Books › Once Upon a Broken Heart
Once Upon a Broken Heart
551 pages
A candy-coated, treacherous fairy tale where hope is a weapon and the villain is dangerously easy to love.
What it feels like
Reading this book feels like stepping into a beautifully spun sugar trap. It is a candy-colored, gothic-tinged fairy tale that moves at a brisk, enchanting pace, pulling you through a world where magic is as treacherous as it is beautiful. The prose is lush and sensory, painting a dreamlike atmosphere filled with poisoned apples, cursed kisses, and glittering ballgowns. At its core, the experience is defined by the delicious, agonizing tension between a stubbornly hopeful heroine and a morally bankrupt, charismatic villain. It is a story about the danger of wanting something too much, and the intoxicating thrill of making a bad decision. Readers who devour stories of toxic bargains, shattered illusions, and swoony, slow-burn angst will find themselves utterly captivated by this whimsical yet sinister world.
- Mood
- candy-colored
- enchanting
- treacherous
- swoony
- Tone
- whimsical
- earnest
- romantic
- slightly sinister
- Pace
- brisk
- Themes
- the danger of hope · bargaining with fate · allure of the villain · shattered illusions · toxic vs. true love
- The writing
- Lush and sensory, dripping with fairy-tale motifs, sugary colors, and a dreamlike cadence.
- The arc
- Begins with desperate, naive heartbreak and twists through a labyrinth of magical manipulation, culminating in a thrilling, unresolved romantic tension.
- Who it's for
- Fans of morally gray love interests, treacherous fairy tales, and heroines who stubbornly choose hope despite the danger.
Content notes
- emotional manipulation
- toxic relationships
- mild violence
- betrayal
About the book
How far would you go for happily ever after?
For as long as she can remember, Evangeline Fox has believed in true love and happy endings... until she learns that the love of her life will marry another.
Desperate to stop the wedding and to heal her wounded heart, Evangeline strikes a deal with the charismatic but wicked Prince of Hearts. In exchange for his help, he asks for three kisses, to be given at the time and place of his choosing.
But after Evangeline's first promised kiss, she learns that bargaining with an immortal is a dangerous game―and that the Prince of Hearts wants far more from her than she'd pledged. He has plans for Evangeline, plans that will either end in the greatest happily ever after or the most exquisite tragedy...
Description from Open Library.
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