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Hollywood sensation Brian Oliver has a reputation for being trouble. There’s major buzz around his performance in his upcoming film The Druid Prince, but his management team says he won’t make the transition from teen heartthrob to serious A-list actor unless he can prove he’s left his wild days behind and become a mature adult. In order to douse the flames on Brian’s bad-boy reputation, his management stages a fake engagement for him to his co-star Kaylee. Brian isn’t thrilled with the arrangement—or his fake fiancée—but decides he’ll suffer through it if it means he’ll get an Oscar nomination. Then a surprise email from an old Internet friend changes everything.
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Hi everyone! First of all, I want to send a big thank-you to Rachel for letting me stop by The Rest Is Still Unwritten today and introduce my new book. I love the blog, and I love this book and I’m very excited for you guys to get a peek at it.
Cinder & Ella is a contemporary retelling of the classic fairy tale Cinderella. I love Cinderella. It’s always been my favorite fairy tale. I’ve always known I would eventually write my own adaptation. The only question was how did I want to do it? I finally found an idea that I loved and am so excited about the result.
In my version of the tale, Prince Charming and Cinderella know each other only as anonymous internet friends. They met through Ella’s blog when she wrote a post about Cinder’s favorite book that he disagreed with and had to argue. For years, they only ever talked online. The scene I am sharing with you today is the first time they ever talk on the phone. It should hopefully give you a little glimpse into each of the main characters as well as give you a sense of their relationship, and even a peek into Ella’s home life.
Anyway, I hope you like it!
From Cinder & Ella......
“Cinder?” I wanted to kick myself for how small my voice sounded.
“Ellamara! That is you. My beautiful and wise mystic priestess of the Realm, we speak at last.”
“Holy crap, your voice is sexy!”
I slapped my hand over my mouth. I did not mean for that to come out of it. It’s just that he sounded like he could melt butter—or women’s hearts—simply by speaking. His voice was deep, rumbly and hypnotic. The guy didn’t talk, he purred.
“So I’ve been told,” he teased, laughing—a low, rich sound ten times more dangerous than his speaking voice.
To my utter mortification, I’d once again gained the attention of everyone in the room. They were all gaping at me, and who could blame them after what I’d just blurted? Each of their startled expressions was slightly different. My father looked horrified, while Jennifer had something akin to an excited gleam in her wide eyes. Juliette was smirking, and Anastasia was looking at me the way she always did—with barely concealed loathing and contempt.
I blushed and shut my laptop as I said, “Uh, hey, Cinder, can you hold on a sec?” I gave my dad a pleading look. “Can I take this in my room?”
Before my dad could answer, Juliette frowned at me. “What kind of a name is Cinder?”
“Oh my gosh, that’s that guy who always leaves comments on her blog!” Anastasia cried suddenly. “Ella has an Internet boyfriend! What a freak!”
She was so loud I was sure that Cinder heard her.
“Ana!” Dad growled.
“What? Online dating is so gross!” She turned to me and added, “I hope you know Internet creepers don’t count as real boyfriends, even if you talk to them on the phone.”
“Anastasia, that is enough!” my dad roared. “You’ve just added another week to your grounding! Go to your room! Now!”
“With pleasure!” she shouted back. “I was only down here because you were forcing me to babysit the suicidal freak, anyway!”
I wanted to die as I watched Anastasia stomp up the stairs. Cinder, no doubt, heard all of that. He couldn’t see it, but my face was so red it hurt. How could I possibly talk to him now? I was so nervous I was on the verge of throwing up.
“Ella?” Cinder asked when things got quiet. “Are you there?” He sounded hesitant.
“Welcome to my life,” I said with a sigh of defeat. “Sorry about that.”
“It’s okay.”
It was definitely not okay. I was so humiliated. It was a miracle I wasn’t crying. I think that was only because I was still in so much shock. “Look, thanks for giving me your phone number, but maybe this is a bad time.”
