Cursed at Christmas (Greyhaven #1) by Jax Stuart

Cursed at Christmas (Greyhaven #1) Reviews

• 
  Alex

  This book didn't convince me. I understand that it had to introduce the characters for the new series but I only found a bunch of random people and that's it, some of them not pleasant and a little out of place in the story.
  
  a story in my opinion poorly developed, with some lack of explanations, insights, a terrible instalove between the MCs.
  
  and do we want to talk about the end? the bad guy liquidated in 25 seconds after saying two words and the little one who magically appears and who seems to be carried by the stork….
• 
  Becky

  This is the prequel to Stuart's new series. While it does take place around Christmas, it didn't read like a holiday story to me. I think of those stories as being super sweet and light. While this book has plenty of sweet moments, I didn't think it was particularly light. I mean, the main plot arc is about breaking a curse. There's a few holiday festivities, but honestly you could take those out and the story would be completely fine.
  
  We are introduced to a bunch of different paranormals in this book, several of which I had never heard of. I had to look them up, which of course led me down a Google rabbit hole looking at all of the lore. I personally love that, but I know it's not everyone's' cup of tea. I really liked the diversity of Greyhaven, and there are plenty of potential characters for future books (I've already got a couple of favorites I'm hoping to see!)
  
  Riley and Gareth are adorable, and I loved getting to see Oliver again. I'm excited to get to know more of the characters as the series continues. The book has plenty of steam, but we get lots of tender moments too. There is a ton going in the story, and it isn't totally focused on the relationship between Riley and Gareth.
  
  I liked this story, and I'm really excited to dive into this new world. For some reason, this story felt incomplete to me. The characters get their HEA, but something seems to be missing and I can't figure out exactly what it is. I'm hopeful that as the series continues, we will get to see more of the MCs and I'll get that closure I'm looking for.
  
  I received an ARC of this book from the author and this is my honest opinion.
  
  
• 
  Molly Otto

  What a way to introduce a new series!! Get ready to fall for each of these characters, and okay, maybe you want to smack some over the head a little. So many emotions to be had in this hurt comfort novella. Gareth is so beautifully understanding why Riley needs to work through his past to be able to even be friends.
  Cannot wait to see what Jax has in store for us next from the Greyhaven universe. For those not wanting to read an overly Christmas story, this isn't that it just happens to take place around Christmas.
• 
  Sue Milkovich

  This is the first Book in a new series. GREYHAVEN is going to be ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE. Riley has a curse to deal with. Tired of running he makes it to Greyhaven. Gareth has met his fated mate. These two are wonderful. Their mating ceremony was fantastic. I can't remember ever reading one like this and I loved it. JAX STUART always does the unexpected. If you love Shifters you'll love this. It has ones I've never seen before. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS INCREDIBLE BOOK!!!!!!!!!!
• 
  LateciaJ

  What a bittersweet romance but definitely a delight to read. Riley and Gareth had challenges and struggles but were able to overcome the evil and be together. I enjoyed this introduction to this series and hope to get to read more.
  
  I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book.
• 
  Laura

  This wasn’t so much a holiday read as it was an opening to a whole new world. I loved the concept of a sanctuary city for paranormals and the plethora we’re introduced to in this book is spectacular. Riley & Gareth are such sweet characters and I loved how Gareth worked to get Riley to trust him. However, I was disappointed in how anticlimactic the end of Riley’s curse was and the book felt too all over the place to be satisfying.
• 
  Jacqueleen the Reading Queen♡

  "I'll always fly home to you."
  
  Cursed at Christmas is a prequel to a new series by author Jax Stuart. The story of Riley and Gareth brings us to a secret hidden town known as Greyhaven. There's a reason the town is hidden and that would be because it's a sanctuary for supernaturals. It's a town for those who need a safe place to lay there heads. Some come to stay for good, while for others it's a stop along the way in their journey. No matter the reason, Greyhaven is there for those who need it, and Riley is one shifter who desperately needs it.
  
  Gareth is a lifelong resident of Greyhaven. He was born there and can't imagine living anywhere else. He enjoys his life teaching, even if he sometimes wishes he had someone to call his own. When Riley arrives in town, Gareth is ecstatic to find the man fated to be his. Unfortunately for Gareth, Riley most definitely does not feel the same. In fact, he's utterly terrified of him.
  
  Like many who find sanctuary in Greyhaven, Riley has a past. The problem is that his past is still causing him large issues in his present. He carries a curse placed on him by an evil warlock, so the fact that fate chose a warlock as his mate is the cruelest kind of joke to a man like Riley. He could desperately use a person in his corner, but he doesn't know if he could ever trust his mate based on what he is.
  
