Every royal has their dirty little secret. His was… me.
It should have been simple.
Go to the ball, meet the prince, and secure his patronage for my favorite charity.
But beneath the mask, the brooding beast of a man was not at all who I expected.
He was dark and intense and eerily quiet.
When I left, I could still feel the ghost of his touch branded into my skin.
He haunted my dreams, but … into my skin.
He haunted my dreams, but I never expected to see him again.
Then he came for me.
And he took me.
And I learned that his darkness was a void I never could have conceived.
He’s the crown prince.
And, now, I’m his captive.
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Dark and steamy like you can expect from a favourite author in the genre.
If you love dark romance with two different characters and broken souls this book is definitely for you.
Ella loves her dad more than anything and vice versa. So when her new stepmother and stepsisters don’t want to take the train, her dad knows that he promised Ella, so they take the train. Unfortunately what happens is tragic, and the blame is laid at Ella’s feet forever by her stepmother and stepsisters, and they spend their growing up years tormenting her for what they perceive is her fault.
Now that she’s an adult, her only light in life is her sanctuary, and she wants the prince to help, so an attendance at the ball is necessary. When the prince seems taken with her, she thinks perhaps life is finally looking up. Alas, this prince isn’t exactly Prince Charming, so her life is back to its darkness. But we all know hate and love are two sides to the same coin, and Thor and Ella hold the same coin. Perhaps someday that hate will turn to love and they can find their way out of the darkness that plagues them both.
I love this Cinderella retelling. It’s brought new life to the Sinister Fairy Tales series with Ashleigh’s signature dark, sexy characters, and rich plot. Thor and Ella are damaged characters but have enough fortitude to grow and develop strength and backbone, and their hearts are just reaching out for the love they find with each other. I hope the rest of the series will have the same impactful storytelling that Ashleigh’s take on Cinderella does.
Once upon a time, there was a fire breather and a God of Thunder. And while the story got my attention, I have to confess there was a part that made me almost stop reading it. My feminist heart couldn’t handle it. You know, this was my first time reading a book by this author and I had no idea how she could make me overpassed this part of the book (normally I would dnf) and instead of not enjoying, I finished it with a smile on my face and… yes, I cried a lil bit. That’s how good the writing and the story was.
STEALING CINDERELLA is great! It’s captivating. It’s hot (even when it shouldn’t be). Like I said even when I stumbled in a part my heart felt hard to agreed, I JUST COULDN’T PUT IT DOWN. And thank God I kept reading. Although this is based on Cinderella, the author build a twisted and dark story that made me hate Ella’s stepsisters like I never did before, you can’t even imagine how much Ella suffered. Different from the beginning, I finish loving more that I thought, instead. I highly recommend it for dark romance hearts.
5 BEAUTIFUL DARK FAIRYTALE STARS!! This story is written beautifully dark, but you still feel the fairytale vibe. This book has all the feels with twists that will keep you flipping pages. I read this book in one sitting. You must read the book, so go ahead and download.
Holy Sinister Diamond-Studded Slippers!! This retelling was Phe-nom-enal! A.Zavarelli took classic Cinderella and put a modern, sinister, dark, dirty, and deviously-delicious twist on it. She tossed in lots of heartbreaking elements and unexpected moments that hit me right in my feelings and I couldn’t put this book down! It.Was.Fantastic!
Thorsen Lykken is no ordinary Prince Charming. Tragic events from his past made him the man he is. The reputation he’s earned as an intensely dark and secretive man is an understatement for what truly lies inside this beautifully troubled man.
When he meets Ella he is immediately captivated by her innocence and beauty, he’s drawn to her in a way that he’s never been to anyone. He has to have her, so he takes her.
He’s dealing with personal issues and finding it hard to struggle with the balance of conflicts going on inside him. He’s never really dealt with women on his own. However he finds himself very dominant and protective over her where others are concerned. What I loved the most about his character was the amazing transformation we saw. I mean this man was night and day, from the beginning of the story to the end.
Ella was the beautiful and innocent girl living a pretty sad existence. Walking around with the burden of your fathers death on your shoulders and then being abused and mistreated for years by the only other family you have left, had to have been devastating for her. Finding solace at the animal sanctuary near her home. A one night reprieve gifted to her in the form of an invitation to a ball leads to a chance meeting with Prince Thorsen Lykken that will change her life forever.
