‘Once Upon A (Fallen) Time by Samreen Ahsan

Almost three years ago I read the first book in the stolen series ‘Once Upon A Stolen Time’. Although I had some issues with that read, I mostly loved it and was excited to read the next book. Well, now almost three years later the second book in the series ‘Once Upon A Fallen Time’ finally comes out and the author asked me to read this book too. Although I definitely couldn’t remember everything about the first book, I still really wanted to read this book and started reading as fast as I was able too.

Title: Once Upon A (Fallen) Time

Author: Samreen Ahsan

Genre: Romantic Fantasy

2015... All her life, Myra Farrow has been obsessed with medieval castle-and the kings and princes who once inhabited them. When Steve Bernard, a wealthy videogame designer offers her to model for a princess character in his new game, Myra can't resist his offer to enter the mysterious, colourless, and cursed Hue Castle. But unknown to Myra, her soul is bound to it by blood and sorcery. When she enters the castle's doors, she awakens dark powers, time travelling through a cursed mirror, torturing her present, and rewriting her future, leaving Steve Bernard with millions of questions. 1415... Edward Hue, the last of the Hue royal bloodline, has never stood in the sunshine, nor felt the rain, or held a living flower. Cursed from birth to live in darkness and bring death to all he touches, he is at the mercy of his cruel, tyrannical father King Stefan, who will not rest until he shatters Edward's soul and makes his son into a diabolical copy of himself. Edward's one hope is the mysterious woman, who walks into his life through a cursed mirror, out of his dreams, and introduces him: love. Will Myra break Edward's curse and bring him out of the darkness, or destroy him utterly? Will Steve ever be able to finish his game without Myra? Past and future collide in a tale of love, obsession, betrayal, and the hope for redemption.

Since it has been so long since I read the first book, it took me a little while to get really into this book. But thankfully soon I started remembering bits and pieces and got more and more excited to keep on reading. In ‘Once Upon A Fallen Time’ we start right where the first book ended. Myra travels through time and ends up in 1415 where Edward Hue, the last of the Hue royal bloodline, is living a hard life. Myra and Edward have been dreaming of each other for years. And now Myra is with Edward and she will do everything to make Edward open up his heart for her.

The main characters Myra and Edward are fun to read about. Although there romance is still in the very early stages, I loved reading about them and I was really rooting for them. But Edward had a lot of demons to get through, and Myra just wants everything right away. It was frustrating to read about them at times, because I just wished for a happy ending and some more romance. This definitely made me want to keep on reading.

I love reading about time traveling. There’s just something mysterious about that. I think Myra accepted traveling to the past a little to easily, but it was fun to read how she tried to get by in an age where there was no running water, telephones or an idea of hygiene.

What I find a little strange and what I really missed is a book description for this second book. Maybe it’s still coming? The book description now, is the same one as of the first book.

Overall I enjoyed this book and it kept me hooked, but I wished this book would have come out a long time ago. Waiting three years on a book, where the first book ended in a major cliffhanger just made this book a little hard to understand because it was so long ago I read the first book. I enjoyed it, but I missed the thrill I would have had if I was able to read this book shortly after reading the first book. Now I just kept trying to remember everything from the first book and I missed the connection I had with the characters in the first book because I just didn’t remember everything. And yet again this book ends in a major cliffhanger. Sigh.. my poor heart!