Title: A Curse of Beasts and Magic (Beautiful and Beastly 1)
Publisher: Bramble/Tor
Author: Jeaniene Frost
Pages: 353pp

Raine Stone has a secret. By day she works as a nurse in one of Baltimore’s busiest emergency rooms. By night, she lets out her inner Beast and hunts down murderers and rapists, draining them of their anger, hate, and malevolence; that magical energy, in turn, allows her to heal her most desperate patients. Unfortunately for Raine, when she moved to Baltimore, she unknowingly crossed into the territory of Remington Byrne, Warden of the northeastern United States. There is an entire supernatural community of which Raine is unaware, and she is carrying around one of the oldest and most powerful beings of all inside her. Raine makes a deal with the Warden: she’ll heal his cursed grandfather if Remington helps her get rid of the Beast. But the Warden is keeping dangerous secrets, and he has even more dangerous enemies, and every one of them would kill to possess Raine’s Beast ….

Frost is an urban fantasy/paranormal romance author with an extensive bibliography. I see her books on the shelves everywhere, but I just never got around to reading any of them myself. That changed when Ilona Andrews plugged Frost’s newest release. I was on a book slump after finishing Andrews’ This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me, and decided to give the recommendation a chance.

I’m glad I did. A Curse of Beasts and Magic (despite the rather nonsensical title) is a terrific romantasy/urban fantasy/portal romance with lots of big magic, narrow escapes, fancy dresses, mythical baddies, and hot sex. In other words, this book is the perfect frothy escape from the real world. For three hundred pages, I could lose myself in the enemies-to-lovers adventures of a plucky, smart, compassionate nurse and the very rich, very handsome sorcerer who falls for her hard.

As such as I liked Raine and Remington, I loved their supporting cast just as much. I would love to see some side short stories about them, or even full sequels. I particularly liked Raine’s stepmother Angela, who doesn’t get nearly enough page time. I hope she returns in the next book, and that she’s let in on the reality of the supernatural community. I have the feeling Angela could put even a dragon in its place.

A Curse of Beasts and Magic is a fun getaway romance (but please note there is a fair amount of on-page sex and violence, if that’s not your thing). I’m looking forward to the sequel and any other books Frost wants to set in this universe. Recommended to fans of Ilona Andrews, as well as Joey W Hill’s Arcane Shot series, the Kennedy Rain series by Sandy Williams, A Heart of Blood and Ashes by Milla Vane, and (on the sweeter side) the Crown and Crest series by Shari L Tapscott and Jake Andrews.

[Reviewed by Rebecca Buchanan.]