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Once Upon a Time #3
The Beginning of Once Upon a Time
Izla isn’t just a fairy princess… She is a matchmaking fairy princess. If there is anyone unhappy in her father’s kingdom, she is sure love will fix it.
Having a sister that interferes in everyone’s life can be annoying, but Thane has gotten used to it. When his father commands him to help Izla with her escapades, he believes he is being pushed too far. Why can’t she let people find love on their own?
When a poor miller draws the attention of a greedy king and puts his daughter in danger, Thane has to interfere to save the innocent girl. Talking to women has always made him feel awkward, so he solicits the help of his sister’s friend Ava. The only problem—he’s starting to feel nervous around her.
Will everyone find love, or will Izla’s interference cause problems even a fairy godmother can’t solve?
Having a sister that interferes in everyone’s life can be annoying, but Thane has gotten used to it. When his father commands him to help Izla with her escapades, he believes he is being pushed too far. Why can’t she let people find love on their own?
When a poor miller draws the attention of a greedy king and puts his daughter in danger, Thane has to interfere to save the innocent girl. Talking to women has always made him feel awkward, so he solicits the help of his sister’s friend Ava. The only problem—he’s starting to feel nervous around her.
Will everyone find love, or will Izla’s interference cause problems even a fairy godmother can’t solve?
300 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 16, 2024
151 people are currently reading
543 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
October 27, 2024
Probably more a 3.5 ⭐️
Some of these characters I adored and others I would have happily thrown off a cliff (looking at you Snow White). I will say the concept for this is amazing!! I love following Izla as the main fairy behind all our classic fairy tales. I'm gonna be real tho Thane is the sole reason I loved this book as much as I did and I am so happy with how his story played out. I do wish the ending of the book didn't jump in time as much as it did. A lot of chapters were like "ten years later" or like "three years later" it made me feel a little disconnected to the plot when that happened since like 10 years is quite a long time and people/characters would change in that time.
will I read Trapped in Once Upon a Time and/or More than Once Upon a Time? Maybe I haven't made up my mind entirely yet. I do really like Kristy Dixon's writing so I probably will pick them up but who knows when I'll get around to reading them!
Some of these characters I adored and others I would have happily thrown off a cliff (looking at you Snow White). I will say the concept for this is amazing!! I love following Izla as the main fairy behind all our classic fairy tales. I'm gonna be real tho Thane is the sole reason I loved this book as much as I did and I am so happy with how his story played out. I do wish the ending of the book didn't jump in time as much as it did. A lot of chapters were like "ten years later" or like "three years later" it made me feel a little disconnected to the plot when that happened since like 10 years is quite a long time and people/characters would change in that time.
will I read Trapped in Once Upon a Time and/or More than Once Upon a Time? Maybe I haven't made up my mind entirely yet. I do really like Kristy Dixon's writing so I probably will pick them up but who knows when I'll get around to reading them!
February 24, 2025
A fabulous mashup prequel of our favourite fairytales - with a fary godmother twist
Izla is a fairy princess who loves to arrange fairytale romances and happily ever afters. Her brother Thane is less emthusiastic, but has promised his father he’d look after her since Iz ends up mucking things about. Often.
What if the old hag who poisined Snow was not the Evil Queen, but a 3rd party? What if Snow was as vain as the queen? Why would a random prince take along a crystal casket with an apparently dead princess?
What if the little mermaid didn’t want to live in the sea anymore but fell for the wrong human?
Why was the king careless enough not to invite the most unpleasant & vindictive fairy of them all to princess Rosamund’s christening?
What if Rumple was completely fictional and the problem to solve was how he could help the girl get away from the greedy king?
Lots of things to fix for Izla. Almost as many as the oopsies she created in the first place. I quite liked the reimaginings of our favourite stories and the mashup of Sleeping Beauty with Rapunzel, Little Mermaid with a reverse gender love triangle, the Frog Prince with a twist, Cinderella who needs to be persuaded (a lot) to go to the ball - all with a fresh take on how those stories came to be. While the author kept the elements of all tales, the circumstances leading up to the tales and ways of getting our favourite fairytale characters their happily-ever-afters got quite a different coloring, featuring a sneaky fairy godmother and/or her brother. Loved it, could not put this book down!
