Review of Cursed Once More

Cursed Once More coverHow many curses can one woman handle? Clara Blackwood finds her happily-ever-after interrupted by yet another family curse in Cursed Once More by Amanda DeWees. I had reviewed the initial book in this duology, With This Curse, quite a few years ago and was very impressed with DeWees’s grasp of classic Gothic tropes. After hearing how much I loved the first book, the author was kind enough to send along the sequel. It had gotten buried in my TBR pile until now, but I was delighted to finally dive back into DeWees’s luscious Victorian Gothic world with Cursed Once More. Continue reading Review of Cursed Once More

With This Curse Review–An Excellent Victorian Gothic

With This Curse coverWhat could tempt you to reenter a cursed house, where all that you loved had already been taken from you once before? For Clara, only the dismal prospects of being an unmarried Victorian woman without hope of employment could drive her back to Gravesend. This predicament opens the story of With This Curse by Amanda DeWees, a traditional-style Gothic novel which won the 2015 Daphne du Maurier Award. Amanda’s books were first recommended to me by an author I’ve talked about at length in many posts here, Leanna Renee Hieber. I knew I could trust such glowing praise from one of my favorite authors, and when With This Curse arrived in the mail and I saw its gorgeous and elegant cover, I was even more excited to read it. It took several months to make its way up my to-read list, but when I finally cracked the spine, I was not disappointed. Continue reading With This Curse Review–An Excellent Victorian Gothic