My dad scrambled to his feet, waving his hands at me. “No! You don’t have to end your call. We’ll give you some privacy.” He glanced at both Jennifer and Juliette. “Won’t we, ladies?”
His blatant desperation for me to talk to someone—even a stranger from the Internet—was as embarrassing as Anastasia’s outburst. Even worse, Jennifer was just as bad. “Of course! You go ahead and talk to your boyfriend, Ella,” she squealed. “We can keep an eye on you from the kitchen. I have to get dinner started anyway.”
While I was busy dying from her use of the word boyfriend, she hopped off the elliptical. She hurried to catch up to my dad, seeming more than happy to finish her workout early. As they started up the steps, they both turned back to Juliette, who had sprawled out on the couch instead of getting up.
“I was here first,” Juliette said in response to their expectant looks. “There’s no way I’m going anywhere near the upstairs with Ana in the mood she’s in, and I really don’t care about Ella’s love life. Besides, she’s not supposed to be alone, anyway. What if she tries to throw herself off the balcony or something?”
Was there anyone in the world that didn’t feel the need to humiliate me? I glared at Juliette, and she just waved a pair of earbuds at me and shoved them in her ears. “I’ll turn the volume up.”
My dad and Jennifer both gave me such hopeful looks that I couldn’t argue anymore. I rolled my eyes and made my way over to the armchair my father had been lounging in.
Once Dad and Jennifer were gone, I glanced over at the couch. Juliette was already doing what she did best—ignoring me. She was bobbing her head along with her music as she read out of a textbook. I doubted she could hear me, but I spoke softly anyway, just in case.
“Cinder? Are you still there?”
“I didn’t realize upping our relationship to phone buddies would come with a boyfriend title. Does that mean if we ever meet in person, we’ll have to get married?”
Surprised, I burst into laughter. Juliette glanced at me with one raised eyebrow, but went back to her textbook without saying anything.
“Sorry, I don’t do polygamy, and I’m pretty sure you’re already married to your car.”
“Funny.”
The flat tone in his voice set me off giggling again, and then I sighed. “Man, it feels good to laugh. I really have had the worst day ever. Thank you for making me call you. I can’t believe we’re finally talking, though. I’ve always wondered what you sound like.”
“Me too. I even googled videos of people with Boston accents once.”
I laughed again. “Shut up. You did not.”
“I did, and you don’t disappoint. Say car for me again.”
“You’re such a dork,” I replied, but then I gave in and said, “car.”
It came out cah, and Cinder laughed. “I love it,” he said. “Speaking of Boston… You did not call me from there.”
I managed not to gasp, but my stomach dropped. I’d completely forgotten about caller ID. How was I supposed to explain why we had the same area code?
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“Cinder?” I wanted to kick myself for how small my voice sounded.
“Ellamara! That is you. My beautiful and wise mystic priestess of the Realm, we speak at last.”
“Holy crap, your voice is sexy!”
I slapped my hand over my mouth. I did not mean for that to come out of it. It’s just that he sounded like he could melt butter—or women’s hearts—simply by speaking. His voice was deep, rumbly and hypnotic. The guy didn’t talk, he purred.
“So I’ve been told,” he teased, laughing—a low, rich sound ten times more dangerous than his speaking voice.
To my utter mortification, I’d once again gained the attention of everyone in the room. They were all gaping at me, and who could blame them after what I’d just blurted? Each of their startled expressions was slightly different. My father looked horrified, while Jennifer had something akin to an excited gleam in her wide eyes. Juliette was smirking, and Anastasia was looking at me the way she always did—with barely concealed loathing and contempt.
I blushed and shut my laptop as I said, “Uh, hey, Cinder, can you hold on a sec?” I gave my dad a pleading look. “Can I take this in my room?”
Before my dad could answer, Juliette frowned at me. “What kind of a name is Cinder?”