And the finale about Izla visiting with Andersen and the Brothers Grimm to set the record straight - brilliant! Of course, she was the one who gave the, the ideas in the first place, lol.
Recommended for lovers of mashups of YA fairytale retellings with twists and turns and an interfering fairy godmother (and godfather, on occasion).
Izla is a fairy princess who loves to arrange fairytale romances and happily ever afters. Her brother Thane is less emthusiastic, but has promised his father he’d look after her since Iz ends up mucking things about. Often.
What if the old hag who poisined Snow was not the Evil Queen, but a 3rd party? What if Snow was as vain as the queen? Why would a random prince take along a crystal casket with an apparently dead princess?
What if the little mermaid didn’t want to live in the sea anymore but fell for the wrong human?
Why was the king careless enough not to invite the most unpleasant & vindictive fairy of them all to princess Rosamund’s christening?
What if Rumple was completely fictional and the problem to solve was how he could help the girl get away from the greedy king?
Lots of things to fix for Izla. Almost as many as the oopsies she created in the first place. I quite liked the reimaginings of our favourite stories and the mashup of Sleeping Beauty with Rapunzel, Little Mermaid with a reverse gender love triangle, the Frog Prince with a twist, Cinderella who needs to be persuaded (a lot) to go to the ball - all with a fresh take on how those stories came to be. While the author kept the elements of all tales, the circumstances leading up to the tales and ways of getting our favourite fairytale characters their happily-ever-afters got quite a different coloring, featuring a sneaky fairy godmother and/or her brother. Loved it, could not put this book down!
And the finale about Izla visiting with Andersen and the Brothers Grimm to set the record straight - brilliant! Of course, she was the one who gave the, the ideas in the first place, lol.
Recommended for lovers of mashups of YA fairytale retellings with twists and turns and an interfering fairy godmother (and godfather, on occasion).
September 11, 2025
Such a lovely book! 💜 It was so much fun to see the origin fairy tales play out again, with a magical twist that kept me hooked.
I did feel like the focus on Cinderella was a little bit too heavy at times – personally, I would have loved to see more of Thane and Izla’s three best friends. Still, the story was heartwarming, whimsical, and gave me that nostalgic fairy tale feeling.
Definitely worth the read if you love retellings with a unique spin! ✨
I did feel like the focus on Cinderella was a little bit too heavy at times – personally, I would have loved to see more of Thane and Izla’s three best friends. Still, the story was heartwarming, whimsical, and gave me that nostalgic fairy tale feeling.
Definitely worth the read if you love retellings with a unique spin! ✨
October 8, 2024
Would have loved to read more about Izla, her brothers and Ava, and a lot less about Cinderella that I’ve read so many times in different ways. All the original thoughts were good.. the others were easy to kinda skip through as it’s just a retelling that isn’t really changed much.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 21, 2024
Kristy Dixon has such a unique touch with fairytales. I love the way she ties them into her stories, and this one is even better. She ties so many stories together beautifully. This is the third book in the series, and it just keeps getting better.
I love seeing Izla’s backstory, how the fairytale shadow world got started, how the fairytales happened, and seeing the story with her brother Thalen. All the twists and turns in this story made me laugh, wonder what could happen next, and cheer for poor Thalen, constantly having to clean up Izla’s messes.
I really hope for at least one more story in this series to see what happens to Izla after the end of this one. How does she clean up her biggest mess yet? Does she start all over again? Does she find her HEA and stop her matchmaking attempts?
I love Kristy’s world building. She really brings everything to life. I love all the characters. They each have their own little quirks that makes them unique and endearing.
No spice or cursing, just sweet kisses.
Definitely worth the read! Love this series so much!
