Weekend Reads #112 – The Naughty Princess Club by Tara Sivec

Happy Saturday y’all! It’s been too long since I’ve done a series review so I was excited when I started writing this post. The Naughty Princess Club is a modern retelling of the classic fairytales Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, and The Little Mermaid. I love Tara Sivec’s attention to details and the little things that I found throughout the series that tied the books back to the fairytales. If you enjoy slow burns, explosive chemsitry, and of course fairytales, I highly recommend you check out the series. It’s a fun, hilarious take on some of my favorites.

At the Stroke of Midnight by Tara Sivec
Series: The Naughty Princess Club #1
Published by Swerve on 2018-02-27
Length: 261 pages
Reviewing Kindle from Amazon
Rating:
Reading Challenges: 2018 New Release Challenge

Once upon a time Cynthia was the perfect housewife. Between being the President of the PTA and keeping her home spotless without a hair (or her pearls) out of place, her life was a dream come true. Her husband was once her knight in shining armor, but now he’s run off with all their money…and the babysitter.

Dressed as a princess at the annual Halloween block party on Fairytale Lane, she meets two other “princesses” also facing money troubles: antique store owner Ariel and librarian Isabelle. When the women are invited to wear their costumes to a party where they’re mistaken for strippers, Cindy, Ariel, and Belle realize that a career change could be the best way to make their money problems go bippity-boppity-boo.

But can structured Cindy approach a stripper pole without sanitizing wipes? And could the blue-eyed anti-prince that has been crossing her path become Cindy’s happily ever after? At the Stroke of Midnight is a hilarious, empowering story where princesses can save themselves while slaying in stilettos.

The first book of The Naughty Princess Club is a loose retelling of Cinderella. And I do mean loose. Cindy is not at all what I expected her to be. She’s your typical suburban housewife, president of the PTA, raising a preteen daughter, and at her wits end. Her husband left her prior to the start of the book, and Tara Sivec drops us into Cindy’s story when she is at the end of her rope. She has no money left, the hope she held out that her husband would return is dwindling, and now she is looking at bankruptcy. That is until she meets two other women in similar situations: Belle and Ariel.

Through an unusual and hilarious mixup, the three women decide that stripping might be the way to go, to make the cash they need to NOT go bankrupt. I expected Cindy to be the one to balk at the idea. Instead she gives the fledgling idea 110% just as she has everything else in her life. I had to admire that, even if I don’t think I could ever bring myself to strip. What follows is a series of hilarious events that land Cindy in the arms of PJ Charming.

I adore PJ. He is the owner of a high end strip club, and son to a single mother. As a result, he finds himself enamored by Cindy and her daughter. A very slow-build romance ensues. VERY slow burn!!! I adored him. He is supportive, pushy when he needs to be, and silent on other occassions. Perfect in my opinion 😉

Overall I really enjoyed At the Stroke of Midnight. Cindy and PJ are opposites, but in that perfect way that compliments them. If you are looking for a laugh along with a slow burn romance, I highly recommend it.

In Bed with the Beast by Tara Sivec
Series: The Naughty Princess Club #2
Published by Swerve on 2018-06-05
Length: 304 pages
Reviewing Kindle from Amazon
Rating:
Reading Challenges: 2018 New Release Challenge

A tale as old as time: she needs a place to stay, he's a grump with a secret and an extra room...can love find a way?

Meet the Naughty Princess Club, a series from USA Today bestselling author Tara Sivec that brings readers to Fairytale Lane and the hilarity—and romance—that three women fall into once they decide to strut their stuff and bring on their own happily ever after.

Living in her overprotective dad’s basement, shy Belle lives her life through books. Being a part of the Naughty Princess Club is the first adventure she’s ever had, plus she desperately needs the money to save one of her favorite places - the local library.

But when her new friends and new business gets her kicked out of her dad’s house, Belle is rescued by the surly Vincent “Beast” Adams who invites her to be his house guest until she gets back on her feet. Despite his attitude problem and long list of rules, Belle finds herself warming to the muscled man with a penchant for growling and starts seeing a gentle side to him that wasn’t there before.

Yet there’s a room that Beast keeps locked and Belle keeps getting hints that Beast is hiding something…can a nerdy librarian tame the beast or will their romance be over before it has a chance to blossom?

