Guest Review: At the Stroke of Midnight by Tara Sivec

Reviewer: Tracy
At the Stroke of Midnight by Tara Sivec
Series: Naughty Princess Club #1
Also in this series: In Bed with the Beast, Kiss the Girl
Publisher: Swerve
Publication Date: February 27th 2018
Format: eARC
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 304
Add It: Goodreads
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Series Rating:

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?

Cindy is barely hanging on. Her husband has cleaned out their bank accounts and run off with the barely legal babysitter, leaving Cindy and her teenage daughter high and dry.  Cindy is the head of the PTA and a “proper” woman so she tries to hide her husband’s defection for as long as possible.  When she becomes friends with the neighborhood pariah, Ariel, after a bit of a rough start, she realizes that she needs to make a future for herself and her daughter as, obviously, her husband isn’t coming back.

At a Halloween block party one of Cindy’s neighbors ask her, Ariel and their friend Belle to “perform” at a party.  They think that being hired as princesses for a children’s party is an awesome idea but when they get there they figure out that it’s a bachelor party and they were hired to strip.  They get out of that situation but the stripping idea sticks with them.  They decide to start a stripping business of their own, but they need help.  They head to a high-class strip joint to learn some moves from one of the girls, but the owner of the place, PJ Charming, has it out for Cindy.  Or is it that he just wants her for himself?

This was an unexpectedly cute story.  I obviously read the blurb before reading it but it was so much more than I expected.

Cindy was a real piece of work before her husband left, and even afterward.  She had spent years trying to be the perfect wife but her life was…beige.  Her clothes were beige, her shoes, home furnishings and life were all beige.  Her husband leaving ends up being the best thing for her because she learned how to be herself and that wasn’t who she had been while married.  Becoming friends with Ariel & Belle, and becoming an independent woman were all so good for her and I loved seeing her come into her own.

The relationship with PJ was hot and spicy and oh so good.  It could also be very sweet and I loved that.  PJ was a good guy who was really trying to protect Cindy (and keep her for himself).  Yes, he acted like an ass a few times but I thought he more than made up for that.

Overall this was a good book and I definitely recommend it if you’re looking for a fun and humorous book to read.  I’m looking forward to the next book in the series, that’s for sure.

Rating: 4 out of 5

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