Once Upon a Curse

The Tales of the Frog Princess #3

by D.E. Baker

Many years ago a slighted fairy placed a curse on a beautiful young princess—a curse that caused her and all her female descendants to turn into mean, ugly witches if they ever touched a flower after turning sixteen. Now, Princess Emma, who is about to turn sixteen herself, is determined to break the spell once and for all. Emma travels back in time to the day the curse was placed on her ancestor in the hope of preventing the curse from being cast. Unfortunately she isn't successful in her efforts, but she does learn how to break it. Armed with this knowledge, Emma returns to her own time full of hope. But disaster ensues and Emma is about to give up completely—until true love shows itself in the most unexpected place of all.

With a bit of courage, a pinch of luck, and of course, a healthy dose of magic, Princess Emma charms her way through the third hilarious adventure in the Tales of the Frog Princess series.

Genres: Fantasy, Fairy Tales, Young Adult, Middle Grade, Romance, Magic, Childrens

244 pages, Paperback

First published October 4, 2004

Reviews

[Kim · Rating 2 out of 5]

It bothered me that this happened years after the first book and the prince still claims to want to marry Emma, but if literally any other girl walks by he’s a drooling mess. That’s a deal breaker, ladies!

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm getting through these really quickly, they are really easy reads. This is book 3 in the series. Emma has been told for years about the family curse, any female over 16 in her family must stay away from flowers. Years ago Princess Hazel insulted a Fairy who cast the curse on her, now Emma's Grandmother is a bad tempered, mean spirited old witch, and has been for a few years, but now it's worse - her fun loving friendly aunt Grassina has been turned bad. Instead of the helpful jolly Aunt she is used to Emma now has to deal with moods, moaning and mean tricks. Everyone thought her gran was bad, but Grassina is much worse.
Determined to find a way to break the curse Emma sets off on an adventure with Prince Eadric and L'il. She travels back in time, hoping to prevent the curse from ever happening. She meets her ancestors and sees time unfold before her. Although she doesn't stop the curse she does find how to break it - but this brings a whole new set of complications. Only weeks away from her 16th Birthday Emma knows time is running out.
Another quick read. I love Prince Eadric's devotion to Emma and his willingness to do anything for her and her Kingdom. A strong bold knight with a sense of justice and a deep love for the Kingdom. I loved the new characters - Emma's ancestors. Millie the princess is lovely and a perfect companion, Hazel is spoilt and ill tempered but the sort of person you love to hate. She's like a combination of all the mean girls you met in school, the ones that got away with everything because they were 'cool', but then got what they deserved in the end - oh sweet justice! hehe
Aunt Grassina turning bad did make for a good storyline but I must admit I missed her warm presence throughout the book, it was like a friend going away.
I liked this one better than book 2, the pace was better and more exciting, but book 1 is still my favourite.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just when I thought this series couldn't get any better, "Once Upon a Curse" managed to delight me further!

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun little story.

[Kim ~*Nina*~ · Rating 4 out of 5]

you already know emma and her Prince Edric so whats next ? Emma races to find a cure to her family curse befor she turns sixteen .She whants her aunt back to normal. But when she finds the cure to the curse .can a simple kiss be carried out?

[Anna Melomed]

good book

[martinae · Rating 3 out of 5]

i would've loved this series as a kid !!!

[maddy · Rating 4 out of 5]

definitely the best so far even tho it took me a month to read

[Megan Johnston · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series is so sweet and goofy! I can't wait to keep reading!
As always, Eadric is a my favorite red flag and I'm so glad there's no one else like him.

[Kathryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been curious about Baker's books and as my library had a copy of his one on audio, narrated by Katherine Kellgren, I couldn't resist even though this is third in a series. The author explains things well enough that I did not feel lost. Alas, though, I did not feel that interested or excited, either. Even Kellgren's narration, which I usually love, felt a little bland here. I'm beginning to wonder if maybe it's me, as I've tried several of this "type" of book and , even though I think I should love them, I end up being bored. I'm returning this to the library with a few discs to go since I don't care too much about the outcome and am much more excited to get back to my Jacky Faber series now that the audiobook I was on there came for me at the library :-)

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tales of the Frog Princess, book 3.

