A Kiss at Midnight : Review

Miss Kate Daltry doesn’t believe in fairy tales . . . or happily ever after.

Forced by her stepmother to attend a ball, Kate meets a prince . . . and decides he’s anything but charming. A clash of wits and wills ensues, but they both know their irresistible attraction will lead nowhere. For Gabriel is promised to another woman—a princess whose hand in marriage will fulfill his ruthless ambitions.

Gabriel likes his fiancée, which is a welcome turn of events, but he doesn’tlove her. Obviously, he should be wooing his bride-to-be, not the witty, impoverished beauty who refuses to fawn over him.

Godmothers and glass slippers notwithstanding, this is one fairy tale in which destiny conspires to destroy any chance that Kate and Gabriel might have a happily ever after.

Unless a prince throws away everything that makes him noble . . .
Unless a dowry of an unruly heart trumps a fortune . . .
Unless one kiss at the stroke of midnight changes everything.

Sum­mary from GoodReads (here)

Review

Title: A Kiss at Midnight
Author: Eloisa James
Pub­lisher: Avon
Release Date: July 27, 2010 (Get it @ Ama­zon)
For­mat Read: Kindle Edition
Print Length: 370 pages
Series: Fairy Tales

Kate Dalton doesn’t want to go to the Prince’s Ball. When her sister Victoria gets bit by her dog when she’s supposed to be gaining the Prince’s permission to marry her love, Kate is forced to step in and act the role to save her. Kate however, is not the beautiful socialite that the Lords and Ladies remember meeting at Victoria’s introduction into society. On the other side of the tale, we have Prince Gabriel who rules over the citizens ousted from his brother’s increasingly religious kingdom. Gabriel is desperate for the money he needs to repair the castle so he can be off on his own adventures, and despite having the perfect fiancée for the role, is drawn to Kate.

A Kiss at Midnight is a retelling of Cinderella, and while not the first to do this,
is perhaps one of the best renditions I’ve read of it in awhile. While other excellent versions of the tale exist (Cinder), A Kiss at Midnight is has the same feel as the Disney story we all grew up with while putting the story into an adult retelling. I’ve been a fan of Eloisa James for awhile, but this quickly moved up to place as my favorite romance read. Kate and Gabriel are a very compelling pairing – with both having their ups and downs, I cheered for them to get their ‘Happily Ever After’ even in the moments when I was proudest of them for making the tough decisions.

Despite the rampant historical inaccuracies and modernism (which Eloisa James never claims to not do), a Kiss at Midnight is a charming, funny and romantic read that will be often reread by myself again and again when I just need a good light pick-me-up. Filled with quirky characters in the form of a Godmother, a ‘Butler’ and her impending brother-in-law, A Kiss at Midnight is not to be missed. After all, who can resist a Prince named Gabriel Albrecht-Frederick William von Aschenberg of Warl-Marburg-Baalsfeld?