite injuries he is nursing from an earlier conflict, he steps in to save Amelia. The two have never met, but had caught a glimpse of each other on a London street, months earlier. Each left a lasting impression on the other. 

It turns out the man attacking Amelia wasn’t Roger, but some kind of shapeshifter.  It seems the woods are teeming with them.  All the staff at Collingsworth’s estate have fled except for one  young maid named Mora.  When Gabriel finds Roger’s body in the stables, he realizes that he, Amelia, & Mora are the only ones at the home to fight off the monsters (which Mora calls Wargs.)

If you compare this book to The Dark One, this one has much more in the way of supernatural.  That first book was romance with a touch of paranormal, where this one is the other way around.  There is romance, but I feel like it got a little overshadowed by the action as Gabriel tries to get the two women through the woods to his home for safety.  As they sidestep danger, the two fall in love… which Gabriel tries valiantly to fight because he is cursed to turn into (essentially) a werewolf on the full moon once he gives his heart to woman.  He’s a fairly good hero, but I’ve never been a fan of Amelia.  She is trying so hard to be ahead of her time…tough, smart, shocking. But it was too much. She still came across as soft and spoiled to me, despite her eventual realization that (gasp!) servants are people too.

I did like the very end.  (*spoilers*) It was great to see all the brothers and their families together.  And the Epilogue lets us learn about all the babies.  4 stars.