Curse of the Blacknoc Witch Paranormal Romance
The Wild Rose Press, Inc
April 22, 2020
162
Be good, or the Blacknoc Curse will come for you.
Samuel dreamed of being a lot of things, but a monster trapped in a forest realm never entered his mind. The Blacknoc Curse wasn't supposed to be true, only a children's story meant to persuade them away from evil. Yet, here he was tasked with hunting cursed kids. There's nothing left for Samuel except the horror surrounding him.
Layla, a young girl tormented by the same curse, is dropped into the terrifying forest every night, running from the monsters intent on taking her life. She meets Samuel and vows to save all the children, especially Samuel, from their torment.
Working together can they defeat the Blacknoc Curse?
Reviewed by Charlayne Elizabeth Denney
Member of the Paranormal Romance Guild Review Team
There are children missing from town. Those kids are the troublemakers, who would miss them? The myth is that a witch cursed the kids, if they cause trouble, they get sucked into a deep forest on another realm. After getting captured and eaten by monsters, they turn into monsters themselves, preying on the newest kids as they themselves were the prey.
But Samuel is different. He has somehow managed not to lose his humanity, even in the guise of the monster. He tries to save the kids while fighting his own monster. Daily life is the same, every day for the last three years.
One night after saving one boy, for the moment because they all come back, he hears a girl scream. Girls don’t usually do anything bad to get sucked into this forest. Whatever she did, it had to be bad to get this punishment by the curse. He saves her, knowing that after she leaves at daybreak, she’ll be back tonight.
Layla has also done something horrible. She finds herself in the forest realm being chased by a monster. Another monster saves her and she goes back home at dawn. As she keeps getting thrown back into the forest, she finds the only monster who can talk is the one that keeps her safe. She promises Samuel that she’s going to find a way to get him and all the other kids out, turned back to humans.
During the days she goes to the library. The librarian has a book that details the Blacknoc Curse. Layla works to find a way to break the curse, she finds one, but will it work? And what will she have to do to make it work?
The Blacknoc Curse was an interesting read. It took me a couple of chapters to try to figure out what was actually happening outside of the monsters chasing kids. Once that was clear, the story flowed well. The ending was a bit rushed because it covered several years in a time jump. I was left wondering what was between those two events (which I won’t name because that provides spoilers). The chapters seemed to be alternating between the two characters but it wasn’t apparent at times.
There was another item that caused me some confusion. There was an excerpt at the front of the book, even before the copyright and dedication pages. The placement was odd. This wasn’t a book blurb and I found the same information a couple of chapters in. I do not see what the editor/publish or the author was going for with that excerpt.
I liked the Blacknoc Curse but it just felt a bit disjointed with the changing of the chapter viewpoints and the excerpt.