I had so much fun with this book! It hooked me from the very first page and I flew through it in less than 24 hours. The book has that delicious forbidden love element, a slow burn romance, and just the right touch of magic. The romance was full of tension and longing, and I was completely swept up in it.

The yearning between the main characters was everything. I was so invested in their connection. So many parts of the book felt so incredibly romantic even though they were resisting each other for most of it.

The world building is minimal, which was a pleasant surprise! It felt more like a historical romance with magical elements. It’s super accessible even if you don’t normally read fantasy. Although there was quite a bit of angst between the characters, it also felt a bit cozy because unlike a lot of other romantasy books, the fate of the world was not at stake and I loved that.

I listened to the audiobook and thought the narration was really well done. It kept me engaged the whole time. This was such a fun, fast-paced read. I was already such a fan of Shaylin Gandhi after reading When We Had Forever and now I know I’ll read anything she writes..

I enjoyed this book in the beginning but I feel like it kinda trailed off in the end. It became incredibly unrealistic at one point and I hated that. I know it's a fantasy, but still. I did enjoy the narrarator and the publication, but the story felt flat for me. Thank you to NetGalley for the ALC.

This standalone romantasy is a sweet and fun read that you can finish in one sitting. It dives into the world of Bria and Weston, whose relationship is all about the real-life consequences of love, not just instant crushes or slow-burn tension. Bria has the gift of good fortune, while Weston is a Null who can take away her magic with just a touch, creating some serious complications. He tries to keep his distance to protect her, but Bria is determined to forge her own path and not be used by anyone.
The story captures the importance of love and making your own choices, showcasing Bria's fierce independence and the strong connection between her and Weston. While some parts of the plot could be fleshed out more, the story still pulls you in and makes for a super enjoyable, feel-good read!

The struggle of being charmed with such good luck is real. When she walks down the streets, people touch and wave and try to get into Bria’s vicinity to be hopefully touched by her charmed good luck. And while her folks are off traveling the world with the money gained through Bria’s luck, her brother essentially sells her to the highest bidder. 100 proposals, and none are the one she wants. None of them are Weston. A null. The opposite of her luck. People give him a wide birth in the streets, and he has to work at least twice as hard to accomplish anything that would be pretty normal. And Bria is in love with him. And he did not propose. He wouldn’t even be able to touch her skin-to-skin without her charm being taken from her by his curse, and he promised Bria’s brother and family that he would never do that. The idiot comes to his senses AFTER Bria is promised to the Duke who is notorious for his cruelty, but generous with his coin. So off they go to wed. Until a masked robber overtakes her carriage and keeps her in a secluded cabin, using her luck to help healing an ailing friend. But not before they share a spine-tingling kiss in the carriage and Bria realizes that her captor is also a null.
This story was fun and fast, and honestly, that kiss had my spine tingling too!

“I love you in the permanent branded on my soul kind of way…”

Few books walk the tightrope between aching longing and magical realism quite like Once Charmed, Twice Cursed. Shaylyn Ghandi delivers a story as spellbinding as it is soul-wrenching, where love isn't just an emotion—it's a curse, a charm, a choice, and a battle.

Bria and Weston—two souls bound by something far deeper than fate. Bria is charmed, quite literally, gifted with a magic that makes her life enviable to many but controlled by those around her. Weston, her brother’s best friend and a null, lives under a heavy curse, one that renders love dangerous and freedom elusive. Together they are forbidden, yet inseparable. Betrothed to another man for political reasons, Bria is torn between duty and desire, a war that burns just beneath her composed exterior.

“I love you so much that I would gladly take just half of you over the entirety of any other man…” This declaration captures the raw, desperate longing between Bria and Weston. Their love is not allowed to thrive openly; it exists in whispers, stolen glances, and words never meant to be heard.

This isn’t just a story of forbidden romance; it’s a story of sacrifice, of the ache of wanting what you cannot have, and of the rare kind of love that carves itself permanently into your very being.

Bria’s charmed, Weston’s cursed, together they are simply two people in love.

A beautifully tortured tale of magic, longing, and soul-deep connection, Once Charmed, Twice Cursed will leave readers marked—just like Weston, just like Bria—long after the final page is turned.

Set in a world where everyone is normal, except those who have been either blessed or cursed at birth. Bria is born blessed and good fortune and luck surrounds her and everyone she comes in contact with. Weston is born cursed, unlucky with misfortune that follows him and those around them. The problem is, when a Blessed and a Null touch, their magic rejects each other, and the Blessed will lose their luck forever. Trouble is, charmed Bria is in love with null Weston.

