| Title | : | Me, Cinderella? (Cinderella, #1) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1490521844 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781490521848 |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 234 |
| Publication | : | First published June 24, 2013 |
Brynn Tomlin could never afford to follow her heart. But when she sees a stranger shivering in the snow outside of the college library, an inexplicable urge leads her to buy him a hot cup of coffee. It's just a small act of kindness, a few words of conversation. Brynn should be focusing on her finals, after all, not on the man who looked up at her gratefully with piercing blue eyes.
He could have been anyone - a janitor on break, a graduate student, a bum. But the man standing outside in the cold turns out to be Dr. Eliot Herceg, one of the most brilliant minds in mathematics and heir to a fortune. After years of reclusive isolation, he now finds his heart awakening to the kind girl whose name he does not know.
Brynn has spent her life trying to forget her desires, and Eliot's deep wounds have taken nearly a decade to heal. After so much hurt, will either of them be able to open their hearts again?
Me, Cinderella? (Cinderella, #1) Reviews
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People say there's too much math in this. Be still my nerdy heart. That alone makes me want to give this book (WHICH IS LISTED AS NA) a try.
The rest of the blame falls on those assholes over at Disney.
*Buddy read with
Angela and
Sarah starting Aug 30 -
***Copy kindly provided by author in exchange for an honest review***
“Me, Cinderella? A dainty, feminine orchid, destined to be plucked? No. I was Artemis, strong and intelligent and cunning.”
A modern Cinderella tale with a twist, this story consisted of a tame, mellow romance with a quiet intensity that truly touched my heart. Aubrey Rose has done a splendid job with this book. There wasn’t a single time I lost interest in the story, never a time when I didn’t feel a connection to the characters, and never did I stop rooting for Brynn and Eliot to be a couple.
“Before my mother died, she told me stories. She told me stories of castles and dragons, stories of men who flew above the clouds to reach the sun and gods who rained jealous fury upon their rivals. Stories of lovers whose passion rose above earthly desire and changed their fate to a different end than the world had meant for them. Stories of hope and of death.”
“None of those stories were true, but mine is.”
Brynn Tomlin is a talented Math major who dreams of winning the Math Internship and going to Hungary…to visit her mother’s grave. On her way to her study group, Brynn sees a man sitting outside on a bench, and something about the man strikes a chord in her. Perhaps it was the lost look he had or the innate kindness she exhibited that led Brynn to buy this man a hot cup of coffee. What she doesn’t know is that this man is the brilliant, but secluded mathematician Dr. Eliot Herceg.
“Now…he had shut himself up in his work and produced nothing. He had closed off his heart and loved nothing. A veil had fallen over his world, had crept over his vision slowly, until he could not see at all except through a haze. Bit by bit, obligations had replaced his desires and he had ceased, finally, to want anything. Air went in and out of his lungs, but he did not breathe.”
“Eliot did not know how long he had been sitting on that bench when he looked up and saw a woman standing in front of him, a coffee in her outstretched hand.”
A simple act of kindness never goes unwarranted. When Brynn and Eliot meet eyes, they are both astounded by the attraction they feel towards one another. Though both of them had a train of baggage that followed, Eliot seemed to be the one truly struggling with the demons of his past. Brynn is probably one of the sweetest, kindest heroines I’ve ever read about, yet she is so strong and determined to carry out her goals. Eliot really was a single leaf in the wind, lost and breezing through life without a care until he meets Brynn.
“They say time heals all wounds, but not always. Sometimes wounds pucker over and leave scars, and sometimes they heal silently and secretly, so that only one person knows the hurt was ever there. Sometimes they fester until another person comes along to cut out the rot, and then they bleed clean and fresh again. A second chance to heal.”
It was extremely heartwarming to watch Brynn and Eliot’s relationship develop. For one, Eliot is a professor and Brynn’s mentor for her internship, but I didn’t let that obstacles get to me. It kind of gradually faded into the background because that wasn’t the main issue the couple had to deal with. Eliot is really struggling to come to terms with his wife’s death, and at first, this drives a huge wedge between Brynn and Eliot: his fear and hesitancy of taking a second chance, his guilt that he can’t shake away, his reluctance to draw Brynn into his complicated life. Though Eliot isn’t one of those alpha males or bad boys that I love in NA books, it didn’t make him any less substantial in my eyes. In fact, I’d say it makes him stand out, positively and completely, and watching him overcome his inner turmoil made me do a fist pump in the air. I never though math and love could mix but apparently I’m wrong. They go together quite nicely.