Princess Emma is anxious to marry Prince Eadric, but first she must undo the family curse that threatens to turn her into an evil hag. Grassina has already fallen victim to the curse, as has every Green Witch before her. Emma goes back in time to when the spell was cast to try to discover how to break it.

Fans of the first two books in the series will like this one as well.

[Allison · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book was awsome and I suggest you read it if you like fantasy.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was glad that the main character in this series finally turned back into a human. lol.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cute! Not a disappointment. Just as good as the past two.

[ariel *ੈ✩‧₊˚]

this is such a good series!!! i’m surprised how much i remember but there were still one or two things that surprised me. i’m lowkey still annoyed that Baker thinks it’s funny for Eadric to have wandering eyes tho lol. it wouldn’t effect the story at all of you just cut those out tbh. overall, this is still a very imaginative and exciting story. i kind of wish the series ages up with the characters - while this was written in the time before “YA” was really a thing, it’s hard to believe a 16 yr old would act like this 😅 also the charm of Emma being clumsy is completely gone and she’s magically the best witch in the world is just “eh” to me. BUT i still stand by this series and think it’s really sweet 🥺 and more people should read it!!!!

[Yudit · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series has been a lot of fun. Book one was still the best so far, but book three was great as well. I really enjoyed how the time travelling was handled (although the ending didn't go as I thought it would). I also like how we get to know the characters better and better each time as well as add new beloved ones. Definitely a fun series and something I would have loved as a kid.

[Maddie Gallagher · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the book but it wasn't a book I'd pick out if I knew what it was about. Although, I really liked the part in the beginning of the book when the princess was talking about her eyeball collection.

[Dayna Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

The third installment in the fantasy Frog Princess series. Emma and Eadric must travel into the past to find the cure to the curse that has been placed on Emma's family so she and Eadric can get married. Fans of the series will thoroughly enjoy this book as well.

[Katrina VanProoyen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is probably my last one of the series as it’s the last one I read as a kid. Honestly it’s a good end too although I know there are more books! This is a sweet fairy tale ending where all the underlying problems from the first two books come to light. Love our main girl she is that witch!

[Alivia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I vaguely remember this book slowly awakening a deep fear of vampires

[Bailey · Rating 5 out of 5]

These books must be read in order. I love how each book blends seamlessly into the next one. With each one the relationship between Emma and Eadric gets better and better. And Emma’s abilities with magic get more epic. I am so invested in every minor character and their lives. There are soooo many adorable side romances in every book. Even Lil the bat! The author is tying in characters and small details from book one and two into book three! I love that favorite characters are still showing up. I like when characters learn more about their history and ancestors and this story has a lot of that. I also got fun “A Knights Tale” vibes at the end too. These are super fun and fast reads that have you smiling the whole time.

