Reviewed by PizzyGirl
TITLE: The Glass Slipper
AUTHOR: Alex Morgan
PUBLISHER: JMS Books
LENGTH: 64 pages
RELEASE DATE: March 18, 2017
BLURB:
Cillian is trapped in his small village by his step-uncle, who has usurped Cillian’s inheritance and squandered it on his own two sons. Cillian earns his own living, and does all the family’s chores, while his step-cousins do nothing. Then Queen Beyta arrives, looking to have Cillian repair Princess Itha’s broken glass slipper. A party celebrating the king’s arrival is in two days, and Cillian gets to work.
But, the afternoon before the party, Cillian’s family overpowers him and locks him in the dungeon so that they might receive the king–and any blessings he might bestow. The queen comes to his rescue, and introduces him at court to the King Malo, Princess Itha, and Prince Pari. The princess wants to show Cillian her “gratitude,” but the prince intervenes and claims Cillian for himself.
The prince’s gratitude, however, isn’t anything Cillian is interested in. King Malo intervenes and Cillian fears more punishment, so it comes as a pleasant surprise when he’s led to the king’s bed.
Soon, though, Malo must return to the castle, and Cillian to his village. He once again finds himself at the mercy of his step-uncle and cousins. Will he ever see Malo again? Was their interlude just a game to the king or something more?
REVIEW:
This one is hard for me to review because I am torn on how this one made me feel. On the one hand, it was a very unique rendition of the traditional Cinderella Story. It was structured much like a fairy tale with that bit of magic that allows the story to move forward without a lot of depth or explanation. The technical writing was well done and I felt like it gave me everything I needed to superficially enjoy this one from start to finish.
However, the highly sexualized nature of the story was a bit off putting to me because I did not understand the dynamics very well. There was this weird BDSM vibe that was hinted at but not really explored. There was also this strange family dynamic of sharing partners that kind of bordered on pseudo-creepy-incest. And the open nature of the main romance was hinted at but never explicitly explained and at the same time it wasn’t open, so I was often confused.
In the end, I felt like the story tried to do too much for the word count. I liked the author’s take on Cinderella, but wished there was more meat to the story because I didn’t connect as well as I think I could have if there was more development shown. Maybe I just needed to go with the flow and enjoy what was there, but I found myself wanting more.
RATING: 
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