A Curse for True Love (Once Upon a Broken Heart, 3)

I thought I hated Once Upon a Broken Heart the first time I read it. I hated Evangeline’s delicate nature, I hated how hopeful and kind she was to people who were clearly going to wrong her. I disliked her forgiving nature and I couldn’t stand her naïveté. And then I found myself reading it again. And again. My heart raced when I realized there would be a second book. The Ballad of Never After broke my reluctant, cold heart into shattered pixie dust just as I realized why I kept rereading a story I claimed to hate. I wept in a way I’ve never wept over a book when I read those final few pages. I made other people read the series just so I had company in my suffering. It was at the end of Ballad that I realized that Evangeline was not a weak character. Being sweet and flowery and lovely and liking pretty things does not make one a weak character. A forgiving nature and sweetness don’t make a person weak. Someone who can remain kind in this cold world is much stronger than the cruelest warrior. Finally, after weeks of suffering, Stephanie put us all out of our misery and admitted there would be a third book. I put a countdown on my phone so I wouldn’t lose track of this final installment. Over the past few years I went from hating Evangeline’s gentle nature to fully loving her and loving who Jacks has become to suit her. She made him a better character and he made her a better character. As it turns out, I have loved this series from start to finish. No matter how harshly I criticized it in the beginning. I was only jealous of Evangeline for staying so kind while I had let myself become cold under similar pressures. This last book really tied it all together with a gauzy pink bow. It was part adventure, part fairytale, but my favorite part is the one where there is no true ending. Because that is the reality of true love. The truth is, I have my own Jacks. He has bright witty blue eyes that change in depth with his moods and curly blonde hair that turns white at the edges in the sun and a quicksilver smile that could trick the devil himself into selling his soul. My husband is my one true love, and after ten years of marriage and two kids I still feel the flutter in my heart every time I catch him staring at me over his cup of coffee when he should be paying attention to a work meeting. Much like Evangeline and Jacks, we write new pages to our love story every day. Our story didn’t end when we got married, it didn’t end with our first kiss or our first “I love you” or one of our many big fights. Because a true love story is continuous and the ending changes all of the time. Stephanie’s message was clear to me as someone who fought against the odds for true love even when it felt impossible at times. We battled social norms as two loony college kids in love and followed each other across the country from military bases to colleges and then to the alter to say our vows at only 22. The love that was written really struck me as an accurate depiction of what true love really takes: hard work and fortitude. You roll with the punches and make magic out of the small moments when the world feels too heavy. You love each other through every season, good and bad. Cruelty begets cruelty. Only love can help to thaw this cold, indifferent world. My advice? Fall in love, hard; and let it take you to the next page, and the next, and the next…

THIS REVIEW HAS SPOLIERS FOR ACFTL!!!! The Once Upon a Broken Heart Trilogy is a favorite book series of mine. But I have some disappointments with A Curse For True Love. It left many unanswered questions, loose ends, and some confusion about how things happened the way that they did. The first two books of the series do an excellent job building to the climax and keeping you on your toes. You just have to continue reading to figure out what happens next. In ACFTL, it felt different from the authors books in the past. It didn’t seem to embody any of the excitement from learning the truth like in the first two books. Even the characters didn’t feel truly like themselves. We also had characters who played major roles in the past completely disappear from this book such as Luc, Marisol, and Tiberius. What happened to the librarian that looked as young and old as time then disappeared in a puff of smoke? LaLa and Castor/Chaos didn’t have as much page time as before and neither did Jacks but I have to say, I absolutely adored the romantic tension between LaLa and Chaos. Also the explanation that Chaos isn’t truly a fate made that scene so much better. Continuing on, some of the things mentioned in the previous books seemed like it was going to build up to an exciting moment but was never addressed. How did Evangeline’s parents know so much? It’s inferred that her Dad knew he was going to pass so he rushed a marriage and then died? Why? Who was Jacks first fox? It seemed that it was going to build up to Evangeline being that fox but she’s not? Why does she hear the ticking of time when there’s no clocks around? What happened with LaLa and Dane? If Auroras curse on Jacks was that it’d break if someone who could never love him kissed him then how did Evangeline and Jacks kiss? Was it true love that broke the curse/a back door? What happened with Evangeline’s last debt/broken heart scar? Why wasn’t it paid when she kissed Jacks? How does their relationship work if Jacks is still a Fate and Eva’s just human? I have many more questions but with the few I have written, I hope it could be understood why I felt like A Curse for True Love might have missed its mark. One last thing I want to add is the mini canon epilogue that we got. It just felt like it should’ve been more than what we got. I did love the book but was left with a sour taste in my mouth. Aside from what I disliked, I loved the different POV chapters. I didn’t think I would love the Apollo chapters as much as I did. He was such a complex character and I throughly enjoyed diving deeper into that. Jacks attempting to teach Evangeline how to fight was so out of pocket but also so wholesome and I really appreciated its moment in the book. Jacks seeing the hollow in the Cursed Forest inferring that his best day ever was with her spent there was absolutely gold. The adventure, devastatingly romantic moments, and POV chapters are why I still love this book and series. I definitely would still recommend to any book lover that this series is a must even if I felt like ACFTL could’ve been better.

