Smashbomb

There's a particular kind of romance that starts not with grand gestures but with someone simply deciding that you matter 🤍 Conway doesn't sweep Selene off her feet. He just keeps showing up, and for someone who's learned not to trust what feels good, that's everything.

SEALED WITH A CURSE is the first book in the Brodyr Alarch series, a Welsh gods and Brothers Grimm retelling where the love story grows quietly underneath a curse that asks Selene to make an impossible choice 🌿

Have you ever loved a romance where the hero's greatest quality is just that he genuinely sees the heroine? 🤍

#FantasyRomance #FairytaleRetelling #WelshGods #BrothersGrimm #RONEAwardNominee
➡️ payhip.com/b/xJR0T
➡️ books2read.com/SealedwithaCurse

Kudos Comment

Morgan Sheppard (1010 KP) created a post

Dec 22, 2025

❄️ As December draws in and the world turns quiet, Sealed with a Curse invites you into a kingdom shaped by loss, grief, and the dangerous touch of divine magic.

Once, Selene walked the halls of Melthkior as a companion to its Princes. Now, she endures their cruelty as a swan herder—alone but for her beloved swans and the kindness of the kitchen folk. When the gods intervene and a terrible curse strikes the six Princes, Selene faces an impossible choice: help those who hurt her… or leave them to their fate.

A haunting, emotional fairytale retelling woven with Welsh mythology, perfect for reflective winter reading. 🦢✨

https://books2read.com/SealedwithaCurse

#DecemberReading #WinterFantasy #SealedWithACurse #FairytaleRetelling #MythicFantasy #BookishWinter

Kudos Comment

Morgan Sheppard (1010 KP) created a post

May 5, 2026

There's something about two people finding each other in the middle of an impossible task that gets me every time. 🌿 Ewan and Lowri don't come together easily, and I think that's what makes them worth following.

RAVENS AND RUIN is the fifth book in the Brodyr Alarch series, and it's the one where the mythology and the heart of the story pull hardest in the same direction 🤍 Welsh gods, Brothers Grimm folklore, and a quest that asks more than either of them expected to give.

Which do you love more in a fantasy romance, the slow burn or the moment it finally breaks? 🖤

#Fantasy #Romance #WelshGods #FairytaleRetelling #BrothersGrimm #BrodyrAlarch5
➡️https://books2read.com/Ravens-and-Ruin

Kudos Comment

Morgan Sheppard (1010 KP) created a post

May 18, 2026

Some stories begin long before the characters know they've started 🌊

Ariandwyn, the ancient goddess who waits between hill and sea, has been keeping her promises for longer than anyone remembers, and when Talise arrives at Llyn Du looking for answers she can measure, she finds something she can't.

STILL WATERS, DEEP is a standalone Welsh folklore romance about a love that feels fated without ever feeling forced. Tender and unhurried, with old magic sitting quietly underneath everything.

Do you find yourself drawn to romances where destiny plays a hand, or do you prefer love that's entirely chosen? 💙

#FantasyRomance #WelshFolklore #MythicFiction #MagicalRealism #StandaloneRomance #BetweenHillAndSea

➡️ payhip.com/b/ORVhN
➡️ books2read.com/Still-Waters-Deep

Kudos Comment

Bob Mann (459 KP) rated Dream Horse (2021) in Movies

Jun 12, 2021

Dream Horse (2021)

2021 | Biography, Comedy, Drama, Sport

8.7

(3 Ratings)

Movie Rating

Ensemble cast (1 more)

Cinematography of racing scenes

Predictable storyline (0 more)

My lovely lovely horse fails to fully engage

An extraordinary story of ambition against all the odds - based on a true story - will Dream Alliance fulfil the town's dreams, or will it all end in tears?

Positives:
- Toni Collette! Without her powerful acting presence at the heart of the piece, I think the movie would have died in a ditch. As for her Welsh accent I (as an Englishman) thought it was pretty good: on my 'Welshometer', using the scale of Richard Burton as a 10 to RDW's "Doctor Dolittle" as a 1, I'd give Ms Collette about an 8. The illustrious Mrs Movie Man (as a Welsh lady) was less impressed, but found her "tolerable" when mixed with the other Welsh-born actors!
- And what a wonderful supporting cast of well know names from all our yesterdays. Just so great to see the great Siân Phillips ("I, Claudius"), Lynda Baron ('Nurse Gladys' from "Open all Hours"), Peter Davison ("Doctor Who") and Nicholas Farrell ("Chariots of Fire") in the cast. It was also (as is traditional in these "true stories") for the actual people to appear alongside their acting counterparts in the end titles: Howard Davies in particular seemed to be chuffed to bits to be singing alongside Damien Lewis!
- Hats off to cinematographer Erik Wilson and Chris Bates (the "drone operator"), for some impressive shots. The camera angles from the turf-pumping racing scenes are very impressive.

Negatives:
- How did it make me feel? Very little at all. Which is a problem. The movie is so utterly predictable that I saw every element of the story play out way before it did. Did this happen in real life? In which case, that's annoying that life was so unrealistically predictable in its ups and downs!
- Elements of the story also felt formulaic: from the token comedy cranky old bloke (Karl Johnson) to Jan's brooding father-with-a-grudge. This latter element seems unnecessarily bolted onto the plot: poorly worked through and pretty superfluous.

Summary Thoughts on "Dream Horse": This is a feature debut for welsh-born Euros Lyn, most familiar (as a peculiar name) for popping up in the end credits of TV shows such as "Doctor Who", "Torchwood" and "His Dark Materials". And, as a great supporter of UK films, I really wanted to like this one. But it just didn't do it for me. It's also unfortunate that some of the subject material makes it unsuitable for the 6-to-8 year old horse fanatics... this is no "International Velvet".

I've seen some social media comments from people who adore the movie. And, to be clear, it's NOT a bad movie. I just personally didn't connect with me. Just goes to show that cinema really is 'horses for courses' sometimes!

(For the full graphical review, please check out the One Mann's Movies review here - https://bob-the-movie-man.com/2021/06/11/dream-horse-%e2%99%abi-want-to-shower-you-in-sugar-lumps-and-ride-you-over-fences%e2%99%ab/ . Thanks).