Darkness, Spice, and everything nice!

Igniting Cinder by Holly Roberds
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Holly Roberds has officially recruited me into the ranks of the Lost Girls, and I’m not even mad about it.

“Igniting Cinder” isn’t your typical Cinderella story—it’s a wild ride where glass slippers shatter, and Prince Charming is more like Prince Charming-but-I’ll-also-steal-your-heart-and-maybe-your-panties. Enter Cinder, our fierce, inked-up human heroine who isn’t about to let some fae prince—no matter how devastatingly handsome—use her as a pawn in his twisted game of thrones. But Kai, oh Kai, that fae vampire prince had me under his spell faster than you can say “pumpkin-flavored everything.”

I laughed out loud at Cinder’s snark (both internal and external), then gasped when things got steamy enough to melt those spiked platform boots right off her feet. The tension between Cinder and Kai was so thick I needed a knife to cut through it—and even then, I’m not sure I would’ve made it out unscathed. The ballroom scenes had me holding my breath, wondering if I was about to witness a dance or a duel (spoiler: you get a little of both).

And let’s talk about the villains for a moment—because every good fairy tale needs them. Cinder’s sadistic stepmother and stepsisters? Repulsive. Kai’s father and his political intrigue? Deliciously dark.

But it wasn’t just the darkness that got me—Holly Roberds has a wicked sense of humor that had me chuckling even when I knew I shouldn’t be. The banter, the biting wit, the sheer sass of it all—it’s like Roberds knew exactly how to balance the scales between light and dark, sweet and sinister.

By the end, I was completely enchanted—crying, laughing, and somewhere in between plotting how to get my hands on the other Lost Girls books. If you’re a fan of fairy tales with a wicked twist and characters who refuse to fit into any mold, “Igniting Cinder” is your next must-read. Trust me, you’ll never look at Prince Charming the same way again.

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