Glass Midnight: A Cinderella Retelling by Kayla Eshbaugh (The Cursed Kingdom Chronicles book 2)
Gabriella is one of the few royals in Terra who wasn’t cursed when she was born. But her kingdom is under threat of war from the neighboring one, and with her father a prisoner, she must navigate treacherous political waters to sign a peace treaty. If only she wasn’t distracted by the enemy’s knight. After all, he wasn’t her true love, so she couldn’t kiss him.
Wesley’s curse is to die on his 21st birthday, unless he can find someone to love him for who he is, not for his crown. When he meets the elusive Ellie in a field of moon flowers, he believes he’s found the one. But with his uncle trying to start a war, he must do all he can to prevent it, while finding the missing princess first.
“Loving people isn’t about loving what they have or haven’t done, but seeing that inner soul that always deserves love — just for being another soul.”
A lot of the curses in the series seem tied to this idea of loving someone for who they are, and not what they look like, which is lovely.
Wesley and Gabriella are cute together, but I do wish Wesley discovered more about her than her looks. While he seems to recognize more, it’s the only thing he comments on. As for Ellie, she repeatedly states she has to kiss her true love, but despite having kissed Wesley, he can’t possibly be it. However, we’re never told why. Why couldn’t he be her true love? There’s zero reason for her to believe otherwise.
At the beginning of the story, we’re introduced to Ellie as being a spy and good with daggers, but she never uses either of those skills for anything more than venting. She also switches from hiding her dagger in her boot (good) to her inner thigh (ouch?).
3.5 Roses, rounded up to 4. An editor would do a lot to bring out the full potential of this story.
Romance: 2. There’s a fair amount of kissing that edges toward being quite passionate, while still staying as just kisses.
Action: 0. Ellie throws around daggers a lot, but there’s no battles. Worst thing is a slap from someone.
Swearing: 0.