  Despite their rocky beginnings, Gareth doesn't give up. He works hard to prove to his mate that he is safe with him. Every time I could see Riley letting his guard down a little bit I wanted to cheer! After everything he'd been through I just truly wanted him to be happy and I believed Gareth was the key to making that happen. Well that, and breaking Riley's curse.
  
  We meet so many new faces in this book, not to mention an old one. I don't know whose book I want next the most! Oh who am I kidding, I want them all! Longwei, Dax, Eason, and even Tatsuya, though that dragon is on my shitlist at the moment. He better have a good excuse for his actions, that's all I'm saying. Can't wait for more in this series!
• 
  True Loveislovereview

  Riley is a rare creature, and people have taken advantage of his magic, he has a hard life. Above that he’s cursed, an enemy warlock cursed his family. He’s traveling for over a decade to get rid of the curse. He can’t stay anywhere longer than a month.
  He arrived at Greyhaven, a friendly town with only supernaturals. Just as in all the other places he hopes to find a way to break the curse and destroy the warlock who cursed him.
  
  The mayor of the city wants to help him and assigns Gareth to help Riley.
  Gareth is thrilled when he meets Riley, he can’t believe his eyes, Riley is his fated mate.
  The joy is short, he’s left heartbroken when Riley flies away from him and wants nothing to do with him, Gareth is a warlock ffs.
  
  Only, Riley’s time is precious and ticking. When the time is up, he must leave Greyhaven and can’t return.
  I’ll leave it at this, you really need to read it yourself!
  
  This story is the start of a series, can’t wait to read more about Greyhaven and its citizens!
  There are all kinds of stunning creatures, some I googled to see what they were.
  At some point there’s a ceremony, ahh, I loved it 😍!
  The ending of a certain creature could have been, for me, a bit more spectacular, it was satisfying but a bit soft, I granted him a more painful end. (I’m bad I know).
  There are some surprising turns, the promise of more is just great!
  Overall a wonderfully written story, full of magic and magical creatures, it was entertaining and had enough interesting open endings that screamed for more of this world.
  
  Ps: There’s a Druid named True!! Isn’t that awesomeness!!
• 
  Marion

  This book is a prequel to a new series and I enjoyed it a lot. We are introduced to the town of Greyhaven and all its wonderful residents. Greyhaven is safe haven for shifters and magical beings. The guardian of the town lets you in only if he knows that you are not a danger to them or yourself. This story focuses on Riley and Gareth. Riley has come to town desperate to find a way to break his curse and save his mom and brother. An evil warlock has cursed him so that he can only stay somewhere for one month. This makes relationships and friendships impossible to form. Gareth is a warlock and has lived in Greyhaven his entire life. When the two first meet, they immediately know that they are fated mates. Unfortunately, that discovery is not met with happiness. Riley immediately runs away. This is their story. The book is well written and easy to read. I enjoyed meeting the various characters of Greyhaven. I can't wait for future stories to come. My only sense of confusion is Riley's little brother. I don't fully understand everything about how he came to be. But it didn't diminish my enjoyment of the story. I am looking forward to reading Dax and Longwei's story.
  
  I received a free copy of this book from the author and am voluntarily leaving a review.
• 
  Xanthe

  An enjoyable new series from Jax Stuart bringing several of my favourite tropes together - differeant paranormals within one community, fated mates, and Christmas!
  Riley is in a really tough spot and has been from a few years, never able to settle in one place after being cursed by a warlock. Arriving in Greyhaven is a way of looking for help in a town that is purely for the supernatural community, hidden away to keep those who can't hide in plain sight safe. Hoping to get help to break the curse, the one thing he can't deal with is warlocks, and one man who is just happens to be his fated mate. Gareth is shocked to meet and the be left by his fated mate. Once he understands a little more, he is so sweet going out of his way to make Riley comfortable whilst also helping him with possibly breaking the curse.
  Riley's history is painful as he has been forced to do things against his will and see his family suffer. Meeting so many friendly and helpful people in Greyhaven puts him off kilter but he puts effort in with that as much as learning to trust Gareth. They become a really great couple with Gareth giving Riley all of the space he needs, as he settles in the town and they work towards breaking curse on Riley and his family for good. There is a very good bad guy to dislike though I was a little surprised with how quickly that bit finished in the story but it had a great outcome for Riley and his loved ones.
  I'm looking forward to more from the rest of this series and getting to know more of the paranormals in the community.
  I received an ARC and am happily giving a review.
• 
  wordsandblankspaces

  Ok read
  
  This was just ok for me. There were some consistency issues like Gareth's eye color always being different. Also a few typos and/or wrong name being used. In some other reviews, I have seen lots of complaints that this isn't "Christmassy" enough. I don't really get that. There is nothing in the blurb that says this is some fun, holiday romp so that's on the person making assumptions on what they think the book should be. As far as the actual story goes, it was ok to me. It started out fairly well and then just sort of fizzled out for me. I understand Riley's resistance at first to mating with Gareth but then once they start spending time together, it feels odd for him to be like 'I need space', especially when they had plans already. It was odd. The curse and dealing with Boyce were sort of anticlimactic after a lot of build up. I think Dax and Longwei would make a good story so I will at least read the blurb to see if it will be for me or not. This is actually the first book I've read by this author and I haven't decided yet if their style is for me or not.
• 
  Amy

  Cursed At Christmas by Jax Stuart was an unputdownable read for me! I recently started reading paranormal romance in between my usual genres of historical romance and contemporary MM romance.
  