SPOILERS and book notes:
It’s been a year since the last book. That’s how long grassina has been the nasty cursed witch. She has a pet rat named Blister now. Gross. Emma has been looking for a cure for a year too. (Can’t touch a flower or you lose beauty and sweet disposition when you turn 16) emmas magic has improved bc now she is a dragon friend and the green witch!! Grassina transformed into a lizard. Emmas 16 bday is next week! Her father is having a tournament with Eadrics kingdom to celebrate. Emma hasn’t accepted eadrics proposal yet even though she loves him bc she doesn’t want to turn nasty if she accidentally touched a flower and leave him! She needs to find the cure first. The mom is horrible lol: “"Your mother doesn't like me. She makes people hit me with brooms." "She's afraid of bats. You'll just have to stay away from her." "I'd be happy to, but she's hard to avoid. So are her eeks." "What are eeks?," "The people who try to bash me. They come running every time she covers her head and shrieks, 'Eek!'" I smiled. "Eek isn't a title or a name. It's sort of like saying, 'Ick, a bug!'" Poor Haywood (grassinas betrothed) but he hasn’t given up on her yet! She transformed herself into a bird! She went back to the witches cottage from the first book and saw the lady who wanted the jar of eyeballs (from the magic beans stall in the second book) there! She of course has her different colored eyes in haha. Each eye sees something a little bit differently. “"This one belonged to a poet. Everything I see through it is very clear." “"A camp follower owned that one. It's always looking for a certain kind of man.” “a dark brown iris, "belonged to an old wizard who could see the magic in everything." And moly white eyes she calls her “seers eyes” BC of this she switches them out frequently lol. Her name is Oculura and she had a moving mole on her face: “"It's not a mole; it's a facial tick. I got it the first night I slept on that lousy bed," she said, pointing at the sagging mattress in the back of the room. The old witch tapped the tick with her finger, but made no move to dislodge the little black insect. "I like it now. It's grown on me—kind of like a beauty mark, don't you think?"” The other witch that is her sister there is named Dyspepsia. I relate to her so much: “"She was a colicky baby," Oculura said, gesturing toward her sister. "So Mother named her Dyspepsia. She's had problems with her stomach her whole life." All she does is complain lol. Emma misses her man: “My chest tightened as I thought about Eadric. He'd gone back to Upper Montevista nearly six months before to help his father, and I missed him so much. He was due to come back the following week, but sometimes even a week can be an awfully long time.” To break the curse Emma is going back in time when the curse first happened to get the exact wording of it! Eadrics back!! “Eadric looked wonderful standing in the stall, his sleeves rolled up and his clothes muddy from a hard day of riding. "Eadric," I said, and then the door was open and I was in his arms, which was exactly where I wanted to be.” “Eadric and I had spent a few wonderful minutes while Bright Country eyed us with disgust. When he finally snorted and said, "Get a stall," we stopped kissing and grinned at each other.” “He'd grown another inch or so and was now nearly as tall as me. His chin and upper lip were rough from stubble, and his curly, brown hair was longer than he used to wear it. What really surprised me, however, was that his paunch was almost gone and the muscles in his arms and across his chest had gotten bigger. "How have you been?" Eadric asked, his voice a bit deeper than I remembered it. "Miserable while you were gone. Wonderful now that you're back. And you?" "So lonely that I couldn't stay away any longer. My parents are coming next week. They wanted me to travel with them, but I told them I had to help a lady in distress." "Oh, really? And who was the lady?" "You. You did say you were miserable." "Devastated." "Good. I'd hate to think I lied to my parents." "What else did you tell them?" "That you're beautiful and exciting and the only woman with whom I could live happily ever after. That they'll like your parents, but your aunt Grassina is a little unusual." Eadric has bright side his talking horse and his singing sword Ferdy. They are so flirty! And going back in time together! “"Of course I'm going. You don't think I came back early to visit with your parents, do you? And I've heard what knights used to be like in the Dark Ages. One of them could kidnap you, drag you back to his castle and force you to marry him. You're not going without me." "Are you threatening to drag me off to your castle?" "If I have to," he said, trying out a wicked leer.” They had to go inside the cell to put prisoners that want to be forgotten. The place is called oubliette: “"Ow!" I said, more surprised than hurt, and my hand jerked away from the rope. I was relieved when I fell into Eadric's arms. "Got you!" he said, planting a kiss on my lips. "Now are you glad I came?" "Yuck!" said Li'l. "Do you have to do that in front of me?" Eadric laughed. "We're practically engaged, Li'l." "That doesn't matter. You humans do the strangest things." They went back in time (Eadrics and lil) and to escape the