The Scarletti Curse by Christine Feehan

Synopsis: 
The Beast
Strange, twisted carvings and hideous gargoyles adorned the palazzo of the great Scarletti family. But a still more fearful secret lurked within its storm-tossed turrets. For every bride who entered its forbidding walls was doomed to leave in a casket.

The Bride
Mystical and unfettered, Nicoletta had no terror of ancient curses and no fear of marriage...until she looked into the dark, mesmerizing eyes of Don Scarletti. She had sworn no man would command her, had thought her gift of healing set her apart, but his was the right to choose a bride from among his people. And he had chosen her.

The Bargain
Compelled by duty, drawn by desire, she gave her body into his keeping, and prayed the powerful, tormented don would be her heart's destiny, and not her soul's demise. 

My Thoughts...

Having been a fan of Christine Feehan for many years I have had this book sitting on my shelf for ages always passing it over for one of her Carpathian books or her Ghostwalker books. I still don't know why I was apprehensive of picking this one up. It does have that Feehan feel to it. There is a bit of paranormal woven into the story which I liked quite a bit.

The gothic theme was also intriguing. A dark foreboding castle, a young innocent carefree maiden, a brooding attractive man that lives with a curse on him and his family are just a few things that I found quite entertaining.

I didn't care for the fact that the "curse" was not actually a curse. It was more of certain situations that kept occurring over the period of a couple decades. It was more of gossip about those Scarletti's being cursed then an actual curse. With the addition of paranormal aspects I kind of expected an actual curse. Trivial? Probably.

Also the book seemed to drag a bit. Whenever Giovanni or someone else would start talking about their political problems with Spain or where ever I ended up getting a little bored and skipped several paragraphs.

Overall, I think this is an OK book from this author. I don't think it is her best, nor is it her worst. I give this book an even 3 Stars but would recommend that a fan of Feehan should give this one a go but if you are new to Feehan I would maybe skip this one and go for one of her Ghostwalker books instead.