Sarah Mac’s Reviews > A Diamond for His Defiant Cinderella > Status Update

‘He dropped her hands, framed her face with them instead. His gaze tracked over her features, something like awe in his expression that made her feel…perfect. Like every moment had led her here. Where she belonged.’

‘He wished he could argue with her, but that heart he did not want ached in his chest. A foreign thing, soft & vulnerable. He wanted to shore it up with all the armor he’d learned how to build since he was a child. But he couldn’t muster it. Not with his own mother’s regrets laid out between them.’

‘He watched her. Encouraged her. Those violet eyes meeting his. Her mouth full with him. It would haunt him all his days. The pleasure. The pain. He tangled his hands in all that wild flame of her hair, guiding her.’

‘It was wrong. He knew this, in his bones, & yet the need roared in his head eradicating all reasonable thought. To order her away. To stop this madness. It could not go on. But the madness won, the need, the monster inside. So he watched her, & stroked himself, just to see what her reaction would be.’ ….She liked the view, natch. 🤭🍆

‘And then there was him. Tall. Impressive. Angry, but that only seemed to stir something within her it shouldn’t. Why did he have to be so handsome? Why did he have to make her feel like it didn’t matter what he said, or did, as long as he looked at her in that way—all heat & need.’ ….Very old skool HP dynamic in this one. Nom nom.

—“What are you going to do about it, Javier? Play daddy?” She rolled her eyes. “Punish me?”
—For a moment, it seemed the earth simply tilted. Fire lit from within. A terrible, awful need.

….Lol. This poor bastard is bonkers for her & hates himself so much for it.

—“There is nothing wrong with Clark.”
—“Perhaps not. But I’d rather talk about worm castings than golf. I’d rather talk about the digestive tracts of rats than listen to another man ever discuss his putter.” She scowled into her drink that he had supplied. “It wasn’t even a euphemism.”

….Damn skippy, girl. I HATE golf talk. 🤢 Unless you’re a P.G. Wodehouse novel, golf can fuck off.

“You have won this round,” she said, so seriously & with a sadness in her eyes that twisted something painful inside of him—though he refused to name what. Then she plastered on a smile before brushing past him. “We shall see about the rest.” ….Javier is being a huge douche. I can’t wait to see Matilda bring him to his knees. 😈

‘He led her to a pair of doors. With his free hand, he pushed them open & pulled her outside into the dark night. A beautiful balcony stretched out & around to a stone staircase that led down into a moonlit garden straight out of a fairy tale. The dark earthy scent washed over her, the leaves & flowers whispering those amusing secrets plants had. So beautiful, so surprising, she forgot her hand was in his.’

‘She studied him across the little counter filled to the brim with her plants. Some experiments. Some for fun. She was fascinated by how things grew, what they needed to flourish. And what ended up killing them. And in the middle of all this green & growth & her space was the man who her father had allowed to have far too much power over her.’