The Cinderella Pact by Sarah Strohmeyer
The Cinderella Pact by Sarah Strohmeyer
New American Library (Penguin), June 2007
Nola Deviln is not who people think she is. Or rather she is, but Belinda Apple isn’t. You see, she’s both. On a quest to show her magazine editor that being overweight has nothing to do with how well she can write, Nola invents Belinda Apple, a thin, gorgeous, and hip writer from
She initially does it to prove a point, then gets all caught up in the fantasy. While no one’s ever met Belinda, everyone thinks she’s fabulous. Even Nola’s friends take advice from Belinda—her weight loss advice, in particular, gets their notice. Thus the Cinderella Pact is born, and Nola and her two best friends vow to lose weight by a certain date. Belinda says it’s as easy as walking it off.
As she starts to lose weight, Nola feels great, but Belinda is having issues. The magazine can’t seem to get a hold of her and have started to worry they’ve been defrauded. They aren’t happy. As Nola struggles to keep her identity hidden, lose the weight, keep up with her sister who’s getting married (with Belinda as her maid of honour), deal with a man who pops in, and then back out, of her life, she realised that it’s hard enough to be one person, let alone two.
This book was wonderful. I loved that Nola was a real woman, with real problems and real curves. I loved that even though she lost weight and became thinner, that it didn’t immediately make everything in her life become perfect. I loved that they talked about the various ways people try to lose weight, and that, mostly, Nola made sensible decisions about weight loss.
The tension and pacing in this book were very well done. I laughed out loud, I felt sorrowful, I sneered at the magazine editor, and I was smiling at the end. Even though I had guessed who the hero was, there were moments when I became unsure, moments when I wavered in my loyalty to who he was and what he was up to.
Ms. Strohmeyer has produced a witty book, with characters that are all three-dimensional. I’m not a big fan of the big girl who loses weight and suddenly has a fairy tale ending but, in this case, the author delivers the story with such finesse that I found myself sucked in. Well done! I look forward to picking up more of this author’s books.
I give it 5 Kisses, Reviewed for Romance Divas
Labels: Rating 5
posted by Michelle @ 4:40 p.m.
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