A Curse of Frost and Fate

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Overall a fun read. I’ve only ever heard the original nutcracker story so to see another take on it was good. I love spicy retellings.

Definitely put me in a festive mood. I do feel the world building was overdone and because of that, the book felt slightly too long.

Absolutely beautiful cover.

A Spicy 🌶️ Nutcracker Retelling!

This book made me want to take a trip to the ballet on Christmas Eve. I definitely had Baz Lurman directing this book through my head the whole time I was reading.

Verika built beautiful whimsical worlds that I desperately wanted to visit. Of course you get to visit the Sugar Plum Ferry.

There was fighting,dancing, adventure, love, and loss.

I felt Like I was in the forests and castles, and old estate while reading. The characters were so fun even the small extra fantastical creatures we only met for a short while we’re so interesting.

I really liked this story I just wanted to like it more. If I could take out the few (really only a few) spots it lagged for me I would of given it 4 stars. The story was great and parts and I couldn’t put it down while in a couple it just dragged for me. I’m happy that I finished though. For a lover of the nutcracker since I was a child it was fun to see the story in this new way.

So for now I guess I’m be here in Tereene waiting for my chance to travel to a more magical realm.

Also as always the character that in this telling is called Godfather/Voss can get it 😏

This is a spicy reimagining of the Nutcracker - it sounded like a promising holiday/winter theme read, but I must admit, I was deeply disappointed. I struggled through it, sometimes skimming through whole sections, this sadly wasn't for me.

Why? Well, first and foremost, the book needs to be edited. There was a ton of spelling, grammatical mistakes. The tone was a bit awkward, it was heavily adult at times juxtaposed with very whimsical, childish moments. I really didn't like the MC, and honestly didn't love any of the other characters. The book was also WAY TOO long, it could of been done in under 300 pages.

I wish I could have better things to say about it, I feel like I cant even post on GR, Amazon or BookBub because I skimmed through large parts and considered DNF-ing a couple times. I feel like with some polish, an editor, and cutting the book in half - this book could be a fun read!

2 stars for cover and premise.

All in all, this was only just good for me. It wasn't bad by any means, but it also didn't suck me in at all and make me want to keep reading. While some of the characters were interesting (the watchers in particular) I just never found myself caring all that much about what happens to them. I can't say anything about it being a spin on the nutcracker though because I've never read or seen it.

Klara is more or less a normal girl who finds herself in anything but a normal situation. Targeted by some crazy dude who controls mice for reasons unknown (until the end), Klara ends up being transported to a completely different realm. One filled with magic and things from fairy tales. For a while, she's not even convinced it's anything but a dream.

Jaemis is a fallen, cursed prince. He was away trying to save a princess he was friends with (not knowing to do so would transfer her curse to him) when his kingdom was overtaken by the mouse king and his parents thrown into the dungeons. Since then dark magic has plagued the kingdom and darkness continues to creep over the lands. Before the curse overtakes him, Jaemis is determined to free his parents if nothing else. But a chance overhearing of the usurper's plans is going to change everything.

Jaemis and Klara first encounter each other in Klara's parent's home. Jaemis had followed the mouse king and they fought, but Klara gets caught up in it all. Only to wake the next day thinking it was all in her head. Later, Klara gets pulled from her world and lands next to Jaemis who is currently fighting a bunch of the mouse king's minions. From there the two of them travel together trying to figure out why Klara is so important to the enemy and how they will get her sent back home before she destroys the balance there. You would think that this sets up the story for quite a bit of excitement. And I guess it occasionally does. But so much of the story is just slow. And while I am not a huge fan of fated mates, I wouldn't have minded a whole lot here. The problem was that Jaemis was so determined to not find any happiness that even their relationship was tediously slow. Which is unfortunate.