“What does it mean to be an equivalence relation?”
“It must be symmetric, transitive, and reflexive.”
“Let’s take the first one. If love has the symmetric property…”
“If I love you, then you love me.”
“Not always true, but it is in this case. Carry on. The transitive property.”
“If I love you, and you love Satie, then I love Satie.”
“Excellent. Two of the three already. And now?”
“I swallowed. There was only one example possible here, and I did not know if I could bring myself to say it until I opened my mouth, turning my head back to the notes.”
“I love myself.”
“Yes?”
“Yes.”
This story was such a wonderful read, and after finishing it, I was filled with this peaceful, tranquil feeling I haven’t felt in a long time after reading so many angsty books. You know the feeling you get when you see an injured, stray cat? Or an orphan child looking hopefully into a bakery? Or, maybe, when a kind girl buys a cold, lonesome man a cup of coffee? Yeah…that’s the kind of feeling I have. That warm, tingly sensation that spreads throughout my body.
5 HEARTWARMING STARS!!!
Side note: There is an upcoming book that follows Brynn and Eliot’s story. The first two chapters can be found after the end of book 1. -
I was provided a copy of this book by the author in exchange for an honest review
I honestly feel like this book had so much going for it but it just didn't deliver. I loved the story (even though I hate math) and I loved the characters. I just don't feel like the relationships in the book were fully fleshed out as well as they could have or should have been.
I was really liking the book until around maybe 60-70% and from then on I just couldn't stay connected. It was just ok for me but I would recommended it if you're looking for a light romance that's a little different with a neat spin on the story of Cinderella.
I would like to thank the author for the opportunity to read and review the book. -
The start of this book is very different. I never read about a heroine who loves math. Heroine's rich daddy doesn't care for her and never sees her. She lives with her grandmother, barely making ends meet. The issues with the daddy were glossed over somewhat and seemed just thrown in to give some emotional depth to the story and the heroine's plight.
She meets the hero under unique circumstances (very cute meet!) and they bond. The thing is the hero is a professor, specifically in her department, and she's a student. Hero is a good ten years older than the heroine and he is her superior in every sense. And even knowing he's her teacher in essence, she's attracted to him, and he is to her.
This is a romance between a college professor and his student, and because of that, it's somewhat taboo and crosses lines that are unacceptable. While in Hungry where the heroine has won a math internship that the hero is in charge of, they act on their desires for one another, throwing caution to the wind, not stopping to think they could get in deep trouble. They share a lot of kissing, never thinking of how unethical it is for them to be in a love affair, although they aren't fully intimate until the very end. But it's still unethical, right? I thought a professor in a sexual relationship with a college student is wrong. Also the press in Hungry is all over these two (hero is somewhat of a celebrity there) and no one minds, not even the hero's sister.
I don't have any real issues with the writing, perhaps some instances of telling and not enough showing, but the love affair between the professor and his student just rubbed me the wrong way. Also, I had a hard time envisioning an HEA between these two because they're both so different and they don't have much in common.
A so-so read with some questionable actions that I just couldn't understand or accept. -
4 Stars.
Me, Cinderella? is one of my favorite genres of book, in that it is a teacher/student romance, I am not sure why I have such a great big soft spot for this sort of story, but I do and I loved this one.
What makes it even better is the fact that although we are talking about two very damaged souls in Eliot and Brynn, the issues they have with themselves and each other are relatable. You won’t find any insta-love, boffing from the first meeting or kinkiness within this book (not that I dislike this, but it is nice to have some variation once in a while).
What you will find is a beautifully written book; some of the prose is almost poetic in its writing, and Aubrey’s descriptive style brings everything to life in vivid detail. From the ice flowing on the river Danube, to the death of a deer by a Hunter’s arrow, it was all too easy to see in the mind’s eye and made it quite an emotional roller-coaster for me as the reader.
The book is set partly in California, but mostly in Hungary, and this was another BIG plus, it makes a change to read a story of this genre based in Europe rather than just the USA.
