There was a lot of promise with the fantasy Princess Bride theme going. However, it all fell short. The romance, the fantasy, and the disappointing amount of spice. The female main character just came off whiny and complacent and the male lead was just flat and uninspiring. I did like the promise of the world-building and the fortune-based fantasy but that isn't enough to salvage this. I finished it, so it gets two stars.

Thank you for the audiobook!

This book had been on my TBR.
I’m a sucker for princess bride vibes.

The magic system is interesting with the Charm/Null.

It was a quick fast read/listen.

I enjoyed the narration.

I went into Once Charmed, Twice Cursed with a lot of excitement, especially knowing it was marketed as a Princess Bride retelling. Unfortunately, this one really fell flat for me.

Rather than offering a fresh take, it felt more like a carbon copy of the original story, just sprinkled with some magical elements. The plot lacked the spark and originality I was hoping for, and the world-building and character development didn't do much to help. I found myself finishing the book with more questions than answers — not in a good "I need a sequel!" kind of way, but more in a "this needed more depth" way.

I listened to the audiobook version, and while the narrator was okay, the performance didn't add enough energy or emotion to make up for the weaknesses in the story itself.

Overall, Once Charmed, Twice Cursed had a lot of potential, but it just didn’t deliver for me.

The premise was interesting- I just wish it was done a bit differently, the MMC got on my nervessss. Bria deserves a man who’s gonna STAND ON BUSINESS. Weston needs to stop being so woe is me, like pls. Like you fr kidnapped her, confessed to her, which ended up being MUTUAL & yet *pulls my hair out screaming* I don’t know, he just wasn’t for me at all. Bria should’ve just kept her charm & ruled the world, I hate when they make the FMC settle 👹
Overall, the premise was unique, but the MMC just wanted me to DNF this real bad lmfao. I’m glad she got the ending she wanted though, love that for her.
Kimberly M. Wetherell did well narrating this!!

✅ Bria Radcliffe, goddess marked and blessed with good luck & Weston Wildes, also goddess marked but for bad luck. If Bria and Weston touch, both their luck will be lost forever
✅ brother’s best friend
✅ arranged marriage
✅ yes

Cute, low key magical fantasy

I loved this one! I went in blind, and was pleasantly surprised with the Princess Bride vibes! Such a unique take, and a good fantasy read!

I would like to think NetGalley, the author, and Tantor audio for providing me a copy of this audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

I would like to preface this review with noting that I don’t feel like I was in the right headspace for this particular story at the time of my review. I am torn between giving this a full 4 stars and the rating that I’m providing which is 3.75.

The reason for the dip in my rating is primarily just due to the lack of variation by the narrator between masculine and feminine characters. To me, it really just came across as everybody sounded exactly the same. This aside the narrator did do a wonderful job at maintaining the spirit of the Princess Bride vibes throughout the storytelling as a whole.

As far as the story itself, I felt it was well in the tone of and keeping in spirit with this particular film. There was a plot hole for me in regards to the FMC not being able to touch a Null but touched a null in one particular scene and did not nullify her charm, but maybe I missed something?

These picadillo’s aside, I would still recommend this book for a quick feel good romance read/listen that has a humorous undertone and a happily ever after.

One so lucky, and one so cursed. What happens when these two come together? I got to listen to this as an audiobook, and it is a single narrator.
Falling for the man, you can’t have for many reasons, but one being that he’s your brother‘s best friend can be hard on a girl.
This story is a very intriguing greed I did not put it down once started. Although you did want to grab the characters heads and just smash them together and get it over with the struggles that they go through.

I really enjoyed the playing of this book. It was a wonderful standalone read with a clear plot and a few twists to keep me interested. I thought that the narrator made each of the characters’ voices and personalities distinct and easy to follow. She did really well adding personality and emotional connection to the main character, Bria. The story is told from her point of view, which I find works well for a quick read where a lot of stories have been moving to multiple points of view. It was an interesting take to make Weston’s portrayal a little more monotone. At first I was having a hard time connecting with him and seeing them together but as we got further in the book, I found that it worked to create some mystery with the story from Bria’s perspective trying to figure out what Weston is thinking and wondering if he will show up and if he feels the same way as she does.

