At the Stroke of Midnight by Tara Sivec Also in this series: In Bed with the Beast
Series: The Naughty Princess Club #1
Published by Swerve on February 27, 2018
Genres: Contemporary Romance, Romantic Comedy Romance
Narrator: CJ Bloom
Length: 8 Hours and 52 Mins
Pages: 269
Format: Audiobook
Source: Library
Meet the Naughty Princess Club: a brand new series from USA Today bestselling author Tara Sivec that introduces readers to Fairytale Lane and the hilarity—and romance—that ensue when three women start a new business to make it rain.
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? At the Stroke of Midnight is a hilarious, empowering story where princesses can save themselves while slaying in stilettos.
This review may contain spoilers, so fair warning, upon reading the review.
At The Stroke of Midnight is the first book in the “Naughty Princess Club” and also my FIRST Tara Sivec romance. Now I have had this author on my list for the longest time, for quite a few years but have never gotten around to her stories until now. I have been wanting to explore more romantic comedies that don’t have the illustrated covers (quite frankly illustrated covers its not always a rom com, but with this type of cover you know it is one) and I was so happy to see that I was correct in that this one is a rom com and what super sexy one at that. But I quite had a blast with this one for sure, loved the fairy tale spin on it, adored the element of exotic dancing being implemented and the unique friendship these three women build with each other. It was a delightful novel that only has me eager to read the rest of the trilogy and man these covers (their hair…..I want their hair haha)
At The Stroke of Midnight is a delightful mix of humor, angst and sexual tension that features:
- P.J. -Defender of single mothers, honorable, protective, sexy
- Cynthia -single mother, divorcee, prim and proper, was a typical trophy wife
We are not going to be strippers, have you lost your mind? I’m a housewife and the president of the PTA. You owned an antique store, and Isabelle is a librarian. We are not strippers.
At The Stroke of Midnight starts off with our heroine, Cynthia, who imagined that her life was close to perfect. She appreciated her husband and thought they had a decent marriage. But when she comes home and sees her divorce papers and all of their savings wiped clean and that her husband abandoned his family for their babysitter and left for Mexico, she has been determined to start a new but finding her new path isn’t going to be as easy as she thought that it would be. Cynthia has been a bit stuck up but now that she has been humbled and she meets her two new best friends that show her the way to freedom and to shining into her new best self, she realizes how unsatisfied she was with life. But with her two new friends Belle and Ariel, they are all three determined to pave a new life for themselves and its going to start with learning how to be strippers and start a new business in this way. But she starts to clash heads with PJ who is highly protective of the women working under him and doesn’t trust Cynthia with her motives. But as they slowly start to trust each other, they begin to embrace the powerful chemistry building between them. But Cynthia and PJ will be tested in their new affaire and will past issues interfere in their new found love or will Cynthia and PJ be able to embrace what they have found together….
I don’t want anything to hit PJ. I don’t even like him,” I lie, picturing his gorgeous face and how nicely he can wear a pair of jeans.
“You don’t have to like him to get yourself some good dicking. You need a good dicking, Cindy. Brian was mediocre at best. You need mind-blowing, toe-curling, forget-your-own-name dicking. And while you’re busy getting fucked into next week, you can also use him for his business knowledge, so it’s a win-win.
At The Stroke of Midnight was such a charming read, and I had so much fun with this one here. I will admit that I wasn’t a big fan of the friendship trio here, I loved Belle though, but Ariel really came off super strong in this book and it did affect my enjoyment of the book a bit. Now the heroine, Cynthia, can be off putting especially in the beginning and she does portray a personality of being stuck up at times so you definitely have to be patient for a few chapters and she mellows out quickly into the story. so I do wish that I could have related better with the heroine, however, eventually I did begin to really like her. It is quite a journey in seeing her grow into her self and find her passion and what she wants to do in her life. I did find her relationship with her daughter to be interesting haha I wasn’t sure what to think of their dynamic. Now the actual romance that builds between the hero and heroine was actually so much FUN. I had a blast with their dynamic. Now normally I am not always a fan of this type of angst, but the writing style in which Tara Sivec implements really made the book shine. And their chemistry is OFF THE CHARTS. This is not light in the heat and I was kinda surprised by that. In most rom com’s I have read, they don’t always have such heavy heat, but I found it really complimented the story in such a sexy way. There is such a great female friendship that grows in this book, and their dynamics are so unique. Each of them are quite unique and they each bring a certain flavor to the group.
I never expected this. I never expected you.
Overall I found “At The Stroke of Midnight” to be a fun, flirty, laugh your socks off rom com that will endeavor to lighten your load with humor and lively antics and where laughter will abound throughout your reading of it.
About Tara Sivec
Tara Sivec is a USA Today best-selling author, wife, mother, chauffeur, maid, short-order cook, baby-sitter, and sarcasm expert. She lives in Ohio with her husband and two children and looks forward to the day when all three of them become adults and move out.
After working in the brokerage business for fourteen years, Tara decided to pick up a pen and write instead of shoving it in her eye out of boredom. She writes in a wide range of genres including Romantic Comedy, Romantic Comedy/Mystery, Romantic Suspense, New Adult Drama, Contemporary Romance and Psychological Thriller. Her novel Seduction and Snacks won first place in the Indie Romance Convention Reader's Choice Awards 2013 for Best Indie First Book and she was voted Best Indie Author in the Indie Romance Convention Reader's Choice Awards 2014.
In her spare time, Tara loves to dream about all of the baking she'll do and naps she'll take when she ever gets spare time.
I thought this series was fun. An irreverent spin on fairytales, but fun nonetheless. I admit, I have to be in the mood for that type of humor, but I laughed a lot
I have to admit, this author has been hit-or-miss for me. However, I will always give her books a chance and I’m so glad that this one was a hit with you 🙂 ?