Eliot *sigh*, reminded me a little of a certain Professor Emerson, however where I have in parts found him quite a cold fish, Eliot Herceg is anything but. In fact this is a man who is really in touch with his emotions; he blames himself for the loss of his wife 10 years previous and as such doesn’t believe he deserves happiness due to it.
Brynn is also grieving; the loss of her mother at an early age, and coming to Hungary for study has opened up all the scars from that loss. As well as dealing with her blossoming emotions towards Eliot. I just found her no-nonsense approach to things a real breath of fresh air, no angst overload in this book *happy dance*!
I also think that the development of their relationship over the months they are in Hungary really worked for this couple, the build up and the tension between them until they do finally let their insecurities go was electric, and this book contains one of the most beautifully written sexual encounters I have come across in a long time.
I highlighted like crazy in this book as there were so many, paragraphs and sentences that just stuck with me, but I am going to end my review with one paragraph which pretty much summed up these two broken people in the best way.
“Evil things happen, and good things happen, and in neither physics nor religion is there an explanation that makes any kind of sense. When the world decides to hurt, there’s no way around it, no magical words that will save the day or turn back time and bring the dead to life. There’s no such thing as fate, or wickedness, or girls who can be princesses and girls who can’t. There’s only people, and we all do the best we can.”
Broken Prince is the second book in this series, and I will be diving back into Brynn and Eliot’s story again very soon.
ARC provided via Netgalley, and it is my pleasure to provide the above honest review. -
Could have been good, but did not work for me. It is so frustrating when you think you find a book and think this is the one that is going to get me out my book funk, but it isn't.
The writing was dry. I felt no emotion for either character. There was no real spark. More telling then showing. A DNF for me.
I loved the premise. I love the heroine and I loved that the hero was all broody, but there was no intensity. The romance felt forced. I did not believe it. I was so excited to start this one. I love college student/teacher relationships, but this did not work for me. You may love it. Reading is subjective. -
Review is also posted on:
Thoughts and Pens
Just when I thought that I had found another gem, I was immediately struck with disappointment. Me, Cinderella, a supposedly re-telling of our beloved fairy tale, was not able to extricate itself from the throngs of arbitrarily written fairy tale renditions. To put it simply, I was sorely upset with this book. At some point, it had entertained me but most of the time, the overall story seemed inadequate.
Set in the quaint city of Budapest, Me, Cinderella managed to keep me interested as far as setting goes. The snowy Budapest definitely suited for Brynn and Eliot’s love story to unfold. However, the setting alone isn’t enough to make me a satisfied reader.
Because Me, Cinderella is a rendition of a beloved fairy tale, I have truly expected that the author would take a careful route in telling the story… something in the lines of weaving fresh and powerful moments that would render me immobile for a minute or two. But that didn’t happen. Instead, I couldn’t help coming to a decision that I was better off re-reading my worn out copy of Cinderella. Me, Cinderella’s plot was certainly simplistic with no magical moments to root for.
It also didn’t help that the romance was done crudely. Me, Cinderella also suffered the dreaded instalove. Brynn, our heroine, suddenly fell head over heels in love with Eliot after 2-3 meetings. But their love took a ridiculous amount of time to be resolved completely. I am not even sure if that’s the right statement. All I know is that our two leads fell in love with each other after a few meetings but because of some petty issues, it took them around 2 years to finally be together. Take note though that before they became a couple, I rarely see them interacting with each other. This might be the reason why I didn’t feel the buildup of their feelings over time. The author just narrated in a hurried way that blah blah years have passed and yet, the two leads still harbor the love they had for each other.
Me, Cinderella’s plot was clearly driven by the repetitive issues our characters have. Brynn, another Mary Sue candidate, is a mathematical genius who for some “apparent reason” chose to stay away from boys because she’s socially awkward with no self-esteem and is suffering from an emotional trauma. I don’t have to explain more, just imagine Mary Sue’s attributes and you’ll get the picture. Then our male lead, Eliot, is a widowed man who, after ten years, is still blaming himself for the death of his wife. He fell inlove with our Mary Sue but keeps pushing her away because he still can’t move on. Mind you, the whole story reached 177 pages with Eliot having a pity party while Mary Sue can’t decide whether to pursue him or not.
