This is my 5th book read in Serena Valentino's Villains series, and has probably taken my top two slot. An interesting back story to Lady Tremaine, though it all escalated a little quickly for me. While this could be read as a standalone, there are some subplots and new characters that will get lost if you have not kept up with the whole series. Some of the supporting characters weren't fully fleshed out, but that could be due to the fact that it is told almost entirely from Lady Tremaine's perspective. Overall, a very enjoyable quick read, especially for fans of the Disney version of Cinderella.

In Fairytales Stepmothers are Evil

Serena Valentino delves into a pre-Cinderella story about the villain Lady Tremaine. Once upon a time there was an evil stepmother and her two evil daughters. Except, Cinderella does not quite agree. After she writes a pleading letter to Fairy Godmother, the fairies must decide if Anastasia and Drizella are worthy of rescuing. Lady Tremaine did her best after the death of her husband, but moving on and raising her daughters to be ladies has not filled the hole in her heart. Scaring her selfish daughters, Anastasia and Drizella, into behaving is not the most effective way to parent. Overcorrecting by becoming overly strict and withdrawn, leads to their cruel behavior. Or is it the meddling of witches and fairies that change the good into horrible people?

At first, this version of Lady Tremaine is unrecognizable. Serena Valentino shows how Lady Tremaine gradually slips from benevolence, to dispassion, to callousness, and finally into madness. Serena Valentino makes her seem human with all the worries, sadness, selfishness, and mistakes that even heroes make. This is certainly a story about a romance gone wrong. It’s hard not to feel sympathy, when her life fails to be the happily ever after she expects as she falls into bitterness. There are some wonderful references to all the Disney fairies, as they work together to help the Many Kingdoms. Even if their meddling is one-sided. Also a few mentions of some of the previous Villains Series books. If you have ever questioned the tale of Cinderella, or are just curious about the other side of the story, this is a book about the dark endings of fairytales. Not everyone is destined for a happy ending, some receive cruel fates.

This was the one of this series I was most looking forward to. It's so interesting to see the fairytale story from the other side! Love LOVE LOVE! Great for any fairytale fan.

Cold Hearted by Serena Valentino is the newest book (#8) in the excellent Disney Villain series. This book features the famous, and misunderstood Lady Tremaine and her two daughters from the story of Cinderella. I have read several books from this impressive series, and this one did not disappoint.

It was fascinating to read an account of Lady Tremaine from a completely different point of view. The reader was able to gain insight on her life before joining Cinderella’s household, her thoughts, hopes, fears, mistakes, and the events that took place behind the scenes to lead us to the part where it intersects with the classic fairy tale. Not all that we thought is what it seems, and it was addictive to turn each page to see what happens next and how it all fits together into the puzzle of Lady Tremaine.

I loved every minute of it!

5/5 stars

Thank you NG and Disney-Hyperion for this awesome arc and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.

I am posting this review to my GR, Instagram, and Bookbub accounts immediately and will post it to my Amazon, Instagram, and B&N accounts upon publication.

I read this before reading the other villain books in this series and I wouldn't say it was hard to follow or confusing at all, but for myself, I should've read the series in order first! I have the others so will read those and then I will re-read this but overall I enjoyed how this dove into the back story of Lady Termaine. I cannot wait to add this physical copy to my collection of the Villain series!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, Disney Press, for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Serena Valentino does it once again!

Cold Hearted tells the story of the Disney villain with the least amount of information on and captures readers into a compelling story full of heartbreak. Lady Tremaine may never be forgiven for her acts against the most classic of Disney princesses, but after this, readers will think twice before fully judging her for her actions.

I do enjoy a story about any Disney villain. One of the things I truly enjoyed about this story was how we as the reader gets a chance to see more of Cinderella's father and how abuse he may have actually been. In the movies we only see him for a little bit and through Cinderella's eyes; so seeing it through the villains eyes was a nice touch.
I will say this story did feel rush. I felt like so much more could have been done with this story, such as going into depth with lady termaines ex-husband and their story. Just because it gives this character more of a backstory. The author does a great job of giving Disney villains back stories, but for the evil stepmother of Cinderella she kind of left all that out. How was she growing up? What could have really caused that cold heart? Was she abused as a kid or by her ex-husband? How did her ex-husband die. I just felt like so much was left out and rushed that it caused the story to feel like it was missing something.

One thing I will say though is I did love that ending. I did love how the step sisters story was redeemed and how they finally realized what they did to get in the spot they are in, because it shows that anyone is worth giving a second chance to. All in all this story was interesting and entertaining, just wish we got way more back story on a classic disney villain.

This book tells Lady Tremaine and Cinderella's story in a different light. It was a quick easy read but very interesting. I love all of the books in this series and this latest one is no exception!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC. I LOVED the back story on Lady Tremaine, CInderalla is my favorite princess story. This is the 3rd book of the villians series and it did not disappoint. Serena has a great way of weaving in the original classic story while telling the back story of the villian. I actually felt so sorry for her which I never thought I would say. A definite must read for the classic story lovers.

