Loved this sultry intense, sexy read between Thorn and Alana!

The chemistry hits you from the beginning. One obsessed alpha male who finds an equally obsessed woman in Alana.

There’s lots going on in this super storyline which will keep you guessing and entertained throughout the book!

A perfect pairing in this action packed steamy read!

Highly recommended!

I voluntarily read and reviewed this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own

Spoiler free review

F(bleep)CK this was good *drool*

I screamed when I saw I got approved for this arc. I already had it on preordered so my excitement was through the roof!!

This was a delightful and delicious dark romance and I ATE IT UPPP!

I will be recommending this book to my following and friends!

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

A Dark Romance book that even readers that don't like this genre will like.

Alana is the face of her family’s social media empire, as well as their biggest influencer. Her family is one of the four families that each hold a section of power through crystals. Alana never cared much about power and just focused on playing the role of socialite while doing her own good behind the scenes. But when a death in the family pulls her in the middle of the family business, she suddenly finds herself in situations she never dreamed she’d be.

One of those situations is Thorn Beathach.

Thorn has obsessed over Alana from afar, but now that’s over. As the head of one of the four families, he has power and money beyond need. What he doesn’t have is Alana. When danger knocks on her door, Thorn takes his opportunity and kidnaps her. He just needs some time to show her that they are meant to be. The only problem is that he doesn’t know how much time he has.

I am not a dark romance fanatic. I will dabble every now and then, but for the most part I prefer light rom-com type books or epic romantasy series. However this book was worth the read and definitely kept me reading with interest right up until the end. In fact, towards the end I thought maybe the story would continue and this was going to be a series. I was a tad bit disappointed. But then discovered this is book one in the series. Can't wait to read more of this world.

The scenes were steamy and the plot was great with an ending I didn’t see coming.

The only reason I gave this book four stars and not five is because, I would have liked a little more “I will worship my woman” romance.

Billed as a modern twist on Beauty and the Beast, I was not 100% sure how that was going to play out, especially having read many books by Zanetti, each with their own unique set of characters and style. This book definitely served ups something different that is a mix of genres, I couldn’t place is squarely in a particular category.

The story is centered around four social media empires, however, these companies and their success is based off a legacy built, and power gained through crystals. Alas, this concept I struggled with getting into or my head around. What I loved in this book were the mysteries interwoven into the novel keeping you intrigued as to what happened to our heroine, Alana Beaumont when she was a young girl, and how it connects with events happening today.

Our leading man, Thorn Beathach, you will either love or hate. He is honest, protective and he has a brutal side, where there is no remorse for the torture and death, he inflicts on those who harm women and children or touch the women he claims as his. His obsession with the leading lady, depending on how you want to take it could be seen as a unique and strong connection that is meant to be, that he will always protect her, however, there are definitely moments when you could also think, hello creepy stalker, kidnapper, break and enter, dominant.

This book is steamy! Be prepared, it is not vanilla, he wants her to submit and to be in total control. There is some bondage, knife play, belt play.

Overall, I think I found myself on the fence with this book, my mind at war with how I viewed events that were occurring.

Rebecca Zanetti is my all time favorite author and this is a can't miss first book in her new Grimm Bargains series. A dark spin on Beauty and the Beast. The engrossing, original and supremely creative story sets up endless possibilities for more twisted tales. I may need to reread this novel to find all of the hidden meanings in this futuristic power struggle between good and evil. I can't help but compare the four families of social media to our current muddy landscape and wonder if the author is a soothsayer. Long time fans of Zanetti will relish the Easter eggs from her Dark Protectors and her friendship with author Lexi Blake.

4.5 Stars

One Cursed Rose is the first book in Rebecca Zanetti's Grimm Bargins series. This one kicks it off with Beauty and the Beast vibes. Thorn, the "prince" of Malice Media is rarely shown in public, while Alana is the face of Aquarius Social's social page. This story has an interesting aspect of each of the 4 families runs a type of social media company and are connected to one main crystal type. They crystal helps them live longer and is something they "charge" with their energy and the energy earned through the emotional connections on the social media sites. It gives this story a small paranormal aspect to it. I hope we learn a little more about the crystals in book 2.

