I enjoyed reading this take on the Cinderella story.

The author describes it as more fairy tale than historical fiction, and that seems right. The story was full of fuzziness of setting and improbable coincidences that really worked because of that tie.

Kate (Cinderella) is the granddaughter of an Earl. Her mother was sickly but very rich, and her very good looking father married for access to that money, but not for love or affection. Her mother died, and her father immediately remarried a woman with a beautiful daughter (Victoria), about 5 years younger than Kate.

Kate finds it necessary to stay around to protect the staff and the tenants on her father's estate, so her stepmother has a way to convince her to take part in a truly hare-brained scheme to pretend to be Victoria on a trip to see her fiance's extended family, including a prince!

Yes, there are glass slippers, a ball, a previously unknown godmother (no fairies, though), a midnight escape... There are also funny little dogs, several steaming hot scenes, primary characters with some depth, funny secondary characters...

A very fun read.