There are many things that happen after which I won’t go into detail so as not to give spoilers. But ultimately those will inevitably end with her ending up at Thorsen’s estate in Norway. Given all that she goes through in the days surrounding her arrival at Prince Thorsen’s estate I found her character to be resilient and tough and just the balance he needed to his rude and rough. Instead of doing what we all expected she did the opposite, she was so loving and caring and couldn’t help but want to fix this broken man, and fell for him hard core in the process.
“I think I know deep in my soul this is a suicide mission. He’ll never be able to love me back.”
I love this story because it’s such a story of transformation and healing. Now, it’s all kids of devious and dirty and twisted and unexpected and I love that. But I love that the Thorsen we meet in the beginning is not the Thorsen of the end. I love the journey these two broken people went on together. Their love healed each other. It was emotional and angsty and just all around a wonderfully awesome addition to the Sinister Fairytales collection.
My *I voluntarily reviewed an advanced complimentary copy of this book!
Cr8zysockbookblock blog wrap up for this book!
– I’m absolutely in love with fairytale retellings and this was one of my favorites in the Sinister FT’s Collections. I love A. Zavarelli and this was just another amazing example of how talented she is. From Mafia romance to Fairytale retellings she can write it all.
– This was down and dirty and dominant! Holy Heck was it ever Hot y’all
A naughty retelling of a classic. Thorsen and Ella are hot, hot, hot! I loved the modern day twists and turns. This story really did have something for every reader. There are lots of different elements in the story that speak of real world everyday problems. A great job by the writer weaving all of these elements into a wonderfully naughty story.
HOLY WOW! This book…OMG SO GOOD! A dark twist to everyone’s favorite Fairy tale.
Stealing Cinderella is a story about poor softhearted “take care of everyone but me” Ella and the aloof controlling “I hate the world, Prince Thorsen, and what a story it is. Between the twists that surprised the heck out of me and chemistry between Ella and Thor, I devoured this book. I love how Prince Thorsen wasn’t this sweet prince coming to save the day. I love how he was flawed, how they were both flawed. Believe me, Ella and Thor definitely deserve their HAE. There were parts that I literally closed my eyes as if it would help protect me from what these two went through. Not to mention the torment they gave each other. SOO SOO GOOD!!!
Stealing Cinderella is a page-turner! I wish I could read again for the first time. AMAZING!
This went a little darker than I expected. Ella is our Cinderella, orphaned and living with her evil stepmother and stepsisters. Her only solace is the time she spends at the local animal sanctuary, which may close if they don’t acquire any funding. On that note, her bff talks her into going to the masked ball, planning to ask the local prince for help.
Instead she mistakenly talks to the damaged and dark prince of Norway. And Thorsen (aka Thor) can’t get her out of his mind. He tracks her down to the animal sanctuary and does something I never expected. He KIDNAPS her.
*insert shocked Pikachu face*
What follows is a hate-to-lovers story with some significant heat. Thor is so damaged, he almost goes too far at times, but Ella’s goodness and light seems to redeem him. You can’t help but feel for Thor and want some happiness for him – his past was terrible and explains his actions as an adult.
Dark and twisted, yet emotional and somehow sweet. This was a winner.
Stealing Cinderella (Sinister Fairy Tales series) by A. Zavarelli is a real grown folks version of the children’s fairytale. When her father is murdered during a robbery gone wrong while out with her step mother and sisters, Ella is left in their spiteful hands. Unfortunately for Ella not only does she blame herself for her father’s death but so do her stepmother and stepsisters. Since the age of 9 she has endured years of emotional, mental and physical abuse at their hands. When a charity ball is being held with the eligible royal bachelors the family is going except Ella. Fortunately for her her bestfriend buys her a ticket. Ella’s mission is to personally address the Prince of London for help with an animal shelter she works at. However Ella gets the wrong Prince and he is no Prince Charming. A downright dark, dirty and kinky tale of two damaged people: one who loves dooling out pain and one who loves receiving pain. A sexy hot story thats down right gritty with depravity at it’s best and an ending much better than the original. Grown folks justice. I loved this story. A real page turner. 5 stars for me.
A. Zavarelli has taken the story of Cinderella and made it her own. I love Thorsen and Ella. They had an amazing connection with hot sexy times. Both broken and lost they fill the void and complete each other. I flove it! This adaptation of the classic fairytale which still resulted in a hea was dark and sexy. I was captivated and could not put the book down! 5 stars for this brilliant retelling of a classic favourite.
Wow…this story was a down-right naughty and delicious read!
But I must confess…this was the first book I’ve read by the author, and now I’m scolding myself for not reading her books sooner. Now I’m stocking up on ALL of her books because HOLY…this book was fantastic!