Some things you'll see in this book that could either be trigger warnings or a menu depending on your reading preferences :)

➤Kidnapping
➤Stalking
➤Enemies to Lovers
➤Knife play
➤Spanking
➤Touch her and d1e vibes

I think this book was a good start to Rebecca's new series and look forward to diving deeper into the world and the next story. I received this book from Netgalley and Kensington in exchange for an honest review.

I thought this was really well written and I look forward to reading more from this author in the future. I think it will find readers at our library, so we will definitely be purchasing for the collection.

One cursed rose 🌹 by Rebecca Zanetti Arc review. I received this advanced reader copy through net galley. This novel is a dark romance retelling of one of my favorite story Beauty and the beast. Set in an alternate Silicon valley. This book is told from the dual pov of Alana the felmale main character and the Thorn the male main character. Alan is the heir to her father company and is forced to marry someone she doesn’t like. When she is recuse by thorn the head of a rival company. The richest most powerful beast of them all, and he does not want her to leave his castle. He is an obsessed over protective alpha male who think Alana is his. Despite all this she finds her draw to him the more time she spends with him her feelings begin to change and grow. But can he think she just going to play nice he is definitely mistaken. This book was extremely exciting and fast pasted thrilling and interesting to read. I love this take on the classic story. It was full of twist of turns. The characters were all so interesting and engaging to read. I highly enjoyed read this book you should check it out your love it . ♥️🌹This book comes out June 25, 2024

A big thank you to NetGalley and Kensington for the eARC. I am voluntarily reviewing this book. Okay I admit it, I love Rebecca! But not this book. I just couldn't get into the book. I am not sure if it is because I am not a fan or retelling fairy tales, or if I just hated the characters. I got a little confused after about half way and almost didn't finish. I plodded through it though. I may try again-because sometimes it depends on your mood-if you like a book or not. But as of me trying a couple of times-this just isn't for me. 3 stars Not sure if I will continue this series.

I was very excited about this book reading the description and it being a beauty and the best retelling, but unfortunately when starting it, I realized it wasn’t for me.

I just couldn’t quite connect with the characters. The world building was a bit lacking regarding the stones for example. The story was there for sure, the dark romance and an interesting plot but I’m the one who needs that connection to move forward. But maybe you’ll find it’s for you! Give it a try since it seems like some people enjoyed it! I’m gonna keep an eye out for future works from the author since I liked her writing style!

One Cursed Rose is a dark romance, Beauty and the Beast retelling. Rebecca Zanetti combines elements of magic and romantic suspense too, making the story the perfect sizzling combination.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Alana is the heir to the Aquarius social media empire. It doesn’t hurt that she has a special affinity to the magical aquamarine stones that make the whole endeavor hum. But when her father insists on marrying her off to a competitor to strengthen their company, Alana immediately looks for a way out of it. What she doesn’t realize is that secretive, beastly Thorn is obsessed with her, and will do anything, including kidnapping her, to keep her from marrying someone else. But Thorn is cursed, and he’s slowly freezing to death. Can the warmth Thorn feels with Alana save him? Or will she lose patience with his controlling ways?

I’m a longtime Rebecca Zanetti fan, and will read anything she writes. So while I don’t read much dark or mafia romance, I love a hot story with a morally gray hero and plenty of plot too. Alana and Thorn are intriguing characters, and far more than simply pieces of a fairy tale retelling. Alana has no patience for the patriarchal box people keep trying to put her into, but she can’t deny her connection to Thorn. And, along with their attest, their quips and banter are great too.

The world building here is the kind I like, where the plot runs full speed ahead and no one pauses to question any of the magical rules. Crystals and their powers play a key role, but I was so wrapped up in the romance that I didn’t fuss about the details.