This was the second book I have read in Serena Valentino’s Villians series. I absolutely loved reading Lady Tremaine’s story. I feel that Lady Tremaine is one of the least talked about Disney villains so it was great to finally read about how she turned into the cold hearted villain that she was. Throughout the novel I found myself feeling all kinds of different emotions and couldn’t help but sympathize with Lady Tremaine after seeing everything she went through. A woman that started out as warm and loving was transformed by terrible circumstances into a cold, hateful villain and it was sad to see the decline. I’ve always believed that there’s two sides to every story and this book proved it! I can see myself going back and reading all the other books in the series as well. Thank you to Netgalley and Disney Publishing Worldwide - Disney-Hyperion for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Cold Hearted was such a fun read! I love fairytale retellings and this one about Cinderella’s step mother Lady Tremaine did not disappoint! I felt like I was reading a fairytale book and I really enjoyed reading Cinderella’s story from a different perspective. The story didn’t over explain but also didn’t leave anything out. I have no complaints about this book. I also have not read any other Villains stories by Serena Valentino and didn’t find the story hard to follow without first reading the previous books.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Another great read from Ms. Valentino, I been reading the entire series and each one gets better and better, I love how it's a connected universe. I really enjoyed reading Lady Tremaine's story and always enjoy how Ms. Valentino creates unique voices for each character. I look forward to more from the Villains series and from Ms. Valentino.

Thank toy Net Galley and Disney Publishing Worldwide for giving me a ARC of this book in exchange for a honest review.

The Villains series has always been one of my favorite series since it first came out. When I found out Cold Hearted was about Lady Tremaine, I couldn't have been more excited. Seeing as there are not many stories about her or that go into the detail of her life. Being a huge Cinderella fan I have always wondered what made Lady Tremaine into the cruel and cold hearted woman she is.

Valentino does such good job with making us be able to sympathize with the villains. As this was the case with Cold Hearted. I felt so much remorse for Lady Tremaine and her daughters. Lady Tremaine only wanted a good life for herself and her daughters, after the passing of her husband.

The character description and the attention to detail throughout this book were spot on. This book had gripped my attention from the first page until the very last. The Villains series does such a good job of teaching us to never judge a book by its cover. In this case Lady Tremaine was made into the Villain she was due to abuse and her will to defend herself and her daughters. She was only trying to be a good parent and got blindsided by doing what she thought was the right thing.

Disclaimer: I was given an arc from @ NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I love this series and it gave me a different look into Lady Tremaine's life. It's no excuse for how she ends up, but it explains a lot about why she is the way that she is towards Cinderella. I also enjoyed reading about what the step-sister's lives were like. It's slightly different from the version I was familiar with, but it's a refreshing take on an old classic.

This was such a good book to read, I always was a big Cinderella lover so that drew me in immediately. But what made me stay was how this story made Lady Tremaine feel more human and less like a dark evil as in Cinderella.

First off thank you to Disney Publishing for an ARC of Cold Hearted to review!
I had looked forward to Serena Valentino’s latest installment in her Villains series since she announced it. I was so excited to see what she would do with Lady Tremaines story, and like every other story before, she did not disappoint.

Cold Hearted follows the story of Lady Tremaine and her daughters’ early life and gives you an inside look into everything she suffered and went through which lead her to become the evil stepmother that everyone knows, to Cinderella.

Serena Valentino always does an amazing job at humanizing the Villains from Disney movie classics. As she does with every story before, she brought the story of Cold Hearted to life. I felt for Lady Tremaine and all the things she had to go through and give up in her life to get what she thought was her happily ever after which unfortunately she did not get. With this story that Valentino tells, it makes sense as to why she was so mean an evil to Cinderella. Just like the quote says “Evil is made, not born.”
I just wish they story would have been a bit more detailed as to why Drizella and Anastasia were such snobs. I know it mentions that they first grew up very spoiled and that was one of the reasons why they were so obnoxious but I would have wanted to see a little bit more of their background too. But I guess it’s understandable with this being mainly about Lady Tremaine and her downfall.

Once again, Serena Valentino brought a light to another misunderstood Villain who deserved a different life. I have loved each book in this Villain series and this one very much included! I cannot wait to read everything else Serena Valentino comes up with next! I look forward to the reveal of the next installment!

Lady Tremaine was not always the evil stepmother we know.

Long time ago, she was a widow, a sad widow, who loved her husband, and mourned him for years, until the day she meets a dashing knight, it's a rush romance and a quick wedding, she leaves her country, friends and servants behind and she and daughters moves with the gentleman, but her new life don't go like she thought, its not a pretty and those circumstances it will mold it into the cruel person we know.
Its a good story, you feel bad about Lady Tremaine and her daughters, they move to a new country, they don't feel welcome, don't have friends and they are not really appreciated there. Also, magic is against them and its something she can't control.


Review dates: Goodreads and Bookbub February 28th and Barnes & Noble, Amazon June 29th.

Yet another great story from Serena Valentino! I loved how she delved into the back story of Cinderella's wicked stepmother and managed to weave the story into the already established storyline of her other Villains books. Fabulous! 10 out of 10!

When I read the first chapter of "Cold Hearted" I was immediately transported back to the world of villain's created by Serena Valentino. The villain's series has become one of my favorite series of all time and "Cold Hearted" is no exception. The way that the author can seamlessly connect the stories from the original movie into the backstory is phenomenal and truly shows how much love goes into making a book like this.
This book is very emotional in the fact you will laugh, maybe cry, but in the end feel awful for the woman that Lady Tremaine becomes. Understanding the ACTUAL villain that turned Lady Tremaine into the villain she became shocked me and emotionally resonated with me and truly made me feel bad for this poor woman. I would 100% recommend this book and series to my classroom and make some fun projects out of it! Thank you for another amazing book in this phenomenal series Serena.

I own all the previous serena valentino Villain's books and there is a reason. They are beautiful, well written works of art and her newest one, Cold Hearted is no different. She has been showing us why we love the villains and how they are not always truly that, just portrayed that way by circumstance and necessity to survive. If you like some or all of the previous works be sure to pick up this one as well. You won't be disappointed. I don't know which villain SV will bring to life in pages next but I will happily wait to purchase it for my collection. I would personally like to see a good story of Dr.F from the princess and the frog.
I received this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion from NetGalley and Disney publishing.