I can basically summarize the whole story into four sentences.
Leads fell in love with each other.
Eliot: I couldn’t love her. I haven’t yet moved on after my wife’s death ten years ago. What if I get hurt again? What if I also hurt her? (Man the hell up and move on, Eliot Idiot!)
Brynn: I would never be good enough for him. I am just a dumb student. I must get away from him. But hell no, I love him. But still, I have to stay away from him. He’s always rejecting me even if we kissed already.
And after throwing in some plot device…
They lived happily ever after. Whatever.
Rinse and repeat items 2 and 3.
The only reason that the plot reached 177-pages was that our characters are so crazily immersed in their own woes. I just want to shake them…to tell them to kiss each other and be done with the drama of their lives. Heck, I am so frustrated that this review is already incoherent.
Me, Cinderella’s pacing was definitely fast but not in a good way. There were times that I found myself somewhat stumped as events took a sudden turn without the necessary transition. *rubs chin*
As if things couldn’t get any worse, the story ended leaving a lot of loose ends unwrapped. And I was surprised to see that the book is afterall groomed to be a series. Those loose ends might be wrapped up in the next book which I wouldn’t read. The funny thing is, I cannot quite fathom the author’s logic in creating a sequel when she could have told the whole story in one book. She could have made this as an excellent standalone by wrapping everything with a flourish. Me, Cinderella is so simplistic that I couldn’t see any worthwhile avenue the author might explore on the next book. I have this nagging trepidation that the next book would just be a long-winded narration of how Brynn and Eliot will fight (due to their never ending issues), then make up, and then fight again.
Verdict: I’m gonna stick to the original version of Cinderella.
1 star- For the beautiful setting.
Another star- It’s not the worst rendition I’ve read. -
3 to 3.5 STARS
Got an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Me, Cinderella? A dainty, feminine orchid, destined to be plucked? No. I was Artemis, strong and intelligent and cunning.
This is the fourth student-teacher affair that I've read but by far this is the least intense story. It's a refreshing change and I liked it however, there could've been more done for their story. I felt like it lacked luster and all throughout the book it's too mellow. It's anticlimactic
h: I liked that Brynn is smart, is not dependent on others and she's determined to be "with" her mother again.
H: From all the heroes that I've read, Elliot is the least alpha of them all. He is subdued but broody. I'm not sold with his character.
The story could hold more promise based of the description, I was kinda disappointed when I finished the book. I was like, "That's it!?". It felt like the characters and the ending of the story were underdeveloped.
Would I recommend this book? Maybe, yes. -
Book Review- Me, Cinderella? By Aubrey Rose
Brynn is a math student at Pasadena University. She lives with her grandmother. Her father is remarried and has a new family, not having much to do with Brynn. Brynn’s mother died when she was in Hungary taking care of her grandmother. She was murdered when Brynn was eight. As a result, Brynn struggles with who she is. She likes math because it is predictable and can be explained.
One day as she is on her way to her math study group she stops by the campus coffee shop to get a coffee. She notices a man just sitting on the bench outside in the snow and cold. He looks forlorn and lost. She buys two coffees on impulse and walks out to give the man the other cup. She has no clue who he is but gives him the kindness anyway.
The man is Dr. Eliot Herceg. He is a prestigious mathematician from Hungary who provides a yearly internship for math students. It is highly competitive and coveted.
He is a lost soul, blaming himself for his wife’s death ten years ago. He has yet to move on and sees her everywhere he looks. The unexpected kindness he receives from Brynn involves feelings he never thought he would feel again. He is drawn to her instantly.
When Brynn arrives to take the test for the internship and learns who he really is, she is panicked. She lied about her name and when the test is over and she is one of four, believes that he rigged the test for her. She flees thinking she didn’t deserve it. Her insecurities envelope her.
Eliot is determined that she should be the winner of the internship but he doesn’t know who she is. When he finds out he offers her the internship. She is on her way to Hungary.
She arrives early; planning to visit her mother’s grave and walk around Budapest to really find herself. She seems to be struggling with who she is and how she feels about herself. She is also struggling with her feelings for Eliot. He is a professor and she is a student and there could never be anything between them. Her feelings are what they are; she just needs to keep her distance.
