Title: Forget Cinderella Author: Tracey Champion
Series: True Loves Fairy Tale #1
Release date: December 7, 2015
(Sub)genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 292
Buy: Amazon US ~ Amazon UK
Rating:
Cara Mia
It all begins with my story.
I was Momma’s beautiful, happy, hippie princess. Then I was lost, sad and closed off. I wanted the fairy tale, I wanted to be Cinderella. When I was preparing to start life on my own my story took on twists and turns I never expected. I decided to take some time to turn my story around. I wanted a happily ever after that was almost impossible until I met Amber, my friend, and she made me realize my story wasn’t where it was meant to be.Then Jordan came along, my prince, and now my story is out of my hands. I’ve found what I was missing and I didn’t even know it, but it may all be taken away from me. I may even be taken away from this wonderful life I’ve built and the people I’ve surrounded myself with. My beautiful life could be gone and my fairytale forgotten. I don’t even have a glass slipper to help me.
Choosing to read a book by an unfamiliar author always takes some effort from me – ask friends how they feel about the author’s work and brows existing reviews. In the case of Tracey Champion I had to go in completely blind, since Forget Cinderella is her very first book. Based on the published teasers I had a certain idea about the book, and I’m pleasantly surprised it took off in a complete opposite direction.
Cara Mia Hanson is a sweet, somewhat naïve, young woman who is left in the world without any real family. Growing up, it is just her mother and herself, her father is for reasons unknown to her not a part of their lives. When she’s just 12 years old, her mother gets very sick and dies, leaving her in the care of close family friends. Because of their closeness, dealing with her mother’s death is very hard for Cara, she even stops speaking all together and has very few friends. When she finishes high school, Cara doesn’t go to college, but starts to work for a family as a personal assistant. She is content with her life and when her employment ends, she starts working through a temp agency. It’s then she meets Amber and Jordan, unknown to her the two are brother and sister. Amber soon becomes a good friend, while Jordan becomes much more.
“I look in Jordan’s direction. He has his arms crossed over his chest. He’s in jeans and a white shirt. The crossing of his arms causes the muscles to flex, and the shirt has tightened around them. I want to touch him, but I won’t. No matter how much my body wants him, I cannot let that control me.”
Jordan Carter is a former marine. After his last tour he has taken over the family business; Bull Dog Protection and Investigations. He is a hardworking man who’s not very lucky in the girlfriend department. Because of his current workflow he doesn’t have time for real commitment, so he doesn’t bother with dating. When he meets Cara during a lunch break, he feels himself immediately attracted to her, but because of a certain part of his job he can’t make a move. When he sees her again at the house of a friend, together with his sister Amber, he knows he has to do something.
“I wanted her, and I won’t lie about that. I’ve wanted her from day one. The only thing holding me back is her injury, and before that, it was my job with Hanna. I know once I have her in my bed, she will be mine and only mine. I won’t be able to control myself.”
When Cara and Jordan meet, there’s an instant attraction between the couple. But because of a misassumption on Cara side, caused by Jordan’s job, she pushes him away and doesn’t want anything to do with him. Jordan however knows Cara is special, and does everything he can to tell her his side of the story. Cara, sweet and inexperienced as she is, is stubborn and hard to be convinced of the truth. When she finally learns the truth, Cara decides to give Jordan a real chance. Do Cara and Jordan have their Happily Ever After? They don’t have it just yet, their story ends in a cliffhanger and will continue in the next book.
As already mentioned, Forget Cinderella is the first book by debut author Tracey Champion. While I love the main and secondary characters, it shows this is Tracey’s first book. Some parts of the book take too long, as a reader I want to get to know present Cara, her meeting Jordan and the enfolding of their love story. Also, the author’s current writing style is a little repetitive, some things are mentioned too often.
“I will spend every day trying to prove that I do deserve your love, pretty girl. You got hurt because of me. You shouldn’t love me, but you do. You’re so fucking important to me Cara Mia.”
Will I continue to read books by Tracey Champion? Yes, I will! I want to know what happens next to Cara and Jordan and if they have their deserved Happily Ever After. Tracey is a storyteller, and I want to see how her writing develops over the next books.
I give this story 3 encouraging stars.
~~ Forget Cinderella was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review ~~
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