Dance of Hearts: a Cinderella Regency Romance Retelling by Byrd Nash
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This retelling of Cinderella is set in Chipping-Worth in 1816 where Melinda Wychwood is a young woman of twenty four with fairy blood, but she is shunned because of it and when her father dies and her home is taken over by distant relatives, she loses her place and becomes more of a servant than a cousin and her knowledge of running the farm and household is either ignored or used and the credit taken by others. She has friends in the older women who live nearby with whom she shares tea and refreshments, they also recognised how she was treated by her family.

At the dinner table, the family are complaining about something as usual and when Melinda is asked about it, the explanation was as usual ignored and responsibility denied, so the conversation turned to the town gossip and finds out that their neighbours son and a childhood friend of Melinda’s, Alexander is coming back to visit and so the talk turns to new dresses seeing as he is a well to do and and a bachelor to boot, this takes the attention away from Melinda and her thoughts about him.

We next meet Alexander and his friend as they are approaching their destination and decide to play a prank on his family, they decide to swap places and pretend to be the other for the duration of their trip and bet on the outcome of it. Thus, unbeknown to those around them, they play their parts, but as their trip lengthens, it becomes apparent that Melinda is not as thoroughly convinced as the others, however, believes that it is because of the years in between them seeing each other is to blame, so when the opportunity to go to an traditional annual ball, Melinda takes her cousin to the dress shop in the local town and while buying the dress for her cousin is tempted with a dress of her own, however, she politely declines the offer before leaving.

As the ball draws nearer, the temptation to get the dress so she can wear it herself to the ball increases, as does her wish that her childhood friend remembered her, but will she cotton on to the plan and get the dress, or will she remain in a loveless home with family who treat her more like a servant? The only way is to read this short story and discover the magic within the pages.

Reviewed by @roxsannel

View all my reviews