  Stories like Gareth and Riley’s are the reason why I find myself reading more paranormal romances. They, along with the community of Greyhaven, captured my heart and my imagination. I love getting lost in the pages and not catching myself wondering if one detail or another is historically accurate.
  
  Gareth and Riley are so magnetic they caused me to be naughty at work and read instead of working nonstop. I just couldn’t set their story aside. I guess it’s a good thing I work at home and no coworkers follow my bookstagram account 🤷🏻‍♀️
  
  Greyhaven sounds like a place I’d love to be. There’s such a sense of community and supporting one another that seems to be missing from everyday life nowadays. The supporting characters are vividly described, and I can’t wait to read their stories!
  
  I received an ARC from the author. The opinions expressed above are mine.
• 
  Belinda Zamora

  Magic and fated mates
  
  Riley has been cursed and traumatized by an evil warlock who also has his family captive.
  He can never stay in any place for too long so he's never been able to have a home, friendship or love.
  He comes to Greyhaven seeking sanctuary.
  He's welcomed with open arms.
  He also meets his fated mates, Gareth who is a warlock.
  Immediately his defenses are up and he runs.
  It's a painful blow for Gareth but he tries to help anyway.
  He slowly goes about proving that he has no intentions of hurting Riley.
  I loved how patient and kind Gareth was with Riley.
  They took their relationship slowly and Gareth never pushed for more than Riley was willing to give.
  I'm glad that Riley's brother Daxton was able to get help.
  Their mother Molly needs a lot of help and time to heal so I'm really happy that their younger brother Jayden has been settled with Riley and Gareth.
  There are plenty of wonderful side characters that I'm looking forward to learning about.
  
• 
  Sheena

  This is the first in a new series set in a sanctuary town where all manner of supernatural creatures and people live together, with the idea being you can only get in if you mean no harm to others. I love the idea of that, it's not a new idea but I love reading books set in sanctuary settlements. This is Gareth (Gar) and Riley's story. Gar has lived in Greyhaven all his life, and Riley is a new arrival, coming to Greyhaven as his last hope to break a curse that's had him running for years, never settling.
  
  I liked both Riley and Gar, I could understand Riley's wariness and fear when he met Gar for the first time, and the shock on realising they were fated mates. Riley has been through a lot when we meet him, but I liked that he was still hopeful about breaking his curse and about being happy with his fated mate, even if said mate was a warlock, same as the one who cursed him. I liked Gar and Riley together too, and the scene where they test Gar's magic against Riley was great.
  
  I'm all for fated mates, even if it does make things move fast - sometimes that's not a bad thing and it worked for these two as time was against them. I liked the rest of the cast of characters in the town too, there's lots of stories that can be told here and I'm looking forward to meeting them and reading their stories.
  
  I received an ARC and this is my honest review.
• 
  K-Me

  This is our sneak peek into the Supernatural Sanctuary town of Greyhaven, and it is a wonderful, but still challenging finding of mates for two very lonely souls. Gareth is a warlock in the town and has lived for a long time and is feeling very lonely. He longs for a mate to share his life with. When wandering Riley arrives with his curse and all his wariness, Gareth still has so much hope! Gareth is determined to win over his mate so they can both feel and share the intimacy they have longed for and needed for all this time. There is no meet cute here with Garth being a warlock and Riley being cursed, so the most wonderful moments for me were the small ones where you can see and feel Riley start let his walls for Gareth! Well-deserved and hard-fought romance for these two.
• 
  Jeanette Waters

  Stuart creates a new world where paranormals that can't fit into the human world have safe havens across the world. Riley, a rare shifter able to take many forms, comes to Greyhaven seeking to undo a curse set on him by an evil warlock. Here he meets Gareth, his mate. Unfortunately, Gareth is a warlock and Riley is repelled and fearful of him. And attracted. They overcome Riley's fear and work together to break the curse and save his family.
  A little bit of enemies to lovers, age gap, and suspiciously grumpy/ sweet sunshine tropes. A fun, quick read. Great worldbuilding. Lots of characters introduced (hopefully means, more stories in the future). A little bit of angst. A lot of sexy times. Sweet ending.
  I received an advance copy of this book, this is my review.
• 
  Marta

  Loved this book, even presenting a new place and a entire set of characters Jax Stuart is able to tell a wonderful story.
  Riley goes to Greyhaven in search of someone to break the curse he is suffering. Gareth is the one chosen to try but he is a warlock and Riley can´t trust him because he was cursed and abused by a warlock. To make the situation worse, Gareth and Riley are fated mates and everything feel hopeless.
  Riley with help of new friends learns thar Gareth is worthty of his love and together they fight to break Riley`s curse.
  This book is very well written, the characters are developed and they work together to their well earned HEA, there`s a full cast of secondary characters wating to tell us their story.
  I heartily recommend this book.
  
