The Midnight Prince: A Cinderella Retelling by Angie Grigaliunas (Once Upon a Prince book 5)

Bitter, scared, and grieving, Prince Kirran doesn’t want the mantle of crown prince. But after the deaths of his three older brothers, he has no choice. Just like he has no choice but to attend the three masquerade balls and choose a wife before his father runs out of time. An impossible task when he still isn’t over the woman who broke his heart seven years ago.

Alia is still hurt by Kirran’s betrayal and the last thing she wants to do is see him again. As a lowly maid in the castle, there’s little chance of it. But her friend convinces her to attend the ball where she runs into Kirran, sending them on a path they never expected.

Why do they remember the past so differently? And how can they stop the future from repeating what happened before?

“Summer’s vibrant, loud sun making way for a softer solace before winter’s chill stepped in.”

I loved the intrigue of this story! The relationship between the characters is sweet and heartbreaking at times, but the political side of the story brought out deeper themes. And the villain twist was great.

A lot of familiar elements from the classic movie, but they show up in new and unique ways which I really appreciated.

Most of the story stays within the walls of the castle, but it’s still full of rich and vivid descriptions. The world has both fae and humans, as well as powerful magic. We don’t see a lot of it used, but we do see effects of it.

A fantastic story of great characters learning to trust again.

5 Roses
A few in-world swears
Nothing too descriptive, but war and death are discussed.
A couple swoony kisses, and one antagonistic character makes crude comments about Alia.

(Thank you to the author for the ARC of this book. This is my honest review.)