5 ♾ INFINITY Captivating Stars! OH. MY. GOD. - MY HEART! This was my most anticipated book of the year, and Stephanie Garber did not disappoint! He would carry her through more than just freezing waters. He would pull her through fire if he had to, haul her from the clutches of war, from falling cities and breaking worlds... Jacks had been the moon and she'd been the tide, controlled by his impossible force. What a glorious ride that was. I am so in love with this series and all of the characters! This is the type of story telling I love! The reason I love reading! I laughed, cried, chewed off some finger nails (I'm not even an actual nail biter) , got so angry, and was on the edge of my seat to see how this epic tale was going to come to a close. Let me just get out of the way how well Garber wrote these characters, and I want to touch on Apollo I really can't remember the last time I despised a character so much, I mean EVERYTHING this guy did had me ready to jump into my kindle and just take off his head myself. Bastard. Murderer. Monster. He gives major Tamlin Tampon vibes through the entirety of this book and it gets to be enraging - or well maybe that's just me, but when you read it .. lmk. 😉 But let me just gush a little bit about our main man and our main girl here for a min... So, I have seen many people post about Evangeline and how she is so stupid or whatever, but she isn't supposed to be a feisty/stabby character. This is a fairytale setting and she is a character who believes in hope and happily ever after and of true love. I only bring this up now and not in any of my previous reviews because it felt more prominent in this book, her naivety. I do think that for me personally it's because of her lost memory. But all the same I love her and all of her hope. And her growth is amazing. "I know I seem naive," Evangeline pressed on. "I know my faith in love might appear foolish. I also know it might not be enough. But I'm not doing this because I believe I'll win. I'm actually a little afraid I'm going to lose. I no longer think love is a guarantee of victory or of happily ever after. But I think it's a reason to fight for those things. I know my attempt to save Jacks could end in a fiery explosion, but I'd rather go up in flames with him than watch while he burns" Jacks wasn't safe. He came with no promises of a happily ever after. If anything, he guaranteed the opposite. He didn't believe that heroes got happy endings. Loving Jacks felt doomed from the start. But Evangeline had learned that love was more than a feeling. And it didn't have to be the safe choice, because love was also more powerful than fear. It was the ultimate form of hope. It was stronger than curses. Of course, saving the best for last... Jacks *SWOOOOOOON* " Yes, I am a murderer. I enjoy hurting people. I like blood. I like pain. I am a monster, but whether you remember it or not, I'm your monster, Evangeline." He'd been brokenhearted. Not in the same sense that most people thought of, as if one person had broken his heart. Jacks's heart had been broken over and over again until it was no longer capable of hope and care and love. This story was so wonderful from the first page until the last, not just this book ... but the entire trilogy. The world building was astounding, the writing spectacular, magical, dreamlike and a total page turner. I can without a doubt say that I will read ANYTHING that Stephanie Garber writes. This review is a whole hot mess , considering I'm trying to convey all of my emotions after just finishing the book lol I'll have to come back at a later time to edit. HEAVY SPOILERS BELOW, DON'T READ UNLESS YOU HAVE READ THE BOOK! ⊹ ۪ 𖥔 ˑ ִ ֗ ִ ۫ ˑ⊹ ۪ ﾟ｡⋆☾ ִ ֗ ִ ۫ ˑ｡⊹ ۪ 𖥔 ˑ ִ ֗ ִ ۫ ˑ𝐒𝐏𝐎𝐈𝐋𝐄𝐑𝐒 𝐁𝐄𝐋𝐎𝐖⊹ ۪ 𖥔 ˑ ִ ֗ ִ ۫ ˑ⊹ ۪ ﾟ｡⋆☾ ִ ֗ ִ ۫ ˑ｡⊹ ۪ 𖥔 ˑ ִ ֗ ִ ۫ ˑ ━☆・*。 ・゜ °。+ * 。 .・゜ ゜｡ﾟﾟ･｡･ﾟﾟ。 ﾟ。 ｡ﾟ ﾟ･｡･ﾟ "I used to wonder if fate was real," she said gently "I used to fear it meant that I had no real choices. Then I secretly hoped fate was real and that you and I were fated, that by some miraculous chance I was your true love. But now I don't care i fate is real-because I don't need it to decide for me. I don't need it to make this choice. I've made my decision, Jacks. It's you. It will always be you, until the end of time. And I'll fight fate or anyone else who tries to tear us apart-including you. You are my choice. You are my love. You are mine. And you are not going to be the end of me, Jacks." His eyes bled more tears, but his hand held tight to the jar. "I'm broken. I like to break things, Sometimes I want to break you." "𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒌 𝒎𝒆, 𝑱𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒔." "So you'd rather live without me?" "I'd rather you live." "I am living, Jacks, and I am not going to die anytime soon." Evangeline closed her eyes and then she kissed him. "I already told you. You are the love of my life. You are mine, Jacks of the Hollow. And you're not going to be the end of me." "But you were dying" "No," she said, a little embarrassed. "I just forgot to breathe." And he loved her. He loved her. He loved her. He loved her. He loved her so much he'd rewritten history. He'd given up what he had believed was his only chance at love. And now he had finally broken the spell that he never thought he'd escape.

