One Cursed Rose - Rebecca Zanetti

A really dark fairytale retelling. In Alana and Thorn’s world, power is contained within crystals, each one having a special affinity for 4 main families who use that power to control competing social media networks.

Alana is the face of her social media site, Aquarius Social, and in a bid for more power, is set for an arranged marriage with a competing family.

After an assassination attempt, Thorn, the brains behind Malice Media, unveils himself from the shadows after a deadly curse/virus slowly begins to infect him. His main aim? To finally act on his obsession with Alana.

Kidnapping, enemies-to-lovers, smut and plenty of violence. There’s a lot of underground good doing weaved throughout the book which keeps the plot interesting. Unanswered questions and plot twists to keep you guessing.

I really enjoyed Alana and Thorn’s story and the concept of social media being powered by crystals!

Thank you NetGalley for the arc in return for an honest review!

Title: One Cursed Rose by Rebecca Zanetti

Release Date: June, 25th, 2024

3.5 Stars


In a world where billionaires wield power through manipulation and magic, Alana Beaumont finds herself thrust into a dangerous game of intrigue and revenge. As the sole heir to her family's business, she must navigate a treacherous path between duty and vengeance. When an assassination attempt disrupts her plans, she is rescued by Thorn Beathach, a mysterious figure known as the Beast. Despite his ruthless reputation, Alana refuses to be a passive pawn in his game. With a week until her wedding, she sets out to uncover the truth behind her family's downfall, determined to assert her own agency in a world where power is everything.

I had high hopes for this book as a dark romance, but it didn't fully meet my expectations in that aspect. Although it had elements of darkness, I wouldn't categorise it as a genuine dark romance.

However, I did find some aspects enjoyable. The suspenseful elements kept me engaged and eager for more, constantly on the edge of my seat. Additionally, I appreciated the dual points of view, as they allowed for deeper immersion in the story and better understanding of the characters.

That said, I felt there were gaps in the story, particularly regarding the gems and their significance, which left me feeling somewhat confused.

Despite this, I'm intrigued by the other characters and invested enough to want to continue with the series to see where it leads.

Thank you to The Publisher Headline | Headline Eternal, The Author Rebecca Zanetti & NetGalley for an advanced reader copy (ARC) in exchange for my honest review.

One Cursed Rose by Rebecca Zanetti
Rating: 3/5
Release Date: 25 June 2024

Alana finds herself thrust into an unexpected role as the sole heir to Aquarius Social, her father's solution to save the family business from dismantlement is to marry her off to form a alliance, but even the best-laid plans can be derailed by the deadly shadow of assassination.

While I dove into this book expecting a dark romance, I found it fell short of that mark. Perhaps it had some darker undertones, but I wouldn't classify it as a true dark romance. Feeling a bit misled, I struggled to fully immerse myself in the narrative, especially with the concept of gems powering computers. The world-building lacked clarity in this aspect, leaving me confused about their significance and role in the story.

However, amidst these shortcomings, there were elements I found enjoyable. The suspenseful moments kept me eagerly turning the pages, and I appreciated the dual points of view, which allowed for a deeper immersion into the characters' perspectives.

As the first instalment in a new series, this retelling of the classic Beauty and The Beast leaves me undecided as to whether or not I want to continue further with the series.

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Headline | Headline Eternal, and the author, Rebecca Zanetti, for providing me with an ARC copy in exchange for an honest and fair review.

This was interesting.

It had a lot of elements that I liked, tried to blend the typical beauty and the beast tale with modern age social media and a dash of mystery/thriller but I was not expecting the romance to be this "dark" or explicit. It was intriguing enough for me to continue reading tho.
Although I still have no clue how anything regarding the crystals & coding works, it makes no sense to me.

The next book of this series will be about other characters so I can’t really tell right now if I’ll be interested in that or not.

Thank you NetGalley and Headline for the digital ARC!

One cursed rose by Rebecca Zanetti is a compelling magical retelling of Beauty and the Beast with a unique modern spin, dark romance, and mafia aspects.

I love the dark romance that develops between Belle and the Beast in the traditional fairytale, and this is tastefully explored between the two main characters Alana and Thorn (I love how his name is a gentle throw to the rose that is prominent in the fairytale). For Thorn, it is instant attraction (with the reasoning not really explored, which I would have appreciated as I enjoyed learning about his character), but his appreciation of her gradually increases as he learns more about Alana. For Alana, there is understandable dislike at the start as he kidnaps her (a nod to the classic fairytale), but their relationship develops at a decent pace.

Alana is a good main female lead – she shares characteristics with Belle in that she is strong minded, loves books, is intellectual, and has her own mind. I liked that Thorn fell first, and unlike most dark romances, he never forces her into something that she doesn’t want or isn’t ready for. Yes, his love is dark and there is BDSM themes throughout their romance scenes, but it is consensual, and Alana’s tastes for this are gently explored, as their relationship develops. He is experienced (she is not), and he takes their exploration at a suitable pace to reflect this.
The curse on Thorn is an unusual twist – not the atypical magic theme like the original fairytale, but there is a unique system created by the power of crystals. Thorn’s power is broken, and he is subsequently slowly freezing to death. Like the book, Alana doesn’t know of this straight away, so their relationship develops because of her interest in him, not because of a need to rescue.

I enjoyed how the book kept to the fairytale classical themes but has it’s own unique spin. I enjoyed the mafia aspect of it, and the twist at the end. There are aspects that I would have liked to have seen developed further, but only because I grew attached to the characters and would have liked to learn more about them.

I’m interested to see what this author has to offer in the future and thank Rebecca and netgallery for this ARC. As someone who reads a lot of beauty and the beast retellings, I’d definitely recommend this one, if you like your romance darker, and the male romance interests, gruff, surly and obsessed. For me, the book is a 4.5, because I would have liked to see more development in certain areas, but I appreciate that adding more, may have slowed the pacing down too much.

Key tropes
Touch her and die
He falls first
Mafia aspect
BDSM/ consensual dark romance