THE CINDERELLA SUBSTITUTE

Author: Nell Dixon ISBN: NA 3/2006 CONTEMPORARY Publisher: MOONLIT ROMANCE

In the two years since the tragic car crash that killed his fiancée, Nathanial (Nate) Mayer has successfully avoided another relationship. His family and especially his twin sister Nathalie are worried. Jennifer (Jenni) Blake is Nate's personal assistant. Hired after the accident, she has had her own problems to deal with, including the deaths of her adoptive parents and the debts incurred by their nursing care. But those difficulties pale into insignificance when Jenni finally traces her birth mother...

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

THE CINDERELLA SUBSTITUTE is a sweet Christmas tale about a waif of a British secretary who has a crush on her wealthy boss. Nate, Jennifer's boss, is enough interested in her to nastily interrupt any time another man shows interest in her, but otherwise is wrapped into the grief stemming from the death of his fiancée two years before.

This novel is very traditional in terms of male-female roles and attitudes. If that won't bother you, you'll find it a cute, quick read as Jennifer gains a sense of self, while losing none of her sweet nature, and Nate realizes the gem he's found in her.

Heather Hiestand