I truly enjoyed reading Contracted as His Cinderella Bride the characters were well developed and the storyline was sweet. I loved that Dominic and Ally knew each other and destiny brought them back together. Dominic lived a harsh life and he was able to survive out in life and made something of himself. He needed not to beat himself up and he didn’t need to prove anything to his father. When Ally landed in his home, he knew that she was the person that could become his wife. But the problem is that she is a good girl and very innocent. She also had some self-esteem problems she needed to know that she was good enough and that she was capable to be someone big in life. They are both going to fight feelings but, in the end, they do have their happily ever after.

A big thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Presents for the ARC. I am voluntarily reviewing this book. They knew each other when they were younger. Alison and Dominic decide on an arranged marriage. He is afraid to show feelings and she is a pushover. But I still liked it. 3.5 stars

Contracted as His Cinderella Bride by Heidi Rice is part of the Conveniently Wed series. This is the story of Dominic LeGrand and Ally Jones. Dominic needs someone to cover as a person he is involved in to help promote him being in a stable relationship and not the playboy label he has. But they have additional history that is pulling them together along with their feelings.

Heidi Rice is a new to me author and she delivers a very good read. Ally is trying to finish her fashion designing course and working as a courier. She is overwhelmed and tired when she finds herself at Dominic's door. So when he offers her a marriage of convenience along with picking up her tuition and giving her a million pounds she finds it hard to refuse so she jumps all-in. But Heidi loved him once a long time ago and she finds herself falling again. The big question is will Dominic ever be able to love.

If you are looking for a well written, quick, escapist read then this might be in your wheelhouse. It didn't quite push all the right buttons for me but I think that is just because my taste doesn't run to these billionaire stories. I can recommend this one to CR readers who don't have billionaire prejudices.

Heidi Rice's Contracted as His Cinderella Bride is quick and steamy fairy tale read that keeps you engaged from start to finish!

An enjoyable quick read featuring a marriage of convenience between a French billionaire and penniless bike messenger. The main characters were likeable enough but they seemed to lack chemistry outside of the bedroom. Overall not a bad book just not one of my favorites.

#ContractedAsHisCinderellaBride #NetGalley

“I need a wife. And you would be perfect.”

The marriage of convenience isn’t one of my favourite tropes but staying true to her style of creating an alpha man who is like a block of butter taken straight from the fridge into a warm room, softening nicely as time passes and a lady who may be putty in his experienced hands but who also keeps him on him toes, Rice brings us a likeable couple in Alison and Domenic with a story that does hold a fairytale feel.

“Love is a gift, not an obligation.

Heidi Rice is one of my go to’s when I want a sexy fix and Contracted as His Cinderella Bride easily ticks that box.

Ally Jones' job as a bicycle courier is usually pretty standard, but when she is tasked with delivering a wedding ring to Dominic LeGrand's home, she balks. She and her mother were thrown out of Dominic's home when she was a child, and she's been scraping to survive ever since. Just when her life seems to be turning around, she has no desire to get reacquainted with the boy she knew, even if he was kind to her at the time.

When Dominic discovers that the woman he has chosen to marry is cheating on him, he throws her out. He didn't expect her to declare undying love, but he did expect her to be faithful! As she storms out of his house, she plows into the courier who is delivering her wedding ring. He brings the woman into his house to dry off, and discovers a blast from his past. Little Ally is all grown up, and he still needs a wife to complete the deal he is working on. Can he convince her that his money is a fair trade for a few months of her time?

If money doesn't do it, their combustible chemistry might!

If you like your books with damaged, hurting characters, or with a substantial amount of heat, pick up this one. I enjoyed the story!

Dominic is just a blunt one, ‘I wish to take you to bed, Alison. How do you feel about that?’ Dominic tends to screw things up, 'And wanted to punch a wall. How could he have screwed up this negotiation, so fundamentally?' Dominic can be a litter testy at times, ‘stop apologising about the damn dress. The dress is not the problem. It’s stunning , and it’s been driving me to distraction ever since I saw you in it...' I liked this book, I loved Dominic.

When I picked this one up, Harlequin’s Presents line had been on my mind (due to discussions in a writers’ group). It had been ages since I’d read one of these, and I thought something by Heidi Rice was a good way to return.

The Presents line is, as some authors call it, “fairy tales for adults”. It delivers a steamy, larger than life story, with tropes galore.

