Book Review: Wings Once Cursed and Bound by Piper J. Drake

Romance on the whole is a beloved genre and fantasy romance is the perfect intersection of two beloved genres. That’s why I was so nervous yet excited to try out Wings Once Cursed and Bound by Piper J. Drake.

As a reader, I’m a huge romance reader and someone who enjoys contemporary romances more than anything. I’ll dabble into other subgenres every once in a while but fantasy romance has never been my favorite.

When I was sent a few fantasy romance ARCs by Sourcebooks Casablanca, then I knew I wanted to give the subgenre a try. Honestly, I was pretty pleasantly surprised by how much I ended up liking Wings Once Cursed and Bound.

As a fantasy romance newbie, I can happily say that Wings Once Cursed and Bound is unlike anything I’ve ever read before.

Wings Once Cursed and Bound is a great start to a new fantasy romance series.

The story follows Peeraphan also known as Punch as she’s given these magical shoes. Upon receiving them, she can sense a supernatural presence during her dance rehearsal. After finding out the shoes will cause her to dance to her death, she decides to team up with Bennett to break the curse and keep her safe from a magical collector.

While the book did take a bit to set up, I will say that once I got past the first 50 pages, I really enjoyed this one. Maybe it’s because of the worldbuilding and introduction of side characters, but I couldn’t put it down after that. With Punch and Bennett fighting their attraction and trying to break the curse, there’s a lot going on.

There was a lot to love about this story as we find out pretty early on that Peeraphan isn’t entirely human. She’s actually a kinnaree, making her a rarity in the supernatural world. She’s not the only supernatural being in the story though as Bennett is a vampire and Punch’s distant cousin, Thomas is a werewolf.

We also meet Marie who is a witch and honestly, one of my favorite characters in the book. She was such a fun addition to the cast. I can only hope one of the next books in the series is dedicated to her and a romance she has. She was just so amazing and rounded out the cast perfectly.

Additionally, I feel like we rarely see fantasy romances featuring Thai legends. It was nice to learn more about Thai culture and what their myths and legends look like. Plus Punch was Thai American which is a chance of pace as fantasy romances tend to be overwhelmingly white.

As a fantasy romance newbie, I have to say recommend this Wings Once Cursed and Bound. I only have a few small complaints which are that I wish we’d had more steamy moments between the two and that it felt like it took a while for the story/romance to take off. Once it did, it was smooth sailing.

Either way, I’m happy to say that I’ll probably continue this series. The characters were likable enough and I really enjoyed the story so I’m excited for what Piper J. Drake comes up with next.

Wings Once Cursed and Bound by Piper J. Drake is out now where books are sold. 

Will you be giving Wings Once Cursed and Bound a try? Share with us in the comments!