The Cinderella Pact [Kindle Edition]

Sarah Strohmeyer (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

With her double chin and double-XL wardrobe, it's doubly appropriate that Nola Devlin leads a double life. In reality, she's the overworked, underappreciated editor of Sass! a sleazy celebrity tabloid whose most popular columnist is sexy, slender, saucy Belinda Apple, Nola's alter ego. Nola, however, soon finds she's too clever for her own good when one of Belinda's columns on weight loss inspires her two equally overweight best friends to coerce her into following this diet-to-end-all-diets, a "Cinderella Pact" they hope will transform their lives into a Belinda-like orgy of physical, romantic, and career success. Meanwhile, Belinda's popularity soars to the point that Sass! management decides it's time to meet their star attraction in the flesh, as it were. As Nola slims down, the quest to find Belinda heats up, causing Nola to jump through more hoops than any personal trainer could possibly dream of. As a discerning observer of cultural folderol, Strohmeyer nonetheless softens her trenchant satire with obvious compassion for her lovable characters. Carol Haggas
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Description

When Nola Devlin is turned down for her dream job because she's overweight, she decides to become thin-or, at least, pretend to be. The alter ego she creates-the thin, British, hip, and did we mention thin Belinda Apple-is a smashing success who is offered movie proposals, national television appearances and even dates...though no one's met her in person, of course.

Then Nola takes Belinda a bit too far, and is forced to join "The Cinderella Pact" and drop the pounds. As the weight comes off, however, Nola's problems begin to mount.

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Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 531 KB
• Publisher: NAL (June 5, 2007)
• Sold by: Penguin Publishing
• Language: English
• ASIN: B001JTPXTO
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (70 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #96,888 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

More About the Author

When I stumbled into this business back in 1997 as a harried mother spoofing Barbie in BARBIE UNBOUND: A PARODY OF THE BARBIE OBSESSION, I had no idea that what started out as a lark would evolve into a career writing twelve novels published in multiple languages - from Thai to German - and even a Lifetime Original Movie: Lying to Be Perfect. Some have been bestsellers. A few have won awards, mostly, I think, by accident.

Now, with the publication of KINDRED SPIRITS, from Dutton, on June 30th, I've taken my writing down a different path, exploring women's friendship, what bonds us, what makes us do incredibly stupid things for one another and how a few martinis along the way can make it all worthwhile. (And, possibly, explain the stupid things per above.)

In KINDRED SPIRITS, I hope you'll not only make friends with Beth, Carol, Mary Kay and Lynne, but also get down to some serious martini making. Ginger, Lemon, Blue, Cosmopolitan - KINDRED SPIRITS has a bunch of recipes.
Here's one for a killer CHOCOLATE RASPBERRY MARTINI.

First, dip the rim of your martini glass in melted bittersweet chocolate and freeze.
Meanwhile, at the bottom of a martini shaker muddle a few fresh raspberries. Add raspberry vodka and Godiva chocolate liqueur plus a splash of Chambord. Shake vigorously with ice. Pour into chocolate- dipped glasses and garnish with fresh raspberries.

Hey. I really want to keep you entertained. But I never said anything about keeping you thin! :)

To learn more about me and my books, please visit http://www.sarahstrohmeyer.com or visit me on FB where I write stupid stuff almost hourly.

Sarah (and her trusty writing partner seen here, Fred)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not so Prince Charming, July 10, 2008

By 

Invisible Moth 814 "jdm" (Northeast United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Cinderella Pact (Paperback)

"The Cinderella Pact" was, I feel, ehhh. The author has a good style of writing, and I applaud her for selecting a heroine that has challenges -- her weight, her over-adored ditzy sister, her conscience battling with her lapping up the attention she has never before received. As her alter ego, "Belinda Apple," Nola becomes everything she is not -- thin, stereotypically sexy, crazily successful. Not a new theme, but one that you could do a lot with.

