WARRIOR'S CURSE – Alexa Egan
The Imnada Brotherhood Series , Book 3
Pockets Books
ISBN: 978-1-4516-7293-0
May 2014
Paranormal Romance

Ms. Egan's story world is highly imaginative and complex. To introduce it, I'm going to quote a bit from my reviews of the first two books.

Two kinds of beings exist alongside normal, unaware humans, but they long ago came from other places. The Imnada are a race of shapeshifters while the Fey-blood Other possess magic. Back in the days of King Arthur, the two groups were torn apart and have been enemies ever since….

Four of the Imnada spied for Wellington during the Napoleonic Wars. On the eve of Waterloo, they were cursed by a dying Fey-blood… They can no longer control their shifting; they turn into their beast or bird shapes at every sundown and return to human form at dawn… Back home in England, the whole Imnada Brotherhood, including their friends and families, cast them out. Since then, they have found a way to ameliorate the curse somewhat, but the remedy is nearly as dangerous as the curse.


One of the four was cruelly murdered; two of them had their stories told in DEMON'S CURSE and SHADOW'S CURSE. This is the tale of Major Grey de Coursy, who is the only heir of his grandfather, the Duke of Morieux, leader of the five Imnada clans.

England in 1817

Major de Coursy and his grandfather have always had a strained relationship. Gray was a studious youth while his older brother was strong and athletic…everything the duke wanted in an heir. But when Gray was fourteen, his parents and brother drowned when their ship went down; only Gray survived. He eventually tried to please his grandfather by going to war. But then came the curse and the banishment, followed by the duke sitting by and witnessing Gray's torture and humiliation at the hands of the enforcers as his clan tattoo was burned off his back.

The country is in turmoil; the duke grows weaker every day, while the clan's Arch Ossine (head enforcer) Dromon Pryor pours poison into his ear as he daily takes over more and more of the duke's authority. Dromon has managed to turn the minds of many Imnada against the rightful heir. He stops at no subtlety or cruelty to gain his ends.

In London, Gray studies every scrap of information as he searches for the secret of breaking the curse. He believes he‘s coming close when he receives a visitor inviting him to the Imnada stronghold ostensibly to parley with Dromon about making peace. He doesn't trust the man, but his messenger is an old friend from his youth.

As a ward of the duke, Meeryn Munroe grew up in his household at Deepings. When she tells Gray his grandfather is dying and he agrees to the journey, they are headed into danger and treachery. Meeryn is a special person in many ways and will definitely have a hand in what happens next.

Full of suspense, strong emotion, a complex hero and a captivating heroine, WARRIOR'S CURSE will get a powerful grip on its reader, especially fans of the paranormal. It struck me as darker over all than the two prequels. And maybe sexier? And while it has a good ending for Meeryn and Gray, the door is left open for more stories. Perhaps now that the original trilogy has ended, more will be written of the Fey-blood Other and of the ordinary humans who may becoming aware they are not alone on earth.

Jane Bowers