However, that is impossible when she arrives finding that the place she is to stay is not ready. Eliot invites her to stay in his guest room. They bond and their feelings grow for each other. Eliot is torn and tortured. He has feelings for Brynn but hides behind the pain and guilt of his wife’s death. He also knows the roles that they both have.
Fate seems to have different ideas for them and they are constantly thrown together in situations beyond their control. Both of them have to come to terms with their feelings for each other and their issues they have locked inside themselves.
I was excited to read this book. It was a modern take on a famous fairy tale and I love to see how authors create a story in this manner. It fascinates me how they try to fit them in our modern day society. The creativity is interesting to see. So with that in mind, I was a bit surprised how tortured the characters were. This story contained a lot of mental anguish and a bit of violence I wasn’t expecting. I do realize that it was needed to develop the story and the characters; it just seems to drag the story down for me. I also was a bit leery about the professor-student relationship. Being in that profession myself, it was hard to read with the unethical relationship developing. It bothered me throughout the whole story. So I would give this book a 3 out of 5. -
I received this book courtesy of NetGalley.
Me, Cinderella? is a beautiful, mellow and poignant read. Aubrey Rose has done a wonderful job with this book. I loved and enjoyed every part of this book. It touched my heart.
Brynn Tomlin is a 21 year old Math student whose dream is to win the Math internship in Budapest and go to Hungary. But it is not for the reasons you’d think. She wants to go to Budapest to visit her mother’s grave.
On her way to her study group, Brynn sees a man sitting outside the library cafe looking as lost as she feels. In an act of kindness she buys him a cup of coffee. One look at him from near and Brynn realises he is not homeless, just lost. But there is also an instant attraction between the two and she gets lost in his deep blue eyes. For the first time in he life she feels the first stirrings of desire. What she doesn’t realise is that, this mysterious man is genius mathematician Dr. Eliot Herceg.
Eliot is taken aback by the generosity of the beautiful girl who came up to him and gave him coffee. For the first time in 10 years he lets himself feel. He feels attraction and hope. But the horrors of the past still have a strong hold over him. He is curious about her, but tries to distance himself.
Brynn has her own painful past and a painful present too, so to speak. She has built walls around herself to save her from more pain. But Dr. Eliot Herceg threatens to break those walls and make a room for himself in her heart. But the fact that Eliot is her teacher is the least of the reasons why they can’t be together.
Me, Cinderella? is a story of two people who are still caught up in the horrors of their past but looking for a means to escape. Both of them are looking for a ray of hope, a chance at happiness that has eluded them for so long.
Me, Cinderella? is a story of how Brynn and Eliot fight to overcome their past for a bright and happy future.
I hate Mathematics as a rule, and I look at people who love as if they are aliens. But damn, if I didn’t fall in love with uber-genius mathematician Dr. Eliot Herceg, if I didn’t fall in love with Brynn and Eliot as a couple and their story. As Rose quoted Descartes in her book- “Perfect numbers, like perfect men, are very rare” , but Eliot did touch the surface.
Me, Cinderella? is a wonderfully written story and definitely one that I would recommend. A 4/5 stars for this heartrending love story. -
**I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.**
My thoughts on this book!
From page 1 till the end of the book I actually felt depressed!
You know when you read a book and at the end of the book you have this 'ah that was a good and they lived happily ever after' effect... Well even though the book ended like any other book, for me it just didn't come across like they will be happily ever after!
I felt that the author could have elaborated more on Brynn's background. Like when she went to live with her father! You just get a hint about the fact that she had stepmother and sisters but nothing more!
I liked the whole idea of the book, and I know its suppose to be a sad story for both of them but I just wanted to feel like at the end they will actually find happiness together. -
I really enjoyed this, guys! Like, surprisingly so. The reviews made me iffy, but I can't ignore a book with Cinderella in the title. It would be like denying a part of my psyche. It was a bit wordy with a bunch of math talk and reminded me of all the Dante talk in the Inferno series, and just like with that series, I was still able to lose myself in the love story. The romance was slightly enchanting and I can't get to the next book quick enough!
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I really enjoyed this book, a sweet, quick read a did in one sitting. I loved both characters, Eliot and Brynn are both so badly scarred from events in their pasts yet managed to battle through.
A beautiful story that really did need an epilogue, that would have completed the book and earned another star from me.
