The Cinderella Pact

by Sarah Strohmeyer

Book Overview

Soon to be a Lifetime movie called "Lying to be Perfect"

When Nola Devlin is turned down for her dream job because she's overweight, she decides to become thin-or, at least, pretend to be. The alter ego she creates-the thin, British, hip, and did we mention thin Belinda Apple-is a smashing success who is offered movie proposals, national television appearances and even dates...though no one's met her in person, of course.

Then Nola...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0451221249
• ISBN13: 9780451221247
• Release Date: June 2007
• Publisher: Berkley Books
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 1.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.8" x 8.0"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

We are all Cinderellas, no matter what our size

The first thing you should know is that this isn't your traditional Cinderella story, although it does have a fairy tale ending. This fab and funny novel follows the ups and downs of Nola Devlin, a plus sized magazine editor who is leading a double life. When her application for a job as an advice columnist is given the round file treatment, Nola creates the perfect alter ego, complete with British background, photo-shopped, bony chested, ultra skinny glamour picture and pink cowboy boots. To her surprise, "Belinda Apple" is a smashing success, and becomes the elusive star of the magazine. One of her glib responses comes back to haunt her when her two best friends decide to follow Belinda's dieting tips after an embarrassing incident at a restaurant, and she reluctantly agrees to a "Cinderella Pact" to lose weight by a certain date. Her friends Deb and Nancy take different approaches to losing the weight, and each one has to face up to the consequences. Nola herself has a hard time, not only with the diet and exercise, but also with keeping her identities straight, and her life becomes increasingly more complicated when: 1. Her sister decides to get married and wants Belinda to be the matron of honor 2. She meets a great mystery guy who may or may not be named Prince "Chip" Charming 3. A background check by the magazine reveals that Belinda isn't all she claims to be 4. She has to act as a go-between for a hot British columnist whom the tabloids have linked to the beautiful Belinda Fast-paced and funny, with likeable characters and despicable villains, this one is a must for fans of Bridget Jones' Diary and the Stephanie Plum series. Rated: 4.5 stars Amanda Richards, July 21, 2007

EXCELLENT!!

I hate to read! I went to Barnes and Noble with a friend and she was buying this book, so I read the back. It sounded okay, so I asked if that when she was done I could borrow it. Normally its forced for me to read a chapter in a week, but with The Cinderella Pact, I could not put the book down! I would say to myself "okay after this chapter i'm going to put it down" and then found there was no possible way to put it down. I sat reading the book for 5 hours straight on a saturday afternoon to finish the book. (I had only read less than half before that) Excellent book, kept me completely entertained and dying to know what was going to happen next. Very light read and very comical. I would be reading to myself at work and I would catch myself laughing out loud (to which I'd have to look around to make sure no one saw me). I recommend this book to anyone: readers and non readers. I went to the bookstore as soon as I finished The Cinderella Pact to find more books by Sarah Strohmeyer!! I can't wait to dig into her other books!

Real life chic lit

This is a story that could easily be true among a group of female friends. They go from being wallflowers that only dream of fitting with the slender and gorgeous to making a pact to actually get fit. This was an easy read that was hard to put down.

A great summer read for chick-lit fans

Having read a few of the books in the Bubbles Yablonsky series by Sarah Strohmeyer, I was curious about her most current novel. The Bubbles series is very similar to Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series. The books are fun, and one can definitely lump them into the "beach read" category. THE CINDERELLA PACT, however, is a notch above Bubbles (who by the way makes a cameo here) and I want to compare it favorably to the Bridget Jones books. Nola Devlin is an overweight woman who works for Sass! magazine as an editor. What she really wants to do though is write, so she somehow manages to create an alter ego, Belinda Apple, who finds her way into writing an advice column for the publication. No one knows that Belinda does not exist. Everyone thinks Belinda lives in London and is very chic (a doctored photo of Nola convinces the staff of this), but no one has yet to meet the popular columnist. Nola gets away with her charade by creating an email address for Belinda along with an American cell phone number, explaining to co-workers that it's cheaper to use than a direct British phone line. In the meantime, Nola and her two best friends, Deb and Nancy, decide that they are going to lose weight, and they form the "Cinderella Pact." They vow to become trimmer versions of their present selves, inspired by an article penned by Belinda Apple no less. While Nola knows that the article is a bunch of bull, the other two are convinced this is the way to go. While the three pursue their dreams of becoming thin, Nola meets "Chip," a computer geek who also works at Sass!, and is surprised to find that he is attracted to her. But she's somewhat convinced that he is already in a relationship (possibly married) and thus keeps disappearing on her, giving her the impression he's really not that serious about her. Nigel, the "other" Brit on staff at Sass!, also shows interest in Nola, and she isn't sure what to think of him. (Actually, rumors are flying that Nigel and Belinda are having an affair, and Nigel tries to get a hold of Belinda through Nola.) On the home front, Nola's family thinks she's jealous of baby sister Eileen, who is almost engaged to be married, while overweight Nola never seems to get a date. When Eileen decides she wants Belinda Apple to be her maid of honor, Nola is about to have a heart attack. How is she going to pull this one off? I thoroughly enjoyed THE CINDERELLA PACT, which had me laughing out loud. I hope Strohmeyer continues writing books with these fun and crazy characters because they are delightful, funny and always amusing to read about. I'm recommending this book to readers who enjoy well-written Chick Lit, but also may be looking for something more. --- Reviewed by Marie Hashima Lofton (Ratmammy@lofton.org)

I loved this book!

I've read all of Ms. Strohmeyer's books and have especially enjoyed her "Bubbles" series. This is a stand alone book about three girlfriends struggling with their weight and romantic relationships. The narrator Nora is also dealing with the fact that she's been secretly writing an advice column everyone else thinks is done by a thin, gorgeous Brit named Belinda. As always, Ms. Strohmeyer's writing is extremely funny and exceptionally poignant as well. I, for lack of a better word, devoured the book in one evening staying up until nearly 2 a.m. to finish it, wiping away happy tears the last 40 pages or so. I absolutely adored it.