On this journey we meet a bunch of other people of different kinds, Jaemis nearly drowns for some self discovery, Klara finds out she has elemental powers, and of course these two obviously start falling for the other. When the finale starts, Jaemis is so easily fooled by an obvious trap. Then Klara also gets fooled by an obvious trap. Up until that point I did not consider these two people stupid, but boy did I after these events. All ends up well enough for them in the end though. That is until their happy together is literally snatched from them when Klara is abruptly pulled back to her own world. Where she wallows in despair at having lost the greatest love of her life. Until she finally realizes why she was brought back when she was and how she can still save Jaemis's life. I'm not sure how much I liked the very end. While it was expected that Jaemis and Klara would find themselves back together, and I did hope that Klara's parents were able to reunite with their best friends, I don't know how I feel about Klara's siblings now being involved. On one hand, I get it. They're family. On the other, I didn't really like them and they were never a part of it before so why should they be now.

ARC from NetGalley
2.7 stars

The premise behind A Curse of Frost and Fate has me hopeful for a great winter read but fell way short of any expectation I had for it. A re-telling of the Nutcracker with a spicy twist should have been a fun romp through fantasy and holiday. I ended up making in 10% through and DNF'd.

Why? Because I found the main character to be a spoiled rich kid. I found the narrative to be less than engaging. I found the writing to be choppy, poorly done and not well thought out. In short. The book dragged and life is too short for bad literature.

Why 2 stars? Because the cover is very well done and had me excited to read the book. The thought behind the book was there but poorly executed. With a re-polishing and thorough editing of the book I think all of the pieces are there for a fun read.

Pros: The cover is pretty. The idea of a Nutcracker retelling is exciting and the concept of making it a lil spicy had me jumping up to go grab this to read.

Cons: The MC is unlikeable. There are a lot of grammatical errors. The world-building is overdone. The book is very jargony. The title is derivative and reminiscent of every author trying to emulate SJM's A ______ of ______ and ______ title energy.

It feels like the author was trying to prove that she knew how to write and so picked up the dictionary and pulled out the longest, most ridiculous words possible to emphasize her point. Some readers may enjoy this book, but it was painful to finish for me.

I received an advance review copy for free through NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

What a fab book for December and the Christmas season. A retelling of the classic Nutcracker story with a magic and saucy twist, not for everyone admittedly but a great read. It's a long novel so settle down for a fun read.

Well, that was much spicier than I anticipated for a Nutcracker retelling 🤣

I had a really hard time with the juxtaposition of the cutesy whimsical bits and the mature content. But, the main characters did have good chemistry.

Was it a bit cheesey? Yes. Was it a fun holiday read? Yes.

3.5/5 ⭐️
3/5🌶

This story has a very interesting premise as a retelling of the classic Nutcracker story. Although this book still needs a ton of editing (lots of errors and weird structuring) I still enjoyed where the author was going with it. I was not familiar with the original Nutcracker story that the ballet is loosely based on so that was fun to learn about.

Tropes:
Fated mates
Modern girl in a fantasy world
Forced proximity
One Bed
Cursed Prince

Lots of magic and fantasy in this story. I enjoyed the world building but would've liked to see more. As it stands right now it's a good story but I think with good editing this could be amazing.

Klara proves to be an outspoken, strong-minded, and brave FMC. She's unexpectedly thrust into an unknown world with magic and can take it all in stride and hold her own. She was no simpering female in need of rescue. In fact, on more than one occasion she helped save the Prince.

Jaemis is your typical honorable prince with the weight of the world on his shoulders. You learn very quickly that he's cursed and is resigned to his fate but determined to save his parents and kingdom from the evil Mouse King & Queen. When Klara comes into his life he learns he has more to live for than just his responsibilities.

I only love fated mates in fantasy and paranormal stories because they just work. Magic makes it work 😉

I would definitely give this one a try if you are a fan of the tropes listed and the Nutcracker story. Even with all the errors (of you can overlook those) this was a fun read.

I received an advance review copy for free from BooksGoSocial & Netgalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This was a new genre for me and overall, I enjoyed it. It is well written with engaging characters and I recommend to anyone wanting to try this genre.

Thank you to the publisher for allowing me to read this eARC!

I was so excited for this, I loved the idea of a spicy nutcracker retelling, howeve, this was very subpar. It felt very adult and then also very childish at times. I felt like there wasn't enough editing. I found most of the characters to be annoying. Honestly, this story was lackluster at best and it felt like a chore to read.