Stealing Cinderella is a modern re-telling of the classic fairy tale, but with a much darker, erotic, and twisted story line. We all know the outcome of the original Cinderella — orphaned young woman raised by a wicked stepmother meets and falls in love the handsome Prince Charming. Whereas this book may have some similarities in the stepmother and prince aspects, the wickedness doesn’t stop with just the stepmother and the prince is anything but charming. I’m known for not being a big fan of dark romances. They’ve never been my cup of tea. But lately, I just can’t get enough of them. So of course, this book piqued my curiosity and fed my recent obsession for dark, dirty, and twisty.
But between all the wickedness and eroticism was the truly painful and emotional love story of Ella and Thorsen. Both have experienced traumatic pasts and carry scars buried deep below the surface. Their instant connection expands into a raw and obsessive romance as the story progresses, further emphasizing the dark angst and suspense that lingers throughout the plot. The strong level of depravity and debasement were, at times, a little tough to read. But I felt it was needed in order to fully convey how utterly wounded and tortured both characters were and showed the lengths they each went in order to heal and save one another.
A well written and intensely emotional love story of love, malevolence, and redemption, Stealing Cinderella is a wicked must-read you won’t soon forget!
I absolutely devoured this book!!!!! Halfway though, I wasn’t sure if I would end up hating the read or loving it. It was teetering one way then the other as each chapter progresses. By the end, I was convinced. Sure there were parts that I didn’t care for, some of the scenes were hard to digest but overall, this book held me captive and proved what an incredible story teller A. Zavarelli is. All of the negative was far outweighed by the positives for me. Absolutely 5-star read for me!
I was completely enraptured with Ella! My heart splintered for her and the abusive home life she suffered from. A classic take on Cinderella, complete with the the evil stepmother and stepsisters, but heightened to an unfathomable level of depravity. She was such a strong woman and I was rooting for her happiness and freedom the entire book! Her heart was so big, despite the pain she suffered.
I felt a sort of indescribable compassion for the hero, Thorsen and his darkness. Clearly he was dealing with some serious trauma and mental illness that most everyone turned a blind eye to. He was misunderstood and disregarded. No wonder he was struggling so hard as an adult. You could tell from the very beginning that he was so much more than an entitled, brooding, rich prince. I enjoyed the relationship he had with his younger brother and his love and devotion to his ailing mother.
While the way these two characters were bound together was unique and unconventional, I appreciated how their story grew and bloomed into something beautiful. This love story was deranged and haunting. Violent and cruel. But from that wickedness, something lovely evolved. It just took a ton of unfathomable crap to get there!
I wanted nothing more than all of the secrets between the H & h to be revealed and overcome. I wanted them to get the HEA they both deserved. They understood one another like no one else could. Their pasts of pain, anger and betrayal created a connection that wove their hearts together as one. I cheered more than once at the vengeance that was served so coldly in this novel. As demented as some of the situations were, I was smiling with glee at the level of justice that was achieved.
Trigger warnings:
This story has some seriously dark content. Physical assault, emotional/mental abuse, sexual assault, non-consensual BDSM/sexual acts, suicide and mental illness. While this story does end in a HEA, it takes a very, very twisted and manipulative route to get there.
I have been a huge fan of A. Zavarelli since Crow *sighs* came out years ago. I love everything about her work. Her writing is impeccable. Her stories are always perfectly woven and completely consuming. And most importantly her characters are unique and beautifully complicated. Thor & Ella are no exception – I devoured this book! Loved every word!
I have only read a handful of dark fairytales and I had zero hesitation about diving into this one! It has that gritty edge that is modern and twisty that makes what could be a sweet, heartwarming story into this gut wrenching, tumultuous journey of healing and redemption that still manages to fill my black heart with warm fuzzy feelings.
Thor’s character has endured things no one should. The people he trusted the most failed him miserably. Broke my heart gah. Those things shaped him in to the man we meet in this story who has had to learn to live with his secrets and learn to cope. Endearing quality all the way. His brother is his biggest ally and supporter. But even he is in the dark about Thor’s plans for Ella.
Ella, too, has had a tough life. Just as Cinderella, her doting father passes and she is left with an unloving stepmother and sisters. They live to torment and abuse her. She is selfless and giving. When she is whisked away the real fun begins. They way this story unfolds and the feelings and interactions between these characters is freakin fantastic. The transformation along the way is so entertaining and perfectly articulated.
Love, love, love Stealing Cinderella. I hope it is not the last of this series or these characters. Thor’s brother needs a book for sure!
