Piper J. Drake's WINGS ONCE CURSED AND BOUND

Thanks to partners NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for the digital ARC of Piper J. Drake’s Wings Once Cursed and Bound. The book will be published on Tuesday, April 11!

Somehow, in the two months since I requested Piper J. Drake’s Wings Once Cursed and Bound from NetGalley, I completely forgot what it was about . . . and I actually recommend that you go in the same way. It was so much fun to discover this one, starting with a blank slate.

With that said . . . here’s a brief synopsis: Wings Once Cursed and Bound is a blend of romance and fantasy, focused on the paranormal, including vampires and werewolves and fae and also kinnaree (Thai bird princesses) who walk among us. Peeraphan Rahttana knows she is at least part kinnaree but hasn’t let the fact change her life. She’s a dancer hoping to find success as she pursues her passion.

Then, one day, her frenemy gives her a pair of red shoes, and Peeraphan (also called Punch) is drawn into a legend outside of her experience.

Her powers give her some ability to resist the curse of the shoes, but she’s still noticed by Bennet Andrews, a vampire who’s sworn to recover them before they do any more harm. As Bennet works to take the shoes, he’s also drawn into helping Punch.

The vibes here are akin, at first, to Twilight (which I enjoy, so that’s not a bad thing!). They do quickly become more adult, but the romance between the immortal Bennet and the partly-human Punch develops as Bennet tries to resist and Punch becomes more determined to remove the walls between them.

This is the first book in a planned series called Mythwoven, so there’s a good bit of world building here, the introduction of a large cast of characters who I can only hope will be at the center of the future books. I enjoyed the way Peeraphan’s exploration of her kinnaree identity was anchored in her consideration of her Thai culture, and there’s a nice surprise as she reconnects with an unexpected family member (that happens early!).

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