The Curse of Beauty

ebook A Greek Mythology Retelling · Ancient Legends

By Lauren Lee Merewether

cover image of The Curse of Beauty

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The myth remembers a monster. The Muse remembers a woman. And the story they carried burns through time.

Winner of the 2022 Readers' Favorite Gold Medal for Mythology and shortlisted for Historical Fiction Company's Book of the Year, The Curse of Beauty is a gripping saga readers call "unstoppable," "incredible," and "a masterful work of fiction."

Before the myths were carved in stone...
Before Medusa became a monster...
There was a priestess, a city, and a choice that changed everything.

1650 BC. Tiryns is fracturing.

The gods are silent. The sea brings strangers cloaked in bronze. And Thais, daughter of the chieftain and priestess of Lady Atana, stands at the crossroads of war and sacrifice.

To protect her people, she must become the voice the goddess still whispers to and the one who remembers what others will forget—even if it means falling for the one she must never love.

But love has a cost. And the choices Thais makes will echo through generations—until her song becomes myth.

The Curse of Beauty is an ode to:

- the women who wielded no sword but stood unshaken,
- the ones whose strength was forged in love,
- and the price they paid to leave a name history remembers.


Perfect For Fans Of:

Epic sagas. Emotionally intense, closed-door romance. Mythic retellings rooted in real history.

The Curse of Beauty is a standalone installment of the Ancient Legends series—an evocative reimagining of the Medusa myth, set in the turbulent world of Mycenaean Greece. With richly layered world-building and emotionally complex characters, it is a tale of power, sacrifice, and the women history tried to silence.


Readers Who Love These Themes and Tropes Will Devour The Curse of Beauty:

*Political Intrigue & Fractured Alliances – City-states teeter on the brink as councils whisper war and kings make quiet threats.
*Power Without a Sword – A priestess wields influence not through conquest, but conviction, courage, and love.
*Forbidden Romance – Loyalty and longing clash when love blooms in the enemy's shadow.
*Legacy vs. Self – Must she become what others need—or lose who she truly is?
*The Birth of a Myth – Before Medusa became a monster, fate was shaped by witness and whisper.
*Sacrifice for the Greater Good – When peace demands a price, what will she offer?
*Motherhood, Memory & Matrilineal Power – The line between daughter and goddess blurs.
*The Muse Before the Myth – She who tells the story becomes part of it.
*Slow-Burn, Closed-Door Romance – Love simmering beneath duty, in glances and shared silences.
*Betrayal from Within – The deepest cuts come not from invaders, but from those closest to the hearth.
*Faith, Ritual & the Sacred Feminine – Ancient rites carry meaning—and consequences.
*Legacy Carved in Song – Not all stories survive. But some... are remembered forever.


Critics Are Hailing The Curse of Beauty "a masterful work of fiction" set in "a world reeling with magical realism."

★★★★★ "Unmissable... unstoppable... an exceptional story." — Readers' Favorite

★★★★★ "Teeth-gnashing suspense built around a strong female heroine." — The Book Commentary

★★★★★...

The Curse of Beauty