I liked the prequel novella better :/

I have to admit going into this expecting something along the lines of the movie "Labyrinth"

But it disappointed me in so many ways.

I never managed to form an attachment to the heroine and the hero was just of sort of mopey and thinking about gold or something like that most of the time.

There was no magic in the writing,no flow to make you want to read along to the end.I skimmed through a lot of it. ( )

Well, a mini-review. I really enjoyed this PNR book, first in series. Skated close to some things I don't like in PNR but was overall a fun read with characters I truly liked.

I'll continue the series (particularly since is a library ebook borrow). But, because doesn't necessarily follow same characters -- no hurry. ( )

Yeah...no, this really didn't work for me as a romance. Mildly interesting concept, but I found both Eliza and Roan rather flat. She's been rather pampered, and is now the gullible victim of a smooth con-man (not the only one, but the "marry me or I'll ruin your (and your family's) reputation!" threat is pretty dumb. What sort of marriage does she think she'll have? Roan at least has the excuse that the curse literally leaves him unable to love (a golden heart...which doesn't work physically (just how does he pump blood? Especially to crucial areas during the sex scenes?). And then there's the frustration in the middle of the book, where they've done all the things but it doesn't work - it feels like too many point-and-click adventures, where I've clicked on everything I can see or think of and none of them do anything. I usually quit, at that point - not fun. I did stick it out through the end of the book, which was...kind of flat. Roan, come on, do you mean you never tried that? You thought just the sex would work? Really? Not a favorite, and I don't think I'll bother with the sequel, though I usually like family series. ( )

Anyway, to the story! Roan lives in the shadowlands, a horrible place of nightmares. He is cursed and has been for 2000 years. He used to be a good king, but now he is a man whose greed might make him into the goblins he hate. He is loosing little by little to the curse. But there is something there, and sure at times in the beginning I thought he was a bit too alpha idiot, but I still could not look away.

Eliza, the deal that annoyed me there for a moment was how fast she fell, but come on, this is a romance after all. So I went along with that, cos in the end, Roan is a hottie, he is alpha, and he is a mighty warrior. Eliza has grown weak and scared. She is being bullied by her idiotic fiance and even though she has everything her lives sucks. She just wants out. And when these two meet, a woman who needs something more, and a man who needs help fighting his demons, well you can guess what happens. Flames of passion and lots of drama.

Because life is not easy. She has her ass of a fiance. He has not much time left to live with his fading human soul. The goblin is taking over. They are doomed from the start, but they still can't stay away from each other.

It was the goblins, the curse and the world that did it for me. It was good, and I also really liked his brother Dai. When the book ended I kind of wanted a book with him too, must be because he was a nerd. I do like nerds, and since this is book 1 then fingers crossed that Dai is getting that book.

Conclusion:
All in all a good book that had me reading fast, I enjoyed the romance and the passion they shared. It was a fairytale happy ever after with goblins, fights and the will to love. ( )

3 1/2 Stars ( )