This was a fun read (listen). It has the classic elements of forbidden love, some intrigue and a good dose of spice. Luckily the setting is relatively familiar and basic because there isn't much world building other than a description of their marks and what they mean as the story progresses. This does not stop us from enjoying the story. I may have yelled at the main characters a few times, but that's what makes it fun.

While the story isn't perfect, if you are looking for a forbidden love story with a bit of spice, check this one out. Loose ends are wrapped up, you'll get mad at the characters and then cheer for them, and overall enjoy the story. Audiobook narration was very well done.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Once Charmed, Twice Cursed is a whimsical, high-stakes fantasy romance with a clever twist on fate, magic, and forbidden love. Bria’s journey—from the girl everyone wants to marry to the woman determined to reclaim her own destiny—was empowering and emotionally resonant. The dynamic between Bria and Weston had me hooked, and the masked highwayman twist? Chef’s kiss.

Kimberly M. Wetherell delivers a strong solo performance, capturing Bria’s charm and inner turmoil beautifully. That said, I really wish this had been duet narrated—it would’ve made the dual POVs and romantic tension even more immersive.

Between the divine blessings, Null curses, and a broody best friend with swoon-worthy restraint, this story offers an enchanting mix of romance and rebellion. A fantastic listen with just a few pacing hiccups—but absolutely worth the ride.

📖 Once Charmed Twice Cursed
🧚🏻‍♀️ Shaylin Gandhi
🎧 Kimberly M. Wetherell

This Beautiful Romantasy Standalone was a breath of fresh air with an absolutely enchanting narration 🎧💜

Tropes :
✨ Single POV
🪷 Low Fantasy
✨ Forbidden love
🪷 Brother’s best friend
✨ Princess Bride vibes with angst
🪷 Slow burn
✨ Touch her and ☠️
🪷 Charms and Cursed
✨ F0rbidden touch
🪷 Cozy cottage core vibes
✨ Broody grumpy MMC

I devoured this audiobook in less than a day !
The plot was incredible and so different from our normal romantasy reads that I couldn't stop listening to it !

The romance was full of mutual pining, slow burn and ANGSTTT ❤️‍🔥 ❤️‍🔥 ❤️‍🔥

And the FMC's character development was a thing of beauty! The way she overcame her timidness and dependency on others to save her and became this confident, self reliant woman is truly inspiring 💜

Kimberly's narration made a beautiful story absolutely enchanting !!

And I think this is a perfect book for a slump cure 🥰

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Thank you so so much @authorshaylingandhi and @netgalley for this incredible ALC 💜

I got the opportunity to listen 🎧 to this book about those blessed with the mark of the fortune goddess and those not. The book is narrated by Kimberly M Wetherell. She has a beautiful and calming voice and made the book very easy to listen to.

Bria is charmed, born under the favor of the fortune goddess.🤞
Weston bears the mark of the Null, those who can take it all away. ⛈️

As Bria’s brother arranged her marriage, she is captured by a masked highwayman. Bria begins to realize her blessings are more like a curse and the kidnapping may be the key to her happiness.

This was a fun read about the divinely lucky and absolutely cursed. I was so engaged with what was going to happen to the kidnapped bride, that I finished in one sitting! 💍 This was my first read by the author and she had such a refreshing story that I would absolutely pick up another book!

Thank you to author, Shaylin Gandhi, Publisher Tantor Audio and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to this book. I am leaving my review voluntarily.

Okay so. I liked this book. I liked the romance. There is no world building so I got very confused about the time frame so imagining the characters was a little harder. The story was more focused on the main character than the world around her. So the Goddess that gave her “luck” was only referenced sparingly, so there were points I was lost there too. But the chemistry with our main characters was great, so it was easier to follow that part of the story.

2.5 ⭐️

As I listened to the audio of this, I’ll start by saying I really liked the narrator, Kimberley Wetherell, and I think she did a great job bringing life to these characters.

Honestly I’m a little disappointed as this didn’t go how I thought it would. It felt like nothing was really happening for a big chunk of time - or more that the same thing was happening. It was a lot of waiting around and things happening to the main character, rather than her doing anything.

I didn’t really like the main character, Bria, as I thought she came across quite whiny. She’s been blessed by the goddess and is considered ‘charmed’, and I can understand why she isn’t happy with her life, but it also feels a little much with all her complaining considering what an easy life she’s had. And she’s very much a damsel in distress, which can be fine, but I just found it annoying. Bria wasn’t really able to do anything herself and constantly had to be rescued. I was really hoping this would be a story of empowerment, but it was just about Bria’s infatuation with the same boy from her teen hood.

