On a Night Like This was a wonderful reminder of what happens when you let the magic in and possibilities flourish. With the intertwining theme of a modern day Cinderella, we get to see what happens if “today’s” woman told Prince Charming she could handle herself and finally decided to give life a run for its money.

Meet Fran Cooper, Executive Assistant Extraordinaire (i.e. world class people pleasure). Her super power, to put everyone’s needs in front of her own, no matter the cost. Whether it’s not taking a job out of the area to make her fiancée happy, staying with said fiancée because she believes it would make her mother happy, or doing the bidding of her latest client – she aims to please. Frustrated with the limitations her life choices are currently offering, Fran decides to take the leap when a once in a lifetime opportunity is presented to her. One NDA and a terrifying interview later, she finds herself face to face with the challenge outside of her element, she has to play babysitter to a celebrity that goes through assistants quicker than a can of Pringles. Determined to prove she can handle the job of getting Cinderella to the ball, she goes above and beyond to appease her client, to the point that she finds herself stranded on an island when she was tasked to search for a desired item. No money, no passport, and royally ticked off, she receives instructions from her boss to go to the hotel, abide by her NDA, interact with no one, and they will send a helicopter for her in the morning. Frustrated to within an inch of her life, Fran’s very own version of a fairy godmother shows up and convinces her to stop playing it safe (as it has worked out so well for her so far in life) and take a chance – attending the most coveted event in the world. Her plan was simple – get in, get out. She didn’t expect Prince Charming would sweep her off her feet, giving her a night she would never forget and setting in motion a chain of events that would forever change how Fran sees the world.

The one thing I always enjoy in a Kinsella or Kelk book is the evolution of the female protagonist. Witnessing the journey of finding inner strength, self-worth, and personal definition is always empowering. With Fran, she was living the life that appeased everyone else. She was so focused on making everyone else happy that she didn’t know or even fathom the idea that doing what was best for her – what made her happy, was acceptable. She didn’t want to rock the boat. As she said, it was easier to press it down and compartmentalize it because that is what a good assistant did – and that is how she viewed her role in everyone’s life. When she finally witnessed how good life could be when she put herself first, even crazy at times, she was finally able to open her eyes to what it felt like to be happy, satisfied, and truly fulfilled – to live for herself, not for everyone else. As her best friend said, don’t wait for things to happen, make them happen.  

For those of you who are Kelk fans, I loved how Rachel (from The Single Girl’s To Do List) popped back into the story and we got to see how life worked out between her and Dan. I truly do enjoy when writers create a universe of overlapping characters and we get a peek at how some of our favorites are doing. When Rachel mentioned how someone once helped her, I instantly remembered Jenny so, again, it was kind of a shout out to the dedicated readers who have fallen in love with Kelk’s work.

Another thing I love about this book (and clean, wholesome contemporary romances in general) are the sweet moments and romantic connections. It isn’t always about the heat, spice, or open door moments (or even close door moments for that matter). It is about the protagonist falling in love with herself, knowing her worth, and those who want to be with her proving they are deserving of who she has become. 

As for the takeaway, the story really does focus on the concept of being a people pleaser and living for everyone else. She rolled over for Steve so many times because she constantly blamed herself for his indiscretion (which thank you Juliette for point out how messed up THAT was!) She was ruled by the everlasting judgment of her mother and the cloud of potential disappointment and failure that ensued. Her vision was so muddled by everything and everyone that she just couldn’t see beyond it. I can only imagine this reality for real life people pleasers. You give, you sacrifice, you appease, you do what it takes to keep the peace not realizing at every turn that you are giving away a piece of yourself to do it until nothing is left, the essence of who you are and what you want only a faint memory.

I absolutely loved the ending of this book (and the lead up to it!) You always read about grand gesture moments and “they live happily ever after”. Fran was NOT having that and it was hilarious! It worked out as all HEAs do but it worked out on her terms and what best served her – the opposite of what her life had been so far.