I received this book for free from the publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
How to Survive a Modern-Day Fairy Tale by Elle Cruz Published by Entangled Publishing on November 30, 2021
Genres: Fiction / Romance / Multicultural & Interracial
Pages: 368
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
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Claire Ventura is nothing like the poised and perfect heroines she reads about in her favorite romance novels. She’s a quirky, people-pleasing bookworm with a loving yet obliviously intrusive family and a passion for cookie decorating—all rolled into a five-foot-two Filipina American fueled by chamomile tea.
Then she meets Nate, billionaire CEO of a global tech company, the modern-day Prince Charming who sweeps her off her feet. Though he does his best to convince Claire that he’s genuinely head over heels for her, she knows he’ll soon realize she’s more underwhelming Plain Jane than jet-setting socialite. And once he meets her family, if their initial questioning doesn’t scare him off, then their tendency to decide “what’s best for her” certainly will.
Between her whirlwind romance with Nate and her meddlesome family, Claire wishes she had a fairy godmother to guide her. But this is the real world in the twenty-first century, and the only way to get her happily ever after is by grabbing firm hold of what she really wants—and letting her heart be her guide.
I found this to be a well-done romance. I liked the characters right away and wanted to see things work out for them. This book was a pretty quick read for me and I was hooked very early on in the story. I thought that the story tackled a lot of interesting things including dealing with a family member with Alzheimer’s needing nursing home care and a large and sometimes demanding Filipino family. I am so glad that I decided to pick this book up.
Claire visits with her grandmother daily and works in a local bookstore. Her family is a big part of her life and they can sometimes be quite demanding. She also runs a cookie decorating business which is her passion. She meets Nate when she almost hits him with her car and she has no idea who he is. It turns out that he is a well-known businessman who happens to be incredibly wealthy. He is taken with Claire right away and I loved seeing these two get to know each other.
I loved Nate. He might have been a little too perfect at times but he was the highlight of this story for me. I liked Claire to a point but she did drive me crazy at times. I understand being insecure but her inability to stand up for herself and always do what her family wanted her to do drove me crazy after a while. The parts of the story that were focused on Claire and Nate’s relationship were the strongest parts of the story but I was less impressed those focused solely on Claire.
I would recommend this book to others. I found it to be a rather enjoyable read with an interesting cast of characters and a wonderful romance. I would not hesitate to read more of this author’s work in the future.
I received a digital review copy of this book from Entangled: Amara via NetGalley.
It sounds like you had an interesting time with this one. Great review.
This does sound good though I do think Claire will drive me a bit crazy as well! It’s been so long since I’ve read a good romance but I”m going to add this to my list.
Sometimes a too good to be true hero can be too much, but others times I love the character so much that I’m willing to just roll with it. Sounds like Nate was the star of the show for you! 🙂
Yes, stand up for yourself Claire