This book is great for romance lovers that appreciate a bit of magic. It has a light fantasy world building where people can be cursed or charmed by Fortuna or luck at birth. I wish that this could be expanded as to explaining how people were chosen to be a charm or a null.

There are some typical tropes for romance lovers; forbidden romance, brother’s best friend, promised to another, kidnapped and locked up, and can’t touch. There is also a little bit of spice that connects with the characters’ curses and charms in the plot.

Once Charmed, Twice Cursed was just okay for me. The concept had potential, but overall the story felt a little weird and didn’t have much depth. I kept waiting for the characters or the plot to really grab me, but it never quite happened. It wasn’t a bad read, just not one that stuck with me once I finished.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/209579460

I loved this! To me it gave off cozy spicy fantasy vibes with a low stakes story. Predictable but in a good way. The spice was delicious. I wish we got more about the charms but overall this was a a fun quick listen and I really enjoyed it.

This was a sweet, yet heartbreaking read!

Bria is ‘charmed’. And, just as you might guess, that means that she is just a bit luckier than others! Or maybe, a lot luckier…. But not so much in her mind.

As she is now ‘of that age’ she has many suitors clamoring for her attention, as well as her good fortune.

I’m only giving an outline here, but if you don’t want to know any more info about the book, you might want to 🛑🛑 STOP right here 🛑🛑… and come back after you read it…

Of the 100 bachelors in town, 99 have asked for her hand in marriage. But the only one she WANTS is her brother’s best friend, Weston… and he has not come forward. Most likely because he has the ‘null’ mark… the opposite of charmed. He has nothing but bad luck.

The problem you ask? Well, if the two of them get together, they void out each other’s marks…

Not so bad for Weston. Not so good for Bria. 🤨

And so, big brother decides to basically pimp her out…to the highest bidder. Wait! What??? 😮😮😮😮

And the whole story revolves around who is being CHOSEN for her to marry.
And does she have ANY say in the matter?
And then…. Can she get out of it?

Is there any chance for actual LOVE to come through for Bria? ….

This is the second I’ve read from this author, and they’re both solid stories! So I will be keeping my eyes open for more!

4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for me!


#OnceCharmedTwiceCursed by #ShaylinGandhi and narrated nicely by #KimberlyMWetherell.

*** RELEASE DATE IS COMING SOON, ON 4/29/25 !!! So, look 👀 for it then!! ***

Thanks so much to #NetGalley and & #TantorAudio for an ARC of the audiobook, in exchange for an honest review.

You can find my reviews on: Goodreads,
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Thanks so much for reading! And if you ‘liked’ my review, please share with your friends, & click ‘LIKE’ below… And, let me know YOUR thoughts if you read it!! 📚⭐️

The romantic pining in this killed me.

“ I fell in love with you in less time than it took you to blink “

The trope combination of ‘Forbidden Love’ and ‘Brother’s Best Friend’ worked perfectly, the extra jeopardy of disgracing the family alongside the power Bria and Weston’s curses have over them. Weston’s protective side was perfection, but Bria learning to stand up for herself on her own was such great character development.
The plot is more romance than fantasy based, basically the only fantasy elements are the luck tattoos . It had good pacing, was easy to read and I found the main characters likeable. A very cute, short read which is a great palette cleanser. Loved it!

3.5⭐️

I was lucky enough to receive this book as an audio book curtesy of NetGalley and the publisher.

