Breaking the Playboy’s Curse

Title: Breaking the Playboy’s Curse

Author: Charlie Richards

Publisher: eXtasy Books

Publishers URL: http://www.extasybooks.com

ISBN/BIN: 978-1-77111-489-9

Genre: {M/M}, Paranormal, Series

Rating: 4 Nymphs

Literary Nymph Reviewer: Critter Nymph

One by one, Vail’s pack mates have been finding their true mates.  While he’s happy for his brethren, he is also jealous that he will never be able to acknowledge his own mate.  But Vail never counted on Draven.

Breaking the Playboy’s Curse is the tenth book in the Kontra’s Menagerie series and picks up shortly after the end of In the Eyes of Crazy.  This story brings together Draven, the vampire wizard half breed who will be mentoring Tim, and Vail, a wolf shifter in Kontra’s pack.  Vail has reason to believe that he may never be able to claim his mate and I liked this new twist in the story.  I also like the way the author is switching things up a little by introducing new paranormal beings in the form of half-breeds.  For fans of this genre, these changes help keep the stories from becoming stale.

There is chemistry between Vail and Draven that can’t be denied, regardless of the curse that hangs over Vail’s head.  When these two get together, they heat up the pages and Draven, who is not only a vampire wizard but also a tough detective, felt comfortable submitting to his mate so that Vail could claim him.  I thought it showed that the Draven was just as anxious to make sure his mate was happy, as Vail seemed to be.   

There are a variety of great secondary characters in this story.  While most are characters readers have met already, there are a couple of new ones.  I especially liked Draven’s partner, even if he does come across a little narrow minded and can’t help wanting to see him get a story of his own. 

While as a whole I liked the story, I did feel a little let down.  It’s not possible to say much without giving the story away, but because the curse that hangs over Vail’s head plays such an important part in keeping the character from looking for a mate, I expected to see it as a large part in Breaking the Playboy’s Curse, yet for me it came across as almost a second thought.  This will not keep me from re-reading the story and I am waiting to see what more the author will be introducing to this interesting series.