Ella Benoit is finally free. Having lost her mother, and later her father, Ella has grown up as a glorified servant for her horrible stepmother, Adelaide, and her two spoilt step sisters, Hope and Charity. But with Adelaide's death, Ella has a chance at life. With no confidence or understanding of how beautiful a person she is, both inside and out, Ella is surprised to learn that her father has left her a French property solely for her - Chateau de Maincy.

Excited and scared, Ella sets off for her new adventure. Derelict and a little run down, the Chateau will take a lot of work to return it to its former glory, but Ella has never been afraid of hard work. What she had not expected was a feeling of deja vu, and visions of the house as it used to be. But this house is not an ordinary house for it is home to the ghost of Jean Daniel Girard, the original owner from 1703. Having tragically died in 1703, he is waiting for his love to arrive and travel back in time to right his untimely death, and free him from this haunting existence.

As soon as Ella enters his home, his heart recognises her as his Ella. Now he must convince her that he is real, and he needs her help and her love. As Ella is pulled back into the past will she be able to rescue the man she loves? Or will she find herself back in rags, serving the whims of a cruel family? Will fate and time ever allow Ella and Jean Daniel to be together?

CINDERELLA AND THE GHOST by Marina Myles is an unusual twist on the classic fairy tale. A modern day Cinderella, Ella, is transported back in time by magic, to rescue the life of the man she loves, but there are so many obstacles thrown in her path - an evil twin brother, cruel employers, social rules and obligations, and the fear of losing her true love forever. Although an easy read, this novel was just a little too unusual for my tastes, but readers who enjoy fairy tales turned inside out, are sure to enjoy it.

Book Summary

A Dangerous Attraction

When her demanding stepmother died, Ella Benoit knew just how far their fortunes had fallen, unlike her spoiled stepsisters. So she never expected the bequest from her late father. A chateau in France and the freedom to live her own life, all at once!

The chateau has seen better days, but Ella knows she can put the ruined house to rights. The life-size portrait of its first owner, Jean-Daniel Girard, seems to watch her work with approval, even pleasure. With bright blue eyes, strong features, and an athlete’s body, the viscount is a tempting sight even now, more than three hundred years after his tragic death. But the more she looks at the portrait, the more convinced Ella is that she’s met Jean-Daniel before. In another life, perhaps—or maybe, as the form who haunts the halls at night, invading Ella’s dreams…

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