Stilettos & Stardust: A Gender-Swapped Cinderella Story

In Tourmaline, Maine, astrophysics enthusiast Noah Barton and his rival, class president Eden Thien Hoang Prince, face challenging senior years—especially when they’re paired as lab partners. Both Noah and Eden are bent on attending Ivy League university Archer Collins, but first they must survive the school year, endure their families’ prescribed plans for them, and secure several scholarship opportunities. Pitchford weaves between Noah and Eden’s perspectives, capturing their voices realistically (“Marriage—no, a relationship—isn’t on my radar. There is far too much I want to do with my life”). The fast-paced plot follows the former adversaries as their lives become intertwined, exploring grief, as Noah deals with the recent loss of a parent and Eden copes with a parent’s illness; loneliness, as the two feel isolated from the microcosms they were raised in; and hope, as the new couple connects, looks toward the stars, and imagines the opportunities the future holds for them. Side characters often lack nuance, and the retelling only nominally resembles its fairy tale origins, but this contemporary romance will likely find fans. Ages 14–up. [em](Self-published) [/em]