Midnight: A Cozy Cinderella Retelling

by J.A. Good

A Cinderella retelling about love, sacrifice, and the kind of magic that asks what you’re willing to lose to save the ones you love.

When Lyra Treveon falls too ill to attend the royal ball, her best friend Lucinda Blackthorn agrees to go in her place. Disguised behind a mask and wrapped in a midnight-blue gown, Luci dances beneath chandeliers and loses her heart to Prince Ira Vencia, a man who makes her believe, just for one night, that she belongs in his world.

But when the mask comes off, Ira believes it was Lyra he met at the ball—and soon announces his engagement to her. Bound by loyalty and guilt, Luci keeps her secret to protect her friend’s fragile health and reputation. Yet as Luci and Ira are drawn together again—this time by a desperate journey to find the mythical Midnight Flower, said to cure any illness—the truth between them becomes impossible to ignore.

As love blooms in the shadow of a lie, Luci must decide what she’s willing to her heart, her future, or the girl who has always been her family.

Tender, romantic, and threaded with forgotten magic, Midnight is a cozy Cinderella retelling about friendship, forbidden love, and finding courage when the clock runs out.

425 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 11, 2026

About the author

J.A. Good is the author of the adult fantasy romance Forged in Fire Series. She is a northerner living in Florida who’s love of books and new worlds inspired her to create her own. She is a pediatric intensive care nurse at night and a writer, mom, wife, and cat enthusiast during the day. When she isn’t naming all the dinosaurs with her toddlers you can find her staring at her book collection with her cats lamenting her lack of castles and magic.

Reviews

[Tiia Kaufmann · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this as an ARC. And If I’m being honest, I enjoyed this more than the original Cinderella story. It was so cozy, and the true love in this story is so much more than what I expected.
It wasn’t just about finding a prince, but also about friendship and finding yourself after living your life for someone else.
The friendships were beautiful and the slow burn was almost painful. There was so many times I was begging to be able to smack some sense into them while simultaneously enjoying their banter and build up.
Not to mention, Firecracker Brielle is a force to be reckoned with, and I hope everyone has a friend like her in their life 🙌🏻
Max was also one of my favorite characters, and if he ever gets a story I am so here for it.

[Kimberly || apairofreaders · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

This was the cozy escape that my slumping brain needed. I enjoyed the easy flow of Lucinda's story, and the twists and turns kept me guessing! If you need a cozy fantasy retelling of Cinderella with tension and banter all wrapped in one standalone package, here ya go!

[✨SJBookReviews✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cozy yet angsty standalone
Learning to live for yourself
Codependent rep
Romance no spice
Standalone

This was a Cinderella retelling with an interesting take on magic and curses. I liked the nods to other classics sprinkled throughout. Lots of good humor and romance but it wouldn’t be complete without the angst!

Mmc: Prince Ira was tooth rotting sweet, I can’t fault him for anything because he truly is a good person with patience the size of a planet lol I just prefer them morally grey 😅 I do like that he will literally do anything for Luci—even bringing her cat to the palace when he’s deathly allergic lol.

Fmc: Luci, girl, she really is the epitome of getting in her own way lol. She is so codependent with Brielle. I get that she would be bc of their history however the inner dialogue got repetitive and I really wanted to shake her at times lol. I can appreciate that it shows how even great friendships can become partially toxic when one makes the other person their whole identity and so she has to learn that you can love someone but still be your own person. That it’s ok to love your own life and love others and that it doesn’t mean your friendship is any less. And that sometime your friends have to take matters into their own hands to throw you on the right path when you’re too blinded to do so yourself.

Thank you for the advanced copy!

[Sarah Bennett · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved everything about this book! So this is not your normal Cinderella book It is completely different and I'm in love with it. I read retellings of Cinderella, but this one goes into more depth and is totally different. You don't get the evil stepmom, you get like the evil Dad technically. But it is such a sweet story it's literally a love story with magic. You need to Luci an orphan girl that is served to take care of Brielle. Brielle sadly has a disease that makes her just sick constantly. So Luci is there to make sure that she's okay. Brielle Dad does not like her at all and hates her so bad. You never know why but he just hates her. Maybe it's because his daughter loves her? No idea, but his second wife loves her too like a daughter. But you get to meet the prince Ira and the adventure starts from there. This is literally nothing like a original Cinderella story but it's a story kind of like every fairy tale story? It sounds like the family of the kingdom was kind of like beauty and the beast. The way the story is explained so they are there to try to help bring the magic back. Honestly if you're looking for a book that has a different way of telling Cinderella and not like normal. And has magic and love this is one for you!!

[Savannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Huge thank you to the author J. A. Good for providing me with an eARC!!

This is such a cute and cozy romantasy Cinderella retelling! There is a huge emphasis on platonic love and friendship in this which I really appreciated, and is essentially the driving force of this book. Everything the FMC does is for her best friend who suffers from an unknown chronic ailment, even attending the royal ball in her stead. Of course, I also loved the romance dynamic Luci had with the prince, and had butterflies a few times because Ira is the perfect Prince Charming ~ love a good jealousy moment. I do wish we could’ve gotten a little more with them, but since the main theme is friendship, I understand why that took a bit of a backseat at times.

Overall, this was a warm hug and highly recommend to anyone who wants a feel good read with a touch of magic🥰

[Beth Hunt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Midnight was the best time I didn’t know I needed. J. A. Good describes it as the feeling of sitting in front of a fire with a cozy blanket and a good book and it really is. I love the way she adapted the Cinderella story in such a creative way you really didn’t know what to expect. The story between the two FMC‘s is the sweetest friendship story I’ve ever read. On top of the journey that our main FMC goes on in her life is so inspiring. I loved how the Prince was so deserving of the love he earned. The side characters are funny and add a touch of reality. My favorite part in the book they talk about how community is so important and how easy it is to forget when you don’t have a lot that the community is there for that reason and it just touched my heart so much.

[Fiona Kenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was so lucky to get this as an ARC, and it took awhile to get to it because I went into a reading slump 🙈 When I tell you this has killed the slump and brought back the love of reading that is an understatement!

I absolutely adored this book the story was amazing and honestly I just fell so in love with the world and the characters.

Honestly my only issue is I wish is was longer 😭 I wanted to stay in the world with them!

An absolute must read!

[Elyse Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m so sorry, but Luci was kind of annoying 😭😭😭 I understand her trauma but she was in denial TOO much and she was way too up Brielle’s ass 😣 Ira was SO nice and kind and she couldn’t believe ANYTHING