The Prince's Cinderella Bride by Christine Rimmer- a Book Review

The Prince's Cinderella Bride by Christine Rimmer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The Prince's Cinderella Bride by Christine Rimmer is a 2014 Harlequin publication. I was provided a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
BOOK BLURB:
From Texas nanny…to palace princess!
It should never have happened—the night of forbidden magic that turned Lani Vasquez and Prince Maximilian Bravo-Calabretti into lovers. After all, Lani knew all too well that an affair between a lowly nanny and the heir to the throne could only end in heartbreak—her own. Which was why she had to end it before she lost her herself completely…
His New Year's Eve with Lani had rocked Max's world—and now the Texas beauty wanted to be just friends? The single father had sworn he'd never marry again, but Lani had charmed his children and awakened his guarded heart. Will the prince catch his Cinderella before the clock strikes midnight?
I really enjoyed this modern Cinderella style love story. Lani was a woman that made some mistakes in her youth, which most of us can relate to. For Lani it was worse because most of her family were over achievers and she sort of stumbled out of the gate. Now she is a nanny while she tries to get her career as a writer on track. Everything was really great until she and Max took their New Year's celebrations to the extreme. Now things are awkward between them. Max doesn't understand why Lani is so against exploring a relationship with him and talks her into giving them a chance. But, due to Max's celebrity things become complicated. Not only that, once Lani opens her heart to Max, she wants the relationship to grow and Max seems to want the relationship to stay at a stand still.
Lani is still dealing with the fallout of her past and the strained relationship with her family. She still wants to be successful so they will be proud of her and she wants their approval after all the pain she caused them. It seems that her parents are the ones holding on to the past and have decided to hold something against Lani that happened years ago. She is still being manipulated by them despite the long distance that separates them.
Max's backstory is very sad and there is much more going on in his mind and heart than what everyone sees on the surface. He will have a very hard time grabbing the happiness that is there for the taking because of his fear and pain.
I thought the book brought out some great points about family and living in the spotlight . People love a fairytale and Max's first marriage had captured the hearts of the media. Now Max is living as though there could never be another woman like his deceased wife. But, is that the reason for his reluctance to marry? I think that many people in powerful positions have found themselves living a life the media has written for them to sell papers. I also think there are many parents that hold back with a child that made youthful mistakes. Years can pass and for some reason parents can't move on from it. The adult child has grown up, begin to work hard to be a productive citizen and still finds they are living in the shadow of their parent's overblown expectations. I also like how Max's children were instrumental in pointing out things Max never considered about Lani and his own self.
A solid contemporary romance from Christine Rimmer- this one is 4 stars
New York Times bestselling author Christine Rimmer has written more than ninety contemporary romances for Harlequin Books. She has won Romantic Times BOOKreview’s Reviewer’s Choice Award for best Silhouette Special Edition. She has been nominated six times for the Romance Writers of America’s prestigious RITA award and five times for Romantic Times Series Storyteller of the Year.
A California native who first longed to be an actress, Christine earned her theater degree from California State, Sacramento and then went to New York to study acting. Later, she moved to Southern California, where she began her writing career with short stories, plays, and poems. Her poems and short stories were published in a number of small literary journals. Her plays were produced at The Back Alley and Group Theaters in Southern California and have been published by Dramatists Play Service and West Coast Plays.
She now lives in Oregon with her family and two very contented cats named Tom and Ed.