“Oh my gosh, that’s that guy who always leaves comments on her blog!” Anastasia cried suddenly. “Ella has an Internet boyfriend! What a freak!”
She was so loud I was sure that Cinder heard her.
“Ana!” Dad growled.
“What? Online dating is so gross!” She turned to me and added, “I hope you know Internet creepers don’t count as real boyfriends, even if you talk to them on the phone.”
“Anastasia, that is enough!” my dad roared. “You’ve just added another week to your grounding! Go to your room! Now!”
“With pleasure!” she shouted back. “I was only down here because you were forcing me to babysit the suicidal freak, anyway!”
I wanted to die as I watched Anastasia stomp up the stairs. Cinder, no doubt, heard all of that. He couldn’t see it, but my face was so red it hurt. How could I possibly talk to him now? I was so nervous I was on the verge of throwing up.
“Ella?” Cinder asked when things got quiet. “Are you there?” He sounded hesitant.
“Welcome to my life,” I said with a sigh of defeat. “Sorry about that.”
“It’s okay.”
It was definitely not okay. I was so humiliated. It was a miracle I wasn’t crying. I think that was only because I was still in so much shock. “Look, thanks for giving me your phone number, but maybe this is a bad time.”
My dad scrambled to his feet, waving his hands at me. “No! You don’t have to end your call. We’ll give you some privacy.” He glanced at both Jennifer and Juliette. “Won’t we, ladies?”
His blatant desperation for me to talk to someone—even a stranger from the Internet—was as embarrassing as Anastasia’s outburst. Even worse, Jennifer was just as bad. “Of course! You go ahead and talk to your boyfriend, Ella,” she squealed. “We can keep an eye on you from the kitchen. I have to get dinner started anyway.”
While I was busy dying from her use of the word boyfriend, she hopped off the elliptical. She hurried to catch up to my dad, seeming more than happy to finish her workout early. As they started up the steps, they both turned back to Juliette, who had sprawled out on the couch instead of getting up.
“I was here first,” Juliette said in response to their expectant looks. “There’s no way I’m going anywhere near the upstairs with Ana in the mood she’s in, and I really don’t care about Ella’s love life. Besides, she’s not supposed to be alone, anyway. What if she tries to throw herself off the balcony or something?”
Was there anyone in the world that didn’t feel the need to humiliate me? I glared at Juliette, and she just waved a pair of earbuds at me and shoved them in her ears. “I’ll turn the volume up.”
My dad and Jennifer both gave me such hopeful looks that I couldn’t argue anymore. I rolled my eyes and made my way over to the armchair my father had been lounging in.
Once Dad and Jennifer were gone, I glanced over at the couch. Juliette was already doing what she did best—ignoring me. She was bobbing her head along with her music as she read out of a textbook. I doubted she could hear me, but I spoke softly anyway, just in case.
“Cinder? Are you still there?”
“I didn’t realize upping our relationship to phone buddies would come with a boyfriend title. Does that mean if we ever meet in person, we’ll have to get married?”
Surprised, I burst into laughter. Juliette glanced at me with one raised eyebrow, but went back to her textbook without saying anything.
“Sorry, I don’t do polygamy, and I’m pretty sure you’re already married to your car.”
“Funny.”
The flat tone in his voice set me off giggling again, and then I sighed. “Man, it feels good to laugh. I really have had the worst day ever. Thank you for making me call you. I can’t believe we’re finally talking, though. I’ve always wondered what you sound like.”
“Me too. I even googled videos of people with Boston accents once.”
I laughed again. “Shut up. You did not.”
“I did, and you don’t disappoint. Say car for me again.”
“You’re such a dork,” I replied, but then I gave in and said, “car.”
It came out cah, and Cinder laughed. “I love it,” he said. “Speaking of Boston… You did not call me from there.”
I managed not to gasp, but my stomach dropped. I’d completely forgotten about caller ID. How was I supposed to explain why we had the same area code?
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