A Cinderella Christmas - Holly Kingston

A CINDERELLA CHRISTMAS BY HOLLY KINGSTON

(Publishing 19th November 2013: Novelicious Books)

Lucy Tilley dreams of a career in show business. But this isn’t quite what she had in mind …

This year’s Cinderella pantomime is the hottest production in town. What’s more, Lucy is starring alongside Ryan Aspall: famous TV actor, sex symbol and potential love of her entire life. One teeny problem – Lucy is tripping the light fantastic as … the back end of the comedy cow. Surely nothing kills a flirty moment quite like wearing a massive set of udders? At least she has the support of glamorous (if potentially flammable) Charmaine; a reality star diva of a Cinderella, who Lucy is completely fascinated by. But behind the fame and beauty, Charmaine is not all she seems. With more drama off the stage than on it, and everyone wanting to be star of the show, will Lucy find the confidence to make it out of the cow suit and into the spotlight this Christmas?

My 5* Review:

This is a fab debut novella from Holly, and it really is fab! I was sent the copy late on Friday night, but only realised I had it on Saturday morning. I sat in bed and began to read. It came apparent very quickly that this would be a book that I would not be putting down. And within a few hours I had finished it. It is just such a brilliant Christmas novella, it had me laughing out loud and routing for characters. I feel so honored I was among the select few to read this before publication day. 

This story is based on Lucy, she is an aspiring actress, however she has never had a lead role, this is down to her lack of confidence. She is in Cinderella this year with some really famous people. Charmaine plays Cinderella and is currently the celebrity in vogue. When Lucy begins spending time with her she feels she has died and gone to heaven. She ends up being her unofficial PA and Lucy feels this is a real honor to be asked. Lucy has a crush on the lead male role, Ryan. Lucy is hoping that the more time they spend together he also will realise that he loves her. There is a slight problem though, that is Lucy is the back end of a cow...

This is a brilliant Christmas novella, Lucy is likable and I felt I could connect to her straight away. The story is funny and the pace is good. I began to develop hate for Charmaine and wanted her to get her comeuppance. Holly has written this novella very well, there is so much happening in it, it's hard to believe that it is so short. It feels like a novel to read and it also is not rushed at the end, this is something I feel that does happen in novellas. Holly ties things up nicely and the story is very smooth. I was only disappointed to come to the end. 

I am glad I have had the opportunity to read something by Holly and she is going to be an author to watch. Her writing is brilliant and she connects to her audience well. This novella has really got me in the mood for Christmas, and I now desperately want to go and see a pantomime this year. 

This is one to read to get you into the Christmas mood, I recommend everyone to read it!

I would like to thank the publisher for sending me this review copy.

ABOUT HOLLY KINGSTON:

Holly started her life as a child. When she grew substantially taller and learnt how to read, she decided that she’d jolly well like to write books. Whilst at college, Holly had a slight change in her career focus and decided to become a marine biologist. On discovering that she sucked at science and that her future job was unlikely to involve monitoring anything larger than sea plankton, Holly went back to the drawing board and got a Bsc in Psychology instead. She studied with Script writing North and wrote her first film, along with a number of shorts and a sitcom pilot. After several years of writing, rewriting, and hiding stuff for posterity on her hard drive, she sent her first novel to The Marsh Agency where she is now represented by Hannah Ferguson. She is currently working on her second full length novel and wondering how to lose the weight she’s put on whilst writing her last book. Her first book, A Cinderella Christmas, is out this November.