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Fairy Tales
Once Upon a Time
In 1850, Amy knows better than to believe in fairy tales. However wonderful Comlan seems, he is nothing but a figment of her imagination, a dream to be left behind in Ireland when she goes to London to prepare for the marriage her parents have arranged. Then, across a crowded ballroom, she sees the man of her dreams.
313 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 1996
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
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June 3, 2019I read this book years ago, a sweet and tender adult fairy tale.
July 6, 2025
A classic lighthearted romance involving faeries and humans. It’s just what I needed.
June 9, 2025
She’s always been the dutiful daughter, the typical young lady who knew her lot in life and rebelled only to the extent of creating no irreversible damage to her reputation and family name. Escaping to Ireland to visit her beloved grandmother and also as a last chance at the taste of freedom before she’s drawn back to London to marry the man of her family’s choosing. While sitting in the field she unwittingly falls asleep in a fairy circle and wakes up in the land of the fae. Dancing with the king of the fairy, she wakes up imaging it to be all a dream. As she’s a level-headed young woman the notion of magic or fairies is nonsense and so she dismisses any such superstitions.
Returning to her prison of London society, trying her best to steady herself to marrying a horrible old and boring man she is stunned to once again come face to face with her fairy prince straight out of her dreams. She tries to keep her head, to show no emotion or attraction to the handsome man so forbidden to her but it’s hard to stay cold when he smiles at her and makes her long for a love unknown. Her family makes it clear that she’s to ignore the attentions of such a man. A man who is nothing more than a womanizer and unsuitable for marriage. No, her attentions should be focused on the pending betrothal to whom they have chosen for her. But the heroine can’t stand the idea of surrendering herself to a man the hero, her brother and her own heart warn her to distrust. The hero has been sent to her by her grandmother, a woman he’s made a vow to look after and protect for the rest of her life. His people are known for their unpredictability and indeed thrive upon the notion of doing what others aren’t expecting. But he’s disappointed to meet the beauty woman so unlike his own people in both appearance and action. She’s a nonbeliever. She’s suffocated by society rules and her own family. He longs to see her break free of their chains and when she starts to do things for herself his heart is lightened. She organizes a meeting to warn him of her fiancé’s ill intent to ruin him out of jealousy. She speaks to him and longs for any connection she can get with him knowing they can never be. The hero himself admits that their love is forbidden, even fairy law states relations with a human is taboo. But that doesn’t stop them from connecting emotionally with every meeting. When the heroine is called back to Ireland to help her grandmother with a series of break-ins at her home, the heroine realizes that the hero’s warning of everyone around her being 2 faced is the truth. She realizes her meeting with the hero has been set up by her grandmother. She realizes that her would be fiancé is a far greater danger than anyone could have predict. It seems the only constant – the only one she can trust is the magical man she’s come to love.
I struggled with this book for many reasons. The most glaring con to the manner in which it was written was the awful and very confusing habit of having multiple POV's. It kept switching from character to character to the point of one page having 3 different POV's. It was super annoying and totally unwarranted. As such, it was difficult to concentrate on the story-which was another issue. I can't for the life of me understand what this freaking book was about. Fae yes. Grandmothers, yes. But the moral of the story was lost. The passion between the characters was nonexistent. I understood the heroine’s character. On one hand I admired her for being a good society miss who didn't make waves. But at the same time, I wanted more fire. She just meek nodded her head and did what her parents wanted her to do without putting up much of a fight. The hero was a white washed golden prince with very little in the way of personality. I'm not sure what I saw in this book the first time around to make me want to read it again but I must have been high or in an extremely generous mood to have liked this book because, well, I really didn't this time around.
Returning to her prison of London society, trying her best to steady herself to marrying a horrible old and boring man she is stunned to once again come face to face with her fairy prince straight out of her dreams. She tries to keep her head, to show no emotion or attraction to the handsome man so forbidden to her but it’s hard to stay cold when he smiles at her and makes her long for a love unknown. Her family makes it clear that she’s to ignore the attentions of such a man. A man who is nothing more than a womanizer and unsuitable for marriage. No, her attentions should be focused on the pending betrothal to whom they have chosen for her. But the heroine can’t stand the idea of surrendering herself to a man the hero, her brother and her own heart warn her to distrust. The hero has been sent to her by her grandmother, a woman he’s made a vow to look after and protect for the rest of her life. His people are known for their unpredictability and indeed thrive upon the notion of doing what others aren’t expecting. But he’s disappointed to meet the beauty woman so unlike his own people in both appearance and action. She’s a nonbeliever. She’s suffocated by society rules and her own family. He longs to see her break free of their chains and when she starts to do things for herself his heart is lightened. She organizes a meeting to warn him of her fiancé’s ill intent to ruin him out of jealousy. She speaks to him and longs for any connection she can get with him knowing they can never be. The hero himself admits that their love is forbidden, even fairy law states relations with a human is taboo. But that doesn’t stop them from connecting emotionally with every meeting. When the heroine is called back to Ireland to help her grandmother with a series of break-ins at her home, the heroine realizes that the hero’s warning of everyone around her being 2 faced is the truth. She realizes her meeting with the hero has been set up by her grandmother. She realizes that her would be fiancé is a far greater danger than anyone could have predict. It seems the only constant – the only one she can trust is the magical man she’s come to love.
I struggled with this book for many reasons. The most glaring con to the manner in which it was written was the awful and very confusing habit of having multiple POV's. It kept switching from character to character to the point of one page having 3 different POV's. It was super annoying and totally unwarranted. As such, it was difficult to concentrate on the story-which was another issue. I can't for the life of me understand what this freaking book was about. Fae yes. Grandmothers, yes. But the moral of the story was lost. The passion between the characters was nonexistent. I understood the heroine’s character. On one hand I admired her for being a good society miss who didn't make waves. But at the same time, I wanted more fire. She just meek nodded her head and did what her parents wanted her to do without putting up much of a fight. The hero was a white washed golden prince with very little in the way of personality. I'm not sure what I saw in this book the first time around to make me want to read it again but I must have been high or in an extremely generous mood to have liked this book because, well, I really didn't this time around.
April 21, 2011
The story had such potential and fell flat. I found the language a bit difficult to get into and the characters were just "okay" for me. I had a hard time following the storyline at times. It skips around from one character's point of view in one paragraph, to another. A bit confusing.
It was not a terrible book, but not great either...
It was not a terrible book, but not great either...
May 16, 2010
I absolutely loved this book! The story was great and even had me crying at the end. You'll love it!
March 30, 2013
2.5 stars
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews