Cursed by S.J. Harper – a Review

Links to order Cursed: Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Kobo / The Book Depository

Description:
Meet FBI Agents Emma Monroe and Zack Armstrong.
She’s cursed. He’s damned. Together, they make one hell of a team.

Emma Monroe is a Siren, cursed by the gods and bound to earth to atone for an ancient failure. She’s had many names and many lives, but only one mission: redemption. Now that she works missing persons cases for the FBI, it could be just a rescue away. Unless her new partner leads her astray.

Special Agent Zack Armstrong just transferred into the San Diego Field Office. He’s a werewolf, doing his best to beat back the demons from his dark and dangerous past. As a former Black Ops sniper, he’s taken enough lives. Now he’s doing penance by saving them.

Emma and Zack’s very first case draws them deep into the realm of the paranormal, and forces them to use their own supernatural abilities. But that leaves each of them vulnerable, and there are lines partners should not cross. As secrets are revealed and more women go missing, one thing becomes clear: as they race to save the victims, Emma and Zack risk losing themselves

Review:

Cursed by S.J. Harper is the first book in their Fallen Siren series.  S.J. Harper is the pen name for the writing team of Samantha Sommersby and Jeanne C. Stein.  Cursed is urban fantasy, with a Greek Goddess, a Siren, a Witch, and a Werewolf. 

Emma Monroe is our heroine, and she is an FBI agent.  But what most people do not know is that Emma is a Fallen Siren, punished by the Greek Goddess, Demeter, for allowing her daughter, Persephone to be kidnapped.  Emma has been cursed and banished to live among mortals on earth; she spends these never ending years determined to save those in trouble, mainly other woman, hoping for redemption in the eyes of Demeter.  Since thousands of years have passed, will she ever be forgiven?

Emma knows that Demeter watches her every move from afar.   She has unique powers, such as reading a person’s mind, but rarely uses them in fear of repercussions from Demeter.  Emma is an excellent FBI agent.  We meet our hero Zach, who ends up becoming Emma’s new partner, and she is not a happy camper.  Her and Zach worked together on a case awhile ago, which ended up with a one night stand.  Zach is determined to win over Emma, as he has not forgotten her. 

Zach has his own issues, as he is a werewolf, something Emma has known.  However, Zach knows something is different about Emma, but he does not know why.  

They are assigned a case of some missing women, which involves murder, vampires, and  stolen organs. They work very closely together, with Emma determined not to become involved with Zach.  She always knows that if she chooses to become romantically involved with any man, Demeter is very vindictive and would think nothing of killing him. Emma and Zach do get off to a bumpy start, but as the case gets more complicated and dangerous, their attraction to one another becomes difficult to ignore. 

Cursed is an excellent mystery, and does show vampires in a somewhat different light, as they live normal lives among the mortals.  S.J. Harper has created a great couple, and also some good secondary characters, which I am sure we will learn more about in future books.  Liz, is Emma’s friend, and a powerful witch.  Kallistos is an ancient vampire, who is extremely powerful, and takes an interest in Emma, when he helps them solve the case.

Harper does a great job with this world building; an exciting last half of the book, with many twists and surprises.  This was also a wonderful romance that is destined to fail.  Will Emma and Zach stay together?   We have had books on Fallen Angels, but this is my first book on Fallen Sirens.  There are two more Sirens that we have not met yet.   I really enjoyed the characters and the story, and look forward to the next book in this series.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Author