By Aeris
Cinders (Fairest of Them All #1) by Harper Cole, Trisha Linde, and Colbie Dunbar
Synopsis (from Goodreads)
One night. One lie. One chance at love.
Tiago is just your regular joe omega. He’s still living at his stepfather’s home, buried under mounds of student debt, and he finds himself without a shovel to dig his way out. He’s beyond exhausted working his minimum-wage job under the pretense that he’ll work his way up the corporate ladder, except—the company belongs to his stepfather. Somehow this means Tiago is the company gofer. When nobody else wants to travel to the middle of nowhere for a business deal, Tiago gets saddled with it. He should hate it… he should dread it… but instead, it might just be his first taste of freedom. He hopes it won’t be the last.
A wolf named Hemingway? Sounds like the punchline of a joke, which is exactly what Hem feels like some days. He’s too alpha to be submissive, too young to be taken seriously, and all of the elders keep pushing him to mate, hoping it’ll help calm his restless spirit. But no matter how much they push, Hem can’t bring himself to settle down. He can’t help but feel like… there’s someone special out there, just waiting to be found. But after one blisteringly hot encounter with the omega of his dreams, he has to face the cold reality that he never thought to consider—what if his mate doesn’t want to be found?
In the first book of the new series, Fairest of Them All, Harper B. Cole, Colbie Dunbar, and Trisha Linde bring you fairy tales with a modern, mpreg, shifter twist. Cinders features a human who has no idea the shifter world exists and whose stepfather and stepbrothers treat him as an afterthought, both at home and in the office, a rugged wolf shifter who is a softie inside, sizzling heat when the pair meet, a full moon, ancient legends that have more truth to them than expected, a cute baby, and an eventual happy ever after. If you adore smexy alphas who are at home in the forest and ready to give up everything for love, and omegas who finally find their place in the world, get your copy of Cinders today.
Cinders is a Cinderella re-telling with a twist — an MM story set in Omegaverse where there are humans and shifters. I don’t think I have enough fairy tale re-telling on my book list, especially with this kind of setting, so when I got this news in my email, I immediately read it.
And while they treated their coworkers with indifference at best, I was their personal punching bag and indentured servant. – Tiago
🌹 Reasons to Bump This Up Your TBR
The tension and chemistry
This keeps me up all night. The writing is just *chef’s kiss.* From the setup to the build-up of Tiago and Hem’s meeting up until the part where they have to briefly separate once the magical night ends, I just love them all. This has to be the highlight of the entire book.
Low Angst
Perfect to read when you just want to kick back and relax after a long day. Though I wouldn’t have minded a little more angst.
🥀Reasons to Bump This Down On Your TBR
Insta-love
Cinders contains the fated mates trope so the main characters professing their undying love shouldn’t have been surprising to me. It’s just that I would have preferred if the two works hard to attain their happy ending.
It’s a little OTT at times.
The antics of Tiago’s step-father and step-siblings get a little more ridiculous as the story goes. That, in the end, I just chalked it up to being fictional. But this might not be something that other readers can shove aside when they’re reading.
I also find the confession scene OTT. I mean, sure, Tiago and Hem miss each other, but they also have tons of things to talk about. What do we get? The two lovers meet in the middle of the office, said their piece, explain the lie, and then, bam, makeup sex.
Pacing is awkward.
I got so confused with the time when I was reading. There is no indication of the number of hours or days that have passed. For instance, when Hem meets Tiago for the first time, it is mentioned by one of the characters that Tiago goes for lunch. So when the two meet, I thought it is still lunchtime. They go for a walk, and then it’s already nightfall. It’s just a short walk so how did it become evening already? It would have been nice if there’s some time indication or something.
I’d never been so bold, but if I was to have one chance at happiness, however short, I had to grasp it. – Tiago
Verdict
Good idea for the plot, execution not so much.
Have you read this book? If not, do you plan on reading this? Let me know your thoughts in the comments!