**spoiler alert** “‘Oh Cendrillon,’ Elodie said, ‘it’s only obvious in hindsight. It was obvious that Lady Catherine would be angry over the dauphin’s**spoiler alert** “‘Oh Cendrillon,’ Elodie said, ‘it’s only obvious in hindsight. It was obvious that Lady Catherine would be angry over the dauphin’s proposal, but it is ridiculous for us to imagine she would murder you.’”
The very opposite of that sentence right there would make a perfect summary of the book. It was EXTREMELY obvious that Lady Catherine would try to murder her, just like it was EXTREMELY obvious that she used a love potion on and poisoned her dad. These things were not “only obvious in hindsight” as stereotypical loyal best friend Elodie would have you believe. They were in fact obvious the entire time: Lady Catherine and her dad get married—having known each other for two whole weeks—when he was totally in love with someone else two seconds before. This is right after Cendrillon hears a conversation about love potions being sold at Court, mind you—and our lovely, stupid little heroine suspects absolutely nothing. Her Papa’s health then begins to fail, the timing directly corresponding with his wedding. Not to mention Lady Catherine keeps insisting he drink “tea” that “the doctor recommended” in spite of nobody but her hearing of the doctor recommending this. And then he drops dead and Lady Catherine gets all the money. What a befuddling mystery!
The next year consists of Lady Catherine and her daughters taking everything they can from Cendrillon and being as rude as possible. So naturally, when Cendrillon is proposed to by the guy whom Lady Catherine wished for one of her daughters to marry—and is immediately hounded by Lady Catherine’s pleas for forgiveness and offers of TEA—she suspects nothing and graciously accepts. She then proceeds to sip the tea complacently and *SURPRISE* lose consciousness. If it hadn’t been for our dear hero happening to show up at that very moment so the proper medical attention could be administered, she would have been no more. Phew! That was a narrowly dodged bullet indeed that certainly couldn’t have been avoided altogether—even if Cendrillon had had more than one brain cell to her name!
As for Auguste, he was a simp who spent all his time worshipping Cendrillon, moping about Cendrillon, and tripping in the stables. Very attractive indeed....more
**spoiler alert** This was a doozy of a regency romance. I've read quite a few, and none of them have reached this level of dooziness.
I'll begin with **spoiler alert** This was a doozy of a regency romance. I've read quite a few, and none of them have reached this level of dooziness.
I'll begin with the creepy romantic/fatherly relationship at its core. Put aside the fact that heroine is the hero's much younger ward, the relationship itself wreaked of it; if she hadn’t been his ward, there still would have been a creepy fatherly strain because of how they acted with each other. The first kiss scene is a prime example of this: Andalin tries to take off his mask while he's sleeping, but he wakes up and then kisses her out of the blue. Immediately after he SCOLDS her for her behaviour like a dad. The pattern is continued through his lectures on the pressing need for her to get a husband, as if she shouldn't expect this plan to change because kissing your ward is completely normal. But when he finally acknowledged their romantic feelings, it somehow got creepier—what with him calling her "sweet Annie" and going on about how "tempting" her curly hair was.
The "family mystery" was also a significant contributor to the dooziness. There was absolutely no reason for the household to keep from telling Andalin about what happened, and yet they refused to tell her. Knowing wouldn't have put her in any more danger, while not knowing did. It felt like a very unnatural attempt to build suspense. And that ending… I'm pretty sure it was trying to shock me, but I can't be sure as I didn't detect a single shred of sense in it, and honestly couldn't tell you what happened. I still don't get why the hero was wearing a mask the whole time (no, he doesn't have any scars or hideous deformities). It was very clear that the author thought up the mystery before its resolution....more
Wow. That was an EXPERIENCE. Allow me to list just a few of the many things that make this book so special:
1. Delia Grace. How I enjoyed that selfish Wow. That was an EXPERIENCE. Allow me to list just a few of the many things that make this book so special:
1. Delia Grace. How I enjoyed that selfish little brat’s character. The way she tried to guilt and pressure her best and only friend into pursuing a relationship that would only result in unhappiness—to say nothing of the innumerable red flags—purely for her own benefit really won me over, and that’s assuming I wasn’t already won by the charm in her mopey, complaining, entirely self centered attitude.
2. The kingdom names. These can almost rival the likes of “Honduragua” and “Swendway” from The Selection. How one goes about pronouncing “Isolte” remains a mystery. I, personally, decided “isosceles” was the best course of action, as my humble tongue can’t quite wrap itself around that beauty.
3. The dazzlingly complex psychology behind King Quinten’s character. I remain baffled by the logic behind his decision to have his wife’s parents killed (he knows the way to a girl’s heart) and to have anyone who could inherit the throne should he die without an heir killed as well (because if his line can’t inherit the throne NO ONE CAN).
4. Hollis, our beloved protagonist. I just loved hearing everyone in the book go on about her plentiful charms and how good she is at conversation, entertaining, and the like without actually seeing any of it in action; I loved listening to just about everyone call her “the sun” at some point; and most of all, I loved how she had nothing going on behind her allegedly pretty face.
5. And of course, the slow burn romance. I’m pretty sure I remember a grand total of 2-3 conversations between our main couple before they professed themselves to be hopelessly in love! Sweet, isn’t it?
Loading...
