The Cinderella Pact

Table of Contents

 

 

“Outrageous fun! Opening a book by Sarah Strohmeyer is like opening a box of chocolates—sweet, a little nutty, and absolutely irresistible.”—Meg Cabot, author of
The Princess Diaries
and
Queen of Babble

 
“What a find! From the moment I read the first page, I was hooked. Any woman who has ever struggled with her weight will instantly connect with the story. Seriously, it doesn't get much better than this. . . .[The book] delights on all levels. I can't think of enough gushy things to say about it. You will
not
be able to put it down.”—Johanna Edwards, bestselling author of
The Next Big Thing
and
Your Big Break

 
“
The Cinderella Pact
is for every one of us whose foot was too big to stuff into that glass slipper. It's engaging, funny, and as hard to put down as a bag of M&M's.”—Harley Jane Kozak, Agatha, Anthony, and Macavity Award-winning author of
Dating Dead Men
and
Dating Is Murder

 
“Comedy abounds. . . . It's a well-told tale of friendship, tied in with everyday, relatable issues like job satisfaction, weight issues, divorce, and love.”—
Romantic Times
(4 stars)

 
“Nola is an intelligent heroine worth cheering for . . . with insights about the difficulties of not being beautiful in a beauty-obsessed society. This is what chick lit is supposed to be.”—
BookPage

 
“A side-splitting humorous tale of self-discovery and a sighing happily-ever-after romance. The story's premise . . . is one that most women can identify with. . . . Buy this book, but be careful where you are when you read it unless you want to explain your sudden and frequent outbursts of laughter.”—Single Titles

“A highly entertaining romp through New Jersey society, featuring a lovable, if hapless, heroine.”—Fresh Fiction

 
“[A] delightful frolic . . . featuring an authentic woman who can't help but dabble in a little bit of fantasy.”—
Kirkus Reviews

 
“Big laughs, a big imagination, and big trouble all seamlessly meld together. . . . Get-the-heating-pad-honey-I-laughed-too-hard-and-my-stomach-hurts funny!”—Fallen Angel Reviews

 
“This contemporary fairy tale, complete with a Prince Charming, differs from the original in that, with a little help from her friends, the lady effects her own transformation. Very enjoyable.”

—
Library Journal

“The mordantly observant Strohmeyer skewers the lifestyles of the rich and fatuous with spot-on irony. . . . An uproarious, upscale, tongue-in-cheek tour de force.”—
Booklist

 
“Equal parts bitterly emotional and ironically misogynistic . . . a wicked, quick read. Somewhere, Jane Austen is turning in her grave.”—
Houston Press

 
“[Strohmeyer] uses her observations to sharp comic effect.”

—
The Boston Globe

 
“Tart-tongued . . . wicked, frothy fun.”—
Publishers Weekly

 
“Like drinking champagne in a bubble bath: a total but rather guilty pleasure. . . . Real fun lies in watching these proper women gone wild.”—
Romantic Times

 
“You will never travel through the upper-crust suburbs again without wondering what type of drama is happening silently within.”—Huntress Book Reviews

 
“A vastly entertaining depiction of life among the country-club set.”—
Affaire de Coeur

“Aims to be the chick-lit Carl Hiassen. . . . It's silly, silly, silly, but extremely funny.”—
The Washington Post Book World

 
“Read this when
Desperate Housewives
doesn't have your attention.” —
All You

“Bubbles Yablonsky is . . . bright, slightly trashy, [and] outrageously funny. This is one to take to the pool.”

—
St. Petersburg Times

 
“You're going to love her.”—
New York Times
bestselling author Jennifer Crusie

 
“A sexy, irrepressible heroine, riotous supporting characters . . . and even a makeup tip or two.”—
Library Journal

 
“For anyone who has ever looked at a Barbie doll and thought it's time the lady left Ken and flung herself at G.I. Joe, there is a riotous world waiting in these pages.”—
The Houston Chronicle

New American Library
Published by New American Library, a division of
Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street,
New York, New York 10014, USA
Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto,
Ontario M4P 2Y3, Canada (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.)
Penguin Books Ltd., 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
Penguin Ireland, 25 St. Stephen's Green, Dublin 2,
Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd.)
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Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty. Ltd.)
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New Delhi - 110 017, India
Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, North Shore,
Auckland 1311, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd.)
Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty.) Ltd., 24 Sturdee Avenue,
Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa

 
Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices:
80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
Published by New American Library, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
Previously published in a Dutton edition.

 
First New American Library Printing, June 2007

Copyright © Sarah Strohmeyer, LLC, 2006

Excerpt from
The Sleeping Beauty Proposal
copyright © Sarah Strohmeyer, LLC, 2007
All rights reserved

REGISTERED TRADEMARK—MARCA REGISTRADA

eISBN : 978-0-451-22124-7

Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

 
PUBLISHER'S NOTE

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party Web sites or their content.

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For Lisa, of course

The Fabulous Belinda Apple's

Guide to Indulging Your Inner Cinderella