A Pan of Pumpkin and Pastries: A Cinderella Retelling

by A.G. Marshall

A dab of pumpkin. A dusting of cinders.
And a drizzle of midnight baking that could change everything.

Celine Blackthorne is the secret ingredient behind the kingdom’s most fashionable bakery. While her stepmother and stepsisters bask in the dining room spotlight, Celine bakes and cleans in the basement kitchen. When a Royal Patisserie Competition threatens to expose her family’s lack of coin and lack of talent, Celine must take matters into her own flour-dusted hands and save the family business.

With the help of the cobbler’s apprentice next door, Celine risks her anonymity to save the people who take her for granted. But when the contest requires her to leave the bakery for the ballroom, Celine’s secret participation may not stay secret for long. As heat rises in the royal kitchen, Celine must decide if she’s baking for her family’s approval or for a love that’s as sweet as it is unexpected.

Glass Midnight: A Cinderella Retelling

by Kayla Eshbaugh

Welcome to the ancient land of Terra, where curses run rampant throughout all the kingdoms and where the royalty desperately attempt to break their curses and claim their own happily ever afters.

Princess Gabriella wasn’t cursed at birth like the other royals.
Although not cursed, she feels as if she might as well have been for the threat of the neighboring kingdom of Lune is ever present. This threat of war has forced her into growing up with a unique set of skills. Not only can she amaze with her beauty and grace on the dance floor, but her skill with a blade is unparalleled by any of the knights in her kingdom.

Prince Wesley isn’t sure that he’ll live to see himself crowned king, as his curse prevents him from being king unless someone loves him for himself and not his crown. His uncle, the regent believes if he wears a mask and keeps his identity a secret he can find a maiden to love him for who he truly is. Hidden all his life from everyone his mask hides more than just his face—he fears that no matter who he meets, or gets close to all they will ever see is the mysterious masked prince—not who he truly is underneath it.

Escaping Pirates: A Seafaring Cinderella Retelling

by Mary Mecham 

Navigating treacherous seas is perilous, but navigating love is even more dangerous.

When Elena’s merchant ship is attacked by ruthless pirates, she is torn from her life and imprisoned aboard the Kraken’s Revenge. Forced to serve the captain’s cruel daughters, Elena’s dream of escape fades like the distant shore. Survival means obeying orders without question, but the fire in her heart refuses to be extinguished.

Everything changes when a new prisoner is thrown into the brig—a dashing sailor named Harlan, whose defiance matches Elena’s own. Their connection is immediate, but the captain’s daughters are just as captivated by Harlan’s charm. As a forbidden romance kindles in the darkness of their confinement, Elena dares to dream of freedom once more.

But danger looms when another pirate with sinister intentions wants to buy Elena. Now burdened with a secret that could change the course of history, Elena must decide how far she’s willing to go to protect Harlan and herself.

As she navigates the treacherous waters of betrayal and desire, Elena must choose between the liberty she craves and the love she cannot deny.

The Skydust Duke: A Victorian Romantasy Cinderella Retelling

by T. L. Shreffler

Lady Celise Dhastel has spent her life in the shadows—overlooked, underestimated, and quietly enduring the cruelty of her stepmother and half-sisters. Born without the gift of mana-channeling, her noble family sees her as a useless girl fit to work in the stables and nothing more.

Lord High Commander Elias Blackwood, dubbed “the Mad Dog” by the infamous Lady’s Letter, has scared off seven brides since returning home from the war. Haunted and hardened by the horrors of the Abyss, he has no patience for simpering courtiers or marriage schemes. But his father has arranged a birthday gala for him, and Elias has to choose a bride by the end of the ball.

After a twist of fate brings Celise and Elias together in the moonlit gardens of Gravenmere Castle, an unexpected spark ignites. Elias might be the most powerful soldier in the kingdom—but will he remove his armor for a chance at love?

Midnight's Curse: A Cinderella Retelling

by Tricia Mingerink

The glass slippers might be her dreams come true...or her worst nightmare.

High King Alexander rules the Seven Kingdoms of Tallahatchia—a divided nation on the brink of yet another war. When an invitation arrives from the king of Pohatomie, Alex knows it must be a trap, but could it also be his opportunity to unite the kingdoms?

Daemyn Rand has lived a hundred years, served an arrogant prince, fallen in love with a princess, and lost himself somewhere along the way. He has already died for his loyalty. Will standing at the high king’s side cost him his last chance to truly live?

Elara Ashen is a lowly, miserable servant. All she wants is to spend even one night in a fancy dress dancing with the high king. When she is offered a pair of glass slippers, it seems that all her dreams have come true.

But dreams have a price, and gifts can be curses in disguise. What will it cost to stop this curse from tearing Tallahatchia apart yet again?

Ash & Cynder: A Cinderella Retelling

by Kimbra Swain

The Kingdom of Cyndercillfs is ruled by a tyrant king. Each year trials are held to appease the volcanic god on the mountain. Warrior women step into the arena for the chance to change their lives and win a pair of diamond slippers. A young woman, running from her hateful stepmother, steps into that arena. However, she didn't know the dangers that she would face in the trials.