The second book of Tara Sivec’s The Naughty Princess Club is just as good if not better than the first. I can’t resist a Beauty and the Beast retelling, and I love how it is employed here. Belle is my favorite of the three women introduced in At the Stroke of Midnight. She is a bit naive, having lived with her father her whole life, but in an endearing way. She’s book-obsessed (did you expect anything less for our Belle?). When she has a fight with her father, Belle winds up living at the library where she works.

Enter Beast, aka Vincent Adams. Y’all I love that Tara Sivec used the name of the Beast in the 90s TV series. I may have squealed when I read that 😀 I digress, Beast invites Belle to live with him in a spare bedroom until she has enough money to live on her own. Hilarity ensues! The very naive and shy Belle’s experience with men is limited to what she’s read in books and online. It doesn’t take long for Belle to crack the hardened Beast though. He comes off as surly and closed off to those around him, but in reality he is the opposite. Very gentle and caring, like the original Beast.

Belle asks Beast for his help in becoming seductive for her new job as a stripper. Y’all I about died. These scenes are some of the funniest I’ve ever read. While Cindy and PJ’s romance was a slow-burn, I not sure what to call this one. This is an instant chemistry romance, but the characters are VERY slow to act on it.

Overall I loved In Bed with the Beast. I loved Belle and Beast. They were perfect for each other. He brought the shy librarian out of her shell while she forced him to live again. Perfection!

I received this book via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of this review.

Kiss the Girl by Tara Sivec
Series: The Naughty Princess Club #3
Published by Swerve on 2018-09-04
Length: 304 pages
Reviewing eARC from Netgalley
Rating:
Reading Challenges: 2018 New Release Challenge

A struggling antiques collector finds herself falling in love with a millionaire playboy; but can she ever be a part of his world?

Meet the Naughty Princess Club, a series from USA Today bestselling author Tara Sivec that brings readers to Fairytale Lane and the hilarity—and romance—that three women fall into once they decide to strut their stuff and bring on their own happily ever after.

While her friends have broken free of their insecurities, Ariel Waters is struggling to come out of her shell. Her ex-husband took away her voice and her self-confidence, and Ariel is drowning under a sea of debt to afford the alimony she has to pay him. She refuses to ever fall for a man’s charms again, and is determined to make her own way.

When her house and her beloved antiques are taken by the bank after too many missed payments, Ariel finds herself adrift until the infuriatingly charming Eric Sailor comes to her rescue. Although she can’t stand the millionaire playboy, Eric’s kindness and unconditional support reveal hidden depths and a love that Ariel never imagined she could find.

But there are outside influences who will stop at nothing to keep them apart; can Ariel and Eric weather the storm and find a way to be together?

The final book in The Naughty Princess Club by Tara Sivec Kiss the Girl is a romance inspired by The Little Mermaid. I’ll be honest I wasn’t looking forward to this one. I loved the first two books of the series, but Ariel was never my favorite character. She’s crass and rude. She’s that obnoxious girl who has to be the loudest in the room (you know, we all know one of them). However she quickly won me over as I learned more about her character through her perspecitve.

Ariel is not the character I thought she was. For one she’s a hoarder of antiques, she’s broke, and she’s nursing a broken heart. Her boisterous attitude is a cover for the insecurity she has felt since her ex-husband left her with nothing and feeling like less than nothing. Her ex is a piece of work that I’d love to punch, but that’s not the point here. The point is Ariel is a fun character, one I enjoyed getting to know and laughing with in her book.

And then there’s Eric Sailor *swoon* I thought that In Bed with the Beast would be my favorite book of the series and my favorite book boyfriend. I was wrong! Eric is swoon-worthy to the max. When Ariel’s house is repossessed by the bank, Eric takes her in on one of his yachts, no less. He’s had a thing for Ariel since the series opened, so I was curious to see how this would play out. And I admit I loved it. I loved Eric with Ariel. Like her, he’s not the character he’s been portrayed to be – the playboy slut, center of attention, lavish living guy. Nope, he’s all those, but he is more and I loved reading his character’s growth in this installment.

The plot of this one is slightly different than the others. Stripping was Ariel’s idea, and she has the body for it. But her ex was a piece of crap that made Ariel insecure about her looks, specifically her curves. As a result, the book follows as Ariel finds her voice figuratively and her courage to strip.

Overall, Kiss the Girl was my favorite installment of The Naughty Princess Club. I loved Ariel and Eric. It’s a enemies to lovers trope and it’s perfect for these two characters. If you enjoy fairytale retellings and explosive chemistry, I highly recommend it.

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