The magic system here is king of interesting, but the more I thought about it, the less I liked it. I don’t understand why the goddess would charm and curse people, and why they would cancel each other out the way they do. If the author had explored the idea of the goddess more and maybe had some explanation (a religion or something) around the goddess it would’ve made more sense.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ALC of this book in return for an honest review.

As a Charmed, Bria can find buried treasure and survive storms without much effort. Her luck spreads to those around her so when proposals are opened up for her hand, it's no surprise when she gets 100 offers. But she's only hoping for one. THE one. Bria has loved Westen, her brother's best friend at a distance for years because he's a Null, the worst luck imaginable. If they were to touch, Bria would lose her good luck and in turn, Westen would lose his bad luck. On her way to a forced wedding to a duke who wants to use her for her luck, Bria is kidnapped by a highwayman. Bria sees her luck changing when she finds that he's a Null. If she can convince the Null to release her from her so called luck, she can finally be with Westen.

This definitely has Princess Bride vibes and I'm so her for it! Princess Bride has been a comfort movie of mine for the longest times and I loved all the similarities in here plus the added bits of fantasy with the Charmed and Null's. This would be a good pallet cleanser for high fantasy readers or a start into fantasy for romance readers.

I would have liked more chemistry between Bria and Westen. To me it felt more like a childhood crush, but I did enjoy how the grew together at the end. Quick and enjoyable read!

It is a very cute little book about the MC having a mark that grant her luck and the people around her and the main guy has a mark that gives him bad luck and the people around him it is such a cute story of enemies to lovers and forbidden love I would highly recommend!

3.5 Stars, rounded up to 4 for the narrator. 2 Spicy

The narrator for this audiobook was great. She had unique, distinctive, and personality-fitting voices for each character. It was really easy to follow who was talking. I found her voice enjoyable to listen to and it kept me interested in the story. I think the book is probably better as an audiobook than a read book, so if you have a choice absolutely listen to this as an audiobook.

As far as the story goes, it was a cute brother's best friend, forbidden romance, and arguably fated relationship type of story. The plot was fairly predictable, and the story was good but not spectacular. That slow burn took a while. The magic/goddess mark system was fairly superficial. But it was realistic that people would try and exploit Bria for being marked as a charm. Bria's character did evolve somewhat over the course of the book, but I found Weston's character was more set and didn't undergo much for character development aside from finally giving in to his feelings. I did like the chemistry between the two characters. I did like his aunt a lot, she played that "wise fairy godmother" type roll well, and she was one of my favourite characters in the book despite not getting a whole lot of page time. Excellent job on the one creepy bad guy! He was weird and unsettling, great villain.

I have read one other book by this author and very much enjoyed it. I was excited to dive into this romantic fantasy. It definitely did NOT disappoint. The writing was top notch. At the beginning, I wasn’t sure the author could carry the conflict throughout the story, but she definitely succeeded. This is definitely a forbid romance with lots of great character growth! It tugged at all of my emotions. I was rooting for Bria and her MMC from beginning to end. I thought the world building was great. It was nice to have a stand alone romantic fantasy as most are part of a series. This is definitely a slow burn, but it’s worth it. I thought the narrator did a great job voicing Bria’s character. It maybe would have been nice to have the MMC’s POV, but it worked with just Bria’s POV. Huge thanks to Tantor audio and Netgalley for allowing me to read and review this book. All opinions are my own.

Once charmed, twice cursed was my first book from Shailyn. I would like to thank her and her team for the wonderful opportunity of this ALC!
This book is a brother best friend fantasy/ paranormal romance. I would recommend it to anyone who will like to get into fantasy and be eased into it. The FMC and the MMC are friends, we have chances(blessing) and curses that play the biggest role into the magic system of this book.
Bria, the FMC is blessed and a lucky charm and almost all her wishes come true. Weston is the MMC and is her opposite. The yearning in this book is real! As two people that can’t touch each other is a very interesting story!
The audiobook is narrated by Kimberly M. Wetherell who do an absolutely amazing job bring and evening this story with her performance!!
This standalone is a very easy read that offers a sweet, fun and breezy romance.

Favorite quotes:

“Together but apart”

“Golden flower for my golden boy”

“I love you. In the permanent, branded-on-my-soul kind of way. I love you so much that I'd gladly take just half of you over the entirety of any other man. "

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!!