• 
  Cheryl_cajun

  Thank you for the ARC read, I voluntarily give this book an honest review. Oh this is a wonderful addition to Jax' world of reluctant mates.
    A curse left Riley a wondering shifter, always on the move. Was the mysterious town of Greyhaven  with all it's wonders the place he would finally get his break?  A Mayor/Goddess who is protective of her little made family-friendly area, is also about to undo the shifter decisiveness. Old fear and anger was hard to overcome, Riley and Gareth introduction wasn't the happy moment Hestia had hoped. When optimist meets pessimist, Gareth is determined to see the curse on his mate broken. 
• 
  Demetra Roussakis

  Wow. The story starts with Riley trying to find Greyhaven to find someone to help break his curse. When he finally finds the small path to the town, he is met by 2 dragons. He meets the mayor, the goddess Hestia, and is given a cabin to get some rest. When he goes back to the mayor, he meets Gareth, who is a warlock. When he realizes that Gareth is his mate, he runs due to his backstory of what a warlock did to him. The story starts from there where they slowly start to get to know each other which leads to their happy ever after. Cannot wait to read more in this world, especially with Oscar and Riley’s brother Dax.
  
• 
  Scatteredashes

  I really enjoyed watching Riley and Gareth create a home for themselves. Oscar may be familiar if you've read My Demon Husband, but it isn't really necessary to read this one since Oscar is still a side character but it's cute nevertheless. Riley's cursed and is looking for help to break it. Gareth is the most powerful warlock they have in Greyhaven, but Riley doesn't trust them. The story kept me interested from the beginning and it was sweet how Christmas was woven in. It wasn't overt with I appreciated. We also got introduced to a whole bunch of interesting side characters and I hope to learn more about the people who live here in Greyhaven!
• 
  Cynthia M Brow

  Cursed at Christmas is the first book in the new Greyhaven series. This is the story of Riley whose family has been cursed for a long time. The curse means Riley can't stay in a place for more than a month. Riley goes to Greyhaven to try to get help with breaking the curse. Gareth is a warlock and Riley's fated mate. I fell in love with Riley and Gareth. I love the world building and all the characters. This book pulled me in from the beginning and I couldn't put it down until I finished it. I can't wait for the next book in the series. I would definitely recommend this book.
• 
  Mary

  A lovely romantic winter story, set in a snowy small town. The love story was beautiful. I liked how Gareth worked so hard to get Riley's trust and how brave Riley was to accept Gareth. There was some lovely romantic scenes and good old-fashioned wooing.
  
  I did wish there was some more town festivities for Christmas. It was lovely and wintery, but not very christmasy.
  
  There was a nice lead into to the next potential book which I'm looking forward to. I'm loving this town setting so far and look forward to more books here.
• 
  Lisa

  I found this book by accident and I am glad I did.
  Riley, a metamorph ( I've never heard of those) arrives in Greyhaven . He is cursed and he is hoping he can get some help from the Supes in trying to break it.
  He is met on arrival by 3 dragons and taken to the local mayor, a goddess, who promises to help him.
  Unfortunately, the only Supe who can help him is a warlock more powerful than the warlock who cursed him in the first place. And what's more said warlock is Gareth, his fated mate.
  I really enjoyed this prequel and am looking forward to read more about other perhaps fated mates.
• 
  Flick

  A great start to the new series
  
  This was a fun read! I loved the world Jax has managed to create with so many different and u usual paranormals. Riley and Gareth were sweet together and very patient. They had to fight to overcome evil but they triumphed in the end. I will say, it didn’t feel super Christmassy in the sense that it wasn’t a super sweet, feel good holiday romance - there was more intrigue than I’d usually expect and the undertones were a bit darker than usual. That being said, I enjoyed it as a story and will look forward to the next in the series!
• 
  Nicole van Dongen

  I found this pretty long for a novella, but a great start to a new series. I haven't read much of Jax's other work, so I'm not sure how much of this crossed over but it read perfectly fine as a stand-alone. You can't help but feel so bad for Riley and his family, so even though I was frustrated by some of his actions he was still very likeable. Gareth was such a softie, and worked hard to win Riley over. Definitely worth the read, and I'm looking forward to the next in the series!