I love seeing Izla’s backstory, how the fairytale shadow world got started, how the fairytales happened, and seeing the story with her brother Thalen. All the twists and turns in this story made me laugh, wonder what could happen next, and cheer for poor Thalen, constantly having to clean up Izla’s messes.
I really hope for at least one more story in this series to see what happens to Izla after the end of this one. How does she clean up her biggest mess yet? Does she start all over again? Does she find her HEA and stop her matchmaking attempts?
I love Kristy’s world building. She really brings everything to life. I love all the characters. They each have their own little quirks that makes them unique and endearing.
No spice or cursing, just sweet kisses.
Definitely worth the read! Love this series so much!
July 14, 2024
The Beginning of Once Upon a Time by Kristy Dixon is the story of fairy princess Izla, who is a matchmaking fairy. She wants people to be happy. When she sets her mind to finding Snow White a match, things get a bit out of hand, because Snow White is a handful.
From the very first I loved this story. Izla is a great character. Together with her older brother, who is ordered by their father to keep on eye on his sister, they set out to make matches and this is stuff for humorous situations. I am a big fan of fairy tales and retellings and it was fun to guess for which fairy tale character Izla would want to find a match for. You could see all the original fairy tales woven into this book. Snow White is also a fantastic character, sometimes a bit annoying, but I loved how Kristy Dixon gave her a voice in this lovely book.
The world-building is amazing and the writing style is flowing.
The Beginning of Once Upon a Time is an amazing and fantastic novel, a book I enjoyed immensely. I loved reading it a lot. It has a great cast, from princess to evil witch, it has a great flowing and easy to read writing style, and it is set in a fantastic created world. If you love fairy-tales, you really should read this book. I can’t wait to read more books by Kristy Dixon!
Highly recommended!
From the very first I loved this story. Izla is a great character. Together with her older brother, who is ordered by their father to keep on eye on his sister, they set out to make matches and this is stuff for humorous situations. I am a big fan of fairy tales and retellings and it was fun to guess for which fairy tale character Izla would want to find a match for. You could see all the original fairy tales woven into this book. Snow White is also a fantastic character, sometimes a bit annoying, but I loved how Kristy Dixon gave her a voice in this lovely book.
The world-building is amazing and the writing style is flowing.
The Beginning of Once Upon a Time is an amazing and fantastic novel, a book I enjoyed immensely. I loved reading it a lot. It has a great cast, from princess to evil witch, it has a great flowing and easy to read writing style, and it is set in a fantastic created world. If you love fairy-tales, you really should read this book. I can’t wait to read more books by Kristy Dixon!
Highly recommended!
July 24, 2024
This story was so fun and I expect I will read the other two for sure as I thoroughly enjoyed this read. I love the tie-ins of multiple stories with the fairies actually kind of causing mischief while also trying to play matchmaker, of course with an overarching love story tied in with a couple of the fairies. It was fun to see her take on so many fairytales with an extra love story. There was even a cameo by some of the most famous fairy tale authors! This story made me laugh, it made me cranky, and in turns made me frustrated. A high recommendation to any readers who love fairytale retellings!
Read
May 21, 2025This story is adout a fariy princess named Iza and her brother Thane. she helps people find there happily ever after and fall in love. Basically she is the fariy God mother. If you like disney twisted tales then you'll like these books too! There are three so far in the series. They can be read out of over because the storys are all adout different characters. The first book is call -More the Once upon a time. The second book is called -Trapped in once upon a time and the third book is this one- The beginning of once upon a time. I read this one first because I didn't have copes of the other two yet. But my husband gave them to me for mother's day! So I do have them now.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 11, 2024
My review of The Beginning of Once Upon a Time by Kristy Dixon. Thanks to the author/publisher for providing me with an ARC of this book.
This book was a blast. Imagine if all fairy tales were not only set in the same world, but spurred into action by a meddling fairy princess and her brother. I had a lot of fun guessing which fairy tale characters would show up next as the beneficiaries of these crazy schemes.