I loved the premise of this book but I couldn't quite connect (especially with the opening chapter and the portions that related more to Jaemis's world). I also thought the book could use some more editing-- I didn't mind some of the issues, but I DNF'd at a point where a paragraph was fully incomprehensible due to sentences being spliced together in a weird way.
I may have liked it if I'd stuck with it, but I just couldn't quite immerse myself in this one.

Over the course of the last few years I have come to the realization that some indie published titles are amazing and well some aren't. This one was somewhere in the middle. Although it wasn't horrible it wasn't all that good either. I think for the most part the length played a big part in the errors on this story. I liked it but it was just far too long. I think if it would have been around 250 pages that would have been enough to be fast paced and really tie down the plot and characters.

Klara goes home for another family holiday, only to be swept away to a magical world. She joins forces with the prince to defeat the Mouse King from taking over both worlds. This is a very steamy, modern retelling of The Nutcracker.
From a leisure read perspective, this book is fantastic! The reimagined telling of the Nutcracker is just what I need for this time of year. Rather than sitting by a roaring fire, the spicy content in this book will be enough to ward off a chill. One of my favourite Christmas stories just got even better!
However, speaking as a middle school librarian, this book is very much not appropriate. So, while I will be adding a copy to my personal library, it will not be making its way onto the shelves of my school library.

I love The Nutcracker, and so, I was excited to read this retelling of this popular Christmas story. However, I couldn't connect with the story. It felt like it was a cross between young adult fiction and adult, and honestly, I think it would have been great as a young adult book if Klara was younger. Second, the book rushes in early in the book, and I felt like that was too fast paced so early on, and then when Klara and Jaemis met, it just seemed like so much was going on without enough time on each setting. The writing is great, and so are the characters. I'd be willing to read more by this author in the future, but this one was a miss for me.

I wish I could follow suit and talk about how incredible the story is. But it is way too long and filled with too much description. The story lost me before anything actually happened. That makes me feel like I shouldn’t be publishing this review on Goodreads or other places because I don’t feel like I cared enough about the story actually to have an unbiased opinion. I’d recommend revising and rewriting it before publishing so future readers may find it more interesting.

This was an attempt to retell the story of the Nutcracker. I received an advanced copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Well honestly, this book was poorly written, even more poorly edited, and just plain difficult to read. The story was cute enough, but it was too hard to overlook the glaring errors that had me shaking my head in real life and wasting time rereading the sentences and trying to put the words in correct order. I would recommend sending this back to the editor, cutting out at least 25% of the superfluous drivel prior to actual publishing.

This is an adult retelling of the Nutcracker.

The mouse king has imprisoned the true king and queen and their son Jaemis is planning a rescue. Then he overhears a plot to capture a girl named Klara from another realm and knows he has to stop it...

Meanwhile, Klara and her family are celebrating Christmas. Her godfather gets her a nutcracker doll. After plenty of drinks, Klara has the oddest dream...

This is a charming story. If you like the Nutcracker, you will like this as well.

I had high hopes for this book I was love a good re-telling with a bit of smut thrown in it was a bit long for my liking but it had such promise. it kept me engaged enough to want to finish but I wasn't sad to see the characters go in the end. I think you should read it for yourself and make your own opinion.
the author did a fantastic job of re-creating the nutcracker but keeping certain facts in, its a wonderful magical world.
Thank you to Netgalley/ BookGoSocial/Verika Sloane for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

DNF 50% of the way. This book was not for me. The writing style felt very weird. I felt like I was reading a hallmark movie but make it fantasy, and not in a good way. It felt like I was reading a children’s book with how the nutcracker world and characters are described but the author just added random mature themes that just felt very off. Even the family scenes in modern day just felt cliche and straight out of a hallmark Christmas movie. The first red flag for me was when the FMC said she wanted to be like normal kids with normal sized houses not living in a giant mansion. If that doesn’t scream old money privilege idk what does. All in all, not for me.