Another Cinderella Story
590725
It was okay.  I think I have enjoyed other "Cinderella" type stories better.  I did enjoy the dancing and the music.  I think teenagers will love it esp. if they are a fan of Selena Gomez.
924301
This was a splendid retelling of Cinderella. The setting of having to work at the Blackmore Miller trying to save money to go to Paris to study design and having to deal with a greedy step-mother and step- sister. The good guy okay is not a prince but a duke will do I think and she has a wonderful friend in Lorna. A must read for anyone seeking a fresh and enjoyable story. Oh, let me not forget there is a bit of steam to this story too. Take a chance on it is a fun twist on the classic fairytale. I did download this book free but not from the author. I do have her Quest of Honor that I will be a reviewing shortly. After reading this story I wanted to be part of her arc group.
2684741
This is a modern day Cinderella story. Love comes in all shapes, sizes and colors. The heart wants what the heart wants. A rock star Cinderella. And the sex is hot too.
526270
Thought it was a cute short story. Wish the author made Cinderella actually evil instead of a difficult snobbish girl. The step mother still seemed evil to me.
3351162
This is the first story I have read by Krista Lakes, it is a predictable Cinderella story,it is well written and progresses well through the plot. I like the way the author introduced  AJ and Kat, Kat's sense of humor makes this story. I received this book as an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.
424984
Cinderella is my favorite fairytale. When I found a new version, I have to read it and this book was a short and interesting adult version, with some twists that only make the story more fresh.
4918343
A welcome and exciting end to this series.  Even if you know 'the end,' how it comes about was a bit of a surprise to me.
I'm still hoping they make a movie, or TV mini-series from this series - very sweet 'Cinderella' story.
358942
Once upon a time, in a land far far away there was a tale about a girl named Cinderella.
She sang and danced and fell in loved after only one kiss.
This isn't exactly her story . . .
This is the story of Ella.
There wasn't much to sing about in her life and she didn't have the energy to dance.
She was an orphan being sold into a marriage of convenience by her wicked stepmother.
But Ella was given a wish.
She used it to wish to be free to marry the man she loved.
Of course she loved the prince she met at the ball that she snuck into.
But like I said, this isn't exactly the story you remember.
This is a version of the story you will not have heard of before.
18+

My thoughts

I really didn't care for this book at all. It was totally different than what I thought it was going to be. I love stories that twist fairy tales. This is the first erotic "fairy tale" that I've read. I just couldn't get into it. I like the writing style of Sophie Starr, I just didn't like this.
543206
Cinderella. It's the fairy tale that has been done to death in just about every form possible. But every once in a while, even with a tale that has been retold so many times that it's burned into the brains of most of modern society, you find something pleasantly different. 'Mechanica' is one of those times.

Mechanica, well - that's not her real name. It's a nickname the hated Steps have foisted upon her. With her mother long dead and her father killed not to long after remarrying, Nicolette is stuck as a servant in her own house, looked down upon by her new "family". But then, on her 16th birthday, a letter is delivered to her and her mother's secret workshop - long thought destroyed - is discovered. Can Nicolette re-write her future? Or will she be stuck living out her present?

The book mostly follows the basic Cinderella outline, but author Betsy Cornwell manages to shake things up a bit. We learn quite a bit more about Nicolette's mother, and Nicolette has more adventures than the Disney princess manages. The best part of the book, for young adult readers, is that  the hero of the story is not the Prince who rescues the girl - it's the girl who works to overcome huge odds in an attempt to rescue herself.

