A) Roanoke Island, my guilty historical love. So that had me hooked.
B) Curses! Always fun!
C) Ancient angry gods! Even more fun.

So in cpnclusion, fun was had.



I stand by the above--I had a lot of fun reading THE CURSE KEEPERS and seeing a different spin on one of history's great mysteries. I thought it was clever of Swank to weave real life happenings and coincidences into the plot to add a layer of 'hey it could be!' (though as her author's note at the end suggests, she believes a wholly more realistic idea of what happened to those colonists).

I had a bit more problem with Ellie and Collin however. I liked Ellie--I liked that she didn't accept Collin on face value, listened to her friends' advice (even if it irritated her) and wanted to do right by her father (even as she didn't believe him).

I didn't trust Collin at all. And that distrust just kept building the further the book went along. Especially after he has smexy times with Ellie. He would say things, red flag things like 'I want you to remember this' and 'no matter what else happens know I loved you' and Ellie would think 'huh, well that's a bit weird...' without following up.

To be fair he did tell her he couldn't be trusted. He was very open about his thieving ways, his womanizing, his callous disregard for how his actions hurt others. His duplicity lay in that he kept urging Ellie to give more and more of herself for her destiny without telling her everything she needed to know. Her (justifiable) reluctance to be part of the Curse Keepers world was brushed aside because there were bigger things to consider.

That rubbed me the wrong way. Even after he apologized I wanted to shank him (which is odd for me to want to do to an attractive rogue--I love them). Every time he told Ellie he wanted to put her above everything else I wanted to kick him. Every time he told Ellie she would be protected I wanted to punch him.

And in the end when everything is laid out on the table (or almost everything, his motivations still remain mostly murky) I felt nothing but crushing dread for Ellie. She didn't deserve any of the crap. She wanted to live in her town, take care of her father, work hard and make others smile.

As this is part of a series the ending is not really an ending, but a bridge to the next book. There's resolution to only a handful of the plotlines and opens up a can of worms that promise to make Ellie's life harder.

So I say this to the author--Bring it on. I'll just have to think of new ways to make Collin suffer if he didn't learn his lesson yet.
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I have been curious in the past about Roanoke. There is mystery surrounding it. The concept about this series is very intriguing that a curse was hiding Roanoke. Instantly, I was drawn into this story and the characters.

The first meeting between Ellie and Collin was intense. I could feel the shift in the air and the strong, magnetic pull these two shared with each other. Collin is a bit aloof, but I like this about him. He is the levelheaded one. Ellie keeps things interesting as she is a bit more throw caution to the wind.

Love that Ellie and Collin did not share an "instalove" attraction. They were more enemies to lovers/slow burn romance. After this cliffhanger ending, I am jumping right into book two. ( )

For those of you who have had enough of vampires and werewolves, The Curse Keepers is an urban fantasy novel that will interest you. This series was inspired by the Lost Colony of Roanoke, the colonial settlement that disappeared around 1590, and takes its supernatural elements from American Indian folklore. Ellie Lancaster is a descendant of one of the only two people who know what really happened to that colony – she is a “Curse Keeper”. Unfortunately, she never really believed her father’s stories and teachings of the responsibilities of the guardians, leaving her at a disadvantage when the other Curse Keeper finder her. Their meeting opens the gates that have held all the spirits away from the material world, and she and Collin Dailey, the other curse keeper, have only seven days to close the gates. It’s a fun and exciting read ( )

Read all my reviews on http://urlphantomhive.booklikes.com

The Curse Keepers was a bit of a let down for me. Unfortunately, I had the entire series to work my way through, but I was optimistic it could improve.

What irked me about the story was mainly how special the two main characters were (they were literally the only ones who could stop the curse/the ending of the world). These main characters also annoyed me, as they make their way offending each other instead of getting the job done. This takes a lot of place in this book. The touches of Native American folklore were nice, since I don't know a lot about it.

What I'm hoping for in the next book is a bit more balance (more story, less will-they-won't-they).

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review! ( )

On the day that the lost colony of Roanoke reappears, Ellie Dare Lancaster realizes that the stories her father told her all her life were true. She is one of two curse keepers--one English colonist and one Croatan indian--whose job is to preserve the curse that holds the spirits and gods away from our world. And now it's time for her to act. Except she has no idea what to do.

Collin is the other curse keeper, and he's spent his life in training for this. Ellie relies on him to guide her as they are terrorized by spirits, gods, and thugs from Collin's past.

There was a twist in this book that was, to me, very obvious. Knowing in advance didn't make it any less painful when I experienced it along with Ellie.

I liked that Ellie and Collin were in their twenties and that Ellie was at a place in her life where she hadn't yet found what she wanted to do or be but was still taking a great deal of responsibility in her personal life, helping support her parents' B&B, and dealing compassionately with her father who has Alzheimer's. All this added to how she dealt with her new role as a curse keeper, something she'd chosen to completely block out of her life. It was good to see her deciding on her priorities and maturing, without losing her sense of adventure.

(Provided by publisher) ( )