This was an enjoyable re-imagining of the Cinderella fairytale. I liked Claire and Killian. They had great chemistry and generated plenty of sparks. The engaging storyline offered readers lots of drama, secrets, heat and emotional turmoil. The back-and-forth between these two can sometimes be tiring and I did feel a bit of frustration when things bogged down too much. All-in-all it was a good read.

A good girl meets bad boy millionaire with a bad reputation which she has to fix, that is when the drama and passion begins.Wii this just be a job for Claire or a beginning of something more, because there is a connection between them both.
A good romance with drama humor and passion.
Voluntarily reviewed.

*I received an ARC from the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

killian Stone....where do I begin? The word that comes to mind is INTENSE! Right from the prologue you could sense his intensity. I loved it!

The attraction between him and Claire was palpable and instant. As characters they both had so many layers. and you fell in love right along with them.

This was my first read from these authors but definitely will not be my last. A truly delightful book.

No Prince Charming is a modern retelling of Cinderella, an epic and well known fairytale.

I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I have to say, I did enjoy the storyline; the sarcasm, character development and humour. It all added to the entire overview.

I’d hate to say anything to give away anything regarding this - you already know it feeds from Cinderella!

One thing I absolutely must point out, although it was an advanced readers copy, the formatting was nonexistent. I mean, mid way through a line, the paragraph would just drop to a new line. It’s confusing as hell when you’re trying to follow a book, but you have no idea who is talking or what is going on when that happens. A star has been deducted because of this.

No one should have to work that hard just to read a book. I’m sorry 🤷🏼‍♀️

Wow! I can't believe I waited so long to start this wonderful series. Victoria and Angel sure know how to make the characters steamy, fiesty, and leave the readers wanting more. I am looking forward to continuing this wonderful series

This was an interesting take of a modern day Cinderella story, but it just kind of fell flat to me. I didn't feel like the story was that unique, it just felt like every well known aspect from Cinderella was transferred into modern day and lacked and originality.

I ended up DNFing around 60%.

No Prince Charming by Angel Payne and Victoria Blue is a steamy love story, emphasis on the steam. Claire is a strong woman, working for a PR firm that specializes in emergency image repair. Killian is the youngest brother of man who is a playboy and definitely needs his image repaired! They meet and Claire turns into a simpering female who can't stop thinking about Killian's body and Killian turns into a He=Man who is determined to have her as his own and will stop at nothing. Claire places many obstacles between the two of them, from her wicked stepmother and stepsister (Why is her father even marrying this woman?) and Killian blows through every one. I guess in spite of the #metoo era, women still want to be taken by force and dominated? I think I'll give this one a pass.

The first thing I have to say about this novel is Wow... Just wow. This was an emotional roller-coaster from beginning to end. In fact this story is centered around Killian and Claire's complicated and messy feelings for each other. It starts out normal enough, she's hired to provide publicity control for his brother and the minute he sees her he's drawn to " the innocent curiosity in her amber eyes. "

We have the advantage of enjoying this novel from two perspectives. Her and his. I must say I was swept away by the intensity of Killian's thoughts and feelings. Their interactions were erotica and explosive. A 10 for sexual tension and heat.

My only concern was that the rest of the story was left in the background and Killian's initial intend to help Claire come out of her shell in her career was all but forgotten in his desperate attempt to seduce her. I still thought this was a great story and a definite recommend for those who love a little smut with their romance.

Thank you Netgalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I initially had declined to provide feedback on this title because of the distracting formatting of the ARC. I have since had a chance to take a second look at this book and can say that the writing is solid, but I couldn't quite connect with the characters. I think the problem is that they felt forced to fit into a mold constrained by the Cinderella story. I enjoy modern takes on fairytales and classics, but when the authors allow enough flexibility for the characters to breathe within a more approachable, relatable, modern framework.