Contracted as His Cinderella Bride worked for me. I actually enjoyed it a lot more than many Presents books because both hero and heroine approached their fake relationship like adults, and there was no melodrama. Rice delivered all the wealth and opulence – as well as the alpha male – without making the book seem “old school”. And this was a heroine who was a little down on her luck, but who had ambition, and a career in her future.

I loved the London and New York locations, and I especially loved that the author seemed to know her settings personally. They weren’t just window dressing. The reference to the overcrowded Trevi Fountain on the trip to Rome was also welcome, because, honestly, these days there’s nothing romantic about the place.

There were a handful of things in the steamier scenes I could take issue with (we really need some new terms that aren’t “velvet over steel” and “bundle of nerves”!), but I did like how the author subtly changed her terminology when the characters went from England to the United States. In fact, I loved that.

This book delivered exactly the quick-read fairy tale (for adults!) I wanted.

Alley and Dominic share a season of time together in their teens that wasn't necessarily memorable in a good way. Alley's mother and Dominic's Father had an affair or Alley's mother was the "mistress". Each parent had some real emotional and mental issues and would not be given an award at all for their parenting skills, and that's an understatement right there. Dominic's father was abusive and Alley's mother was emotionally needed and insecure. Each watched their parent cause hurt and pain to each other as well as their children. Alley and Dominic in a sense were each other's emotion support. Alley idolized Dominic and he looked at her sweet innocence as hope. But tragedy struck and each went their parents parted and so they were separated.


Years later, Alley who is now twenty-five, is a mail courier (she also goes to school part time as she wants to become a cloths designer) who has just been dispatched for one more delivery for that day. The name seems familiar and when it finally dawns on her that it's Dominic she has already accepted the delivery, but wishing she had turned it down. When Alley arrives she finds a furious woman marching to her car and in the process pushing Alley out of the way and injuring her. Alley realizes then that's the latest of Dominic's women (she seems to keep tabs on him sometimes). She hopes he doesn't answer the door or if so doesn't recognize her. But of course he does. He realizes she's hurt and insist she stay dry off (it had been pouring) and let him tend to her wound.

Dominic rose from a troubled and destitute childhood. He worked hard and become a successful businessman. He's in somewhat of a bind, there is a property he wants to purchase but the sellers look seem to require someone the has a good reputation, not player like Dominic. Dominic became engaged for business purposes, but this particular woman had been cheating on him and it made the papers/headlines. So he was back to square one looking for a potential "wife" when Alley appears at his door. Innocent and sweet Alley seems like the perfect answer to his dilemma and they do have some hot and intense chemistry as well.

The two play catch up on what they have been up too in life. And their attraction is so intense they end up having sex. Dominic finds out she's a virgin and feels a little guilt but also finds it too his benefit. Alley, as a possible wife, with her clean reputation as exactly what he needs. So he offers her a fake marriage in exchange for payment for her school, cloths etc as well as large sum of money. She accepts. They then formulate their plan for their marriage and how it will work. And why not sex as an added benefit since it's so explosive.

Now this is my problem with this "romance", there's not much heart, emotion or relationship development. It's pretty much based on sex, that's it. I also did not connect with either character as they didn't have much development or depth. They live in different countries and only meet when they are need to make a social appearance as a couple. Then it's sex and see you next time. Dominic comes across cold and we don't really know why he's this way till the last few pages which was out of nowhere and abrupt. And Alley, I never really warmed to her at all, she was one dimensional and at times beyond naive (now there's naive and then there's I'm clueless naive, she was second category).
The ending was abrupt and the epilogue was okay but not satisfying.

I need my romance to have some heart, emotion and then sex. That's my take on this HP.

it was a good story but I didn't like the hero, Dominic was good looking, rich and French- but I never warmed up to this character. Ally was nice but I didn't care for her either, I liked her better then Dominic but not much. They shared a summer when she was 13 and he was 16 which changed their lives for different reasons- I didn't care. I found Dominic would laugh at the most inappropriate times and it was annoying. It had a good ending and when I finally read about Dominic's past I just didn't care anymore. We should have found out a little bit about him as the story unfolded so we could start liking him, but we got it at the end, and I'm talking the very end, it was too late. I just didn't care anymore. I'm giving it three stars because it was a good story, it was just a bit cold.