The Truth About Cinder

Evil Lies #1

by Alta Hensley

The evil lies little girls are told…

There are hushed whispers about a wicked and decadent place known as the Palace of Lazar. A prince with insatiable tastes and the women who cater to it all. Feasts of pleasure, lust, and forbidden acts… all submitting to the sensual allure of the Harem.

But behind its bejeweled façade of luxury and pleasure lies a haunting and evil truth. A dark and perverse world that only the strong can survive.

A truth Cinder is about to learn when her fairytale dreams become twisted into a macabre masquerade of dancing vices.

Will she succumb to the demands of her current story, or cling to her fairytale ending?

Genres: BDSM, Romance, Dark, Dark Romance, Fantasy, Fiction, Fairy Tales

Unknown Binding

About the author

Alta Hensley is a NYT & USA Today bestselling author of dark romance where the villain always gets the happily ever after.

Twisted, clever, and occasionally unhinged, her books deliver morally gray anti-heroes, sharp-tongued heroines, and happily ever afters that taste even sweeter after a little ruin. With a signature blend of grit, wit, and heat, Alta’s stories prove one thing: Villains deserve love too.

Alta lives on the foggy coast of Oregon with her husband, two daughters, and a pair of dogs who think they’re in charge. When she’s not writing redemption for the irredeemable, she’s walking the coastline or sipping craft beer in eccentric little bars that feel like they belong in her books.

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Reviews

[Bex (Beckie Bookworm) · Rating 1 out of 5]

This one I'm sorry to say wasn't really for me a sort of kinky post-apocalyptic master /slave romance based kinda loosely on Cinderella, except it isn't really that at all.
I mean we have cinders, a prince, a palace and some mistress sisters but that's about the extent of it really.
I felt this didn't know where it wanted to be at and at times encompassed too many different themes.
I think this would have fared better if we had stuck with one theme or the other instead of as many as we did.
I have read and enjoyed this author before and as you would expect this was as well written as her previous works just not really my bag.
So this is quite an erotic read that is told entirely from Cinders POV and the initial premise was initially intriguing.
This had some dark themes that some readers might struggle with but on the whole, this is not a massively dark story more of an erotic adventure.
Least favourite from this author but this was still well written just not for me.
I voluntary reviewed a copy of The Truth about Cinder.



Reviewed By Beckie Bookworm
https://www.facebook.com/beckiebookworm/
www.beckiebookworm.com

[Kelly_Reads_Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Truth About Cinder was a story about what happens when the world is running out things and people struggle to find a place. With different communities each offering different options Cinder wanders trying to find a specific community.
There is a lot of struggle that requires so much strength. Will Cinder find what she is looking for?
Alta Hensley's stories always entertain and capture the reader.

[Relly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just ok

3 ⭐️

I’m not sure what I was expecting here, but I thought it was going to be a dark retelling of the fairytale Cinderella. It didn’t really hold up to that. It wasn’t a bad read I just didn’t really find it dark at all.

Cinder lives in a time where people are huddled together in colonies as liveable areas of the world are few and far between with the desert bordering the colonies. Cinder moves from colony to colony trying to get to the palace of lazar where she wants to join the harem. Cinder starts off as a strong character in her travels but time languishing in the harem make her kind of weak. She spends a lot of time when the army is training at Casen crying and believing she is a burden (which she really is at that point). I picked Donte really early and was waiting for Cinder to wake up.

A character Nico was introduced and I’m not sure what his purpose was. It felt like it was going towards a secondary love interest but never went anywhere. I just didn’t understand his character.

I think this one suffered from not knowing what it was meant to be. Was it a dystopian story, an erotic fairytale or even just erotica. The fairytale fell away very early and there were parts that were erotic but once they left the harem they fell away to be replaced by the dystopian storyline.

I read it and it was ok but I wouldn’t read it again and don’t really have the desire to read the next one either

[Miscellaneous Allie]

DNF. I feel dumb I didn't realize it's just a porno. Also I couldn't stop imagining the dude's voice booming with everything he said so he just seemed kind of deaf and addled in my mind.
Be careful what adjectives you use to describe what your character is like.