Ashtyn Greyson, daughter of a dead lord, discovers that her opponents are deadly and trained. But none of them are more frightening than King Philam. However, she finds support in the First Knight of the King, the Prince of the Kingdom, and a respected and wealthy Lord.

She might survive the trials, but can she survive the king? And will the god, Cynder, approve of her?

Royal Witch: A YA Paranormal Cinderella Retelling

by RaShelle Workman

It isn’t every day Cinderella proposes to the man she loves… But to save her land, Cindy does just that.

At the Seven Magics Academy, one of the students is messing with dark magic. Another is having an identity crises. Plus, the annual Halloween dance is fast approaching and Cindy is over the decorations committee.

She must find a way to balance work and her personal life, not to mention the gory truths revealed about her boyfriend, her family, and her land. She'll have to sacrifice to keep those she loves alive and doing so will require she give up everything, including her own happily ever after.

Heart of the Raven Prince: A Cinderella Retelling 

by Tessonja Odette

With Audiobook in Kindle+

A playboy prince in want of a decoy bride.
A servant girl desperate for a disguise…

Raven shifter Prince Franco is every social climbing debutante’s dream. He’s handsome, heir to the Lunar Court throne, and deliciously single. Every young woman wants to bed him, wed him, or steal a moment of his time. Except, of course, for Ember Montgomery.

Half-fae Ember craves freedom from her conniving stepfamily. As if they weren’t enough to deal with, a chance encounter with the arrogant Prince Franco leaves her humiliated and in a fiery rage. Nothing could convince her the prince is anything but a rake. But when the opportunity to evade her scheming stepmother falls into her lap, she’ll pay the price—even if it means impersonating the prince’s newest flame…

To prove himself a worthy heir, Prince Franco must marry a princess. But after far too many unsatisfying trysts, he’s given up on love. With the social season in full swing, and bringing with it a horde of husband-hungry socialites, he’ll do anything to delay the pressures of both marriage and the crown. And what better solution than an alliance with a desperate servant girl glamoured as his false future bride?

Locked in a bargain, Ember must pose as a princess until midnight at the full moon ball. Until then, all she has to do is wear the glamour, pretend to court the prince, and above all else, not fall in love. But when feelings emerge on both sides, she starts to wonder if there’s more to their contrived courtship than either of them planned…

Can Ember and Franco find love when the masks come off? Or will illusions and lies prove stronger than their hearts?

His Engraver: a Victorian Cinderella Retelling

by Caroline Lee

A Cinderella with a skeleton key. A cowboy who never expected a castle. One engraved slipper.

Ember Oliphant is many things her wicked stepmother doesn't want anyone to notice: a gifted metal engraver, a talented designer, and the only person in the clan who could save Oliphant Engraving's future — if anyone would bother to look. Her plan is simple: one stolen mask, one silver gown, one masquerade ball, and a pair of bronze-heeled shoes beautiful enough to make the new studio manager take her seriously. She just has to get out of her locked room first.

Maxwell DeVille arrived in the Scottish Highlands expecting to run a factory. He did not expect to acquire a father, four siblings, and a ball thrown in his honor — and he absolutely did not expect to spend the whole evening dancing with a red-haired woman in a silver mask who talks about metalwork like poetry and vanishes before he can learn her name. All she leaves behind is a single engraved bronze-heeled slipper.

He is going to find her.

What neither of them knows: the masked beauty who pitched her shoes to the new studio head is the same serving girl Max has been falling for at the inn. And the charming cowboy Ember assumed had simple dreams is actually the man who holds her entire future in his hands. They say Cinderella's prince came looking for her...but in this version, nobody is quite who they appeared to be at the ball.

Beneath the Cinders: A Cinderella Retelling

by Alice Rosegold 

Upon the death of her father, Della is taken from her country and forced into servitude by her stepmother. Della struggles to make ends meet as her stepmother frivolously spends the widow's stipend meant to sustain them. Limited funds, the impossible solitary crossing of the Deep Woods, and protecting her younger stepsister from the same fate keep Della from running away.

The day that Della stops a runaway horse alters her life in a way she never imagined could happen in this new kingdom. She meets Lord Roric and the nobleman who seeks her out, meeting with her in secret. Then, an opportunity arises to leave and Della is torn between returning to the land that she loves or staying to be with the mysterious nobleman who is keeping secrets himself.

Which Cinderella Retelling Will You Read First?

Whether you prefer sweet fairy-tale romance, dangerous magic, royal intrigue, or darker stories with morally gray characters, there is a Cinderella retelling waiting to sweep you away.

The best retellings preserve the hope and transformation of the original story while giving Cinderella more agency, a new world to explore, and challenges that cannot be solved by a beautiful dress alone.

Which of these Cinderella retellings will you add to your Kindle+ library first? Leave a comment with your pick—and share your favorite Cinderella-inspired book if it did not make the list.