Cinderella for a Night

36 Hours #13

by Susan Mallery

A masquerade ball is plunged into darkness… A woman is poisoned… A millionaire bachelor becomes a father…

As a blackout gripped Grand Springs, Colorado, CEO Jonathan Steele was having quite a night. First, Cynthia Morgan—aka "Cinderella"—drank poison meant for him. Then his blackmailing half brother and sister-in-law were murdered, leaving Jonathan with his newborn baby nephew. In thirty-six hours, Jonathan's life had changed forever. Then grateful-to-be-alive Cynthia offered to move into his home as a temporary nanny, a serious challenge to Jonathan's bachelorhood…

Genres: Romance, Contemporary Romance, Contemporary

256 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published September 1, 2000

About the author

#1 New York Times bestselling author Susan Mallery writes heartwarming and humorous novels about the relationships that define women's lives—family, friendship, romance. She's best known for putting nuanced characters into emotionally complex, real-life situations with twists that surprise readers to laughter. Because Susan is passionate about animal welfare, pets play a big role in her books. Beloved by millions of readers worldwide, her books have been translated into 28 languages.

Critics have dubbed Mallery "the new queen of romantic fiction." (Walmart) Booklist says, "Romance novels don't get much better than Mallery's expert blend of emotional nuance, humor, and superb storytelling," and RT Book Reviews puts her "in a class by herself!" It's no wonder that her books have spent more than 200 weeks on the USA Today bestsellers list.

Although Susan majored in Accounting, she never worked as an accountant because she was published straight out of college with two books the same month. Sixteen prolific years and seventy-four books later, she hit the New York Times bestsellers list for the first time with Accidentally Yours in 2008. She made many appearances in the Top 10 before (finally) hitting #1 in 2015 with Thrill Me, the twentieth book in her most popular series, the Fool's Gold romances, and the fourth of five books released that year.

Susan lives in Washington state with her husband, two ragdoll cats, and a small poodle with delusions of grandeur. Her heart for animals has led Susan to become an active supporter of the Seattle Humane Society. Visit Susan online at www.SusanMallery.com.

Reviews

[Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

The basic story line is good and the characters more interesting than most. I marked it down for having loose ends and characters that more or less disrupt the story rather than add to it. I know this is the premise of this kind of theme book (36 hours) that have other books spinning off from it, but I don't much like it. If it's not part of THIS story, leave it out or make it part of this story. I was back and forth about Jonathan. At the age of 37, I felt that he should have figured out more than he has about life. Maybe he's just set in his ways. A bit young for it, but hey! Cynthia, on the other hand, was just plain young and idealistic. Fortunately she could be sensible along with that. Two more opposite characters it would be difficult to find. Still, Ms. Mallery had me pushing for both to make it, and I hurt when they would fail and smiled when they succeeded, even in a small way. Definitely re-readable.

[Jenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars
Many of the best selling writers started off their careers with silhouette/harlequinn novels.
It’s always neat to find these early books by writers I read & like.
This is an old one by Mallory. It was very good.
Great chemistry b/w Jonathan & Cynthia, snappy dialogue & a cute baby.
It has the engaging characters that Mallory books are now known for so you can tell the writer had that talent early on.
My only nit-picky issue was I felt there were loose threads left. For exs: regarding the deaths, they didn’t really solve that. Or his father’s hatred. His mother. And lastly the repetitiveness.

[Barb Chansky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fantastic find from my boxes for a Friday night enjoyment. I said it before, and I will say it again - they just don't write the romance novels like they did back in the 90s, before the world had gone completely insane. A sweet story with very likable main characters, reminding us once again what is truly important in life, what we owe our families, and what we can and can't compromise on...Highly recommend for the lovers of romances, and for anyone who needs a few hours of escapism.

[Deasy Rostianti · Rating 3 out of 5]

The 2 minus stars are mostly for Jonathan’s steele Assho** attitude to Cynthia and for a more needed additional scene for the ending.

Nevertheless, I’m a fan of Susan Mallery’s work ever since i was in senior high so no matter how uncontempt I am with the story, I still love her books. It is in the right pace and always bring hopes and that butterflies feeling for the readers.

[Melanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

interesting. unique. awesome. sweet and funny

[Kathy Sue Stumpf · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, but would not be interested in reading it again.

[Deborah Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought the concept was great and I enjoyed the book but...I think the ending came too quickly. It would have been nice to at least have an epilogue to tie up the loose ends, especially with the investigation. I also think that, while Cynthia was a strong character for her family, she should have been a stronger character for herself during the course of the story. Would like to have seen a second book with Jenny and then a third with the twins.

[Teresa · Rating 2 out of 5]

It started out okay but then got a little tedious. He tells her over and over that he isn't a good person, but there's never any sign of why he thinks that. She forgives him too easily the times he tries to hurt her so that she'll leave him, for her own good, of course. And at the end his turn around is a little sudden. Overall, it certainly wasn't bad, but it was just okay. Definitely not worth a reread though.

[Kobie · Rating 1 out of 5]

found a s. mallery book I didn't like. hero is a jerk.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love Susan Gallery, but this was not one of her best. Happy ending was there but what happened to all the unanswered questions about the hero's brother and mother?

[Suzana Signorini · Rating 3 out of 5]

Livro gostoso!
A leitura é facil, os personagens te pegam na leitura.Gostei!!!

[Quinn · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 Stars. Very old-school romance.