B o o m i n g

[Eva Wade · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is awesome. The plot the characters a world wide drought I couldn't put this down. It's got it's sad moments might have some triggers for some. This is a standalone with HEA. This does have elements of domestic discipline. I could not put this down.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Cass ☾ · Rating 5 out of 5]

i didn't love the spicy scenes in this but thats just not my thing personally so i'm not taking off any stars for it. this was 100% a cover buy for me and i was expecting a dark retelling of cinderella but that is not what this is. however, i really loved it and i couldn't put this down. it was a fun, and super quick read for both me and my friend brianna. i'm looking forward to reading the sequel which is based on alice in wonderland. hopefully, it is more similar to the actual fairytale than this one was.

[Badh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alta Hensley has given us a delicious, debauched, depraved, dark, dystopian fairy tale. This is definitely not a version of Cinderella that you might want to share with any little kiddies. In fact, you may even want to make sure that they aren't even in the same room as you when you start to read this story, because it is that so good.

Cinder has fought through the desert to reach the Palace of Lazar so that she can get her happy ending. She gets used to all the things that happen in the harem in the palace, and her yearnings for Donte, when the worst thing that could happen, does happen.

We don't ever get a look into Donte's head. We only know him through Cinder. He seems to be a good, honorable, and caring man. He wants to make sure that everyone in the harem and in his palace are safe and well cared for.

I think that Cinder is a really strong character. She had to be, considering what she had to go through to get to where she was. She was really brave, incredibly determined, and I think that she had some leadership in her somewhere.

[Bookish.Midnight. and. black · Rating 1 out of 5]

Damn you beautiful cover!

[Pamela · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a tale of Cinder wondering around different communities looking for a place to stay. She encounters some very interesting and kinky characters. She's on her way across the desert to join the prince's harem. It will be no paradise for her at first but a happy ending will happen for her. A twisted, kinky tale with plenty of steam and sex.

I received a copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Philomena Callan Cheekypee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This isn’t a book I’d normally read and it definitely wasn’t what I expected. It was so so much more.

I’m so glad Cinder is a tough cookie as she needs as much courage as she can. She believes that the best place for her to survive is at the Palace of Lazar.

This book took me by surprise and I really enjoyed it. Looking forward to reading the next book.

[A.BookNerd.Bookseller&Bibliophile.Blog · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting take on a classic fairy tale. Honestly, if the main character's name wasn't Cinder I wouldn't have recognized it. That's how different it is. But I love dystopian future novels, and this one is a good concept. I wish it was a bit more fleshed out, but it's not bad.

Reviewed by: Leann M.

[Tai Nelson-Barnes · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Truth About Cinder is an exciting book; it is futuristic but past like also. Cinder is looking for her forever home, and that place is The Palace Of Lazar, which is a harem but supposed to be a haven for the woman. Little does Cinder know what she will have to go through to stay.

There is a LOT of stuff that goes down in this place, not only sexually, but a massive war also takes place. I enjoyed this story and the romance that takes place between Cinder and Donte.

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

So I’m not sure what I expected out of this but it was not what I got. This book was an attempt at dominant/submissive erotica. Maybe I don’t know enough about that lifestyle to understand or appreciate these characters but the main female, Cinder, is a whiny brat who somehow gets a prince to fall in love with her through her “submission”, which is not really complete and somewhat childish as she disobeys her Dom frequently and then cry’s about the results degrading her own self worth. This same prince Spends most of the book’s beginning watching women be “trained” for anal sex, quite violently in some cases, but there are never any instances of Actual anal sex occurring. Why all the “training” if not to just humiliate. It seems the author tried to make Cinder into a stronger woman by allowing her to embrace her submissive side and I have read some books that successfully illustrate this theme, but this one missed the mark. None of the characters are really all that likeable or even behaviorally consistent. I do give it two stars because I did finish it, so that means my interest was peaked enough to want to know the book’s outcome, however I will not be reading any more by this author. It might just not be my thing

[Biate · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am sitting on the fence with this one, somewhere between liking and not liking it. This was not the story I had in mind when I saw it advertised on one of my facebook book groups and immediately jumped to Amazon to buy it. And before you ask...yes I read the blurb. And nope, it did not totally prepare me for this one.