Zanetti writes so well in so many different genres, it’s no surprise that she’s a natural with dark romance. One Cursed Rose is a fantastic story, and Alana and Thorn’s sizzling chemistry jumps off the page. If you are a fan of super hot fairy tale retellings, read this book.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

It was fascinating to explore a modern retelling of Beauty and the Beast. The narrative was engaging, and I found the romance particularly enjoyable. Thorn proved to be a captivating character, with his morally ambiguous persona and possessive demeanor, perfectly embodying the essence of a contemporary beast. The subplots added depth to the storyline and kept me entertained. I appreciated the element of mystery surrounding the villain's identity, which kept me guessing until the very end.

However, I struggled with the incorporation of crystals, coding, and social media into the narrative. While I understood the concept behind it, the execution didn't quite resonate with me. Additionally, I felt a disconnect between the story and its title. Perhaps "One Cursed Crystal" would have been a more fitting title.

I love fairytale retellings and One Cursed Rose is an interesting modern twist on Beauty and the Beast. I liked the story was entertained by it was definitely more of a urban fantasy then I was expecting. Could for sure see this becoming a stand alone series with the other characters in this book. I want to thank NetGalley and Kensington Books for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Publisher and NetGalley for this arc! This review has been posted on Goodreads.

This started off so strong and had such an interesting concept/plot revolving around these gems that basically magically run the world. The stones only react to specific people and therefor because of that they will pretty much always stay in power, I think? That's where this started to go downhill for me - about 50% in or so as it just started to get super confusing and stopped making sense.
Now as to the romance - yeah ugh I just was not connecting with the MCs. It was annoying that Thorn believed he "knew" Alana but he really didn't know much about her. Then there's the whole let me constantly try and escape but also oh I love your spanks and dick. I just couldn't buy into them. I"ll be honest I struggled to finish this book. I think maybe once the 2nd book is written/comes out I would do a reread and then be able to just jump into the next book. I'm under the impression this will be a new series? Maybe i'm wrong about that.

3/5

Four major social media empires control the information and power. Story told in chapters alternating
between Alana and Thorn, the main characters.
Computers run on power generated by crystals/gems that are charged by members of each organization.
When Alana becomes heir to Aquarius Social, her father proposes a marriage/merger with Hologrid
to improve their standing and hopefully overtake number one Malice Media and second place TimeGen
Moments. Thorn of Malice Media is obsessed with Alana and has no intention of letting the marriage
happen and has her watched to keep her safe. Questions arise as to how Alana's brother actually died
and who is attacking Malice Media's computer system. The answers will change the balance of power.
First in a new series.
#OneCursedRose #Kensington #NetGalley

I love Rebecca Zanetti and I love beauty and the beast themed stories but this one is just not for me.

One Cursed Rose will be the first of a darker-themed, twisted fairy tales series for Rebecca Zanetti. While I understand her attempt at the darker, sexual theme to the story, added to the weird world building, this  series will simply be a Nope from me.

There is a content warning in the beginning of the book indicating "dark themes, obsessive and morally gray hero; spicy bedroom scenes for mature readers only; light bondage; nudity, corporal punishment, swearing, torture, inappropriate use of bathrobe belts."  Really? We had to add swearing into this list. I think if you get past torture, you won't be offended by the F word.

After reading 25 percent of the novel, which is just the basic backdrop of the story, I simply wasn't excited about spending more time reading what will be a bondage/sex story wrapped up in a weird fairytale world.

The world building is that there are four main families who dominate the world with their TikTok/Instagram type of social media accounts and they get boosts of magical power for your clicks and likes. They also each have a signature family gem-stone which focuses that magical power. What? I admit I was uninterested in this whole premise from the get go.

All the major families are controlled by the evil, horrible and spoiled rich and powerful, except Alana and her BFF's, Ella and Rosalie, who with the help of an old gentlemen named Merlin do good deeds like feed school kids and provide shelters for abused women and children--all in secret--funneling money from trust funds, etc. so their evil families don't stop them, while they pretend to be ditzy, fashion-focused air-heads so no one suspects them of anything.