This is part of the sinister fairytale collection and is a dark retelling of a certain lost shoe maiden and her “prince” mixed with a certain beast in my opinion. Ella volunteers at an animal sanctuary that needs funding. One royal ball might be the place to find someone willing to help or maybe that was one big mistake. Prince Thorsen needs a wife. He is going to be the king of the Norwegian throne but has no interest in marriage. This definitely is not your sweet fairytale you remember. It’s so much more dark and gritty! A cleverly crafted story that I devoured. There is some bdsm, light MFM & MF; Told in dual POV
A dark and twisted fairytale!!
I was captivated from the very first page.
Stealing Cinderella was deliciously sinister!!
Twisted beyond belief.
Both Ella and Thorsen are broken. Their lives full of darkness and pain. My heart aches for these two. Their fight for happiness rips your to shreds.
A. Zavarelli’s version of Cinderella is hauntingly beautiful. An emotional roller coaster ride the very beginning!!
I loved everything about this book. First, did you see the shoes on that covers? Gorgeous.
There was so much heartache and pain and wounded hero that needed saving… And it was so hot and dirty and twisted. Broken heroine that loved in spite of her disastrous upbringing. Haunted hero that learned to overcome trauma. And the Queen… Wow. She rocks. And call me petty, but I’m ok with a sweet, sweet revenge.
Lots of twists and turns that made me fall harder for this book. I sat down to read a couple of chapters and rest the entire thing in over sitting. Amazing. One of my favorites of the year!
3.5 stars
Stealing Cinderella is the lovechild of Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast meeting Fifty Shades of Grey. This beautiful mixture is a garant of a steamy hot, gripping and entertaining story you will devour in one sitting.
Easy to love, broken characters woven in between a storyline we all know so well already. The cross of these stories however, heave it to a whole new level.
When you first enter this world, you get lulled into the impression of a sweet fairytale. But don’t get fooled, it will take a surprise turn to the dark site. A very dark one. Only to come out of the sunny side of life again after your encounter with shadows so dark you want to run from.
If you are up for a dark modern fairytale, this book is for you!
This was such a good modern take of Cinderella with a dark twist and steamy story. This was also my first book by A. Zavarelli and it was really good.
Ella finds herself miserable in life but also thinking, everything that is happening to her she deserves it. Even when Thor finds her and is a cruel as the others, until they both realize they have more in common then expected.
Thor has finally found someone who understands his demons and everything that has happened to him, and like everyone else love should be granted.
You will stay captivated from the first page to the end! A complete steamy and dark retelling of Cinderella-like no other!
Ella had suffered a terrible lost and her stepmother made sure she never forgot it. One day her friend offers her a ticket to a dance but she needs to be careful. Thorsen’s whole life has been planned for him but he’s made sure to keep everyone at a distance. When he’s forced to attend dance, he’s not very happy until he meets Ella. She’s completely different but can she get through his walls? They both have scars but can they be each other’s healing?
Dark and delicious is Ashleigh’s version of this fairytale, which gives a fair chance to the Prince Charming’s POV. There’s the brooding and broken alpha, who needs power and control. The dominant in him sees the submissive in his custom fit Cinderella and from thereon, ashleigh lets her imagination fly!
Ella is the proverbial Daddy’s Girl, a pampered and loved child. Unfortunately now she’s stuck with her stepmother, aptly named Narcissa. She’s at mercy of taunts and jibes of her stepsisters- Lavinia & Magnolia.
This triangulation of cruelty fires at her from all sides, till she seeks refuge in the Animal Rescue farm with her best friend.
One meeting and a fleeting touch in the masked ball and Prince Thoren of Norway is smitten, or shall we say he wants HER smitten and knelt.
This is a major turning point and Ashleigh writes in her own indomitable dark style.
There’s the perfect bdsm power exchange, carnality is unfurled and proudly displayed, highly charged sexual scenes form the backdrop of this fairy tale only suitable for adults!
Hanging over their heads is dark clouds of past abuse, mental health illnesses and betrayals which makes them kindred spirits. His lack of feelings and hers overflowing with patience & compassion are a match made in heaven
Their yin-yang personalities fit perfectly well and in that sense, it’s a PERFECT FAIRYTALE.
I loved the twisted end where Ashleigh brings the chickens home to roost and HOW!!!
The writing starts with a normal retelling and then goes underground into the dark tunnel, so it was a delightful journey for me and for other dark-ish lovers.
Ashleigh is an accomplished writer and in her mighty pen lies the power to make you love everything she chooses to write. Timeless saga takes you behind the dark curtains, it titillates and touches your heart, bringing you to Her own kind of HEA.
4.5 stars for Just Desserts