pit they changed into bats. They had to learn to use their echo location. Plot twist Hazel is a spoiled brat of a witch princess and uses her magic to manipulate and selfish reasons and not to serve and protect. But her younger sister Millie is nice. Lil found a “gentle bat” (gentleman but bat) named Bugsy. Hehe oh bat love. Emma is jealous of Eadric and his supposed attention to Hazel (who is just a selfish jerk!) “"But they're her suitors. You're supposed to be mine!" "And I am," he said, pulling me into his arms. The princes are fighting a dragon too close to the castle!!! Talk to it dragon friend Emma! Dragon battle without killing it! Jasper is the only brave one but that is Millie’s love! So she comes to help with her meager magic. Emma first puts on the fire proof salve that Ralf gave her last book. Garrid one of hazels suitors is a vampire!! Which is funny bc Emma and Eadric followed him as bats themselves when they discovered what he was lol. Emma doesn’t mind vampires in general but: “Not only did vampires exist on the blood of others, but they were known to carry all kinds of diseases, keep terrible hours and spend most of their time trying to convert everyone they met.” PLOT TWIST. Lil’s lover bat Bugsy is GARRID THE VAMPIRE. And he is the one that hazel picked for her husband. Nooooo! So Lil came back to them in their own time. Grassina made a spell where everyone speaks through bubbles that when popped your voice comes out lol. To end the curse (from the swamp fairy from the first book!!) a true loves kiss has to happen with the nasty person cursed! The person has to love them and want them regardless. Come on Heywood!! Kiss Grassina! I love Eadrics parents: “"Your father is the first person to tell me that I'm lovely who seemed to mean it. The only people who've told me that before were ones who think they're supposed to flatter a princess." "I think you're lovely," murmured Eadric. "Only because you love me," I said. "Hmm," he said, kissing me before I could say anything else.” Eadric is competing in the jousting tournament and Emma gave him a scarf token (with a protection coin sewn into it). So adorable. “I'd never seen Eadric joust before, although I had seen him fight a monstrous spider with his sword. He had told me that he was good with a lance as well, but I didn't know how good until he charged down that field. His back straight, his lance poised, his horse's hooves pounding the turf, Eadric looked like the kind of knight in shining armor that every princess dreams about. He was perfect for me, so perfect that he made my heart ache.” Eadric is the silver knight. Every knight has their own color and it is what they are called. Only one color per knight and no duplicates. Prince Jorge came disguised as puce knight and jouced Eadric with a pointed lance!! Infused with magic! It would have killed Eadric if Emma hadn’t had given him the protection spell. This is just like the movie a knights tale!! “I don't want you to use magic for me unless you ask me first. Do you promise?" "If I have to," I said. "But I don't think it's right. I was only trying to keep you safe." "I know," he said, kissing me on the tip of my nose. "And that's why I'm not really mad. Just don't do it again. Understand?" "Yes," I grumbled.” And the black knight was (plot twist) Prince Garrid, the vampire we'd met in Hazel's time that is Bugsy! Awww! This is so romantic! He has been waiting for Lil for YEARS (vampires are immortal) and finally found Emma! “I realized that Li'l was my one true love. I never married Hazel or anyone else. No one could compare with my Li'l." And when Grassila and grandma battled (epic witch battle with monsters and different animals summoned) Emma transformed herself into a DRAGON to get them to stop! And she was a GREEN dragon!! The only one to exist. And it’s bc she is “dragon friend!” Bc no other witch could transform into one. AND LOOK WHO BROKE THE CURSE! Gpa ghost and GMA witch!!! “"I should have told you how I felt years ago, but other things always seemed to get in the way. However nasty you might have been, I've always known it was the curse talking and not you. I love you, Olivene. I always have, and I always will." Grandfather moved toward her again, the blue of his aura engulfing her as his arms seemed to wrap around her body. Although we could see through him, we could also see when he kissed her full on the lips, and she responded, trying to kiss him back.” And everyone changed back to their sweet selves! Grassina and the grandma!! And Grassina and Heywood reunion is so sweet too!! Look at this sweet ending: “"The curse is over," I said before wrapping my arms around him. "Mmm," he said. "Does that mean that we can get married now?" I nodded. "Nothing would make me happier." "Nothing?" he asked. "Well," I said, "I would like to hold the ceremony in the swamp. We'll have to invite all our friends. You know who I mean. There's Li'l, of course, and Garrid if they're still together and some of the ghosts in the dungeon. Then there's Fang and—" A favorite random thing was Olefat the Wizard with the pet bird named Metoo. He had turned into a dog in the previous book until he completed three selfless acts of service. It was funny to see him come and save the day several times. he came in clutch.

