Her Princess at Midnight offers a delightful twist on the classic Cinderella tale, reimagined as a Regency-era sapphic romance. As this is a novella, its brevity unfortunately makes certain aspects of Cynthia’s blossoming romance with the prince's sister feel somewhat hurried.

However, the novel's inventive concept and engaging narrative more than make up for this rapid progression. It’s a charming, light-hearted read that provides a fresh perspective on a familiar story. For anyone looking for a quick, enjoyable escape into a world of regal romance with a sapphic flair, this novella is definitely worth a read.

Many thanks to Netgalley and WebMotion for a copy of this novel. ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

I like Ridley a lot but this novella didn't give enough time for the desire and chemistry to build up so I wasn't yet fighting for the two of them to get together

Such a good story hold my heart from beginning to end, there is an abundance of m|m stories in HR and it’s nice to have a w|w story.

A well-written, slightly altered retelling of Cinderella. The Steps as horrible and hateful as ever. However, instead of falling for the visiting Prince, Cynthia instead falls for his sister!
Thank you Erica Ridley, Webmotion and NetGalley for allowing me an advance copy for my honest feedback.

This was an interesting sapphic twist on the Cinderella fairy tale. The evil stepmother and stepsisters were definitely front and center and were as annoying and as mean as possible. The prince (from Italy) was shopping for a wife (in England) - I don’t remember these specific details from the original tale, but the nuances of this novella were what made it so interesting and fun. This story followed the original (with some liberties taken for the gender swap) quite well and even included an epilogue of what happened to Cynthia and the princess after the “happily ever after.”

This ARC was provided by the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

In this retelling of Cindrella, Cynthia is the poor stepsister who must do all the chores. When a prince and princess arrive from Italy in search of a wife for the prince, it is the princess who catches Cynthia's eye.
Opinion
This is a short and sweet retelling of Cinderella. There are a few love scenes that can be a little bit graphic. Though LGBTQ+ is not my preferred read, I love Ridley's style so much that I read this one and was quite impressed with it. I'm sure the intended audience would love it, even though it is quite short. I personally love how the "magic" was taken away and replaced with reasonable touches. (Magpies took the place of talking mice, for instance.)
Many thanks to Net Galley and to Webmotion for providing me with an ARC of this book.

Such a cute and sweet sapphic Cinderella retelling.

Plenty of nods to the Disney cartoon and Ever After, yet it managed to add new elements as well.
Cynthia has the traditional Cinderella backstory, but in this version she falls for the prince’s sister, not the prince.

While I’m not usually a huge fan of insta-love, it was beautifully executed in this novella. The moment they spot each other is electric and very swoony.
I also appreciate that the lovers spend a little time together getting to know each other before they find their HEA.

No fairy godmothers or magical pumpkin coaches in this version, but there are some friendly magpies that attempt to help Cynthia out.

This was my first Erica Ridley book, but it definitely won’t be my last.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an e-arc!

Her Princess at Midnight is a sapphic retelling of Cinderella, which was instantly intriguing to me. Cynthia lives with her awful step mother and step sisters, waiting on them hand and foot. When a prince comes to town to select his bride, Cynthia’s “family” is determined to catch the attention of the prince at a ball he is hosting. However, when Cynthia locks eyes with the prince’s sister, Princess Ammalia, Cynthia’s fate changes forever.

I enjoyed this short story and thought Cynthia was such a funny and witty character. I admired her boldness at times and was glad that she remained true to herself. This was definitely and interesting spin on a classic fairytale.

Such a cute and sweet sapphic Cinderella retelling. Plenty of nods to the Disney cartoon and Ever After, yet it managed to add new elements as well. Cynthia has the traditional Cinderella backstory, but in this version she falls for the prince’s sister, not the prince. While I’m not usually a huge fan of instalove, it was beautifully executed in this novella. The moment they spot each other is electric and very swoony. I also appreciate that the lovers spend a little time together getting to know each other before they find their HEA. No fairy godmothers or magical pumpkin coaches in this version, but there are some friendly magpies that attempt to help Cynthia out. My second favorite Cinderella retelling after Ash by Malinda Lo. This was my first Erica Ridley book, but it definitely won’t be my last.

I received an advanced copy from the publisher and am voluntarily leaving this review.

A spin on a fairy tale can go two ways: terrible wrong or just absolutely wonderful. Being a loyal fan of Erica Ridley, I was sure she would fall in the latter category. And I was not wrong. The re-telling of Cinderella with her falling in love with the princes’ sister is just a great twist in the original story. Just too cute, loved it.

As always with Erica, cute, cozy and funny. Four out of five stars from me

A sapphic regency romance without all the angst! A delightful twist on the Cinderella story that shows you can find love in the most unexpected places. I look forward to reading the author’s other books!

𝗠𝘆 𝗧𝗶𝘁𝗹𝗲: Her Princess at Midnight
𝗙𝗮𝘃 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗿: the house
𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆: Normal
𝗧𝘆𝗽𝗲: Novel
𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗿𝗲: Fantasy retelling
3/𝟱

🌱𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝘅𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝘁
~ “He’ll take the other two” 🤭🤣😭
~ A relatively quick read
~ Cinderella retelling (if you like those)
~ Sapphic closed door romance
~ Closed door seggs
~ Entrepreneurship 🤣

✨𝗚𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝗮 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱.