3.5 - 4 stars -
An interesting book, I felt it fit in more with a Beauty and the Beast storyline better... A nice quick read though, not the best writing in the world, but I enjoyed the story.
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it's been a while since a book has drawn me in this much. i liked how we get each characters POV. though it was anticlimactic (i was like "that was it?"), enjoyed it nonetheless.
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I wish I had known this book was part of a series, I'm not sure I would have bothered........
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A sweet contemporary romance with HEA. Well written, nice characters great settings.
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ARC provided by author for a honest review.
I wanted to like this book much more than I did. I liked the idea behind it. There were some glaring issues I had with the structure, which could have just been a formatting issue, but the way around it was to make clear breaks. What I mean by this, is that there would be time when one moment would end and then the author would jump to a future event in the next paragraph. There was no spacing at times to delineate that this wasn't something that was happening just after the previous paragraph accept that you knew the character couldn't have been doing what they were doing unless it was some time in the future. Or the author would be writing from one persons perspective then the other without some spacing or chapter change, a symbol, line or something to show a change in the storytelling. That was an issue for me.
Brynn has has some hard knocks in her life. I think I identified with her relationship with her father, as it's similar to mine. Although she gets called much more often than I do. She's been raised by her grandmother after something horrible happened to her mother and she was basically expelled from her father's home.
Now in this are some issues for me as well. What happened to her mother? She doesn't know and we never really know either. It's explained that something horrible happened, her father went to take care of things and then came back and never spoke of it again, accept in these strange cryptic statements that he makes to her, which she feels he should apologize for and never does. I'm never clear on what any of that means.
I'm also unclear as to the timeline of her father's marriage to his current wife. It doesn't seem that her step-siblings are much older than she is. Are they half-siblings, since her father seems to dote on them?
Brynn's Grandmother has raised her to be nice, and to basically pay it forward. When she offers Dr. Eliot Herceg a cup of coffee, events culminate in her telling him a fake name. There's never any indication of where this name came from. Was it her Grandmother's name, did she just pull it out of thin air? There really isn't a real reason that she gave for using the fake name other than for the author to have him not be able to find her when he needs to inform her of something.
The author did do a good job of the emotional turmoil that Eliot and Brynn go through because of their respective pasts. Eliot has held onto ten years of guilt for something that wasn't his fault. And Brynn has seen herself as the chubby unwanted girl who has had many instances where other people's treatment of her has reinforced the idea that she's unloveable. I also felt Brynn's despair over her belief that Eliot didn't feel the same way she felt for him and trying let her friend Mark down, knowing how it feels when someone doesn't want the same thing from a relationship that you do. Brynn does some specific things with food that happens when a child grows up starving. But, the author misses the chance to have her connect with Eliot and explain this. He notices her idiosyncrasy with food, but it never goes anywhere.
Eliot's sister-in-law, Marta, was sweet to Brynn and I liked how sisterly and loving she was to Eliot. As his bother's wife, she was great in trying to get him to move on with his life. Otto was a great bother as well, giving Eliot good advice, even when he didn't ask for it.
I felt for Eliot when he basically has a post traumatic event at the dinner with Brynn. Once it's all explained, you kind of get it. But the event used felt like it was too easy. Basically mimicking an actual event that has happened and placing it in this story.
This was a sweet enough story, but it felt like a lot of pieces placed in for effect, but when no real resolutions to some of the things that happened. -
I had a whole review written out, and GR ate it so the following are the cliffnotes:
Likes:
- I liked the voice of the story and I can't put my finger on why. It was almost sparse, but still getting you where you needed to go. Simple but descriptive.
- I cried twice, people. Once upon a time, I never cried while reading a book, but those days are long past. Maybe I have grown up enough to understand loss. There were two scenes that pushed my bawling-buttons, and they both dealt with Brynn and Eliot's losses.
- Math nerds finding love! I like finding romances that take unconventional leads and create a convincing narrative around them.
- There is another book! I must say that normally that might annoy me, but I am excited to continue reading about these two. There is a HEA, but to me there was still a lot up in the air that I want to see resolved.
Dislikes:
- Lack of detail in some of the math oriented scenes. Wanted more since math has a big part to play in their personal selves and relationship.
