The Ballad of Never After by Stephanie Garber is the second book in Garber's Once Upon a Broken Heart trilogy.
Evangeline Fox has been betrayed by Jacks, the wicked Prince of Heartland she's determined to never put her faith in him again. That is, until she is cursed and finds she has no one else to turn to.
Weary and on guard for any misdoings, Evangeline and Jacks must work together to lift the curse hunting her and open the Valerie Arch before it is too late. Will Evangeline lose her faith in true love or will she be able to break the huntsman's curse? Will Jacks keep his word or will an attraction neither of them want to admit to, ruin Evangeline once and for all?
Sigh. I really want to know where this is going. Parts of this book were really great and parts felt a bit like filler. In fact, I think the story actually could have ended in a duology, if things were re-worked just a tad and have been equally satisfying. I picked up The Ballad of Never After right after the first book and I sort of wished I waiting for all three books to come out--and I NEVER say that. Cliffhangers and the "waiting game" doesn't really bother me. But for this series, I'm both invested and kind of just waiting for it to be over. And looking at other reviews, it sounds like I may be the minority here.
My issues are really the same as in my review of the first book. I like the characters, I like the tension between them but the descriptive language is slowly killing me. << For more on that, read my review of the first book.
I really am interested in seeing where this goes and how it all ends up. This one gets another three stars from me.
That's all for now!
-M-