🦖 Overall it was an okay if slightly askew story; in that, the sequence, pacing & feel of the story were off & left me feeling unbalanced. It’s a somewhat unique twist to the Cinderella story though, soo, there is that.

🌱𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝗵
~ slightly bizarrely fast story?
~ slightly off sequence of events
~ for some reason, the story seemed like it was fast forwarded & I was unable to fully into the “romance”? of it

♡🌱 𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗺𝗲 ;)

Ever wondered what would happen if Cinderella longed for the Prince’s sister instead? In this regency retelling of Cinderella with a sapphic twist you’ll get exactly that!

This was ridiculously cute, I loved it so much. I wish there were more sapphic retellings of fairy tales like this, it made me so happy reading it! My only fault is that I wish the story could’ve been longer, I wanted more of Ammalia and Cynthia’s story. Will definitely be reading more from this author and can see myself rereading this in the future. Big thank you to Net Galley and Erica Ridley for the chance to read an ARC of this.

What a fun sapphic retelling of Cinderella! I liked all the characters, I enjoyed all the little Easter eggs for the Disney version, overalls just a sweet fun read.

This is not the Cinderella that many of us might have grown up with. There is a happily ever after, but a sapphic happy ever after! What if Cinderella fell in love with the Prince's sister rather than the Prince? This is that story.

The classic components are there: Cinderella's father passes away; the stepmother and stepsisters treat Cinderella horribly. However, when the Prince comes to town with his caravan of people, he is accompanied by his sister. His sister is considered a spinster because her interests in significant others is...unconventional (spoiler: she likes women).
As the procession of the Prince and his people roll into town, the townspeople rush out to see them go by. That is when it happens--the Princess sees Cinderella. Instantly they lock eyes, and they cannot look away!

What I enjoyed about the story was the Princess' care for Cinderella. I LOVED how she told Cinderella's family off several times. I loved how the Princess showed how much she cared about Cinderella.

It was not quite closed door, but the main steamy scene could have been better described. I feel like that was my main complaint throughout was I wish there was more description. The description was hit or miss to me.

Overall, I enjoyed the book. I would like to read more from this author.

I must say I didn't expect it to be a novella.
It's not the best I've read of Erica Ridley.
I genuinely love spaphic historical romances, but this just fell a little short for me.
Still it was well written.

Unfortunately, this is one I just didn’t enjoy. But the main reason is on me as I didn’t realize going in that this is a novella.

This a sapphic regency era re-telling of Cinderella. Ridley doesn’t seem to stray too far off from the Disney movie, however, there are a few changes.

Cynthia has become the maid to her stepmother and stepsisters after the passing of her father. She lives to do their bidding and little else. Then one day the Prince and Princess of Parmenza come to town looking for a wife for the prince. However, Princess Ammalia and Cynthia make eye contact during the royal parade and have an instant connection.

This was a case of instalove in very high gear. I’m not sure the two have an actual conversation before they’re a couple.

I needed this to be fleshed out and not so rushed. This is just over 100 pages so there wasn’t a whole lot of time for much of anything to happen, especially when so much was going on.

While I didn’t connect with this, I really enjoyed The Perks of Loving a Wallflower and will look for more sapphic stories from Ridley in the future.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

There’s more than one sapphic take on Cinderella and this one is probably the closest I’ve read to the original fairy tale. Since her father died, Cynthia Talbott has become her stepmother and stepsister’s maid. The only maid left, too, since Lady Tremaine and her daughters Dorothea and Stasia have spent all the money Cynthia’s dad left. The Prince of Parmenza comes to England to marry the prettiest girl, and both stepsisters are convinced they’ll be the chosen one, while Cynthia wants to go to the ball to see the prince’s sister, Princess Ammalia, who caught her eye during the Royal Parade.

I’m not sure the story is supposed to make much sense, so just let yourself enjoy it. Ammalia showing up at Cynthia’s house with a beautiful ball gown and making the others wait on their stepsister for once is delightful. The tension between the MCs is thick and while the ending feels a bit too convenient, who cares. Her Princess at Midnight—first published as part of the Pride Not Prejudice anthology minus the epilogue (which you can read on the author’s website with the password “gimmehea”)—is a playful novella, a fun romp that doesn’t pretend to be anything else.

This definitely read like Cinderella fanfiction, rather than a nicely edited novel... but I'm not complaining lol! It was cute but by far not the best Erica Ridley book I’ve read. Also… the sex scene was so abrupt and I was not feeling it. But I liked the love interest a lot!

🌈 Queer rep: FF main couple

Her Princess at Midnight by Erica Ridley is a queer Regency-era Cinderella retelling. The novella shifts point of view between our two main characters.

This was a cute and quick read! If you're a fan of queer historical romance, or Cinderella retellings in general, you should check this out.

The execution wasn't as on point as I'd hoped. The pacing was a bit off to me, and I think it could have worked better if it was a full-length novel. It was a bit too breakneck as a novella, and I would have appreciated more depth to our main characters.

It's very insta-love, which is typically not a trope that I care for, but if I think back on Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella, which I LOVE, there's even a song about how they fell in love "ten minutes ago."

This was my first read by the author, as novellas are a great way to dip my toes into a body of work. I'll still be checking out other things they've written, including the first in this Regency Fairy Tales series: Bianca & the Huntsman (a Snow White retelling).