- My BIG gripe was the switching from third to first. Eliot was written in third, Brynn in first. It was weird as hell.
Minor Nitpicks:
- Story points that didn't seem to go anywhere or have much meaning, seemingly important people that we spend no time with, time gap near the end where Brynn supposedly "changed" but we aren't shown how or really why, etc.
- The text formatting was really annoying to read on my Nook too. I couldn't change the font, and there were randomly bold and italic sections of text.
- The formatting of the actual book was a little weird too... Every now and then there was a section of text from Brynn (1st person) that was apart from an actual chapter, but easily could have been part of the normal narrative. It would have made sense as a journal entry, but I don't think it was.
TLDR: LOVED this book (aside from some easily over looked hyper-critical gripes) and really want to read the next book about Brynn and Eliot! Not to mention more from this author!
ARC courtesy of eXcessica Publishing, via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. -
Source: eARC for Honest Review via NetGalley
We were just two broken people, half-mended, struggling to make sense of the world as best we could.
I had not a lot of expectations when I picked up this book but I was pleasantly surprised with it after reading it.
Brynn was a girl who is struggling with the loss of her mother and all she wants is to go visit her burial plot in Budapest. With her being on her own she has no way to get there expect via her exceptional math skills and the chance to win an internship.
Elliot is a man hiding from his past and has closed his doors to love until a random meeting by a sweet girl her breaks past his emotional barrier.
This random meeting turns out to be the key to Budapest and the chance for Brynn to find out answers from her past.
Elliot and Brynn's journey to be together is a bittersweet journey with trials and tribulations that they can finally overcome and take a risk on love.
It was a sweet story and left us with a HFN ending but we all know fairy tale endings come with a price. There are secrets left unturned and drama on the horizon that we will get to see in book 2.
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Me, Cinderella? was a fast read and quite a page turner. Great job to the author for writing a book that made me want to read half the night.
The issue I had was that I felt as if I were reading an abridged version of the book, particularly for the first half. The character development simply wasn't there for this to really grasp me. I realize that's the nature of a lot of romance novels, but the story had the potential to be much, much more. The use of mathematics and music as symbols and metaphors could have been so much more highly developed. The main character's past was glossed over when it should have been looked into more deeply. The development of the professor was, I felt, better than that of the main character. This reminded me of those Classics for Kids books, where they'd take a complex novel, like Last of the Mohicans or Oliver Twist, and abridge and abridge until it fits into the space available, leaving out the nuances, leaving out what could have made it really interesting. It was as if the author was in a hurry and didn't finish filling in the spaces.
There were the odd typos (and one note from the author to go in and correct a specific area - perhaps the wrong version had been sent out?) but the writing itself was quite good.
There were a couple of issues that gave me pause: the demographics of the math students was unrealistic to me, as was having an orgasm the first time you have sex. The altercation in the woods near the end struck me as bizarre and insulting to hunters (but I doubt any hunters will read this....). :)
All in all though, it was a fast-paced (too fast in some cases) novel and really interesting, but it could have been - and still could be with some in-depth, substantive editing - something really special. -
Buddy Read with
Ange and
Cory
I had such high hopes for this one but I'm just not enjoying it enough to finish reading it. I made it through the first 40% but I just don't care about either of the main characters enough to want to pick it up to find out what happens next.
I'd seen reviews saying this was very maths heavy which made me a little nervous (I may be a geek but maths has never been my strong point!) but that actually didn't bother me too much. There were a lot of terms that flew straight over my head but it fitted the story well and didn't feel forced. Unfortunately what did feel forced was the relationship between Brynn and Eliot and that's what killed the book for me. They've literally had a couple of conversations before they start pining for each other and acting like lovesick teenagers (possibly understandable in Brynn's case as she was 20 I think but Eliot is supposed to be 10 years older than her!).
I'm also feeling a little squeamish about the fact that he is her teacher and in a position of trust. Although that hasn't really played a big part yet I think it's going to get more questionable as the story continues since she is now one of the interns in the program he is running.
The other thing that was bothering me was the change from first person (Brynn's POV) to third person (Eliot's POV), it wasn't that either part was badly written but I kept getting jolted out of the story every time the POV changed.
