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![TBR Challenge [Backlist Banger] Audiobook Review: Cursed (Fallen Siren #1) by S. J. Harper (Narrator: Johanna Parker)(DNF)](https://i0.wp.com/angelsbooknook.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Cursed.jpg?fit=400%2C400&ssl=1 "TBR Challenge [Backlist Banger] Audiobook Review: Cursed (Fallen Siren #1) by S. J. Harper (Narrator: Johanna Parker)(DNF)")
Cursed by S. J. Harper Narrator: Johanna Parker
Series: Fallen Siren #1
Published by Audible Studios on December 14, 2013
Genres: Mystery, Mythology, Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy
Length: 7 hours and 47 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Bought
Purchase Links: Amazon*Kobo*B&N
Goodreads
Meet FBI Agents Emma Monroe and Zack Armstrong.
She's cursed. He's damned. Together, they make one hell of a team.Emma Monroe is a Siren, cursed by the gods and bound to earth to atone for an ancient failure. She’s had many names and many lives, but only one mission: redemption. Now that she works missing persons cases for the FBI, it could be just a rescue away. Unless her new partner leads her astray.
Special Agent Zack Armstrong just transferred into the San Diego Field Office. He’s a werewolf, doing his best to beat back the demons from his dark and dangerous past. As a former Black Ops sniper, he’s taken enough lives. Now he’s doing penance by saving them.
Emma and Zack’s very first case draws them deep into the realm of the paranormal, and forces them to use their own supernatural abilities. But that leaves each of them vulnerable, and there are lines partners should not cross. As secrets are revealed and more women go missing, one thing becomes clear: as they race to save the victims, Emma and Zack risk losing themselves.
August’s TBR Challenge Theme: Backlist Banger (book that’s been in your TBR a long time, backlist title by favorite and/or prolific author etc.)
For the “Backlist Banger” prompt, I went with Cursed by S. J. Harper. This title has been sitting on my TBR shelf way back since 2013, though I eventually grabbed the audiobook on sale for $6.95 in February 2019. I was initially drawn to it because of the mythology elements in the blurb, which is a trope I love.
Cursed is the first book in the Fallen Siren series by S. J. Harper, narrated by Johanna Parker. Unfortunately, I ended up DNFing this at 70%. I just couldn’t get invested in the story, and it ended up being a bit of a disappointment.
My first thought when I started listening was that the narration sounded overly familiar, as if I’d heard these exact character voices in another audiobook before, though I couldn’t place which one. There was nothing inherently wrong with the performance, but it didn’t stand out either—it was just average.
As for the characters, Emma is supposed to be an ancient Siren, but her personality and mannerisms didn’t reflect that at all. While I understand she’s trying to blend into modern society, this is written in the first person. Even in her internal monologues, if the text hadn’t explicitly stated her age, I never would have guessed it. Living for centuries is a heavy weight, and that weight was completely missing from her voice. Her love interest, Zack, was nice and sweet, but ultimately uninteresting. Honestly, I found myself completely uninvested in Emma’s romantic arc.
I originally picked this up for the mythology, but the world-building fell surprisingly flat. For a heroine who has been around since the age of the Greek gods, we learn very little about what actually happened to the rest of the pantheon. We know Demeter hangs around, but where are all the other gods?
Overall, the pacing was slow and dragged out. I was expecting a lot more mythology, adventure, and mystery, but the story simply failed to ignite.
Note: I also came across a few Goodreads reviews mentioning that author S. J. Harper is a co-writing pen name involving Samantha Sommersby (aka Lori James, former owner of All Romance Ebooks (ARe) which had a huge scandal back in 2016.) Online Blog Article: All Romance Ebooks (ARe) Update On Closure and Lori Jame
Rated: DNF 70%
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About Johanna Parker
Johanna Parker is an Audie Award Winning, Earphone Award Winning actress living and working in San Francisco. Since narrating her first audiobook for Recorded Books in 2002, Johanna has received high praise for her work in all genres, including the young adult Mediator series by Meg Cabot, Earlene Fowler’s Bennie Harper Mysteries, and her portrayal of Sookie Stackhouse in Charlaine Harris’s Southern Vampire books of which Audiofile has said, “Parker personifies Harris’s perky Southern heroine, Sookie Stackhouse. Her splendid pacing allows listeners time to absorb the action and emotions…listeners will be enthralled.”
Johanna received her BFA in Acting from Boston University and studied Shakespeare at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London. She has performed on stages in London, Los Angeles, Seattle, and New York and has numerous film and television credits. Now a sought after voiceover actress, Johanna has voiced commercials, video games, documentaries and web sites.
Johanna writes: “I love books. I loved them long before I could read them myself and I will love them long past the time I can only listen to them. Telling stories, in whatever way, has always been my passion, and audiobook narration has become the unexpected niche where my love of books and my love of storytelling come together in an incredible, inevitable fusion. I get to play all the parts. I get to truly utilize my training. And my hair can look like #@$%&!
About S. J. Harper
S.J. Harper is the pen name for the writing team of Samantha Sommersby and Jeanne C. Stein, two friends who met at Comic-Con in San Diego and quickly bonded over a mutual love of good wine, edgy urban fantasy, and everything Joss Whedon.
Samantha Sommersby left what she used to call her “real life” day job in the psychiatric field to pursue writing full-time in 2007. She is the author of more than ten novels and novellas including the critically acclaimed Forbidden series. She currently lives with her husband and cocker spaniel, Buck, in a century old Southern California Craftsman. Sam happily spends her days immersed in a world where vampires, werewolves, and demons are real, myths and legends are revered, magic is possible, and love still conquers all.
Jeanne Stein is the national bestselling author of The Anna Strong Vampire Chronicles. She also has numerous short story credits, including most recently the novella, Blood Debt, from the New York Times bestselling anthology, Hexed. Her series has been picked up in three foreign countries and her short stories published in collections here in the US and the UK. She lives in Denver, CO where she finds gardening a challenge more daunting than navigating the world of mythical creatures.
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- 2026 Audiobook Challenge
- 2026 Beat the Backlist Challenge
- 2026 COYER Out To Lunch Again
- 2026 TBR Challenge
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Sorry it didn’t work out for you. But at least it’s off your TBR!
Exactly! It’s always a good feeling to cross one off the list. Thanks for stopping by!
I love seeing your reviews! This audiobook might not be for me too!
Thanks for visiting and leaving a comment, Bue! Sometimes a book just isn’t the right fit, but I appreciate you checking out the review!