I LOVE a good fairy tale retelling when done right, and One Cursed Rose was done RIGHT! Already preordered the special addition, worth it and so beautiful! Huge fan of dark romance with strong male roles, as well as cunning and fierce FMC roles. Provocative, adventurous, and well written, One Cursed Rose checks all the boxes!

Alana is the sole heir to a media giant that is about to be taken over by an enemy. Her father wants to marry her off to the son of a competing family. She was rescued by Thorn, the head of the rival social media and he kept her in his castle to keep her safe...

I love Alana and Thorn. Terrific chemistry. Sexy and romantic at the same time. A lot of steam and sexiness. Love the plot and the action. A bit darker than this author's usual books but still a happily-ever-after.

Thanks to the publisher for the arc.

I don't fully get the concept but I really liked the writing and the nods to other classic fairytales from childhood. It was a good romance, the world building was just a bit confusing.

Warning : this book is a rather dark romance with scenes of violence (torture, etc.)

A book that leaves me with mixed feelings ...

This book was one of those I was really looking forward to and after receiving an ARC, I DEVOURED it ! I love Rebecca Zanetti’s books and the idea of her writing revisited fairy tales … I was SO excited !

EXCEPT

I think I wasn't the right audience for this romance ><

The universe was great and so original (I love this mix of technology and magic with the crystals which are powered by social networks) and I really liked the plot around this very dangerous virus but also certain murders (I have to admit I didn't see the end coming !)

BUT

I would have liked the universe to be more developed (understand where the crystals come from, see them more in action ...), the resolution of the plot was a a little too fast for me (I wanted more explanations and tension !) and I had difficulty getting attached to the characters (I would have liked a more badass Alana and a more human Thorn ... And the secondary characters deserved to be more visible !)

I think my main problem comes from romance. If you read mafia/dark romances, you will probably like this book but for me, who is not a fan of this type of romance, the relationship between Alana and Thorn blocked my reading. Thorn's BDSM stalker side didn't convince me AT ALL (the knife scene ... Uh NO !) and I found that Alana fell too easily under his spell despite all the red flags ><

In short, a book that I recommend for fans of dark romance and mafia romances but if you are a fan of Rebecca Zanetti but not of this type of romance, this book is probably not for you ><

I will read the sequel because I am intrigued by Scarlett in particular but this first book will not be one of my favorites unfortunately !

PS : to the publisher and Netgalley, thank you so much for the ARC =D

Thank you to Kensington Books and Netgalley @netgalley for the e-arc. All Thoughts are my own.

Alana is the sole heir to Aquarius Social. Her fathers solution to the family business being dismanteled is to give her in marriage to create a coalition.

There’s nothing like assassination to cut short the best laid plans.


I don’t know if the dark romance I read is on the extreme end, or what, but I didn’t find this to be a dark romance. Maybe you could say it has some darker elements? But I wouldn’t go as far to say it was a dark romance. So, to say I felt misled is an understatement. I also couldn’t get into the idea of the gems powering the computers. I kept looking for an understanding of how this worked, but I felt the world building was lacking in this regard. I never could fully comprehend why they were so heavily relied on, or what their role fully was.

Now with all that being said, this book did have some elements I enjoyed. I loved the suspense elements of the story; they kept me wanting more and on the edge of my seat with anticipation. I also really enjoyed the dual points of view. Stories written this way are some of my favorite because I feel they fully allow me to be immersed in the story and get to know the characters.

This book is the first in a new series, and overall, I don’t think that it kept me invested enough to keep reading it. I do think that it was entertaining enough, just not so much that I care to continue.

I have a few mixed feelings about this one. The world-building was excellent, and I love the Black Mirror-social media-esque idea of popularity and influencers controlling everything… with “likes” and crystals powering things.
One of my main issues with this book was how quickly everything seemed to wrap up. The loose ends were tied up quickly at the end, and I felt like I had a bit of whiplash as the story concluded. It felt like some important things were glossed over, and it left me reeling a little.
That being said, will I look for the next book in this series? YES!

⭐️⭐️

before I begin this review I would like to say thank you to NetGalley and Kensington for this e-arc!

I want to start off by saying that I truly thought this was a fantasy novel, and not a dark romance when I began this so I was surprised to see the trigger warning at the beginning. regardless, I decided to give this one a try even though I don’t read dark romance. I went into it with an open mind and read it from start to finish.

overall, I don’t think this book was for me. frankly it felt too rushed, and there were so many plot points happening that felt unnecessary. because of the fantasy elements of this book I would’ve really enjoyed some extra time just getting into the world building. there were some really interesting and creative concepts to this book, however they didn’t develop in the ways that they could’ve. I also think with more context on the two main characters I would’ve enjoyed it more. we don’t really have any idea why Thorn is obsessed with Alana, just that he is. and quite frankly she gives little to no real pushback against this powerful man who is also her stalker and kidnapper.

upon reading the acknowledgment I do understand that this is the author’s first dark romance. I think for many people this book could be a thrilling and fun dark romance read. I do think this concept of this book could’ve been very captivating, however I don’t see myself picking up another book from this author at this time.

