Title: One Night of Misbehavior
Author: Shelley Munro
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Number of Pages: 185
Publisher: Shelley Munro
Source: Netgalley
Charlotte Dixon ignores her stepmother’s edict and, in an act of disobedience, attends one of the social events of the year—a masquerade costume ball. Charlotte’s naughtiness escalates when she dances and smooches with a sexy mystery man. The night of anonymous passion that follows makes her yearn for a different life, but the next day she’s back to her dull routine of household management.
Advertising tycoon, Ash Marlborough is about to set a private investigator on the trail of his nameless princess when she waltzes right into his place of work. Charlotte is shocked to meet her masked man in the flesh, and even more perturbed when he asks her out on a date. Despite craving another night of sexy loving, she doesn’t have time for a man, not when she wants to reinvent herself and grasp a new, improved life with both hands. But Ash knows what he wants, and he’s determined to win the heart of his princess. Let the dance of seduction commence. Warning: Contains a conniving stepmother, selfish stepsisters, a grandmother with fairy godmother tendencies and a sexy masked man who is willing to face them all for the love of a good woman.
This was an enjoyable, if not slightly predictable re-telling a few fairy tales all rolled into one. I really liked Charlotte, and I really loved Ash, and thought the evil stepmother was really unlikable and the grandmother who was a bit of a fairy godmother was wonderful. Here's my main problem with the whole thing: I'm not sure if the whole Cinderella aspect can be done in modern day society.
I kept wanting to shake some sense into Charlotte. I just didn't understand why she stayed in that situation when there were so many more options available. That aside though, I loved watching her grow from someone who was afraid to stand up to herself to someone who was independent and true to herself. However, the road there was pretty rocky-mainly because she calls the voice in her head that is telling her to be independent Ms. Fesity, and just threw me off each time it was used and I don't know why. Despite that, this was a pretty delightful read because of Ash. I'm pretty sure that I would have stopped reading this book halfway through if it weren't for him. He's just all types of wonderful. He's one of my favorite contemporary romance heroes. He is vulnerable because of the scars on his face, yet he is super protective of Charlotte and somehow these two traits just endeared me to him.
One Night of Misbehavior had it's faults, but was still an enjoyable read and I loved the mash up between Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast. I can't wait to try more by this author. Thanks to netgalley for a copy of this book.
