Cinderella Screwed Me Over - Cindi Madsen

Cinderella Screwed Me Over - Cindi Madsen
Grade: Adult-Romance
Rating: 4/5 Stars

Darby Quinn has a bone to pick with Cinderella. Burned one too many times by ex-boyfriends, Darby has lost all belief in the happily-ever-after that the fairy-tale princess promised her. She's sworn off love, Prince Charmings, and happy endings and she's happy about it. Really. Or at least she was…until she met Jake, her gorgeous neighbor and the manager of her favorite restaurant. But Darby has rules about dating, ones she's culled from her years spent with so-called “princes,” and starting something with Jake would break all of them.

Charming, fun, and unwilling to give up on her, Jake doesn’t fit any of the profiles Darby has created from her case studies of ex-princes-gone-bad. Finally presented with her own Prince Charming, can Darby take a chance on a happily-ever-after?

Full of wit and sarcastic humor, Cinderella Screwed Me Over proves that sometimes the perfect love, like a perfect pair of shoes, is just within your grasp. (Description from Goodreads)

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I adored this book! It was like reading the script to a RomCom, only with added extra thoughts from the main character, and it was so much fun!

Darby Quinn is sceptical about love. She's been through so many rough relationships, so many broken hearts and screwed up paths, that she's given up on long-lasting relationships. In fact, she's giving up on dating completely. The main cause for her broken view on life? Well Fairytales and Disney stories, of course. Where else do you find an unnaturally large amount of situations that all point to Happily Ever After and the Perfect Prince saving the day? But things start to become complicated when Jake Knight comes on the scene. I had a very long giggle when I realised Jake's surname was 'Knight'. I liked the irony of him becoming the Prince to change Darby's heart...and he's a knight!

I had mixed feelings about Darby. Most of the time I loved her, and could even identify with telling yourself that it's better off not being in love so you can't get hurt; but other times I just wanted to shake some sense in her, especially when it came to stringing Jake along. Darby, not looking for anything long-term, manages to hook Jake's interest and feelings, while constantly pushing him away at the same time. It was frustrating because all Jake ever did was try to make her happy. He gets bonus points for being more patient than anyone else.

I mentioned before that it's very RomCom-esque. I haven't branched out into adult chick lit before, so I can imagine there are a lot of books that read like a favourite movie; but for me this was one of the first and I just adored it. I can see myself taking Cinderella Screwed Me Over off the shelf when I'm in the mood for an easy, fun, romantic drama story; and I know I'll love it every single time I pick it up.

One of the best parts of this book was seeing Darby's past relationships as pre-created 'Case Studies' for how a previous relationship broke down and comparing them to popular male characters from favourite fairytales. I loved the case studies, and not just because they let us into Darby’s life; let us see why she was so broken and wary of love. I think I may have had the wrong reaction to them at times; I was just excited to come up to the next Disney or fairytale story and see how they were represented. I loved seeing the Robin Hood-a-like throw a bullseye on the dart board, mirroring the image of Robin Hood and his bow and arrow; or Ariel’s obsession with forks, or even the mention of “twitterpated” giving me Bambi flashbacks. It was like getting a Disney fix, without actually watching Disney, all while being torn apart and analysed endlessly. It’s a bit strange liking the mentions the most; I really enjoyed them as case studies too, because it showed Darby had some really rough relationships. But I’m a sucker for Disney, so I can’t be blamed for loving the book for these extra reasons.

An incredibly fun, entertaining and romantic story, with just the right amount of cynicism, sarcastic comments, and Disney references to make any girl happy!

4/5 stars

Kim
(also posted on Goodreads)

Bared to You - Sylvia Day

Bared to You (Crossfire #1) - Sylvia Day

Grade: Adult
Rating: 5/5 stars

Our journey began in fire...

Gideon Cross came into my life like lightning in the darkness—beautiful and brilliant, jagged and white-hot. I was drawn to him as I'd never been to anything or anyone in my life. I craved his touch like a drug, even knowing it would weaken me. I was flawed and damaged, and he opened those cracks in me so easily...

Gideon knew. He had demons of his own. And we would become the mirrors that reflected each other's most private wounds... and desires.

The bonds of his love transformed me, even as I prayed that the torment of our pasts didn't tear us apart... (Description from Goodreads)

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If you’re a fan of Fifty Shades then you'll like Bared to You.
If like me, you didn't mind the first Fifty book, adored the second but was then left disappointed by the third, then you'll LOVE Bared to you!

You will notice a lot of similarities between the two series, but it's the differences that make me love Bared to You.

By just comparing the first Fifty book to Bared to You, both have an intense "lust at first sight” scene, where you can see, not fire-works but flame throwers, being let off when they stare at each other.

Both male characters are extremely good looking, multi billionaire's with haunting childhoods. This means they both don't "do relationships". Both have women in their past that try to cause drama. They are controlling, dominating, possessive, alpha males but where Christian had a coldness to him (especially in the first book); Gideon has a warmth that had me melting at the words that left his mouth.

Then there are the female character's who couldn't be more different. Eva is not Anna. She's had a traumatic childhood herself, which means she is not naive or innocent like Anna. But Eva is also so strong. She knows what she wants and doesn't want and isn't afraid to voice, or apologise for what she wants (in fact Gideon was the one doing most of the apologising). Eva also had a vulnerable side that made me love her even more. There is nothing better than having a strong female character in a novel.

There are other similarities, story wise, as well, but I was able to ignore them and just enjoy this story for what it is. And it is an amazing romance that at times, had me swooning.

Bared to You largely focussed on Gideon and Eva's relationship. There were plenty of ups and downs that made the story interesting and had me flipping the pages in desperation to find out what happened next. Many of the story threads are left open at the end (for example, we learn about Eva's past but not about Gideon), which means you are left feeling anxious for the next book.

Kerrie

(Originally posted on Goodreads)