Review Detail

What I Loved: The premise of this Cinderella retelling is what would happen if Cinderella had never tried on the glass slipper when the duke was sent to find the mysterious girl from the ball? The answer to the question is that a much better story happens! What I continue to enjoy in all these twisted tales is the chance for the characters to actually have some meaningful interactions before true love is declared and it ends in a wedding.
In this version, Lady Tremaine keeps Cinderella from trying on the shoe, and no talking mice save her. She then tries to sell Cinderella to get her far away from the kingdom. Cinderella escapes and is allowed to find work at the palace as the attendant to the King’s difficult sister.
She finds it impossible to reveal herself to the prince as the mysterious lady because she no longer has proof and magic is outlawed, so it is dangerous to reveal a fairy godmother helped her. When the prince doesn’t recognize her as a servant, she assumes he was in love with the idea of her and that it would be better to forget the whole thing.
The Duke is portrayed as a skillful manipulator in this version and his efforts to get the Prince into a suitable marriage with a neighboring kingdom’s princess put the King’s life – and Cinderella’s happiness - in danger.
Eventually, the Prince does realize who she is, and they do get back on track to their happily ever after. Cinderella has a chance to face her stepmother, and because she is the ideal of grace and sweetness, she shows mercy in the punishment.

Final Verdict: I used an audiobook to read this story. The voice of Cinderella was well done. It was easy to follow the events in the story as well. So This is Love is another enjoyable addition to the Twisted Tales series. I continue to enjoy the time taken to make the romance more authentic. I will always love the movies but am finding the books just as satisfying if not more so.