Blog Tour Review: Curses – Jacqueline Paige

Curses by Jacqueline Paige
Series:
Release Date:  October 18, 2011
Publisher:   Jacqueline Paige
Page Count:
Source:  Bewitching Book Tours
Buy the book at: Amazon 

Behind the Mask:
In a fit of temper, Gracelyn’s only sister curses her so she’s forgotten the moment anyone turns away from her. Only one thing, at an exact moment, can break the curse.
After years of failed attempts, she is forced to accept living her life completely alone.

Her world becomes calm and predictable —until one Halloween night … one costume party … and one masquerading man change everything.

This Ring:
Devastated Emma flees to a cabin on an isolated lake to attempt putting her life back together. How she’s going to accomplish this she has no idea— the only thing she knows is she can’t go back and will never be able to trust again.

Bryce spent forty years trying to figure out how he ended up in the strange situation of not being alive or visible—it’s when he stops trying to find the answer he discovers the reason. Feeling that deep in your soul connection with another was what he was lacking all along. Now if he can convince the woman he feels it for, he may have a chance at living once more.

This book has 2 separate stories involving couples trying to break a curse.

In, Behind the Mask, Gracelynn Arianna Trainer has suffered for the past ten years because of the curse her sister Faith put on her one Halloween.  Upset that Gracelynn was at a party with a boy that Faith like, she curses her to be utterly forgettable to everyone, a total blur.  The one exception, Samhain.  She tried to find a way to break the curse, needing the kiss of the main who truly sees her at midnight on Samhain, but when she couldn’t she decided to move on with her life.  She opens a store called Dreams and immediately meets Evan.  Evan visits her every day and seems to remember her.  But Arianna (as she’s now known) doesn’t want to risk anything with Evan in case he does forget her.  But he sweet talks her into attending his Halloween costume party, where she suddenly finds herself drawn to a “lion”.  Could he be the one to break her curse?

In, This Ring, Emma has run off to a cabin on a lake to try to come to terms with the events of the past week.  She’s found out her boyfriend (and boss) was cheating on her with her secretary, which resulted in her quitting her job and finding the cabin.  She figures she has a month to get her life in order.  But when she sees a man coming out of the mist on the lake one early morning, she wonders if she’s actually losing it.

Bryce Lawson has spent the past 38 years trying to figure out just what happened to him that resulted in him no longer being seen by anyone.  But he’s given an ounce of hope when the woman with the mousy brown hair and brown eyes staying at this cabin sees him. He’s even more hopeful when he actually has a conversation with her and is able to touch her.

Soon Emma and Bryce join forces to try and figure out happened to him and if they can reverse it so he can stay.  Only Emma wonders if he stays, will she be able to leave him and return to her life.

Behind the Mask was cute, but it did jump around a little too much for me.  We went from Gracelynn being 18 at one turn to it being five years later and then another jump to another five years later.  The ending, while tidy, was a bit disappointing since it seemed we got to the big “reveal” and then were rushed through to the tidy ending.

This Ring was a much tighter story, which I enjoyed.  Bryce and Emma were both characters that you engaged with immediately and wanted to see them get their happily ever after.  There were a few lingering questions, especially surrounding Bryce’s ring and the comments about his father, but those do not take away from the story.

Both are quick reads and as with Dreams, a good way to spend a few hours on a Sunday afternoon.