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Authors: Sarah Strohmeyer

The Cinderella Pact

BOOK: The Cinderella Pact
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Table of Contents
 
 
Acclaim for
The Cinderella Pact
“Outrageous fun! Opening a book by Sarah Strohmeyer is like opening a box of chocolates—sweet, a little nutty, and absolutely irresistible.”—Meg Cabot, author of
The Princess Diaries
and
Queen of Babble
 
“What a find! From the moment I read the first page, I was hooked. Any woman who has ever struggled with her weight will instantly connect with the story. Seriously, it doesn't get much better than this. . . .[The book] delights on all levels. I can't think of enough gushy things to say about it. You will
not
be able to put it down.”—Johanna Edwards, bestselling author of
The Next Big Thing
and
Your Big Break
 

The Cinderella Pact
is for every one of us whose foot was too big to stuff into that glass slipper. It's engaging, funny, and as hard to put down as a bag of M&M's.”—Harley Jane Kozak, Agatha, Anthony, and Macavity Award-winning author of
Dating Dead Men
and
Dating Is Murder
 
“Comedy abounds. . . . It's a well-told tale of friendship, tied in with everyday, relatable issues like job satisfaction, weight issues, divorce, and love.”—
Romantic Times
(4 stars)
 
“Nola is an intelligent heroine worth cheering for . . . with insights about the difficulties of not being beautiful in a beauty-obsessed society. This is what chick lit is supposed to be.”—
BookPage
 
“A side-splitting humorous tale of self-discovery and a sighing happily-ever-after romance. The story's premise . . . is one that most women can identify with. . . . Buy this book, but be careful where you are when you read it unless you want to explain your sudden and frequent outbursts of laughter.”—Single Titles
“A highly entertaining romp through New Jersey society, featuring a lovable, if hapless, heroine.”—Fresh Fiction
 
“[A] delightful frolic . . . featuring an authentic woman who can't help but dabble in a little bit of fantasy.”—
Kirkus Reviews
 
“Big laughs, a big imagination, and big trouble all seamlessly meld together. . . . Get-the-heating-pad-honey-I-laughed-too-hard-and-my-stomach-hurts funny!”—Fallen Angel Reviews
 
“This contemporary fairy tale, complete with a Prince Charming, differs from the original in that, with a little help from her friends, the lady effects her own transformation. Very enjoyable.”
—
Library Journal
Raves for
The Secret Lives of Fortunate Wives
“The mordantly observant Strohmeyer skewers the lifestyles of the rich and fatuous with spot-on irony. . . . An uproarious, upscale, tongue-in-cheek tour de force.”—
Booklist
 
“Equal parts bitterly emotional and ironically misogynistic . . . a wicked, quick read. Somewhere, Jane Austen is turning in her grave.”—
Houston Press
 
“[Strohmeyer] uses her observations to sharp comic effect.”
—
The Boston Globe
 
“Tart-tongued . . . wicked, frothy fun.”—
Publishers Weekly
 
“Like drinking champagne in a bubble bath: a total but rather guilty pleasure. . . . Real fun lies in watching these proper women gone wild.”—
Romantic Times
 
“You will never travel through the upper-crust suburbs again without wondering what type of drama is happening silently within.”—Huntress Book Reviews
 
“A vastly entertaining depiction of life among the country-club set.”—
Affaire de Coeur
“Aims to be the chick-lit Carl Hiassen. . . . It's silly, silly, silly, but extremely funny.”—
The Washington Post Book World
 
“Read this when
Desperate Housewives
doesn't have your attention.” —
All You
Praise for Sarah Strohmeyer's national bestselling, Agatha Award-winning Bubbles Yablonsky novels
“Bubbles Yablonsky is . . . bright, slightly trashy, [and] outrageously funny. This is one to take to the pool.”
—
St. Petersburg Times
 
“You're going to love her.”—
New York Times
bestselling author Jennifer Crusie
 
“A sexy, irrepressible heroine, riotous supporting characters . . . and even a makeup tip or two.”—
Library Journal
 
“For anyone who has ever looked at a Barbie doll and thought it's time the lady left Ken and flung herself at G.I. Joe, there is a riotous world waiting in these pages.”—
The Houston Chronicle
Also by Sarah Strohmeyer
The Secret Lives of Fortunate Wives
Bubbles All the Way
Bubbles Betrothed
Bubbles a Broad
Bubbles Ablaze
Bubbles In Trouble
Bubbles Unbound
New American Library
Published by New American Library, a division of
Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street,
New York, New York 10014, USA
Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto,
Ontario M4P 2Y3, Canada (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.)
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Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd.)
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Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty. Ltd.)
Penguin Books India Pvt. Ltd., 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park,
New Delhi - 110 017, India
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Auckland 1311, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd.)
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Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa
 
Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices:
80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
Published by New American Library, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
Previously published in a Dutton edition.
 
First New American Library Printing, June 2007
Copyright © Sarah Strohmeyer, LLC, 2006
Excerpt from
The Sleeping Beauty Proposal
copyright © Sarah Strohmeyer, LLC, 2007
All rights reserved
REGISTERED TRADEMARK—MARCA REGISTRADA
eISBN : 978-0-451-22124-7
Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
 
PUBLISHER'S NOTE
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party Web sites or their content.
The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author's rights is appreciated.

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For Lisa, of course
The Fabulous Belinda Apple's
Guide to Indulging Your Inner Cinderella
• Take that photo of you as a little girl off your mother's refrigerator. Tape it to your bathroom mirror. Admire how happy she is, how sparkling. Be her, again.
• Buy a tiara. Admit that it looks good on you. Fantastic, in fact. Wear it whenever.
• Take a personal assessment test. Do you have what it takes to be a fairy princess? Do you feel peas? Prick your fingers? Kiss talking frogs? On second thought . . .
• Believe it. Be it. Maybe that means more exercise, fewer calories, Swedish skin care. Or maybe it just means realizing that you're worth being treated like royalty.
• Remember that you don't need a prince to be Cinderella, and that Prince Charming was nothing but an icky foot fetishist.
• Find your fairy godmother. Or godsister. Or godgirlfriend. You know who she is. Thank her. Buy her a special gift—some perfume, flowers, tickets to Hunk-O-Mania.
• Stick with the program! We know it's hard treating yourself like royalty. Keep in mind that eventually you will rise to meet your destiny. It'll be worth it. If you don't think so, ask that little girl taped to your bathroom mirror. Remember, you're changing for her.
• Act like Cinderella. Trill while you do the dishes. Invite birds to sit on your fingers, chipmunks to nestle in the folds of your skirts. Do not mind that the neighbors have called your relatives, expressing concern. Pity them, for they know not that you are a woman of noble birth kept captive among commoners.
• Look like Cinderella. Start with your hair and your feet while your body catches up. Become a stunning blonde or a sultry brunette. Get your brows done. Your pores minimized. Your wrinkles eliminated. Treat yourself to the most fabulous shoes you can afford.
• Unveil your inner Cinderella. Step into your new, glittering, body-hugging dress with the plunging neckline. Put up your hair. Slip on great shoes and, finally, add your tiara. Smile to the girl in the mirror, who will be smiling back. Tell her you did it! Feel the joy of accomplishment, the thrill of being glamorous. And now, let the whole world see the Cinderella you've kept hidden. Her pumpkin carriage has been waiting for far too long.
BOOK: The Cinderella Pact
9.29Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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