Review--A Curse for True Love by Stephanie Garber

 

Two villains, one girl, and a deadly battle for happily ever after.

Evangeline Fox ventured to the Magnificent North in search of her happy ending, and it seems as if she has it. She’s married to a handsome prince and lives in a legendary castle. But Evangeline has no idea of the devastating price she’s paid for this fairytale. She doesn’t know what she has lost, and her husband is determined to make sure she never finds out . . . but first he must kill Jacks, the Prince of Hearts.

Blood will be shed, hearts will be stolen, and true love will be put to the test in A Curse for True Love, the breathlessly anticipated conclusion to the Once Upon A Broken Heart trilogy.

 

 

 

 

 

Stephanie Garber's A Curse for True Love was my most anticipated read for 2023 and I have to say it lived up to my expectations to the letter! This series has been so wonderful to read and I loved exploring the greater worlds beyond Caraval! The Magnificent North just might be my new favorite place! It's going to be a challenge writing this review because I just want to gush over everything and just tell you all to read it and you'll understand! But let's try anyway!

So from this point on, you pretty much have to have read the first two books, spoilers be abound from them from here on out! Evangeline has awakened to a new life, her memories over the past several months have been taken by the evil Lord Jacks. If it wasn't for her considerate husband, Apollo, she would be lost. Yes, we all know the truth, but sadly, Evangeline is under a curse of her own by not having her memories. It definitely makes you look at Apollo differently, especially after the last two books! You'd think he was a standup guy, but the blurb does mention TWO villains.

Apollo convinces Evangeline that Jacks is a bad man and he will likely try to kill her if given the chance. It's why he took her memories so that she couldn't tell anyone of what he did. He tries to keep her sheltered inside the castle, but Evangeline's own inquisitive nature has her wandering outside her guards' view. It's then that she meets a mysterious guard who calls himself Archer. After rescuing her from an assassination attempt, he agrees that it would be best if she learned self-defense, so he teaches her how to protect herself.

Meanwhile, we get Apollo's point of view and this was a wild trip! Getting a villain's point of view is always interesting since they never see themselves as the villain! Naturally, Apollo thinks he's doing right by Evangeline by protecting her and giving them this fresh start.

The story mostly evolved around Evangeline and her trying to get some sense of her memories back but gets thwarted at every turn. But then we see the Valors have returned and they end up playing a rather large role in the story towards the end.

A Curse for True Love had a little more edge to the story than the previous books did. It had a sinister tone since we got to have not one, but two extra points of view come into play. Although I have to say, I would've liked more pages of Jacks' point of view than Apollo's! But that's just me! Lol. There were some pretty twisted plots coming about in this one and the ending was ultimately shocking!

I also can't help but feel a little sadden that we didn't get to see Luc or Marisol in this one. I know they weren't the best of characters but I can't help but wonder what became of them? Luc is briefly mentioned in passing but the last time we saw Marisol, she was actually headed in to see Luc, thinking he was someone else and could've ended up as vampire food, but alas Evangeline intervened and then we never saw her again. I mean, I hated her, don't get me wrong, but I just wondered what became of her? And who let her out of her gilded prison anyway? Lol. Whether there's a hidden love story for Luc and Marisol is unclear, I kind of hope not. Marisol wasn't that great of a person, but I wouldn't say no to a story for Luc! Lol.

It's really hard to go into further details about this one without treading the path of spoilers. So there are things I won't discuss even though I usually do discuss them!

I have to say though, that this ending was perfect! A Curse for True Love ended in the most positively perfect of ways and that's all there is to say about that! You couldn't ask for a better ending then this! I feel like going in, if you know Stephanie from her writing, you will get an idea of what kind of ending you'll be looking at, you just won't know the path you'll take to get there. And I always love that about reading! Even when you have things mapped out, you can still be taken by surprise by the journey to get there!

If you've followed any of my online presence before today, you will know that I adore Stephanie's books! I've loved every single one and A Curse for True Love is now among the ranks! Stephanie's worlds have captured my heart and I am always enthralled with the words she writes! They are pure magic! I will eagerly be awaiting for what she will write next be it in this world or a new one, I already know it will be magical!

 

Overall Rating 5/5 stars