Cinderella Screwed Me Over

Written by Cindi Madsen

Narrated by Andrea Emmes

Darby Quinn is over trying to find her own happily-ever-after, but when charming Jake comes into her life, can she finally dive into her own fairy tale?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dreamscape Media
• Release date: Nov 26, 2019
• ISBN: 9781666557121

Cindi Madsen

Cindi Madsen is a USA Today bestselling author of contemporary romance and young adult novels. She sits at her computer every chance she gets, plotting, revising, and falling in love with her characters. Sometimes it makes her a crazy person. Without it, she’d be even crazier. She has way too many shoes, but can always find a reason to buy a pretty new pair, especially if they’re sparkly, colorful, or super tall. She loves music and dancing and wishes summer lasted all year long. She lives in Colorado (where summer is most definitely NOT all year long) with her husband and three children. You can visit Cindi at: cindimadsen.com, where you can sign up for her newsletter to get free books, win prizes, and receive all the up-to-date information on her books. Follow her on Twitter @cindimadsen. Find her on FB: Cindi Madsen & Cindi Madsen Books

Reviews for Cinderella Screwed Me Over

[Bill Hair · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

2.75 Stars for me!

Let me start by saying that Cindi definitely can write characters... some you will love and others that you will hate. In this case, the h's friends and family, the H and the h's clients are in the love category. The h falls squarely in the hate category.

95% of the story has the h living under the all relationships fail theory and she does everything possible to ensure that they do. She meets the perfect guy and spends the bulk of the story trying to make it fail. She has multiple other relationships that she sabotages and others the end for good reasons.

If the h didn't have such a horrible attitude through 90% of the story, this could easily have been a 4 star story for me. I like it when the ice starts to crack around the halfway point. If it had an epilogue say 10/15 years later, even better and maybe 4.5/5 stars!

[brandileigh2003 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I chose to read this one because it was a Christmas gift from my husband, but I added it to my TBR which is why he bought it for me. I added it because the title is catchy and I read All the Broken Pieces and liked Cindi's writing style. I am pretty sure that one of my blogging buddies wrote a good review which led me to add to goodreads as well. Sure, Darby is jaded, but it makes the premise all the much stronger. She is burned on dating, and I love how she presents the case studies and the comparisons that she makes to the princes and princesses from disney and other known places. She has some pain, and she's made rules for herself in order to keep from getting hurt again. I loved the friendship aspect in this book. Darby and Stephanie have been close since they were kids and I love their connection, history and unwaivering support for each other. Of course, Stephanie is getting married to a nice man and they are a good fit, which shines some doubt on Darby's outlook in her weaker moments. And more and more her weaker moments come when Jake is in the picture. He comes into her life like a storm, breaking some of her rules, and showing up everywhere. There is an undeniable chemistry between him, and he has so many things that are right about him, that doesn't break her rules. Jake is funny, forgiving, and takes things in stride. It was a journey watching Darby change through the novel, and learning more about her past, what's formed her into the person she is today. Her interactions with Jake and heart to hearts with Stephanie really help to reshape her perspective. I also appreciated Darby;s relationship with her step-brothers. They are still close, and hang out. Which leads to fun but also to talking out their lives. I just like that family is involved and even though we know that their relationship hasn't always been perfect, in fact it seemed to start the exact opposite, but then they started being closer and closer as the years went by. The ending was sweet but a little rushed in my opinion. I really wanted to know what they both decided about the big questions of the future and if things worked at least for the immediate future. I guess I just wanted more of the characters. Bottom Line: Cute premise with humor and a sizzling chemistry between the characters.

[ethel55_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was a fun, modern, pop-cultured filled look at one woman's dating life. Darby Quinn has had it, she's no longer looking for any sort of prince to share her life and has labeled all past boyfriends with various princely monikers. Naturally, when she least expects it, a very handsome and determined restauranteur named Jake sets his sights on Darby. On paper, he breaks many of her self-imposed rules--plus, he lives in her building, a big Darby no-no. This was a quick read, would have been perfect for the beach. I really liked Darby's best friend, the soon to be married Stephanie, for adding a touch humor and history to Darby's story.

[caslater83 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Love her writing style!

This was my first Cindi Madsen novel. I love her case studies--absolutely hilarious. I never would have thought about comparing failed relationships with fairy tales. But it works!! I was disappointed when the sex scene hit at 94%. I was hoping that this book would be clean. Frankly I think the storyline would have been better without it. While I am glad that I read the book, I am not sure if I will reread it.

[bookishthings · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Cinderella Screwed Me Over is a great read. It’s fun, light, and the case studies had me laughing so hard. I never thought I’d like a character that was so dead set against love, but Cindi Madsen did a great job of making me love Darby.

