Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this arc!

This book was great! I loved the writing style and I loved the characters and their chemistry. I loved the Christmas vibes. Great book!!

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for this ARC.

This is a dual POV Christmas insta-love romance which is a very obvious modern retelling of Cinderella to the point where Cinderella is called Ella and is being exploited working for the family cleaning company, Prince Charming's last name is Charming and the villagers are performing a Cinderella panto where everyone is given their real roles in life, so art is imitating life. Speaking of art, they just want to paint, why won't their families just let them paint?

I can't help feeling that everyone is exaggerated as surely no one would act like these people do in real life. The villains (Cinderella's stepmother, Prince Charming's father) are caricatures and Ella and Alex are so psychologically damaged that they don't believe in their own worth, don't stand up to people and come to all the wrong conclusions. I really wanted to shake Alex who overreacts massively because he can't differentiate between real and fake emotions due to his awful cold father having done a number on him his entire life.

This novel has a lot of similarities with Winter Wishes in the Scottish Highlands, which I've read recently (the publication dates are only a month apart), with characters behaving ridiculously throughout, including having silly third-act break-ups.

It's a short read with a cute cover but I'm afraid the story fell flat for me. There were some interesting side characters like painter Henry, godmother Mae, little Hunter and Aggie with the soups, plus dogs Wyatt and Sprout but they didn't save the book for me. I really needed more of an original story and less childhood trauma.

However, it's a fast, easy read with enough romance and festive Christmas activities going on to sustain the average romance reader. Unfortunately, it isn't for me.

This is a modern day cinderella story .
When Ella's dad dies he leaves the family leaning buisness for her to run with hr stepmother and brothers only this buisness is in debt an the step family are always letting her down. she ends up doing all the shifts herself and not doing what she loves painting.

Alex works in a high power job and has come away to Mistletoe for a painting hoilday . Working with local painter in his studio.

Ella and alex meet by chance when he arrives at mistletoe when he nearly runs over her dog and they get off on the Wrong foot.
Only to meet again at the artist studio.

A lovley christmas story

Ella perdió a sus padres, primero a su madre y años después a su padre. Ahora ella vive para cumplir los sueños de sus padres y obedecer a su madrastra.

Alex vive para complacer a su padre, toda su vida le ha enseñado que los sentimientos lo debilitará y lo mas importante es el trabajo y el dinero.

Cuando se conocen sus personalidad chocan, son polos opuestos en apariencia, pero en realidad ambos sólo quieren ser felices y amados.



Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A sweet Christmas the fairy tale. Ella and Alex have to find a way to believe in themselves and put themselves first. In helping each other, they also heal themselves. A nice romance.

A true Cinderella story from Donna Ashcroft. From an unfortunate first meeting, the story develops into a romance with lots of ups and down. The full range of Cinderella type characters are in the book and it also has many humorous moments. Well worth reading.

A lovely love story set in the Highlands . You had a mad artist , snow, step families being awful , a terrible controlling father , a pantomime and a love story and a great godmother .What more could you want . A fab read