Finding Cinderella: A Novella (Hopeless) Paperback – March 18, 2014

I've been waiting on Finding Cinderella for a while now. I loved Hopeless and really enjoyed Losing Hope so I couldn't wait to delve back into this world and see my old friends again. First of all I just want to say how amazing this novella is. Smaller stories are always so much harder to write well. Sometimes there's just not enough pages or enough going on for readers to connect with the characters like they can in a full length novel. Obviously that is not the case here, not only was I able to connect with Six and Daniel I was also very surprised that I was so invested in their story that I no longer cared that the story wasn't about Sky and Holder. Six and Daniel were just so engaging but of course Sky and Holder both make appearances which was just icing on the cake which already had really good icing.During Hopeless I never really gave it much thought when Daniel was talking to Holder about the girl he met in the close at school. It just never really registered with me until this story. Daniel was seeing that crazy mean girl (Was it Vicky? I'm not sure) and I never even suspected that the girl that he was with could have been Six but it makes so much sense. Daniel had so much more depth to him in Finding Cinderella than he did in Hopeless. With him being one of the two main characters you really get a good idea of who he truly is on the inside and he was so perfect for Six. Six is literally looking for the exact same thing that Daniel has always been looking for and when they met in a dark closet and pretended to be in love it was so very sweet and even more so when they met each other again and fell in love for real. Of course there's a bit of sadness too but just like with Hopeless Colleen Hoover handles it so well that it makes you care for both characters even more. There's nothing cliché about Six or Daniel, they're not your stereotypical teenagers and this isn't your stereotypical romance, they're not perfect which is why they're so very perfect for each other. I loved both of their sense of humor, I enjoyed Daniels parents quite a bit and also really liked how much Six hand changed. There's just so much going on in such a small book. It never really felt like a Novella to me, more like a quick novel : ) By the end of the novella I cared for them both just as much as I did Sky and Holder and it was so nice seeing where Sky and Holder are at now and how they are doing.I think I have to agree with Colleen Hoover about her publishers telling her she was nuts for giving this one away for free because I definitely would have paid for this book although I'm glad she did release it for free. It was a very fun and nice present to all of her fans and I for one really appreciate it. I haven't read all of her books yet which is something I plan to remedy soon. She's just such a great writer and she knows how to pull your emotions in twenty different directions. Her romance scenes are SUPER romantic: remember Holder and Sky's first non-kiss kiss? Her sad scenes require a bucket for all the tears: the revelation at the end of Hopeless and her fun scenes will have you smiling and laughing out loud like when Daniel and Six make their big escape from Six's house that first time. All in all pretty much a perfect Novella that stands on it's own just fine. I originally wanted to read it because I was hoping for more Sky and Holder but came away appreciating it for what it was: Daniel and Six's story. Do yourself a favor and grab this awesome gift from Colleen Hoover, you'll be glad that you did!

‘Finding Cinderella’ was sweet. The plot involved a chance encounter in a darkened custodian’s closet at a high school, breaking up with a recent girlfriend, hearing the parents’ reaction, meeting the new girl on the block, discovering the new girl’s secret, confessing to two friends, looking forward to going off to college, and bettering a relationship. Daniel and “Six,” the protagonists, were an interesting pair. Also, I appreciated the author’s word choices that created an upbeat tone. Overall, I liked the touching novella.

"I've never believed in anything like I believe in the possibility of the two of us."Oh my God, can this woman write a bad book just for kicks? No, this is not just a novella, it is not just a little add-on story to an already stellar series, and this is definitely not a re-hash of anything we've already seen in Hopeless or Losing Hope - this is the story that fills all the little gaps we never even knew needed filling and it is the story that makes us fall in love with the two secondary characters as much as we loved Holder and Sky. It is also a testament to the fact that Colleen Hoover doesn't need 400 pages to make you feel with every crevice of your heart and that when it comes to telling a story through witty but emotionally-charged dialogues or creating loveable, engaging characters, she is unrivalled. I knew this story would be great but I never even imagined a novella could be this spectacular."I don't even know your phone number," I say."I don't even know your birthday," she says."You're the worst girlfriend I've ever had."We met Daniel and Six in previous instalments of the series as Holder and Sky's best friends, two outspoken, sarcastic, but fiercely loyal individuals who supported their best friends through thick and thin, and now we get to see them in the limelight. By knowing all the other characters and the main storyline in such detail, no time is wasted on introductions or setups of scenes - we get to immediately zoom into their story and enjoy the ride."How do you make love to someone you aren't in love with?"I lean forward until my mouth is next to her ear. "We pretend."I refuse to spoil any of their story for you, however, not because of its length, but because I knew very little going in and I am grateful for that as not knowing what to expect was half the fun in this case. I will only tell you that their tale starts with one fated encounter that forever changes who they are and what they hope to find in life. The rest of their story is a delightful account of a boy and a girl falling head over heels for one another, and learning what love is through that experience. Their captivating personalities and the amusing dialogues between them drive the story forward and keep us engrossed page after page."Are you a witch? ... I have no idea who you even are and now you're my damn girlfriend. What the hell have you done to me?"This is a book that had me laughing out loud, constantly catching myself smiling like a fool, and even had me shed a few heart-clenching tears at times. My emotions were all over the place because every word meant something, every scene counted, and every sentence struck the right chord. If you've loved Hopeless and Losing Hope as desperately as I have, I have no doubt that you will adore Six and Daniel's beautiful story. They say you can't improve on perfection - I guess Ms Hoover just did.While this story could be read as a standalone novella, I personally would not recommend doing so without first reading the other two books in the series as it follows a parallel timeline and some knowledge of events and other characters would enhance the overall reading experience."Stop! Stop saying things that make me grin like an idiot. My face has been hurting since the second I met you."