Lila Barton’s life is a mess. An artist who has never sold a
single picture she has no money, ‘an overdraft the size of the national debt’
and no “proper job”. To cap it all she has just broken up with the latest in a
long line of fiancés. Lila’s lot isn’t made any easier by the fact she still
lives with her despairing family in Barton Willow, a dilapidated mansion house
where the kitchen is the only room where you are not in danger of freezing to
death or being hit by falling masonry. It is time to sort her life out once and
for all.
To get her life back on track, Lila comes up with a plan. Give up any hope of becoming an artist, get a proper job and ‘definitely not get engaged for at least another year’. The plan looks destined to failure from the very start when the proper job results in her being held up at gunpoint and Barton Willow is used as the set of a production of A Midsummer Night’s dream starring Hollywood heartthrob, Mitch Clayton. When Mitch and his stepbrother, Johnny, fly in for the play Lila struggles to keep her promise to stick to the plan. Can she resist Mitch’s advances? And when she finds herself increasingly drawn to Johnny can she find the resolve to remain just good friends?
This is a light, fun read which will have you turning the pages to find out what happens. It is perfect for lazing on the beach or a lazy Sunday afternoon. There are a few downsides to the book. Apart from Lila herself most of the other characters are a little two dimensional. The Barton’s are all too nice and the Clayton clan, with one exception, all seem a little too horrible to ring true. The ending is also a little too convenient. It is too much of a fairytale to be entirely convincing. That said the book is called The Cinderella Effect so perhaps we shouldn’t be too surprised at that!
By Wendy Knowles
Rating 4/5