What I did not like... Sure it has the word Cinder in the title which is also the main characters name, there is prince, an evil stepmother-ish person, but overall I struggled to find the link with the fairytale. No slipper (Not even in some freakish, kinky way), no fairy godmother, no ball, and not the dark fairytale I pictured. Speaking of Cinder, she started out as this take charge of her life character and somewhere halfway through both me and her lost that person.

What I liked...atleast they kicked some ass at the end, there where some hot kinky scenes, a protective prince and offcourse the bonus! The HEA. I loved the HEA.

So yes Im torn and will stick with 3 stars.

[K · Rating 2 out of 5]

// TWO 1/2 STARS

If you’re expecting a Xrated version of Cinderella, THIS IS NOT IT! With its own plot line and completely different characters, I don’t think one could even draw many comparisons between the Princess Cinderella and Cinder. With mention of the harem I was honestly expecting like training and more BDSM aspects but these were barely there, if that. It turned to be more of a war story (not extremely developed writing in this aspect)/light romance to me then X rated literature.

STORY : Cinder starts on a long journey to find the Palace of Lazar to seek a spot as one of the Prince’s jeweled harem girls. Soon after, one of the prevailing war communes interrupts life at the Palace of Lazar and everyone must battle to defeat Jaden.

1/2 Star bumped down because as original as the story was in the beginning, the love story between Donte and Cinder was extremely cheesy and the final war scene was ridiculous in length and development (think like 2 pages on iBooks). I prefer the first half of the story to the second.

+ STEAMY ⭐️⭐️
+ COUPLE Cinder + Donte, Prince of Lazar

[Summer Graystone · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought I knew what was going to happen. I thought it was going to be a normal erotic book. I thought I knew what to expect and I didn't have to worry. I was wrong. So wrong. The truth about Cinder blew my mind. I couldn't get any work done or do anything until I finished it. I read it in one sitting. I just couldn't stop. The author created a brand new world filled with so much action and adventure that I could see it being a live action movie. Well, a very very dirty HOT X rated live action movie. If I had to describe this book in one word, it would be addicting AF! We NEED to have some girl talk about the price cause holy royalty, I'd love to meet the price and be his special girl too! Highly Highly recommend!!

[Bo0kSLoth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Get ready for a ride because this isn't your average retelling of a fairytale. It's a mash - up of Cinderella and a dark and dirty Arabian Nights. There's no water in sight so expect to have a lot of steam with this read as Cinder wanders the desert in search of joining the Prince of the Lanzar's harem. It's not all oasises and rainbows in this desert, as Cinder soon learns the true strength in submission. Have no fear because there will be a HEA in sight.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Gladys · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought that this was an interesting read. I anticipated one thing when I began this book and then got another. I went into it thinking of a modern take on the old fairy tale with plenty of heat. What I got was a a post-appocolyptic story of survival with plenty of heat. So, yeah, not exactly what I was expecting but still enjoyable. I felt that the chemistry was good, the descriptions engaging and the story complex. I liked it. This is my honest, voluntary review.

[Gab · Rating 5 out of 5]

Deeelectable!
Set in a post apocalyptic world with people barely surviving, this turns into a beautifully romantic fairy tale with lashes of kink thrown in!
In a haven of beauty and serenity, removed from the surrounding devastation, Ms Hensley is able to conjure up a feeling of decadent suspense.
But then also of angst, the horrors of war and devastating loss.
Although, being a fairy tale, in the end good triumphs over evil and love conquers all.

[Tammy · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are rumors about a place know as the Palace of Lazar, it is beautiful and luxurious, but it also hides a dark and perverse world. Cinder decides to find the Palace but will she get more than she bargained for? This is an entertaining post-apocalyptic read with loads of drama, twists and turns and steam. The chemistry is steamy and the story really takes you on a wild ride. I really liked it.

[April Symes · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Truth About Cinder  is a twisted romance that deliciously dark, raw, naughty, sexy and gritty yet has the innocent fairy tale twist as only Alta Hensley knows how to keep the reader engaged and hooked and bringing them back for more. I can't wait for more in this new series!!


