Inspirational
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Tropes: Fake Dating, Office Romance, Billionaire, Plus Size Heroine, Contemporary Cinderella Retelling
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Content Warning: Brief discussion of infertility (not the main characters,) death and grief of both parents, verbal & emotional abuse by step-parent, internal insecurities, graphic sexual content and adult language
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Quote: "I’m like freakin’ Cinderella at the ball Stella. I keep running away. Sh*t, I even left something behind like she did. ”
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Synopsis/Blurb: I’m a CEO who lives like a prince. She cleans my office. We’re worlds apart, and she just brought me to my knees.
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I make no excuse for my playboy ways. I work hard, and I play hard.
I’ve been burned by what I thought was love. Now one night with a woman is all I can give. I won’t risk my heart again.
Then a mysterious masked woman with curves for days enthralls me. After the hottest night I’ve ever had, I want more. But when I wake up, she’s gone.
No names. No promises. My mind says forget her, but my body won’t listen.
When our paths cross again, my need for her hasn’t diminished. I can’t give her a real relationship, but the guise of one will give us what we both desire most.
A fake relationship will clean up my image and give her the connections she needs to jump start her business—though there’s no faking our scorching nights together.
Just when my feelings become real, my company is threatened, and she might be to blame. Was her coming into my life a devious plan to steal from me, or the innocent run-in she claims?
Either way, my company and my heart are on the line.
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Review: The first half was unnecessarily slow and detailed, at times a bit repetitive. Somewhere around the fifty percent marker, the pace and the plot picked up. This Cinderella retelling is told using a dual first person point of view, with chapters switching back and forth from Dean's POV to Ashlyn's. It's a good mix of plot and character driving the narrative.
The spice is woven into the storyline with enough to satisfy those who like their romance with a solid side of naked time, but not enough to take over the plot. The characters are well rounded and multi-dimensional for the most part, and their dialog is natural. The wicked step-mother and one of her daughters are stereotypical mean girls, just like in the original fairytale. However, one of the step-sisters is actually supportive to the FMC for a nice little change.
Lately, I have had issues with the dreaded third act breakup. And while I wasn't happy there was one this time, I at lease understand how necessary it was to this story. Kudos to the author for actually making it messy and more than a bit ugly. A simple misunderstanding followed by a quick reconciliation and HEA would have ruined the account.
The plus-size representation was included, but honestly it felt off. I can't put my finger on why it didn't feel right other than to say, and I'm saying this to all authors, STOP writing fat women as only exaggerated hour glass figures because society has deemed those as "acceptable."
Given all the issues I pointed out, I would still recommend this book. It doesn't take itself too seriously.
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Ratings: Movie rating R, overall 3.75/4 stars, romance 3/5, violence 0/5, spice 3/5, and 4/5 for the cover.