All in all I'm going to have to say that this just isn't the right book for me. -
Beautiful
This is a beautiful story in all aspects. The prose is just delightful and was a pleasure to read. I know that maybe that's not as important to some, but I've always had a thing for really poetic sounding sentences, and basically everything in Me, Cinderella? is like that. Kind of like high quality chocolate for the literary mind, as opposed to a generic Hershey bar.
The actual story itself is fascinating, too. To be perfectly honest, I'm not the best with math, but I really enjoyed the mathematics added into the plot. It's different, you know? It gave the whole thing a somewhat exotic feel for me, like I was spying into some new and foreign world.
The plot starts strong and goes on to finish wonderfully, too. To be honest, some of it was a little off to me at first, but I enjoyed it still. The instant attraction between Brynn and Eliot seemed sort of strange, but it was just that - a flitter of intrigue, before moving on to become something so much more and full of depth and excitement.
I'm somewhat at a loss for words as to how to explain how beautiful this story. The whole thing really comes together. It's not just the plot, or the characters, or the structure of the sentences and the power of the words used, but all of it combined, and I really feel like Me, Cinderella? is something special. There are a lot of good books out there, and even some great ones, but this one is beautiful. -
This is a sweet-different retelling story of Cinderella. Brynn surely isn't Cinderella, though her life slightly has similar story with her. I love that Brynn always knows what she wants and stood for it. She fights hard for her life, dreams and love, even when her 'prince charming' Eliot rejects and try to stay away from her. She run away from him, in the beginning, just like Cinderella but then she stands for herself, though still have vulnerable moment. I like this different side of Cinderella, a Cinderella who didn't just wait for her prince charming to find her.
Despite of a few typos, I like the way Aubrey Rose wrote it. She described Hungary clearly and beautifully. I can easily feel the setting and especially love the way she wrote when Brynn tells her eating ritual, it's so clear I feel sad for Brynn. As my nice first encounter, I'm going to read her other books. -
I thought that this book sounded like it had potential, and I'm so glad I picked it up. Brynn sounded so sweet and kind just from the synopsis that I immediately wanted more. I thought that both of these characters were incredibly nice, which in a way is unrealistic, but was also very nice to read about. Eliot had his issues but he was never cruel to Brynn. I would've wished that they spent more time getting to know one another, even at the end of the book I felt like they had so much to learn. Their connection was instant, but they were both so damaged in different ways I could just tell it wasn't going to be enough. I"m glad they're getting a second book because I want to see where they go from here. I think that if they can manage to stay calm and not let their emotions overwhelm them, they will have an incredibly strong relationship.
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3.5-4 Stars
I have to say I love student, teacher fall in love stories as long as they are age appropriate, which this is. Brynn is pretty and really smart she excels at math and has fallen for her math professor. Not all is easy for the two of them there love story is one of heartache and pain, but also hope. These two both carry a lot of emotional baggage that keeps them from their dreams.
The story is a cute, sweet take on the original Cinderella story. I like Mrs. Rose writing style. However I did feel that the story had holes or just that information was missing for example her mother dies but we don't know what happened to her, there were just little things her and there that it would have been nice to have known about. Overall I enjoyed it. -
Received a copy in exchanged for an honest review
I thought of giving this book a 3 or 4 stars but decided to go with 3.5
Cinderella. What comes to our mind when the name "Cinderella" comes? Well I would say that I like stories that are Cinderella-like. I don't know but Brynn helping a "stranger" who was cold and all was not that new to me but I still dig it. Brynn losing her mother and her father who was cruel was different from the Cinderella story we know because this is a "modern" one.
Though I got confused with the changes of the POV. And maybe the story was too fast.
But in the end, I think it's a sweet book. -
I received an arc in exchange for an honest review.
Elliot and Brynn are two lost souls, each haunted by a tragedy that has left them unable to love.
This was a quick read that I found both sweet and sad. A couple parts got me pretty teary eyed. My heart broke for Elliot.
I wanted there to be a more "teacher-student" forbidden feel, but it wasn't like that.
A good story, I just wanted a little more. -
it was enjoyable and a sweet romance i liked the fact that she saw herself as flawed and not at all perfect because that is how alot of women see themselves it was one of those books where i found myself reading and an hour later i realized that it was past time to be in bed when i was done, i work at a library so turned it in to be cataloged. let other people enjoy the book too.
