Cold Hearted by Serena Valentino

When Lady Tremaine's husband dies, her world is shattered. In olden days London, she worries for her two daughters Drizzella and Anastasia if she cannot marry them off to wealthy men and secure their futures. But when a handsome man named Richard waltzes into her life, she is thrown into a loveless marriage, leaving behind her beloved England and taken to the Many Kingdoms. How can she hope to survive when her new husband has seized all of her assets?

I feel that Lady Tremaine is heavily justified in becoming cold and a villain. Serena paints her new husband Richard as a garrish bore who only married her for her dowry. I feel she took a historical approach with this one and how women were indeed treated when it came to men. I felt Lady Tremaine's frustrations especially when Cinderella came off as a brat. Richard, ugh, what a beast. He rushed everything and then had Lady Tremaine become a maid. He treated her as an object rather than a woman with feelings. It made me sad for her. And I understand now why she treated Cinderella with such disdain.

The pacing was great, flow went into every chapter and the next, and descriptions made me ooh and awe. Serena has come a long way since she first wrote Fairest.