Super steamy story that is not the Cinderella story your momma read to you when you were a little girl. Treygate is just a job for Claire until she looks into Killian's eyes. BUT, nothing can happen between them for a multitude of reasons. She has a past she needs to keep safe AND he is a client and in no way should she even think about him. Killian Stone had other ideas though and watching him bulldoze his way into Claire's path and often comical but always sexy and steamy. Both have secrets to hide and both will stop at nothing to keep them hidden but best laid plans and all that. I enjoyed how these two wrote and immediately purchased book 2 to find out what happens next in the roller coaster ride that is Claire and Killian.

No Prince Charming is a fun, sexy twist on the Cinderella fairytale but it really wasn't for me. After reading the blurb, I was really excited to read it but as the pages wore on there was just so much inner monologue that it just got distracting. And annoying. No one is interesting enough to be inside their head this much and for Killian and Claire that was especially true. Or maybe they were interesting but their thoughts were intensively repetitive that I found myself skimming paragraphs to get to the action.

We have the evil stepmother and the evil-er stepsister who play their roles in the fairytale beautifully. Too much so in my opinion. There was just too much going on that it didn't really allow any time for Claire and Killian to actually fall in love, even FOR NOW which felt like a copout after all that. The writing was good but the formatting could use some help but I didn't judge on that because...ARC.

Killian was the bright spot in this story for me and I don't think the book, or Claire, was fair to him. He had a lot of crap put on his shoulders and I loved the way he handled it. Mostly. He was strong, kind of a bastard but necessarily so, and he went after what he wanted. He deserved more and curiosity has me wondering if book 2 will be worth it to see how it all plays out.

The story is an interesting take on fairy tales. I liked Killian and Claire, their chemistry came through the pages. A happy ending seemed to be insurmountable. The one thing that made it hard for me to keep reading was that it was just too wordy, going over the same thing again and again. I understand that we have to know the backstories of the characters and what motivates them, but there was so much of it, I kind of glazed over it. When I started reading this book, I was intrigued and looking forward to learning Killian and Claire’s story but lost some of my interest with too much details. I will keep on open mind regarding other stories by Ms Payne and Ms Blue and look forward to checking some of their other work.

I'm always up for a modern day re-telling of Cinderella. I mean who isn't? But this book was <i>okay</i> in my mind. It was well-written and the storyline is quite interesting - a PR agency helping out a major company with a crisis and in the process the strictly-off-limits (for more than 1 reason in this story) boss falls for the hard-working and brilliant young woman.
But for one reason or another, this book and I just didn't hit it off that much. Sure, it was a nice read, if a bit drawn out, and it's not like I hated the book. But, I don't know. It just wasn't for me, and that is only my personal opinion, and it is certainly nothing against this book nor the authors, just me.
And sure, the protagonist - Claire was nice. But i think that was just it. I didn't 'click' with her as much as I have with other protagonists in other books. Kilian was a bit too much for me at times, and I didn't really love how demanding he was and how almost forceful he was. But sure, he was certainly swoony at times and he genuinely cared for Claire - that much is clear.
So overall, perhaps not my favourite ever, but a decent read.
NB: I received an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review, all thought and opinions expressed are my own.

This book has been on my TBR list for a while and I have no idea why I waited so long to get into the Secrets of Stone Stone Series by Angel Payne because I really enjoyed this quirky take on the old Cinderella fairy tale. Killian (our prince) hires a reputation management firm to clean up the mess his brother Trey has gotten into and that’s where we meet Claire (our Cinders) and her soon to be stepmother and stepsister Margaux (I’m guessing you are getting the picture). Margaux calls dibs on Killian but he has no desire to be with her he only has eyes for Claire but secrets are being kept and that could mean jail for the innocent insecure Claire so she runs will her prince follow and save her.
Charming characters with lots of sizzling chemistry and a modern day twist on a timeless classic makes this a great read, looking forward to the rest of this series.