I requested this book because I usually enjoy Beauty and the Beast retellings. This one, however, just wasn't my cup of tea. I have read dark romance before and enjoyed the stories, but I think this one was just too dominating for me. Someone else might love it though!

For the fantasy/magic element, it felt rushed and incomplete. I don't feel like the crystals were explained as well as they could have been. And then the ending and the curing of the curse felt like it came out of nowhere and all of a sudden they are all using the power and ... well, as I said earlier, it felt rushed and incomplete. *insert shrug*

It started as 2 stars to me, was 3 stars by 80%, and then the ending dropped it back to 2 stars.

I'm sure someone else would love this, but it wasn't for me!

Thank you #netgalley for the ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own!

-Dark Romance
-Magic
-Mafia/Gangs
-Billionaires
-Kidnapped/Forced Proximity
-Touch Her and You Die
-Beauty and Beast Retelling
-Crystal Magic Systems
-Kink Exploration

I was super excited for this romance, as it was advertised for fans of Scarlett St Clair. It could not be further from what she writes and how she writes her books.
I will start off by saying I did not like the male main character. There is no chemistry between them, and he has no character traits other than being beefy and brutish and speaking Gaelic every other page to amp up the attractiveness. The romance between them was also not fun to read because it was insta-lust, and it felt like there were no feelings involved until there suddenly was.
The sex felt misplaced for me. The MMC threatened her with a spanking (which she instantly was aroused by), literally less than ten minutes after he’d killed a teenage waiter that was trying to protect her from harm, and then he’d kidnapped her. She had no idea who he was, yet was getting all hot between the thighs at the idea of getting spanked by her violent, ruthless kidnapper who showed no mercy to basically a college student age kid. Does she have molasses for brains? Don’t even call it Stockholm syndrome, because they hadn’t even been with each other for an hour at this point in the book. She’d never met him. The sex was too kinky for a girl that didn’t know her kidnapper and had conflicted feelings about him on every other page. The crystal magic system had no detail either.

Thank you to NetGalley and Edelweiss for the ARC!

ARC review 🕮


✰⋆☾ ⋆ One Cursed Rose ⭑☽ ✧˖°. Rebecca Zanetti ✰


🕮 Romantasy
🕮 Beauty and the Beast retelling
🕮 Enemies to lovers
🕮 Magic
🕮 Touch her and die
🕮 Dark Romance
🕮 Murder mystery
🕮 🌶🌶🌶/🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶


Really liked this retelling of Beauty and the Beast, It was beautifully written and LOVED the spice! ♡
Was a bit of a slow read though as I was confused in the beginning and had no idea what was happening. 🙈

Let me preface this review by stating that One Cursed Rose is not your usual fairy tale retelling. The author describes it as a Beauty and the Beast (B&B) retelling- playing off of the name "One Cursed Rose" but the comparison has a modern edgy twist.

The book is set in a futuristic world where social media is the "new magic and it all runs on crystals." The crystal fact is important because four major families control these crystals and their power grows the more interactions on the social media platforms they get. As a marketing girly, my little heart burst at this spin because why has it taken someone so long to put to paper the absolute domination of social media????

While this spin alone was a novelty, she incorporated the B&B by putting a recluse male lead who is scarred and infected with a crystal virus that's slowly fading his life away. Every day one of his cursed petals falls as he comes closer and closer to his final day. What's a guy to do when he knows he's nearing his end you wonder? Well, he kidnaps the girl whose words taste like the sweetest nectar and goes total alphahole on her of course!

I loved the layers of the story, every time you think you know what's going on. the author throws a curveball that has you perplexed, intrigued, and hungry for more! And that ENDING!!!!!

This story was endearing, novel, smutty, and an all-around great read! I can't wait to read more from the author!

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for providing me with an arc in exchange for my honest review. You can check out my other reviews on IG @jessicareadsit.

Typically I love fairy tale retellings with Beauty and the Beast being my favorite so I was excited to read this one. Unfortunately, One Cursed Rose was not one of my favorites. There were so many plot points that it was a confusing, chaotic mess. Between the Irish mafia investigating pedo rings, the FMC brother's mysterious death, the curse placed on the MMC, the killings of women who looked like the FMC, and the nightmares the FMC had about her mother's mysterious death was overwhelming and did not make me want to continue reading. I was also annoyed that it was a point to explain how many charities the FMC supported but nothing seemed to come of this. There was very little explanation about the social media companies, how they work, and the crystals that each company/family used so I felt like I had missed important information. I felt like this could have been a really interesting read but I had to force myself to finish it.

Love this author! Another fun read. This one has Alana and Thorn's romance. Enjoyed this story but must admit was a little confused about the stones and workings of the three companies. Might just be me. Still though, a good story that was hard to put down. Highly recommend this book and author.

One Cursed Rose by R. Zanetti, published by Kensington Books, is the first book in the Grimm Bargain Series.
And the book starts off right wild.
Alana is the heir to the family business. Undermined by competitors, her father has given her to a potentially ally to marry her.
Alana is a strong feisty heroine and she's driven by revenge on a timeline. Timeline being one week til the wedding.
In comes Thorn, her biggest competitor and soon fiancé to be.
A beauty/beasty-ish story well written, complex, unputdownable. 4,5 fantastic stars.