I’ve never written a book like Cursed. Part Romantasy, part time-travel, part ghost story, part Regency Era pirate romance. I had nearly as much trouble categorizing Cursed as I had fun writing it.
About Cursed: A Corsair’s Tale--He’s been cursed to remain a specter until he earns the love of a heartless woman. Is she the one?
Privateer or pirate? Lucien Flynn never makes promises to any woman. Then a scorned lover curses him to live the life of a specter.’ Decades pass, and Luc abandons hope. When he meets a woman he cannot resist, a woman with too much heart, he knows he may never be set free. Can he avoid loving her, or will he give her his heart and be cursed forever?
Grace Thibodaux is a woman driven to escape her own demons. Hurt beyond hope of healing, she protects her tender heart, refusing to allow anyone, man or woman, close. However, she can’t escape the man who haunts her dreams and her life. Is he as cursed as he claims, or is she simply falling for another, heart-breaking rogue?
Find out which is stronger curses or love? Order your copy of Cursed today.
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Price increases on Launch Day, March 16, 2026. Paperback edition available now.
Beyond, Cursed: A Corsair’s Tale
I researched many unusual (to me) subjects while writing Cursed. Among those was what was considered ‘common knowledge about specters, phantasms, and other types of incorporeal beings. I ventured down the research rabbit hole of reincarnation. I confirmed what I had already learned (from research for other novels) about New Orleans culture in 1814/15, the battle of New Orleans, Andrew Jackson, Jean LaFitte, pirates vs privateers, the geography of the mouth of the Mississippi River. I added new information from the early 20th century including telephone usage, moon phases, Louisiana weather patterns, and Boston newspapers. Probably the most interesting and obscure piece of research involved early roller coasters.
Let me explain. My heroine who is a child of the late 19th century returns to her childhood home in Louisiana in 1912. My hero, as the blurb suggests has been idling away decades as a specter. Tied by his curse to the area near the heroine’s home. As their relationship progresses, they talk and share confidences. In one scene, shortly after she learns bout his curse they have this conversation about the future in which Grace mentions a roller coaster and Luc, because of his limited exposure to American culture in 1912 doesn’t understand:
“You’re not frightened now?” Luc asked.
Grace wouldn’t confess to loving him enough that she feared losing him. Not yet. “Not in the same way. What I feel is more like anticipation, like the thrill of riding The Giant Dip at Riverside Park.”
Luc squeezed his eyes shut and reopened them. “I beg your pardon. What is a ‘giant dip,’ and where is this park?”
Grace covered her mouth and laughed. “It’s hard to remember sometimes that your experience of life in this day and age is limited.”
“I’m sorry if I disappoint you.” He sniffed, before leaning back against the bedpost once more.
Grace inhaled deeply. Whatever had him so tense earlier was gone.
“Oh, I mean no offense and I apologize. You don’t disappoint me.” She blew him a kiss. “You couldn’t.”
“Nice to know, thank you,” he said, his tone wry. “But this ‘dip’ thing is…?”
“Some people call them Russian Mountains, because they imitate the ice slides found in that country. Most people call them roller coasters, because the cars or carriages people ride coast on wheels down a raised wooden track. As for Riverside Park, it has had a number of names over the years, but that’s what it was called while I was growing up. The Park is located in Agawam, Massachusetts, near Springfield.”
“Did you go there often and ride this Giant Dip?” He inclined his head.
Researching history for novels can lead to some very strange places, indeed. 😊