But the author, sadly, gets off on this tangent of too many subplots that don't really matter to the outcome of the story, and are pretty dratted dull to read about as you're trying to get there. And the secondary characters were pretty two-dimensional. And, quite frankly, I didn't like the guy who was supposed to be Prince Charming. I thought Nola deserved better than him, and I really hoped that she'd find herself in time to go after it.

I like the idea of applying ancient fairytale themes to contemporary literature. Unfortunately, I don't think "The Cinderella Pact" pulls it off.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars We are all Cinderellas, no matter what our size, July 21, 2007

By 

Amanda Richards (Georgetown, Guyana) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Cinderella Pact (Hardcover)

The first thing you should know is that this isn't your traditional Cinderella story, although it does have a fairy tale ending. This fab and funny novel follows the ups and downs of Nola Devlin, a plus sized magazine editor who is leading a double life. When her application for a job as an advice columnist is given the round file treatment, Nola creates the perfect alter ego, complete with British background, photo-shopped, bony chested, ultra skinny glamour picture and pink cowboy boots. To her surprise, "Belinda Apple" is a smashing success, and becomes the elusive star of the magazine.

One of her glib responses comes back to haunt her when her two best friends decide to follow Belinda's dieting tips after an embarrassing incident at a restaurant, and she reluctantly agrees to a "Cinderella Pact" to lose weight by a certain date. Her friends Deb and Nancy take different approaches to losing the weight, and each one has to face up to the consequences.

Nola herself has a hard time, not only with the diet and exercise, but also with keeping her identities straight, and her life becomes increasingly more complicated when:

1. Her sister decides to get married and wants Belinda to be the matron of honor
2. She meets a great mystery guy who may or may not be named Prince "Chip" Charming
3. A background check by the magazine reveals that Belinda isn't all she claims to be
4. She has to act as a go-between for a hot British columnist whom the tabloids have linked to the beautiful Belinda

Fast-paced and funny, with likeable characters and despicable villains, this one is a must for fans of Bridget Jones' Diary and the Stephanie Plum series.

Rated: 4.5 stars


Amanda Richards, July 21, 2007

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Lots of fun!, July 8, 2006

By 

Ratmammy "The Ratmammy" (Ratmammy's Town, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Cinderella Pact (Hardcover)

THE CINDERELLA PACT by Sarah Strohmeyer
July 8, 2006

Amazon Rating: 4/5 stars

THE CINDERELLA PACT by Sarah Strohmeyer is about an overweight woman, Nola Devlin, who is a frustrated editor at "Sass!" Magazine. Somehow she manages to create an alter ego, Belinda Apple, and after "interviewing" for the magazine through Nola, she manages to get Belinda a regular column in the magazine. Nola has always wanted to write, and knew this may be her only way to see her dreams come true, sort of.

In the meantime, Nola is leading a double life. Belinda supposedly lives in London, and is also supposedly having an affair with their "other" British employee, Nigel. Yet, no one has met Belinda, and at the same time she's so popular that Nigel tries to meet Belinda through Nola, hoping to make that so-called affair that is making the tabloids, real.

The Cinderella Pact refers to Nola and her two best friends, Deb and Nancy, who all vow to lose weight. After seeing Belinda Apple's column on weight loss, which Nola made up off the top of her head, Deb and Nancy are convinced this will work for them. So, now the three are trying to lose weight.

Between Nola's family politics (they all think Nola is jealous of sister Eileen who is about to become engaged) and Chip, a guy at work that seems to really like Nola, her life is pretty busy and somewhat stressful. And of course handling Belinda is not a piece of cake either, as she tries to continue this charade and keep everyone convinced that Belinda is a real person.

I highly recommend THE CINDERELLA PACT for those who love funny light reads such as Bridget Jones Diary. Sarah Strohmeyer is also the author of the Bubbles Yablonsky series, which sort of remind me of the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich. All these books have one thing in common - they contain women who are over the top that will keep you in stitches.