Jacks, a handsome immortal, is one of the strongest voices trying to persuade her to open the door, and he's a voice she doesn't quite trust. Luc has gone missing, Evangeline is still heartbroken, and she hasn't finished fulfilling her dangerous bargain with the Prince of Hearts, but there's no refusing an empress.

Parents need to know that Once Upon a Broken Heart is a spin-off of the popular Caraval trilogy by author Stephanie Garber. One, it’s been almost two and a half years since I’ve had a book come out, which in publishing is a long time, and two, it feels really special to me whenever people connect with those books, because they came from such a personal place.

At first, I didn’t have an idea for it, so after I finished Finale, I started writing something completely different. Now Scarlett’s father has arranged a marriage for her, and Scarlett thinks her dreams of seeing Caraval—the faraway, once-a-year performance where the audience participates in the show—are over. She imagined loving him would feel like falling in love with darkness, frightening and consuming yet utterly beautiful when the stars came out. If you enjoyed Chockshi’s Gilded Wolves, then this is your chance to read her earlier work while waiting (in agony) for the Gilded Wolves sequel.

Garber doesn't linger on the details of world building -- or even let the characters sit down for a meal (do they ever eat? Scarlett has never left the tiny island where she and her beloved sister, Tella, live with their powerful, and cruel, father. Images Donate icon An illustration of a heart shape Donate Ellipses icon An illustration of text ellipses. On the negative side, all the big romantic moments are paired with some kind of damsel-in-distress violence -- the female hero is injured and saved and wooed, then ignored until the next violence against her. It’s great to see lovely pictures of your books, but it’s really fun to see readers holding your book, and loving your book, and sharing their feelings.This novel may not be suitable for all audiences, as it contains violence, death, physical abuse, trauma, sexual innuendos, sex, nudity, threats of sexual violence, suicide, homicide, disassociation from reality, drowning, blood, deceased relatives, absent parental figures, smuggling, alcohol, and fictional drug use. Since Governor Dragna rules a conquered isle, Trisda, he seeks to expand his power by gaining legitimacy in the eyes of other rulers. Quickly Scarlett discovers Donatella's been kidnapped and that Caraval is really a magical game, a dangerous one if Scarlett doesn't find her sister before the week is out.

Readers can ponder how Evangeline's expectations of love change after her broken heart, and whether one should marry a prince for the sake of marrying a prince or actually try to find love again. The way Scarlett moves through the clues is more dreamlike and fantastical than methodical and logical. Did you learn any lessons from that first trilogy that inspired you to change your process or your approach? Some sexual violence: A passionate kiss turns into a near-strangulation from a man controlled by a curse; a girl dressed in only a slip writhes in a bed, fighting new-vampire urges to drink blood, with a man lying on top of her, holding her down.Like in the first book, Evangeline continues to be a character so taken with figuring out her own heart that she allows herself to be treated poorly.