An absolutely delightful and unique twist on the classic Cinderella story we're all familiar with, and I'll be honest, I much prefer this version better.
From the blurb:
Cinder-Szule Reinholz has no intention of marrying his kingdom’s rake of a prince.
His place in the world is to keep his incompetent, destitute household afloat. It’s the only respectable thing he’s managed since his mother wasted her dying breath tasking him to do good, and the sins he’s stacked against that duty grow by the day—along with the bastards he’s stabbed and left for dead.
But while slinking through the royal matchmaker ball, Cin stumbles onto the prince mid-conquest. He’s whisked into a thrilling affair, as secretive as the magic that conceals his status and the feathers he leaves in his victim’s wounds. As Cin learns more of the prince’s familial burdens and perceived failures, his yearning delves beyond the prince's striking physique to his tender and attentive heart.
Cin’s nightly escapades are not going unnoticed by his family, though—not his time with the prince, nor his vigilante missions. Just as the King and Queen are presenting their own son’s hand in marriage like a trophy for the taking, they’ve offered a prize for whoever identifies the killer roaming their streets.
Caught between duty, desire, and something far darker, Cin fights for a future that doesn’t leave him trapped in someone else’s world—or their dungeons.
CINDER is a mid/high-heat M/M retelling with a transmasc, vigilante Cinderella. This novel is part of a series of interconnected Grimm fairy tales that can be read as standalones, each with its own Happy Ever After! Content includes familial emotional abuse, references to physical abuse suffered by side characters, one scene with story-relevant gore and mutilation, magical top surgery, and multiple spice scenes.
Angel's review:
DN Bryn is a new-to-me author and I'm so glad that through reading the GriMM Tales series I have been able to discover new to me authors, as well as reading books from authors I was familiar with prior to this series launching.
If you've ever read or watched the classic Cinderella story then you already have an idea on how the original Cinderella did not have an easy life... And neither does Cinder. But, Cinder doesn't let his mistreatment or lack of love from his own family stop him, he's still determined to help others even if his methods are a bit.. unconventional. I liked that there were so many nuances to both the MC's and the side characters, along with the background being packed with vivid and descriptive details. Ren and Cinder's love story isn't your conventional type of love, it's more subtle then that, yet somehow more intense in a way.
Ren doesn't feel love as others do, but he knows that Cinder is his person, and at the end of the day, that's all that matters to both of these men... Just knowing that they are each other's person and that they chose and keep choosing each other over everyone else. Which I thought was really sweet and endearing.
Cinder with his flock of birds was just an absolute delight to read about, I loved all of the moments where he was interacting so freely with the magical winged creatures who always tried to help him when he needed their help the most. There is a particular scene, well, scenes, that might make you tear up a bit, or gasp in shock... But the way that bad moment turned into something good took a bit of the sting away from that anguish.
Something I found very interesting is how The Frog Prince got brought into this story and their role in everything. I'm not going to spoil anything for anyone, so I'll just say this, I am VERY interested in reading the frog prince's book because I have my suspicions about who the frog Prince actually is... Or rather, was.
Cinder is currently available as an e-book and paperback and can be read as part of your Kindle Unlimited Subscription
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