[Dharia Scarab · Rating 3 out of 5]

My love of reading started when i was young, and it gives me immense pleasure to provide books to Spread the Word Nevada, an organization that passes them on to children in the community. They are a terrific organization supporting an important cause. If your local I encourage you to check them out. For those living further a field, look in your own community, their may already be a similar program in place. And if not, you can always help start one.

http://spreadthewordnevada.org/

Myself, I go out on the weekends and
shop thrift store and bulk book lots to rescue books and donate them. Sometimes I'll find a book I remember reading when I was young and will read it again before passing it on.

I don't rate these books using my normal scale, instead I give most of them three stars. This isn't a Criticism of the book, simply my way of rating them as good for children.

[Eliza Brittni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dear E.D. Baker
This ending was much better and was very unpredictable. I wouldn’t have thought that the evil, cranky, unloving, grandmother would end the curse on Emma’s family. Well it was the grandfather who kissed her, but still I didn’t even think that was possible! The grandfather was a ghost! I didn’t even believe they were going to be the couple to end it! I thought Haywood would finally get over his fears and try to kiss Grassina. I thought there love was strong, but Haywood was losing faith. The grandfather was great to but hearing about his past, he didn’t seem like he was the one, but he was, and the curse was over! That’s great since, that’s what kept Emma from marrying Eadric. The themes were magic, love, and Comedy.

[Sella Malin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! This book was AMAZING!! It's definitely the best in the series so far. This series is just getting better and better. I think this book really made me start loving it. At the beginning, with the first and second books, I thought it was cute, but didn't really love it so much...but now it's one of my favorites series!! I LOVED the whole going-back-in time thing, that was soo cool. The ending was sooo sweet. :D I can't wait to read the next book!!

[Chloe Resendez · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was one of the best fantasy books I have ever read. I love how E. D. Baker focused on what the story is really about than the romance. The story gets pretty crazy when Emma goes back in time. One of my favorite parts was when Emma turns into a dragon and her grandmother and aunt are both speechless. This fantasy book was crazy good and if E. D. Baker has any other books, I am really going to read those books!!!!

[Loretta Marchize]

ANOTHER great continuation of Emma and Eadric's adventures! I truly enjoyed this one. I don't remember why (again, I read this a year ago) but I do remember that this was amazing.
So 5 stars again and you should read it! (Actually you should read the first one or you won't understand)

[shrug city · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've aged out of the demographic for this. Too heavy on the self-conscious wackiness and hating on femme girls for me to really recommend it to a younger reader.

[dollgowns · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked Once Upon A Curse mainly because Emma ended the curse that was placed on her family by the Swamp Fairy who is apparently, quite the drinker. Also the little romance squabble was fun to read about. How Garrid who was a vampire and a suitor to Hazel ended up liking Li'l more. (That is completely understandable because Hazel acts like a spoiled princess, which she is. If you have magic you shouldn't hang it over people's heads as a threat until you get what you want.) Still, going into the past and then failing to prevent the curse must've been terrible for Emma to experience but it was such a nice twist at the end when Emma's grandparents were the ones to break the curse after King Aldird kissed Olivene and the curse was broken instead of Grassina having to kiss Haywood. Also during the tournament I actually thought that Emma's charm for Eadric would be the little magic mishap but it turned out to be the ever spiteful and vengeful Prince Jorge.

[Lexee Toste · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this one! It was interesting to see them go back in time and interact with Emma's ancestors as they were trying to figure out how to break Emma's family curse. Aunt Grassina has been cursed and is continually causing problems for everyone in the castle and surrounding area. Emma has been acting as the Green Witch and trying to deal with everything her Aunt is doing as well. Her birthday is coming up and she is determined to find a way to break the curse before then so that she can marry Eadric without worrying that the curse will affect her later on as well as wanting her Aunt back to the way she was before the curse. This story was interesting with all the different things that they had to deal with in going back in time and the things that were happening back before Greater Greensward had a Green Witch. There was plenty of action as well as watching Emma and Eadric continue to figure out how to be good partners to each other and building their relationship. This story was cute and fun.
The narrator did a great job with the story and characters and bringing it to life.

[Syd · Rating 4 out of 5]

These were fun books that I read in middle school - definitely rec to any young fantasy fan (or young girl at heart)

This was the first one I read, as I bought it in a book order. As most books for a younger audience, it's not as comprehensive a narrative if you haven't read the previous books (which I later did) but it's easy to follow.

I really liked the protagonist! Complained about her looks and not feeling like a real princess, into magical fights, adventures, and dragons, and yet still flawed/relatable enough. The series was full of strange comedic bits too, like a courting prince (who *spoilers* is a vam****) &... a troll queen? in a later issue. This one resolves some major conflicts from some earlier books, but the payoff felt satisfying to me even without that. In all, these books just made me happy as a kid.