My Rating: 4.5 stars ******

[Ga Books LoverX · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a good read! It is set in an alternate universe in which the world is covered by sand dunes and water is scarce. I cannot see too much of a tie in with Cinderella other than her finding her HEA and her name, but that did not take a way from the story!

If you like HOT reads and books with a story line, I think you will enjoy this!

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book. Completely different then I expected. Love how the male lead was building up Cinder belief in herself.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Madeleine · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Cinderella story that's been revised in an adult, dark, steamy, naughty way as only the talented Alta can do. I love fairy tales and dark, steamy ones are even better to read.

[Coco.V]

💝 ARC received via Booksprout in exchange for an honest review. 💝

[Rebecca Whaley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is awesome! I loved every bit of it. Cinder is awesome. This was wickedly hot. I devoured every inch of this book and I didn't want it to end. I can't get enough of this.

[ZARIA (Sheldon Cooper lover) · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not what I expected, dystopian BDSM kinkiness, that master slave dynamic not my cuppa.

[Lily · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the beginning and I liked the end. There was a portion in the middle, however, that was mostly made up of desert travel and Cinder's constant whining and crying, and I enjoyed that part much less.

This was not a terrible book, despite my low rating, I just think it had the potential to be so much better. I liked the overall plot, but the execution left something to be desired. And while I liked Cinder at times, she really grated on my nerves at others. Along with the aforementioned whining that annoyed me, I also thought she was very hypocritical during the scene of Tula's "punishment." Cinder accuses her of being a sadist but then turns around and enjoys punishing her two seconds later.

We were also introduced to a character about halfway through the book, and his presence still confuses me, even after finishing it. What was his purpose? Within five minutes of meeting him, Cinder immediately feels "safe" with him. Um... okay. You just met the dude. And it doesn't take long for her to start having fluttery, belly-flipping, shiver-inducing feelings for him. Again, what was the point? Other than to cheapen her feelings for Donte and prove just how desperate she is for affection.

All that being said, I do have to compliment this book for the writing style. The author has very lovely prose. So I am still looking forward to the sequel and hopefully I'll enjoy it more.

[Jeanna Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was expecting this to be a pretty dark read. It sounded promising in a world that is fighting for resources there is a kind of paradise ruled by a prince that has a harem of woman for his pleasure. Cinder decides to find this paradise that would only ask her to preform any imaginable act for her princes pleasure. Spoiler alert! Not much in the way of kink happens. Sure there is some training, which I guess the prince gets off on more than spending any actual sexy times with the girls. But of course in this world where people are fighting for space and dyeing for food and water a paradise with just some woman and guards is going to make people attack and take what they want. Right? Of course it is.

I really was left with more questions that I don't feel were answered well. Why did the prince really set up his kingdom this way? It seems incredibly selfish which makes me think he's not a great person. And what is with Nico? They didn't explain him at all. I kept thinking he has to be involved with this Kingdom in some real way to just all of the sudden agree to lead training. I just didn't get it. And the 180 the prince seemed to pull because Cinder is the one for him? Again it didn't feel believable at all.

Now I did enjoy this read as long as I could let go of these questions. Just enjoy the fact that this is a love story that is disguised as something that should have been smutty but instead it's pretty insta -love. Which is fine, just not what I was expecting.

[Kari · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really should’ve followed my instincts on this one when I didn’t feel anything in the first few chapters, but nope I continued to read and continued to be disappointed. Annoying, needy MC who cries ALL THE TIME and the most lackluster romantic lead I’ve read in a while. Not even to mention that this book was touted for its steam and there was like maybe one scene that was halfway decent? And that’s probably an over-reach. There was also build up to this major fight scene with Jaden for like 80% of the book and the fight was over in two paragraphs?? Thirteen sentences???? Summed up the end with a cheesy marriage proposal, MORE TEARS, and random spanking sex??? What even???? And it literally ended with the sentence “And They Lived Happily Ever After…” PLS MAKE IT STOP.

I just…. I haven’t hate read something this much in a while. Honestly I’m more mad at myself for not stopping while I was ahead and wasting two hours reading it.