Narrated by Kimberly M. Wetherell

The story is told from the perspective of Bria Radcliffe. She’s Charmed, blessed with the mark of Fortuna, meaning she is ‘lucky’ and that luck spreads to those who spend time with her.
She’s now come to an age where her family must find her a husband. Only, Bria is not interested in the 99 proposals - there is only one man for her. Weston Wiles. But there’s one small problem, Wes has also been marked by Fortuna, but where Bria’s being her luck, Wes’ does the opposite.
The rest of the story find us in

I really enjoyed the story of romance, passion, and adventure.

I did wish there was a bit more world building throughout the story, but overall it was a fun listen.

I rounded this up but it is probably more of a 3.5 star for me. It had a really interesting premise of the fmc being blessed by fortune at birth and always having good luck. There were also the complete opposite of her, who were called nulls, and attracted bad luck wherever they went. Our mmc was one of these nulls. I really wanted to live this but the overall story fell short. It was basically a friends to lovers and the world building was extremely limited. I enjoyed this for what it was, a cute and simple romance with a fantastical element thrown in. This would be a popcorn read for me. Fun in the moment but probably won’t remember too much of it. I listened to this on audiobook and I did enjoy the narrators voice very much. She did a wonderful job differentiating the characters and she helped keep the me involved in the story. Overall, if you are looking for an easy to read, fun romance as a pallet cleanser between longer more in depth books then this would be a good one for that.

4.5 out of 5 stars.

I’ve read this book twice and absolutely loved it both times! So when I got the opportunity to listen to the audiobook, I couldn’t have been more thrilled!

Listening to the audiobook just made me fall in love with the story all over again. Even after reading it three times now, I’m 100% sure I’ll be coming back to it again and again—it’s just that good!

Once Charmed Twice Cursed by Shaylin Ghandi
ARC Review

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
This was a very chill and cozy romantasy book. While i was reading i did wish there was a little more world building especially when it came to fortuna and other charmed people but in hindsight this is a standalone romantasy book so maybe it’s for the best that it didn’t have super complicated and detailed world building. The romance was very sweet i love a forbidden romance and there was a couple of suspenseful aspects of the story that kept me listening. & it did have some spice!
This would be the perfect book to listen to while on vacation!

Tropes:
Forbidden romance
brothers best friend
friends to lovers
miscommunication

🌶️🌶️

I'm not sure how to rate this one. A lot of times the characters felt like they were YA or younger but then it was very open door, so that felt weird. The characters are definitely adults, but the writing felt like they should have been younger... it's possible for our female main character that her "charm" caused her to not grow up or kept her a bit immature. The overall story was fun.

Once Charmed, Twice Cursed was a fun and addictive standalone romantasy. Standalones are very hard to write because not much time can be dedicated to worldbuilding and you have to immediately be invested in the characters for the story to work. Once Charmed, Twice Cursed kept me invested from the first to the last page. This book read like fanfiction in the best way. The writing was simple but very witty and flowed well. The worldbuilding was not extensive but I liked the concept of their luck goddess cursing some and blessing others. This mechanic created a simple world with built-in tension. The audiobook narration was also spot on! I thought Kimberly M. Wetherell's voice was a perfect fit for our FMC. She also did very well with her “male voice”. Sometimes this can really take me out of a book but hers was great! I really thought the audiobook was a great and immersive way to consume this story. I would recommend people listen to the audiobook! If you are looking for a romantasy that's fast-paced, spicy, and standalone this book is for you!

Thank you to Tantor Audio for the gifted ALC on NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

First off, Kimberly M. Wetherell’s voice is incredibly soothing and a delight to listen to. She has a great vocal range, and I really enjoyed her narration in this book.

The story was easy to follow, told from a single POV, with each character’s voice coming through distinctly. It didn’t take long for me to get hooked by the plot. I found it to be a satisfying read, though I do wish there had been a bit more romance. That said, it works beautifully as a standalone.

The world-building isn’t overly complex, but it’s well described. I like the characters.. the more you read, the more you care about them.

I felt anger, frustration, love, longing, and excitement. Exactly what you want from a good standalone fantasy romance.

5 🌟 for a great story and excellent narration. I highly recommend this audiobook!