6th July 2026

Once Upon A Broken Heart trilogy
by Stephanie Garber

A young adult romantasy series about Evangeline Fox, an endlessly hopeful young woman who becomes entangled with a Fate, Jacks, the Prince of Hearts, after she made a deal with him to stop her lover’s wedding to her stepsister in exchange for three kisses of Jacks’ choosing.

This series was a refreshing, light read and could in some ways be seen as very stereotypical of the genre. Indeed, Evangeline is a devout optimist, with an unwavering belief in the power of fairy tales and a ‘once-in-a-generation’ magic power that she discovers later. Jacks is the morally grey, older-than-he-looks, not-quite-human entity who can’t seem to help but fall in love with Evangeline. Though of course he can’t let her know that.

Despite this (or perhaps because of it), these characters are not boring. Jacks’ moral-greyness is not just for show to hide a tragic backstory (though of course he has one of those), he sometimes genuinely revels in causing suffering to others, is incredibly manipulative and keeps his motivations close to his chest. Evangeline’s innocence makes her the perfect candidate to gain Apollo’s (the prince) attention. She is always genuine, true to herself and makes an effort to be kind, which makes a difference from others with ulterior motives.

The plot is fun with elements of mystery, some twists you definitely don't see coming and a witty romance that defies the odds. 

I will say that the last book, A Curse for True Love did lose me a little. Personally, I am not a huge fan of the amnesia trope as it’s difficult to do well. Apollo steals Evangeline’s memories of her time in the Magnificent North to make her forget Jacks and keep her as his own. Apollo’s downfall here felt somewhat contrived, as though he was pushed towards evil so that he was removed as a potential choice for Evangeline. The memory removal also slowed down the book significantly, as the audience was fully aware of the things forgotten so the eventual reveal didn't feel particularly impactful. There were also several questions left unanswered by the end, and not just the one deliberately avoided.

Overall, I did enjoy this series. There were some really interesting world elements and I liked Evangeline a lot as a protagonist. Although she made some questionable decisions, and in the last book it felt like she lost agency in some places, for the most part she felt like the bright light of the story. It made sense why Jacks and Apollo would fall for her optimism and determination. She was also unapologetically feminine from the start and loved looking nice and wearing pretty things, which is quite often a trait scoffed at within the genre, so it was nice to see more positivity there.

If you are looking for an easy-to-read, relatively short series with fun characters that doesn’t require a huge emotional investment, this might be one for you.