I absolutely loved A Curse for True Love. This third book in the Once Upon a Broken Heart series is magical, romantic, and full of twists that kept me completely hooked from start to finish. The characters are so well developed, and I felt like I was right there with them through every challenge, heartbreak, and moment of joy. The story perfectly blends romance, adventure, and fantasy, and the plot is full of surprises that kept me turning pages late into the night. I also appreciated the way the author explored themes of love, sacrifice, and trust, which added real emotional depth to the story. The writing is beautiful and immersive, making it easy to get lost in the world of magic and intrigue. Overall, this book is a fantastic conclusion to the series. I loved every moment, and it left me satisfied but wishing the story could continue. I would highly recommend it to anyone who loves fairy tale-inspired romance with strong characters and a gripping plot. IN SUMMARY: A Curse for True Love is a magical, romantic, and gripping finale to the series. The characters are well developed, the plot is full of surprises, and the writing is immersive. Perfect for fans of fairy tale-inspired romance.

I had loved the first two books in the ouabk series but this third book was a mess. There were many unanswered questions. It felt like the entire storyline was rushed and a bit lazy. A lot of holes in the plots, too. Where was the deeper character development of Jacks? He felt like a side character who pops in and disappears whenever it’s convenient especially with the random Apollo POVs in the book. Apollo got way more face time than he should. Who cares about him? I came for Jacks and Evangeline’s story and not the villain arc of Apollo who turns so sour and vile and cannot be redeemed. He reeks of bad breaths that I want to avoid. 1. Who sent the assassin to kill Evangeline? What’s the motive? 2. What about the last broken heart tattoo? It was never used. Shouldn’t Jacks asked for that third kiss? It would have been a lot more interesting if that was explored. 3. How did the curse break? So, is Evangeline really Jacks’s true love and vice versa? There was no clear explanation. She doesn’t die so it’s okay. That’s it. What? Really? What happens ro the glass cuffs? 4. Where is the backstory of the first fox? Is Evangeline the actual fox? Is there a connection between them? The backstory of Eva would have been nice, too. Her mom’s side? How did she get rose gold hair? 5. Is Jacks still immortal after breaking the curse? Eva is mortal so how’s that going to last. Problem! 6. Where is Jacks declaration of angst and love for Eva? His confession was so flat. If he has waited hundreds of years for his true love and finally found it (after going through so many dying kisses), shouldn’t he be saying that she is to him. There is like no mention of her being his true love. Just a flat “I love you”? Don’t even get me started about THE kiss between Jacks and Eva (that we all been waiting for). My anticipation deflated in seconds after reading it. Seriously? This is it? No climatic and heart wrenching scene here at all. 7. What’s up with the epilogue, too? It has such little detail. I had to search B&N and other places to read different epilogues. Is this a new thing? Why couldn’t it be all in one book? There are so many other unexplained plot lines about why Castor starts killing off all these families, Luc, Marisol, the Valors being trapped and their backstories, and the different colored apples that Jacks keep eating. The list keeps piling up. I also feel that the book should have been a lot longer in pages to tie up all the loose ends or add two more books to also fully develop the characters especially Jacks. Yes, especially him! I feel like the depth and complexity of Jacks was not explored fully. His POVs should have been dominant in the third book or completely. Then I would have enjoyed it more. Overall, I did really liked the series and the author’s writing but I believe that the last book could have been far better!

