The Cinderella Rules »

Once upon a time, Donna Kauffman was born in Washington, D.C. Alas, there were no glass slippers in her closet, but fate was kind, and a trustworthy (and totally hot) knight did cross her path. No fool she, Donna didn't need a fairy godmother to point out a good thing when she saw it. Their happily-ever-after is currently taking place in Virginia.

THERE’S A LITTLE BIT OF CINDERELLA IN EVERY WOMAN . . .

. . . except Darby Landon, or so she thinks before meeting the three fairy godmothers of Glass Slipper, Inc. They guarantee they can bring out the princess in any woman. But they’ll have their work cut out for them with Darby, who’s more comfortable in jeans and cowboy boots than designer gowns. But when she’s called from her Montana ranch to squire her impossible-to-please father’s star client around the D.C. social scene, Darby has to turn into the queen of chic . . . and fast.

Between torture-chamber sessions of tweezing and teasing, and horrifying lessons on place settings, Darby finds herself drawn into a fairy-tale romance of the very adult variety with Shane Morgan, the devastatingly sexy (and reluctant) heir to one of the city’s largest companies. But when another Prince Charming arrives on the scene, Darby‘s caught between the woman she is and the woman she’s supposed to be, between two very different irresistible bad boys. Now Darby has to choose her own happy ending . . . and with the help of three very unusual fairy godmothers, this modern-day Cinderella is determined to stay dancing way past midnight—no pumpkins required.

Publishers Weekly

Kauffman follows The Big Bad Wolf Tells All with another fairy tale-themed comic romance, this one focusing on heiress Darby Landon, who has forsaken her family's glitzy life in favor of a rugged existence on a Montana ranch. When Darby agrees to help out her baby sister Pepper by showing their powerful father's Scandinavian business partner around Washington, D.C., Darby realizes that she may need some style assistance before she can reenter high society. On the way to her makeover at Glass Slipper, Inc., Darby meets Shane Morgan, who has reluctantly returned from abroad to handle the corporate empire he inherited from his grandmother. In between Shane's business dealings and Darby's outings with the sexy but sinister Stefan Bjornsen, the two make time for some sizzling encounters. And as they work together to figure out what Stefan's evil plans are concerning the Morgan conglomerate, they realize that their attraction is more than just sexual. It takes Pepper's unlikely help to foil Stefan, and hard thought by Shane and Darby to blend his footloose existence with her longing for home on the range. Though the fairytale conceit never quite works-Darby is simply too wealthy and attractive to ring true as a downtrodden Cinderella-Kauffman writes with warmth, wit and swashbuckling energy. (Jan.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.