Of Silver and Curses ALC Review

Of Silver and Curses by Maddox Grey
Narrator: Cassandra Medcalf, Stephan Godleski
Series: Lingering Fates #1
Published by Greymalkin Press on June 24, 2025
Length: 12 hours and 30 minutes
Genres: Romantasy
Pages: 404
Format: ALC
Source: Provided by author for honest review
Goodreads

LOVE IS A LIE
Everyone I’ve cared about has left me. My coven. My mate. Even my sister — the only person I ever truly cared about. All of them walked away.
I’ve accepted my fate to be alone. My forest is enough for me and I have no intention of leaving it. But fate has something else in mind.
The cursed werewolf who stole my heart for a night — and broke it at dawn — has returned with grim news. Someone has taken both our sisters, and we must work together to save them. But if my enemies discover I’ve left my forest, they’ll stop at nothing to capture me.
And I’ll be putting all my trust in a person who loathes my existence...

LOVE IS A CURSE
Everyone I’ve cared about has suffered from love. I refuse to be bound by it. This kingdom is cruel and devious, which suits me fine because I’m just as wicked and far more clever.
But there is one person I love—my sister. And she’s vanished along with her lover — the damn witch’s sister.
I’ll do whatever it takes to get her back. Including returning to the witch who deceived me for a night. I may be a wolf trapped in human skin, but it won’t stop me from ripping out her heart once my sister is safe.
Because I’m a cursed werewolf…and it was the witches who damned me.

Of Silver and Curses is a spicy queer romantasy stand-alone featuring fated mates... who are very much not happy about it. Perfect for fans of stabby morally grey characters, forced proximity, banter and all the found family vibes.

 Julie’s Review:

Of Silver and Curses: (Lingering Fates Book 1) is a very spicy romantasy with non-binary representation and fierce characters. I will say you gotta start with the prequel, Of Melodies and Maledictions: (Lingering Fates), to get the full emotional arc. Book 1 hints at their encounter but starts with the characters as enemies. But you first have to experience their undeniable attraction and sparks before they realize they’re mortal enemies, to have the full effect. I feel like, instead of being separate, it should have just been part of the main book. It makes more sense for the flow anyway.

In the prequel, after a meet-cute and a spicy encounter, as they realize they are mortal enemies, they also learn their little sisters are in love. Oops. Talk about awkward family drama. The FMC is the last of the witch of the woods line. Talon, the non-binary character, is the last of the wolves cursed not to be able to shift, yet painfully experiences the body’s desire to do so; yes, cursed by that line of witches. Both their sisters are “normal” and not cursed, and they run off together with the group of traveling performers the wolf is part of. Our witch, nicknamed Scythe because of her magical weapon for vengeance and protection, is not impressed to say the least.

Of Silver and Curses kicks off with the sisters’ disappearance and the wolf coming to the witch for help in finding and rescuing them. Is it tense? Oh yeah. Do they still remember their time together and feel all kinds of things? You bet. And so begins their journey to find who took their siblings, while pretending to be married, and sharing a horse, and sharing a bed (because why else would they be traveling together and let’s have all the tropey fun) and holding back their hatred and desire. Well, that last one doesn’t get held off too well. They’re both too stubborn to admit how they are truly feeling, but they sure give in to their… urges. Recommend listening to this one with earbuds. It gets spiiiicy.

The audiobook actually has four narrators, but two main narrators. I enjoyed the main female voice and thought she did a great job with the story. The main male voice wasn’t as enjoyable to me because much of the time, his voice felt like a news anchor. I know, I’ve gotten very picky with my narrators.

The magic was interesting: song magic, mixed offspring having weird abilities that neither of the parents had, and of course, gotta love the magical tattoos. I would have enjoyed a bit more world-building, especially since we got little tidbits that could have grown into something bigger, but we got enough to understand and follow the story. The flirty “I hate you” banter was fun, though I can’t say the tension was tensioning because, as previously stated, they don’t hold back their desires all that much. I wanted more yearning. But these characters are more jaded than romantic, so it’s all rough and tumble and get-stabby rather than talk.

For the first half or so, it was more spice than plot development. But they are definitely get stabby first and talk about feelings never kind of folks. They’re both just bloodthirsty and ruthless – so they are perfectly matched and thus fated. Then the last third.. wow did it take off. Bargains and betrayals and sacrifices, oh my!

Bottom line: The banter, the sizzling spice, the betrayal, redemption, and self-sacrifice are all there for your enjoyment. The non-binary representation in this book is well done, making this a great pick for June.

Tropes you may enjoy:

• Witch/Werewolf/Fae
• Fated mates (very reluctant)
• Enemies through bloodlines
• SPICY
• LGBTQIA+ rep
• Masquerade ball
• Last of their kind
• Enemies to reluctant allies to lovers
• One horse/one bed
• Betrayal/redemption
• I choose you
• Standalone romantasy

 

Thanks to Behind the Pages PA for a chance to listen to both of these ALCs!

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