(Read the full review on my blog, https://pageswithrachel.com/review-th...)
This book was a blast. Imagine if all fairy tales were not only set in the same world, but spurred into action by a meddling fairy princess and her brother. I had a lot of fun guessing which fairy tale characters would show up next as the beneficiaries of these crazy schemes.
(Read the full review on my blog, https://pageswithrachel.com/review-th...)
September 15, 2024
Not being a fan of romance novels, I didn't think I would read the whole Once Upon a Time trilogy. Yet, having had loads of fun with Kristy Dixon's 'The Silver Eclipse' series, I decided to give it a try. While romance is indubitably the main theme here (with a matchmaking fairy as the protagonist, I'd be surprised if it weren't so...), there's something to the author's writing style and storytelling that made this book (and every other one) truly enjoyable. There is a lot of humor here, great use of well-known fairy tale themes, and enough twists to keep readers engaged. I don't know what the author's next book will be, but I'm really looking forward to it!
August 5, 2024
If you love classic fairytales, but want a behind the scenes look at the fun matchmaking fairy princess that orchestrated all of them, then you will love this book! It was fun all the way though. I for sure want more about the shadow world Izla created. I loved the whimsy of this whole story and would recommend for a cozy fantasy/comfort read.
July 22, 2025
Unique Perspective of Common Fairy Tales
This is just a sweet book. It's adorable. It's from the Fairy Godmother's perspective. It's the origin story of so many beloved stories we have grown to love or hate, yet we all know. From Snow White and Cinderella to Princess and the pea. Will Izla get her happily ever after? Or is het fate to only help others achieve theirs?
This is just a sweet book. It's adorable. It's from the Fairy Godmother's perspective. It's the origin story of so many beloved stories we have grown to love or hate, yet we all know. From Snow White and Cinderella to Princess and the pea. Will Izla get her happily ever after? Or is het fate to only help others achieve theirs?
July 27, 2024
cute
This was a cute fairytale retelling containing a fun twist on many classic fairytales! I loved the whimsy and the way the main character protagonists dealt with life in an alternate world!
This was a cute fairytale retelling containing a fun twist on many classic fairytales! I loved the whimsy and the way the main character protagonists dealt with life in an alternate world!
August 22, 2024
I had a really fun time reading this Disney retelling that includes different characters from your favorite Disney characters. This follows a fairy named Izla who loves what she does which is help others find love.
November 12, 2024
Unforgivable ending
It’s one thing to have an ending that’s a heads up for the next book, but when you haven’t even ended your storyline with something that makes sense, that’s just bad writing. This original premise that I enjoyed up until the end was ruined and a waste of time.
It’s one thing to have an ending that’s a heads up for the next book, but when you haven’t even ended your storyline with something that makes sense, that’s just bad writing. This original premise that I enjoyed up until the end was ruined and a waste of time.
August 8, 2024
I just love the Once Upon a Time books by Kristy Dixon!! The first two were wonderful and I loved reading about the beginning as well. Definitely a new favorite fantasy book!
September 19, 2024
This was so well written. I love fairytales and this just surprised me with everything. Absolutely loved it.
September 20, 2024
Very delightful! I am a sucker for fairy tale retellings. The characters are endearing.
September 25, 2024
This was my first dive into a fantasy book. It had a cozy feel. This is a cute funny retelling. This book I feel is suited for kids to early teens. The book left off on a cliff hanger.
November 10, 2024
Basic
This wasn’t my favorite. It’s a good premise, but the writing is flat. The author has a wonderful imagination, but this needed more work.
This wasn’t my favorite. It’s a good premise, but the writing is flat. The author has a wonderful imagination, but this needed more work.
November 10, 2024
I couldn't finish this book. Thought this would be a different read but was not great. The story and characters were badly written .
July 26, 2025
Cute
This is such a cute story. I love the blending of the different fairy tales. And the brother's love story was cute too.
This is such a cute story. I love the blending of the different fairy tales. And the brother's love story was cute too.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews