Title: Stealing Cinderella – The Sinster Fairy Tale Collection
Author: A Zavarelli
My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐1/2
Type: Standalone
Genre: Contemporary Romance, BDSM, Royal Prince modern day fairy tale
Narration: Dual POV
Primary Characters: Ella & Thorsen
Source: Courtesy of Author/ Publisher – ARC
Blurb: https://www.amazon.com/Stealing-Cinderella-Zavarelli-ebook/dp/B086PWQYQC
I voluntarily read an ARC of this book in exchange for honest review.
This story was similar to the original fairy tale (Even though I don’t remember much of it) but Ella’s experience was much darker and her prince charming, Thorsen, was wicked. Ella tragically loses her father and is left with an evil step mother and step sisters. Her step sisters Lavinia and Magnolia are awful and they takes jealousy and psychotic behavior to the next level.
Thorsen and Ella meet in a masked ball event. Ella assumes him as a different person and pours her heart out to save her favorite animal sanctuary by funding it. Thorsen has an issue of his own and he doesn’t wanna marry anyone. When he meets Ella, he gets a different idea and kidnaps her. They made a sex pact for two months and in return Thorsen would save Ella’s beloved animal sanctuary. This changes the entire dynamics between Ella and Thorsen. Both Ella and Thor have things in their pasts that are still affecting there now and their upcoming futures. Will they be able to overcome it?
Ella is caring and charming (very docile for my taste) whereas Thorsen is dark and aloof. This book has a lot of potential; however, I felt the lack of depth. Plot moved in the study pace initially and later at one point I felt like I have skipped some chapters. At some instances I felt like the author has rushed to glue the characters together just to make it a standalone and not too lengthy.
Secondary Characters: I totally loved Calder, as a twin brother to Thorsen, he is everything you can expect in a twin. Charlotte and Olivia were good as Ella’s best friends, but I didn’t feel the connection between them.
Overall, it’s a retelling of the Cinderella story in a darker way. If you like fairy tales with a modern-day dark twist, this book is for you.