Oh my heart. After the cliffhanger ending of The Ballad of Never After I jumped into A Curse for True Love immediately. Like, I finished and almost simply flipped the next page found book 3 on my Kindle, and just kept reading. I highly recommend having A Curse for True Love to read lined up if you plan to read The Ballad of Never After. So we start with Evangeline having just lost her memory of the last year. She doesn't remember anyone she's met in the Magnificent North. She wakes up to Apollo telling her that he's her husband (true), and then he proceeds to fill in minimal gaps with a few historical rewrites. Evangeline doesn't know the difference. She does have some instinctual, residual feelings. I think this is actually a scientifically proven thing in some ways. Our brains can remember when we've left a task incomplete even if we can't always remember what that task was., Evangeline feels an urgent sense that she needed to tell someone something very important. But she can't remember who and she can't remember what. She has some instinctual feelings about Apollo. She has some instinctual feelings about other characters as well--some she's met before and some she hasn't. I was annoyed that she didn't trust her instincts as much as I wanted her to, yet I could see why she wouldn't. Jacks is heartbroken. He knew Time would take something from him, but he didn't think that something would be taken from Evangeline instead. He blames himself. Yet he's just so relieved that she's still alive--considering he witnessed Chaos murder her out of bloodthirst. He wants so badly for her to remember him and her feelings for him. Yet he also knows that her forgetting is actually less painful for her. But not less painful for him. At the same time, he can't have gone through all of that just for someone else to kill her. And yet it seems she's still being sought after by multiple people trying to harm her. Jacks has a fulltime job trying to keep her alive. And thus they keep getting thrown together. Evangeline has the smallest sparks of remembering when she's near Jacks, and that makes her want to be near him more. I wondered how long the memory loss would drag on. And thankfully, they all came back in one whoosh eventually rather than trickling out over the course of the entire book. But that's all I'll say about that before we spoil too much. Favorite quotes: -Her heart still hurt, as if it had been broken and only jagged bits remained. She put a hand on it, as if to keep more pieces from breaking off. And once again, she was struck with the inescapable feeling that among everything she'd forgotten was one thing more important than all the rest, more important than anything. -...but some things were worth hurting for... -"I do understand, and I hope you understand that as long as you treat me like an untrustworthy captive, I will act like one instead of like your wife." -Instead she was exhilarated. It felt as if she'd found a bit of her old self. And it was one of her favorite pieces. It was the part of herself that loved to hope. -But she wasn't supposed to want to kiss him. It wasn't fair of [...] to hate her a little for it. But feeling hateful was the only thing that made it possible for him to leave. And he really needed to leave. -...the curse had been cast out of terror, and curses that come from a place of fear always turn out a little twisted or become far more terrible than intended. -"I've seen you try before. I've seen you want something more than anything else in the entire world. I've seen what you're willing to do. How far you were willing to go. You haven't even come close to that now." -"There is never necessary evil, just poor choices, and I fear you're about to make one, boy." -"Being yours does not make you mine." -"I don't believe you, [...]. I might not remember everything about you. But I know you. I know that I know you, and I don't believe there is anything you can't do." -"I know I seem naive," Evangeline pressed on. "I know my faith in love might appear foolish. I also know it might not be enough. But I'm not doing this because I believe I'll win. I'm actually a little afraid I'm going to lose. I no longer think love is a guarantee of victory or of happily ever after. But I think it's a reason to fight for those things. I know my attempt to save [...] could end in a firey explosion, but I'd rather go up in flames with him than watch while he burns." -"I'm not going to hurt you." "I feel as if that's what people always say just before they hurt you." The rest of my favorite quotes spoil too much so I won't include them. A Curse for True Love is a good ending to a fun trilogy. I enjoyed all of the fairytale vibes. I liked the story curse, which was still present and working through this story. I loved Evangeline and Jacks and Lala. And I was happy with how everything ended. My only wish is that we had a little more time where the characters were happy together before it was over. Of course, the ending was left open for other stories in this world, and I'm 100% here for them. A Curse for True Love gets 4 Stars. Have you read A Curse for True Love? What did you think? Let me know!

Ugh! But the apples though! Anyway, well done. Splendid story. This 3rd book was pretty intense. Lots going on and many moving parts. But so well told. And of course there were twists and turns that I didn’t see coming! That’s not easy to do, at least not that I’ve found. So I’m blown away. This story is so poetic and beautiful. It’s modeled so similarly to once upon a time tales, told so colorfully and whimsically and just artfully done. I’ve never read anything like this, how it borrows on tales and lore in a way, yet has its very own telling and very own lore. My favorite part is that it leads you to worry that like tales of old, whether there aren’t such things as happily ever afters. But then again, love is the common theme through all of it, and it makes you look at love in a way that makes you wonder, what is true love? And can love conquer all? You have to wonder as this seems to crop up again and again. I found no mistakes, which that’s a first. The editing on this was well done. Very well done. The characters were so alive and the story rich. Nowhere did it get slow or boring. Nowhere was there too many details or too much dialogue. The descriptions were poetic and the world building was phenomenal for a 3 book series without feeling like too much or too little. It wasn’t rushed, yet it successfully tied most all the threads. Except for the damn apples! I have a theory about them but it was never proven right or wrong. Fun trick, Stephanie Garber. lol. Well done all in all, well done. I don’t dole out five stars often but this was five stars start to finish. Beautiful job. The writing was simply exquisite.

The perfect ending to this trilogy. There were lots of twists and I was hooked