Alana's family is falling to number 4 in that list of powerful families so her father wants her to marry into the no. 3 family to combine their power structure. Of course, this groom to be is a slutty, playboy who wants to make sure Alana's truly a virgin so he can have bragging rights to be the first and who also gives the vibe of future violent, abusive spouse. But Alana is saved from this by a Thorne, who is head of the most powerful family and who is very questionable in our use of "hero" of this story.

While Disney's Belle sacrifices herself to save her father and falls for the tortured beast, here Thorne is a vicious killer who is obsessed with Alana but instead of making an offer to her father, he abducts Alana and take her to his castle fortress on the outskirts of the city. This fortress includes a tattooed Mrs Potts and an actual moat with killer fish.

Thorne has been poisoned (cursed?) through his gem stone and is suffering from "Lexical-Gustatory Synesthesia" which means he gets a taste in his mouth when hears someone speak. It could be garbage or worse (because of the type of people he hangs with) or yummy honey, like when Alana speaks. What????? Yeah. I am not excited about this world-building.

At it core, this story will be about Alana and Thorne exploring the darker side of bed sport.  It should be disturbing that he kidnaps her with all intent on keeping her for sex but since Alana responds positively to him, we ignore that gray area of is it really consensual? since she can't walk away nor is he really asking her permission.   Would he continue anyway, if she wasn't kissing him back?  He is a vicious killer with no moral compass and an obsession with Alana.  Is her cooperation really necessary for Thorne, or is that simply to make it more palatable to us?  While I can enjoy a good naughty-book for what it is, I do like when there is some story between bouts of sex. In this case, I wasn't even interested in any more of this world-building.  For me, I think walking away was my best choice.

This is the first story of a series which will obviously include Alana's friends Ella (presumably Cinderella) and Rosalie (not sure sure which story she is from). I love Rebecca's Deep Ops and Anna Albertini series but I am going to be skipping this one.

thank you to netgalley for the advanced reading copy. I really enjoyed this and will be getting copies for my shop.

"From the dawn of civilization, or probably before that, there have been four families. The four who have always ruled, regardless of country or even god."

In this urban fantasy dark retelling of Beauty and the Beast, Thorn Beathach, the head of a rival social media empire, rescues Alana, heir to Aquarius social, after an assassination attempt is made on her life. What follows is a chain of events that sees deadly, dangerous secrets being uncovered and an unlikely romance blossoming between two rivals.

Thoughts:
I thorougly enjoyed this! Great whodunnit plot with twists that had my jaw on the floor. There's a sort of magic system that includes crystals and connection to source that I wish was explained just a tad bit more as it is so interesting! The MMC is deliciously complex, morally grey, and is a coding genius. The FMC is sassy, smart, and loves to read. This book is dark, so the spice is KINKY AF (so good!!). Would recommend, but make sure to check the content warnings before indulging in this one!

Relevant tropes:
Obsession
Touch her and ☠️
Who did this to you?
Forced proximity (Kidn*pping)
Rivals to lovers
Stockholm Syndrome
Spank kink
Good girl
Mafia vibes

This was so different from her last books. It's darker and has some magic. They are using crystals for power. It has four families and they are rivals. And of course, the main characters are from different families.

Thorn & Alana.
I liked their chemistry and banter. I liked their kink. I loved how they made each other stronger. And I liked the side characters also. They seemed interesting.
But.... the plot. I got the plot, the kidnapping the killing. It was interesting. But the crystals!! It was an interesting idea and concept but I needed to know more. It was like "Here are some crystals that too that and those other crystals to that" and that's it. Let's not talk about it more 🤔

I have read a lot of her books. And I have loved most of them. So I will continue with this series. Hoping we get more depth.

Thank you Kensington Books and Netgalley for the ARC!

This was a delicious dark romance retelling of Beauty and the Beast.

I really enjoyed this one and the concept of the crystals being used for their energy was intriguing if a little cringey in that it was being used for social media companies. However I guess that is what everything is about these days! I also liked that one of Alana's friends seemed to be representing Cinderella - maybe a hint at a possible next retelling?

Thorn is a great morally grey (leaning towards black) male character and shows his love for Alana in some interesting ways, but you can tell that he has a heart of gold despite the questionable methods he employs.