The Stars Would Curse Us

The Stars Would Curse Us, Book 1

By: Stephanie Combs, Valerie Rivers

Narrated by: Nicole Fikes

The Iris were sent to us from the stars, but their rule is controlling and oppressive. Every season, we send our brothers and sisters to the marriage drafts . . . but the selected never return.

Aella

My world falls apart when my best friend and I are drafted to compete for the hand of Esterra’s most eligible bachelor, the devastatingly handsome Iris prince. As an elemental fae, it should be the greatest honor, but the competition is filled with violence. I question my true purpose as we fight to survive in games rigged against us.

Arianwen

Life should be simple—go on my rite and return to marry a man I’ve never met—but when a handsome stranger falls from the sky, everything is turned upside down. Secrets and lies unravel, leading me to question everything as I find myself pulled into a rebellion. My heart longs for a better world, but am I willing to forsake duty in pursuit of it?

We both face choices:

LOVE or DUTY

LOYALTY or ADVENTURE

FIGHT or SURRENDER

Is fate truly written in the stars, or have they abandoned us?

©2024 Stephanie Combs and Valerie Rivers (P)2025 Stephanie Combs and Valerie Rivers

Great narration and incredible story!

This book was everything I was looking for! I LOVE books with deadly trials/tournaments and this one definitely delivered on that front. I really like that there were two storylines too. As I was following both the stories of Aella and Arianwen, I kept wondering if/when their stories would intersect. Once I found out the connection, I was completely shocked!! I did not see the ending coming and am now anxious to read the next couple books. I'm so glad the series is complete!

The audiobook was great too! There was one narrator for the entire book who did multiple POVs, but she actually changed her voice to be different for each characters' separate chapters! So it was really easy to tell which character was narrating, even though it was one person. I've never heard that done this well before! Usually I look for books with multiple narrators, but that wasn't even needed in this case!

Highly recommend!

Hard to stop listening!

The story was captivating and a fresh take on fae. Love the plot twist! The narrator really brought the whole story to life.

a great read

Enjoyed listening to this book! Can't wait for the next one tp release! Highly recommend

Completely hooked!

I devoured this book in 48 hours. Started out reading a physical copy and then got the audiobook and found myself reading every moment I could! The narration was great and the audio added a lot, especially when keeping track of two storylines. Definitely recommend for any romantasy lovers!

Strong FMCs

This is an interesting world that the authors have created. I was drawn in with the two POVs that the story follows Aella and Arianwen. Their paths go on different routes and I wasn't sure what would happen till everything was revealed at the end!! I really enjoyed the magical elements, world building, and strong FMCs that we got in this one. Oh, naughty authors and of course that hook was so good! I'm biding my time for the next audiobook to release soon. The narrator Nikole Fikes elevated the story for me with the tones and inflections used. I felt like Fikes embodied their characters seamlessly! I was hooked till the very end.