A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer - ESSENTIAL

A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer, 496 pages.  Bloomsbury, 2019.  $19.  

Content: Language: PG-13 (16 swears); Mature Content: PG; Violence: PG-13.  

BUYING ADVISORY: MS, HS – ESSENTIAL  

AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH  

Harper is the lookout for her brother while he takes care of a job for the neighborhood bad guy, but while waiting she sees a man trying to take a woman.  Harper steps in to defend the woman and quickly finds herself in another world--Emberfall.  The prince of Emberfall is Rhen and he is stuck in a curse that unless he can find a woman to love him, then his kingdom will fail.  Harper is his last hope, but Harper longs to be home with her dying mother and she is confused by the magic of Rhen’s world.  They need to trust each other to save Emberfall and each other.  

I love any spin on Beauty and the Beast and this is a good one.  Kemmerer writes fantastic chemistry between Rhen and Harper and their strengths and weaknesses are realistic and give the book depth.  I totally enjoyed this journey and can’t wait to read more in this series. 

C. Peterson