Fantastic read..love the characters and the fairy tale story..would be looking forward to the next book

This modern day Cinderella story drove me a bit crazy and not in a good way. The story starts slow and for much of the first half, a bit boring. In all honesty, the only character I actually liked in this one was Killian. He's all alpha male and when he sees something he wants, he goes after it, which is exactly what he did here with Claire. Yes, he wanted her, but that only implies lust, not love. He's rich enough to dazzle her with various ways of getting her attention, and they do generate plenty of steam. I realize that this is supposed to be and erotic twist on the fairytale, but when that takes over the book, it starts to become repetitive and a lot of steam doesn't show love - lust, yes, but nor love. The push and pull between our main characters happened so much that it quickly became expected. He would chase, she'd get caught, they'd get all hot and steamy, then she'd pull away again, and again, and again. These two do have some secrets, and there's a lot of angsty buildup to what I felt like was a letdown. The secrets just weren't big enough for all that angst. Finally, we have Claire, who I kept hoping would show some backbone. Instead, she's more doormat than anything else, and I really just wanted Killian to move on and find someone with some sass to compliment his all alpha self. On that note, the authors did a brilliant job with his character. Too bad the rest were such a disappointment. The conclusion here is open-ended, but considering my experience with this one, I won't be continuing this series.

I voluntarily reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book which I received
through Netgalley. I really liked it.

NO PRICE CHARMING SECRETS OF STONE Series Book 1 By Angel Payne & Victoria Blue
This is the story of Killian Stone and Claire Montgomery. These two meet when her employer, the PR firm Asher & Associates is hired to try to neutralize and reverse the problems his older brother Trey has made for their company SGC. Things start off when she is warned off of Killian by Margaux, her soon to be stepsister when her dad marries Andrea, the owner of the company. The attraction is off the charts from the start. They both have secrets they are hiding and are afraid to share. This book has chemistry, heat, and a great story line. This is the 1st book by Angel Payne and Victoria Blue I have read, but will not be the last!

This story was clever (modern Cinderella). It did stall a bit here and there but not enough for me to give up. Insta love - check, straight away fabulous sex - check. But, that’s what we signed up for with this type of story right?

It has plot points outside of the main characters which made it more than the average romance. Killian and Claire’s families were something else, lots of drama there.

The ending was nice. It was enough to leave you satisfied if you don’t intend to read on in this series but open ended enough for those ready for more. Thanks to NetGalley, the author, and Waterhouse Press for a copy in exchange for a review.

No Prince Charming is the first book in the Secrets of Stone series and is loosely based on the Cinderella fairytale. Claire Montgomery is our Cinders, although I’d say her soon to be stepmother, Andrea, is more apathetic rather than evil in her behaviour towards Claire. In this modern day retelling the evil role is reserved for Margaux, Andrea’s daughter, who is surely one of the most unlikeable characters I’ve read. They all work together for a top PR firm in San Diego when Killian Stone AKA Prince Charming calls them to Chicago to do damage control on his wastrel brother Trey’s latest escapade before he does lasting damage to the Stone Global Corporation. When Claire and Killian meet the chemistry between them is electric although Claire is reluctant to admit any attraction she has towards him let alone act on it due to Margaux “calling dibs” on Killian. Killian, however, is used to getting what he wants and right now that is Claire no matter how many times she says no. What he doesn’t know though is that Claire has a secret. One that could potentially see her sent to prison and the only other person who knows about it is Margaux, who isn’t above using blackmail to control people and is just mean and spiteful enough to use this information against Claire if thwarted in her plans.

I was a bit disappointed with the character of Claire in this book. She was such a doormat & didn’t seem to have any backbone. I was waiting for her to stand up to Margaux and there to be a big showdown between them but it never happened. The one point I did think start thinking “right, here it comes. Margaux has finally gone too far” but nope, Killian stepped in and took control but even then she still seemed to get off easy – maybe book two will see Margaux get her comeuppance. When I started reading this book I didn’t realise it was the start of a series and, although in my opinion, it could be read as a standalone, I’m looking forward to reading the second book, No More Masquerade, to see if Claire and Killian are living their happily ever after or if there are more secrets to be unearthed.