The Goddess's Curse - Cara Bristol

Publisher: Cara Bristol

Published: March 2015

ISBN: 9780990805281

Sharona women and barbarian Lahon men maintain separate lives until libidinal fever strikes, and the women are forced to mate.

Stricken by a mysterious terminal illness, Sharona Princess Reena jumps at the chance to accompany a cousin on her mating journey so she can at least see a male before she dies.

Garat, leader of the male Lahon, has only hatred for the Sharona because of the woman who birthed and killed his son years ago. Now that a massive earthquake has left his people with precious little water, he has the perfect excuse to avenge his son’s death by driving the Sharona from their homeland to acquire what the Lahon need. When he encounters Reena on the mating journey he takes her hostage to force the Sharona to capitulate to his demands, but finds himself drawn to her instead. As his desire rises, lust for revenge wanes. But after what he’s done, can he convince her of the evil that lives in the palace in time to save her life?

My review

Woman and man living in different tribes, being each others nemesis, but needing each other for the species to survive? And the Great Goddess is supposed to be the mastermind behind this? And to ensure the mating, all the Sharona women can look at their precious crystal (inbedded in their arm, being born with it), to see if they have the libidinal fever (really?!) and need to find a mate. Okaaaay... There is something wrong in this equation. Why on earth would a divine goddess divide men and women, when there is obviously a need for them to procreate the new generation. And being born with a crystal in your arm? Well, that doesn't seem very logical to me. 

However, when you get past the strange notions of the Goddess and her somewhat we-are-much-better-than-those-savage-Lahon-men Sharona women, you find an easy read. Reena is a lovely character. However, she is a bit like a labrador: wiggling her tail for everybody who gives her attention. Not able to distinguish between friend or foe. A happy-go-lucky kind of girl, who keeps her faith, despite her strange illness. Although you can see the unfolding of the story coming along like a mile away, it is still entertaining and keeps you reading. Garat definitely has the 'drool-factor': I want to hug him and just swoon. 

The greatest character of the story however, was Ellynna, Reena's mother and the queen of the Sharona. Since you kind of can guess who the bad guy (or should I say bad girl?) will be in the story, the twist with the mother in the book is pretty hilarious actually. Of course, I won't go into detail to spoil the story, but I like her. A feisty little thing, that queen.

So in all, a would give three out of five stars to Cara Bristol's Goddess's Curse. A delightful read, a little predictable, but with nice characters and some steamy (but not too hot to handle) scenes. With a special thank to Netgalley for the ARC.