Evangeline Fox was raised in her beloved father’s curiosity shop, where she grew up on legends about immortals, like the tragic Prince of Hearts. She knows his powers are mythic, his kiss is worth dying for, and that bargains with him rarely end well.
But when Evangeline learns that the love of her life is about to marry another, she becomes desperate enough to offer the Prince of Hearts whatever he wants in exchange for his help to stop the wedding. The prince only asks for three kisses. But after Evangeline’s first promised kiss, she learns that the Prince of Hearts wants far more from her than she’s pledged. And he has plans for Evangeline that will either end in the greatest happily ever after, or the most exquisite tragedy…
This book was just a whimsical and dreamy delight of a book! I dithered between giving this book 4 or 5 stars as it was definitely at least a 4, like a 4.5. I ended up giving the book 4 stars but I’m still wondering about whether I should amend my rating.
I am a huge fan of fairytale retelling a or inspired books and this book did nod towards Cinderella but only a little. This was very much it’s own fairytale which was merged with a magical fantasy adventure. I have heard that this book features some characters from the Caraval series which I haven’t read but definitely want to.
I liked Evangeline as a protagonist. My heart just broke for her and I could completely believe the desperation that she felt. She was such a kind character and I felt that sometimes she looked out for others to the detriment of her own safety. I absolutely adored Jacks! He was the epitome of chaos and I loved having such an utterly chaotic character. I just never knew whether I could trust him, I was pretty certain that he wasn’t trustworthy but there were times where I forgot his chaotic energy and that led to some fun revelations. I thought that Marisol seemed very suspicious from the beginning and I kept my eye on her for the whole book as I just didn’t trust her.
This book was split into parts. The part before Jacks and the part after. You could really see the changes in Evangeline. She came into her own when she left for The Great North.
The world was just so immersive. I want to live on The Great North! I don’t want to marry the Prince or anything, I just want to live in a magical world and go to balls! The introduction of the two royal families really helped to imagine the sheer size of the lands.
This book had everything that I wanted: whimsy, magic, a strong female lead, vampires, fancy balls, and apples. The book answered a lot of my questions raised during reading this book but I’m still left with some unanswered questions. I want to know what is in that room? What is Jacks hiding?
I want to know more about this world! I had forgotten that this was the first book in a series and was so sad when it ended. I cannot wait for the next book to come out as I’m very keen to continue reading the series. I want to know what happens next for Evangeline and Jacks.
Kapowski Reads 
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