Yes, the book can seem a little bit...convenient...at times. But I still quite enjoyed it overall and will happily keep this on my bookshelves for my daughter to read. And the ending, well...I don't do spoilers, but I will say that I *much* prefered it to the typical "sweep-her-off-her-feet" love story that Cinderella has. Overall, it's a sweet story with a good message, and would be suitable for audiences even as young as 10 if their reading skills are up to it.
4746668
This is kinda of like the day modern day Cinderella and the reversed version of Beauty and the Beast all combined into one.
2695756
This book was a cute little story, Chase and Isabella are the Cinderella and Prince Charming of a fairy tell. Victorian Lieske did well and I will be reading others in this series.
3643903
A Cinderella story with a twist . The story y flowed and was enjoyable to read but rather bland .It had potential to be so much more!
I felt that the relationship between stepmother , father could have been further developed to enhance story .
It  also would have been interesting to have had the gangster in laws involved in story line  to add suspense and intrigue .
611850
Although I am used to Jaci Burton books being a little edgier, I really enjoyed this book. It was a Cinderella story and who doesn't love those? Not a lot of angst just a really sweet love story.
2038238
What an intersting spin on the Cinderella story. I mean shes a cyborg-count me in to read it. However, the world building was a let down-and I never connected with any of the characters like I wish I could have. This could have easily been a stand alone story.
My 12 year old daughter really enjoyed it though, and is now on the third book in the series.
1360488
*I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review.*. This was a cute modern Cinderella story.  Slow build with a few twists.  Not so evil stepsister.  Cute story that kept my attention.
675644
An interesting view of Cinderella's story. It didn't made me love the sisters though, but it was a nice try. And the ending's good. I really liked the ending.
1666903
This is a modern retelling of Cinderella.

Princess Charmaine is the second daughter of King Aaron of Silverwood, with no worries about ever being the heir and eventually the queen. At least, not until her elder sister, Grace, dies suddenly of an unsuspected heart defect. Quite abruptly, she's thrust into the plans made for her sister, which include a large ball in just a few weeks, at which she will meet one hundred eligible men.

And from those eligible men, she must select five to stay and "date" her, with the goal of selecting one to be her bridegroom, at the already-planned wedding which will take place in just six months. Some young women might welcome this as terribly romantic. Charmaine is horrified, even apart from her grief for her sister and the fact that she'd rather not be queen.

Her choices from the chosen eligibles include a local carpenter who works in his father's very successful furniture company, a Silverwood philanthropist, the second son of the royal house of a neighboring kingdom (chosen mostly because he's the kind of candidate her father would obviously approve), and the fourth is essentially a random pick. She's stuck on who to make her fifth choice, and her father jumps in and suggests the very handsome Xavier, who seems rather oddly lacking in any very detailed background.

Meanwhile, as the preparations for the ball went on, including teaching Charmaine how to eat soup without spilling it on a ball gown worth many thousands of dollars, she's met one of the kitchen staff, a young man named Cynder.

Cynder is one of the Magi, a despised minority of magic wielders. They're heavily discriminated against in Silverwood, and ordinary humans fear that if they got more rights and freedom, they'd seek to take over Silverwood and oppress those without magic. With about half the palace staff being Magi, and her own movements outside the palace grounds being tightly restricted as a technically minor daughter of the king, Charmaine has been largely unaware of this discrimination, and to the extent she is aware of it, it's just how things are.

Talking to Cynder is an eye-opener.

They also fall in love.

During the ball, a bomb explodes, and Cynder happens to be near the spot of the explosion, though not near enough to be killed. The Magi are instantly blamed, and Cynder flees for his life.

But while Cynder is hunted and Magi are banned from the palace and driven from the kingdom over the next several months, the rest of the plan goes on. One of the chosen men leaves, but Charmaine still has to date the other four, and choose one. Xavier, of course, is not the one who leaves.

Charmaine is intelligent, but she's also inexperienced, naive, and trusting of her father. When the time comes for the first elimination, she chooses to eliminate Xavier. She still knows almost nothing about him, and he's made little attempt to charm her beyond his stunning build.

She's shocked when her father overrules her choice, and insists she choose someone else to send home. They compromise on agreeing to send no one home this time. It's the first chink in her perfect trust in her father

Charmaine starts to really get to know her suitors, or at least three of them, and sees advantages in all of them. Xavier continues to apparently offer nothing but a gorgeous body and her father's inexplicable support.

What's going on here?

What's going on is an old scandal, and the reemergence of a temporarily submerged bigotry, and Charmaine, the daughter who never wanted to be queen, has to grow up in a hurry and tackle a bigger problem than she ever imagined.

I can't really call this a Ruritanian fantasy, because there are no hints of the real Europe anywhere. This does seem to be a modern world with modern technology all around. It starts out seeming simple and superficial, but gets much more interesting, as do Charmaine and her suitors, as the story progresses. I'm glad I read it.

Recommended if you enjoy modern fairy tale retellings.