2020 Most Anticipated - Of Curses and Kisses

The next book in my 2020 Most Anticipated event is a fairytale retelling (which should surprise nobody). It also happens to be one of my favourite fairytales.

It is, of course, a Beauty and the Beast retelling! Sandhya Menon's Of Curses and Kisses offers up a modern twist on the classic tale.

The Goodreads synopsis is more than enough to make you want to read this. It teases a version of the classic tale that balances just enough from the original with the new.

From the New York Times bestselling author of When Dimple Met Rishi comes the first novel in a brand-new series set at an elite international boarding school, that’s a contemporary spin on Beauty and the Beast.

Will the princess save the beast?

For Princess Jaya Rao, nothing is more important than family. When the loathsome Emerson clan steps up their centuries-old feud to target Jaya’s little sister, nothing will keep Jaya from exacting her revenge. Then Jaya finds out she’ll be attending the same elite boarding school as Grey Emerson, and it feels like the opportunity of a lifetime. She knows what she must do: Make Grey fall in love with her and break his heart. But much to Jaya’s annoyance, Grey’s brooding demeanor and lupine blue eyes have drawn her in. There’s simply no way she and her sworn enemy could find their fairy-tale ending…right?

His Lordship Grey Emerson is a misanthrope. Thanks to an ancient curse by a Rao matriarch, Grey knows he’s doomed once he turns eighteen. Sequestered away in the mountains at St. Rosetta’s International Academy, he’s lived an isolated existence—until Jaya Rao bursts into his life, but he can't shake the feeling that she’s hiding something. Something that might just have to do with the rose-shaped ruby pendant around her neck…

As the stars conspire to keep them apart, Jaya and Grey grapple with questions of love, loyalty, and whether it’s possible to write your own happy ending. 

I am intrigued by that rose-shaped ruby pendant and how it is going to play into the Beauty and the Beast tale.

My top three reasons for wanting to read Of Curses and Kisses;

1. It is a fairytale retelling. I adore them and especially love ones based off of Beauty and the Beast. 

2. Sandhya writes incredible romances and I cannot wait to see what she does with that element of Beauty and the Beast. I predict it'll be pretty romantic.

3. The modern take on the story and the fact that it is set at a boarding school has me very intrigued. It is also the start of a series of books that are based around this boarding school They are each going to be a different fairytale retelling with the setting being the backdrop for all of them. I can only hope that the characters will appear as background characters in the other books.

Of Curses and Kisses releases February 18, 2020 but you can pre-order it right now from any retailer (and it'll make a perfect Valentine's Day gift).

Chapters // Amazon // Barnes and Noble // BAM

You can find out more about Sandhya by following her on Twitter, and by visiting her her website. You can also find out more about her books on the publisher website.

Do you love fairytale retellings? Which are your favourite to have retold? Let me know what you think in the comments.

Be sure to stop by Monday to for the next book on my 2020 most anticipated list.