Rating: ★★★
Audience: Fantasy Romance
Length: 506 pages
Author: Tessonja Odette
Publisher: Crystal Moon Press
Release Date: August 13th, 2021
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A Cinderella Retelling

A playboy prince in want of a decoy bride.
A servant girl desperate for a disguise…

Raven shifter Prince Franco is every social climbing debutante’s dream. He’s handsome, heir to the Lunar Court throne, and deliciously single. Every young woman wants to bed him, wed him, or steal a moment of his time. Except, of course, for Ember Montgomery.

Half fae Ember craves freedom from her conniving stepfamily. As if they weren’t enough to deal with, a chance encounter with the arrogant Prince Franco leaves her humiliated and in a fiery rage. Nothing could convince her the prince is anything but a rake. But when the opportunity to evade her scheming stepmother falls into her lap, she’ll pay the price—even if it means impersonating the prince’s newest flame…

To prove himself a worthy heir, Prince Franco must marry a princess. But after far too many unsatisfying trysts, he’s given up on love. With the social season in full swing, and bringing with it a horde of husband-hungry socialites, he’ll do anything to delay the pressures of both marriage and the crown. And what better solution than an alliance with a desperate servant girl glamoured as his false future bride?

Locked in a bargain, Ember must pose as a princess until midnight at the full moon ball. Until then, all she has to do is wear the glamour, pretend to court the prince, and above all else, not fall in love. But when feelings emerge on both sides, she starts to wonder if there’s more to their contrived courtship than either of them planned…

Can Ember and Franco find love when the masks come off? Or will illusions and lies prove stronger than their hearts?

UNDERWHELMING.

I’ve had this sitting on my TBR for a long time and I should have just taken it off. I am underwhelmed and maybe a little bitter I spent my time on this one.

Initially everything was FINE. But the further the book went the more I saw that the opportunities were there but the execution was not. Plot points throughout just didn’t click. And the amalgamation of them all left me unsatisfied. I didn’t MIND the main characters, Ember and Franco, but I also needed for from them.

The Cinderella retelling aspects were clearly identified and it was kind of interesting to see how it was reimagined. I think some more deviation would have helped rather than leaning so hard into the familiar story. I wanted that new feeling.

Things felt out of place and I won’t be continuing this series.

Overall audience notes:

• Fantasy Romance Retelling
• Language: some strong
• Romance: 2 open door; moderate explicit
• Violence: moderate
• Trigger/Content Warnings: abusive stepmother, physical altercations and near death experiences, loss of a father

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