Cover Image: Cinderella at Sea

Cinderella at Sea

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Member Reviews

This was cute. I love books set on cruises, but novellas can be a bit dangerous to write because there is so little time to tell the story. The author wasted time on things that didn't matter, and then did not spend enough time on some of the important plot points that would have made me love the story more (such as the hopes and dreams of the main characters). The heroine's anxiety did not receive the treatment I would have expected, and I'm wondering if the author included that just to check off a box. I would have been livid at my cousin for doing this to me, but Amanda recovers pretty quickly and then moves on with life. That's,,, not really how crippling anxiety works for most people. I hope this was edited prior to final publication, as there were some grammatical issues. Had this been any longer, I would not have finished it.

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Cinderella at Sea was my first book by this author. I didn't originally realize it was a sequel. I thought the premise of a singles cruise was a fun one but felt the novella format did not allow a full flushing out of the characters. Everything was rushed to me to try and keep it all within this shortened format. I would read more by this author.

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Vitalli Children’s Hospital Director of Development, Amanda “Manda” Reilly, is dreading her upcoming cruise. Her boyfriend just broke up with her, her cousin bailed at the last minute, and her anxiety is through the roof. Now planning to stay under the radar on the cruise, relax, and soak up some sun, Manda boards the ship to find that she’s actually going on a singles cruise. Country music star Hunter Cross booked a show on a cruise to the Caribbean thinking it would be a fun (and quick) gig for him and the crew. When he runs into an old friend, Hunter realizes that this will be a journey much different than he expected. Will this chance encounter between Manda and her childhood crush turn into a disaster, or will an old spark reignite and send their ship happily into the sunset?
The book was good. I liked both main characters as they went through the story. Both characters were well written. I enjoyed the plot. I recommend.
**I voluntarily read and reviewed this book

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This is a good quick cute romance and I enjoyed it. This is my first read from Ellen and it won't be my last. If like me you enjoy a good adult fairytale then you won't want to miss Manda and Hunter's story they were wonderful characters and you cannot help but like them. A great read can't wait to read the rest of the series

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The Launching love series is a fun way to cruise through short and entertaining novellas. The cover of this book is charming- who doesn’t want to be Cinderella with her prince?

We met Manda in the first book in this series. In this story we get to see how Manda and Hunter connect on their weeklong cruise.

Manda shares that she has spent her whole life pleasing everyone else and she experiences frequent panic attacks.
Hunter seems to be the perfect medicine for her. He’s a popular performer, with a sweet and caring way about him.

As they relax and share tropical moments on the cruise, their blossoming love for each other makes for some passionate scenes. Although they have some secrets from their past, it seems like they will sail to a sunny happy ever after life together.

Readers will have fun seeing how “Boyfriend for a Night” plays out on a cruise ship. Enjoy!

Thank you to NetGalley and Kindred Ink Press for a review copy.

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A sweet, fun novella set on a singles cruise. Very cute!

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

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Amanda can't believe her cousin booked her on a singles cruise and then stood her up, leaving her on her own. Considering Amanda has crippling social anxiety and regular panic attacks, I found it incredible that Amanda had about 5 minutes of being annoyed and then forgot about it. Frankly, that sort of stunt qualifies her cousin for Worst Relative Ever status.

With Cinderella in the title, I expected some sort of rags to riches romance, but Amanda isn't poor, downtrodden or oppressed in the slightest. Far from it, she's practically perfect in every way apart from her inconvenient panic attacks, which were easily the most realistic part of the story. I definitely didn't buy Hunter, the handsome 27 year old country music star who'd only slept with one woman before Amanda… but then slept with her on the first date. It seemed very contradictory. The only reason Cinderella is remotely relevant is that Amanda wore a Cinderella costume to a party, so the title is a bit of a stretch too.

By necessity, a romance conducted over the timespan of a one week cruise has to happen quickly, but even so, an author can take the time to bring in character development and show how and why the leads are perfect for each other. This author unfortunately falls into the trap of too much telling and not enough showing… Amanda and Hunter spent pages discussing what their aunts and siblings were doing and none talking about their future ambitions. At the end of the book, they've basically decided to give a long distance relationship a go, which is all well and good, except that Amanda then suddenly announces she's probably going to change her job anyway because she's tired of other people telling her what to do. This would have been such a good plot point to follow through the book, I was really disappointed it was thrown in so casually at the end there.

I did notice some grammatical issues with the book, and I'd definitely encourage the author to seek out a good editor. Novella length stories can be wonderful, but they needed to be very tightly crafted in order to tell a story which feels complete and not rushed. I can't give this one more than two stars.

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I liked this novella, it was very sweet (not clean though for those who like that info). However, the story lacked any kind of tension or conflict, which made the story seem underdeveloped. A decent quick read when you want a no conflict happily ever after in a dream location with a dream man. *I received an ARC of this book and this is my voluntary and honest review.

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This is the story of Hunter and Amanda.
I was interested in this book since it takes place on a cruise ship and I love cruising.
However, this book did not hold my interest and I quickly gave up on it.

The cover is beautiful - she really does look like Cinderella!
This is my first book by this author.

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Okay
This is my first book by Ellen Wilder.

What I liked:
HFN

I had a hard time staying interested in this book.

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