Darby is a fun character. She hasn’t always been against the idea of falling in love, but after getting burned so many times, she decides it’s just not worth it. Darby tries so hard to keep herself in check with her rules, but meeting Jake completely messes with her. She feels a connection between them, but is terrified to pursue it. It doesn’t help that her best friend is getting married. Darby does her best to balance her ideas toward a relationship with Jake, her job, and helping her BFF plan her wedding while trying not to fall apart. Jake is such a great guy. Everyone, myself included, always likes the bad boys, but he’s one of the good ones. Almost too good to be true, but I fell hard for this character. He just makes it so dang easy to like him.

I loved Darby’s case studies. Every time she things she could be falling for Jake, she remembers a case study she did on a prior boyfriend. I couldn’t stop giggling with the connection to each of the Disney princes. I actually share some of the same thoughts as Darby. I love me some Disney cartoons, but they seriously set unrealistic ideas of love to young girls. I always like seeing a character grow, and Darby does just that. She is terrified of some of the things that she wants to try, but has to learn to realize her own self-worth. I think that has a lot to do with why I love her so much. Also, I adore the fact that Darby has such a great relationship with her family. I think that’s important, and her banter with her brother was amazing.

So, yeah, that got kind of rambly. Sorry about all the disconnected thoughts, but Cinderella Screwed Me Over was a fun read. I think all contemporary readers will love this book.

[theyodamom · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

3 stars, fun light and romantic, it could have been a solid 4 if there wasn't so many rehashing of the stupid rules and then the detailed story behind each one. The main character Darby was just so irritating to me, her stubborn opinions and judgemental attitude rubbed me wrong. The story was drowning in her past relationships- it was too much

[vanyadrum · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

NOTE: I received the eARC via Netgalley and Entangled Publishing. Thanks so much!

Before I start with the real side of this review, I want to say that I'm in love with Cindi Madsen's writing. Ever since I read All the Broken Pieces, I was hooked, and have been waiting hungrily for each following publication of hers. I sound crazy fanatical, I know. I'm not, I just love her writing style, the depth that she creates in each of her characters, the fluidity of her stories... etc. etc.

I was immediately drawn into the story, even though Cindi chose to begin this one with an analysis of fairy tales and how they affect young girls. What expectations they give us all at a very fragile age, and how they obscure our world making our understanding of it more or less unrealistic. Throughout the book, there are a bunch of 'case studies' as the lead female, Darby, calls them. They're basically Darby's say on her past relationships. In them she compares each guy to a fairy tale prince, based on their similarities, and reasons why the relationship didn't work. Mostly, the reason was that her expectations of the guy were NOT realistic.

Which is why she swore off guys, off romance, well... mostly off fairy tale kind of romance. She even has a bunch of rules that she knows she MUST stick by or she'd end up with a broken heart once again.

I honestly loved Darby. She was brave - she did have a whole bunch of twisted relationships behind her back and she still found the strength to go on and accept love when it finally struck her. Sure, it took a while, but who cares? She was also smart - yeah, she did fall for some of those bastards, but never for their dumb lines. And she was also honest and I admire that trait in any character. She also had a very nice sense of humor, which I adored. The guys she dated seemed to be stuck up in the butt and never got her jokes, but I got them and enjoyed them very much. I even laughed out loud, to the very annoyance of my husband, but that's irrelevant.

Then, Jake saved her from smashing her face on his restaurant's floor and wham! Darby was sucked into a whole new world of emotions. She was confused and protective of herself most of the time. I didn't like it that for the sake of protecting her own heart, she actually came close to breaking Jake's, but hey - a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.

I loved Jake though. I felt bad for him, seeing that he had to go through so much just to get Darby to go out with him. He was really kind and besides being handsome, he was also funny and laughed at her jokes. He was also patient - he waited for her over the span of several months just to accept one date! He wasn't braggy confident of himself either. Jake was rather understanding, and tried to give Darby the comfort she'd been lacking in past guys. For grace's sake, he even passed the freaky brothers' test! If that wasn't a sign for Darby, that it sure was for me!

Anyway, I just want to say something in conclusion. Something that really impressed me with this novel. It's the final revelation of Darby - that there is love in this world, and one special person to wait for. But what comes after meeting that one person is more important - that's keeping them. Life isn't easy, there will always be hardships that couples will have to go through. Even when it seems that the passion is gone, the feelings of love and companionship still remain and yes, they matter, and yes, THEY ARE WORTH FIGHTING FOR.

[coby · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

It was a little draft in comparison to her first book that I read

[Amanda · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I really Loved this book!!!
Loved the humor and all the other emotions!!!

[Elizabeth Mortensen · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Cute but frustrating thoughts on the lead at times in the story.