Review: Romance, Suspense & Intrgiue with a Ghost Story/Legend thrown in!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 08 13, 2013
Curse of Passion is a well written romantic suspense novel that centers on a string of murders that have been based on the legend of La Llorona - a 500 year old ghost story/legend about a woman who has been the cause of drownings based on her heartbreak over losing her man.Johanna Rios, a high school teacher, has experienced the effects of the La Llorona legend - her own mother was so obsessed with it that she herself became a victim of the river when she attempted to drown Johanna and her little sister Carmen in her misguided attempt to break the curse. Johanna's life has been molded by the curse, she has chosen to live her life without love rather than risk the curse's impact.Ray Vargas, Principal at the high school, has known Johanna her whole life and has been fighting his attraction to her since his return from his tour of duty in Afghanistan and taking the job as her boss five years ago. Once the events of the murder begin to unfold, and Johanna becomes involved in the motives behind the killings, Ray begins to acknowledge his feelings for Johanna and vows to protect her.The characters in the book are well written, with enough background and internal dialogue to understand the emotional turmoil they are facing as a result of their pasts and accept the decisions they make throughout the story as realistic. The legend adds a wonderful amount of depth to the story, creating an atmosphere of suspense and intrigue, and Melissa Bourbon Ramirez does a great job weaving the legend into the plot.Curse of Passion has you rooting for Johanna and Ray to find their happily ever after within each other's arms and also has a great cast of supporting characters that tug the emotional strings as well.I do wish that some of the loose ends would have been tied up (what happens to Johanna's sister Carmen?), but perhaps another novel is in the works.I was given a copy of this book by Entangled Publishing in exchange for an honest review.