"Five Glass Slippers" by Anne Elisabeth Stengl, Elisabeth Brown, Emma Clifton, Rachel Heffington, Stephanie Ricker, and Clara Diane Thompson is a collection of Cinderella retellings.
I would give "Five Glass Slippers" by Anne Elisabeth Stengl, Elisabeth Brown, Emma Clifton, Rachel Heffington, Stephanie Ricker, and Clara Diane Thompson a 1-star review because, while I love fairytale retellings, I couldn't get into this one. ( )

This was a delightful collection of five versions of the Cinderella story. Author Anne Elisabeth Stengl hosted a writing contest in 2014 and chose the five short stories she felt were best representations of one of the most popular fairy tales ever published.

WHAT EYES CAN SEE by Elisabeth Brown - Painfully shy Arella begs her stepmother to let her stay home from the prince’s ball. But kindly Duchess Germaine is determined that her beautiful stepdaughter should be presented at court along with her own two daughters.

BROKEN GLASS by Emma Clifton - The slipper fits, just on the wrong girl! Rosalind never once danced with Prince Marius at the ball, for she is in love with his brother Henry. If only Rosalind and Marius would stop bickering long enough to invent a scheme, perhaps the three of them can find the real mystery lady.

THE WINDY SIDE OF CARE by Rachel Heffington - Alisandra is determined to have her rights. She knows that she is the king’s secretly dispossessed daughter, the true heir to the throne. Prince Auguste is an imposter, and if she plays her cards right, Alis will prove it to the world!

A CINDER’S TALE by Stephanie Ricker - It’s a dangerous life, yet Elsa wouldn’t trade this opportunity to work at Tremaine Station, mining cendrillon from the seething surface of planet Aschen. When a famous deep space explorer and his handsome son dock their starcraft at the space station, Elsa finds herself dreaming of far galaxies beyond Aschen's blistering heat.

THE MOON MASTER’S BALL by Clara Diane Thompson - After her terrifying experience there several years ago, the one place young housemaid Tilly wants to avoid is Bromley’s Circus. But when kindly Lord Hollingberry begs her to deliver a message to the mysterious Moon Master hidden away among the circus dwellers, Tilly can’t refuse and finds herself ensnared in a web of enchantment cast by the loathsome Mrs. Carlisle and her beautiful goddaughter.

This is the first volume in three current collections based on popular fairy tales. The other two currently available are Five Enchanted Roses (Beauty and the Beast) and Five Magic Slipperles (Sleeping Beauty) and they are all creative and enjoyable. ( )

What Eyes Can See - by Elizabeth Brown :: 5 stars, LOVED IT, but I'm afraid they started with the best first... This story focuses more on the eldest step-sister, who cares for her shy and reticent step-sister "Cinderella" very much. I wanted to bash the Prince over the head for being so thick-headed, but all in all I really enjoyed this story.

Broken Glass - by Emma Clifton :: 4 stars, cute twist. Not sure which of the 3 princes in this story is supposed to be the "charming" one, I felt that having three leading men and three leading ladies was a little overwhelming for a short story and so the reader didn't really get to know any of them, though the men, at least, sure had very distinct personalities! A cute twist and a little reminiscent of A Midsummer Night's Dream.

The Windy Side of Care - by Rachel Heffington :: 1 star, halfway through this story and barfing; tempted to DNF this book, but the first story was SO GOOD... Seriously, WTF is up with this story? Insta-love, unnecessary drama because of crazy plotlines that make NO SENSE. GOOD LORD, make it END!!!! Definitely the worst story of the lot, I don't even care to write a review for this one. I'm erasing it from my memory.

A Cinder's Tale - by Stephanie Ricker :: A sci-fi twist, I liked the Disney details in this story. Elsa's companions (co-workers?) are Jacque, Gus, and Bruno (sound familiar?) They work on Tremaine station (Lady Tremaine, anyone?).

The Moon Master's Ball - by Clara Diane Thompson ?

What Eyes Can See
I thought the idea for the story was interesting, but wasn't very well carried out. It might have worked better as a full-length novel, which would have allowed more time for character and plot development. However, I just found that I couldn't really get invested in the story.

Broken Glass
Like the first story, I felt that this would have been better as a novel; it felt quite rushed. However, I liked this one a lot better; it was lightly humorous and fun.

The Windy Side of Care
This was also good, and I think it had a similar tone to the last one. I didn't enjoy it quite as much - the characters weren't quite as appealing - and some parts towards the end didn't quite seem realistic (within the confines of the story). I liked the ending, though.

A Cinder's Tale
I loved this story. I don't really have much else to say about it. I thought the characters and the world of the story were really well developed, given the short length.

The Moon Master's Ball
This was good; not quite as good as A Cinder's Tale, but still good. I found it suspenseful and it definitely kept me reading. I think that both this and the previous story were the best paced ones; the story fitted well into the length of the novella and didn't feel at all rushed.

Overall, I think this was quite a strong collection, though the individual stories varied in quality, and a good way of being introduced to new authors. I will be seeking out other books by some of them. ( )

This is a collection of – in case it's not obvious – five stories inspired by or riffing on Cinderella. Usually a collection of stories, whether by one author or several, is hit or miss… unfortunately, this one is pretty much "miss". Well, no – four-fifths miss. I did really enjoy #4.

What Eyes Can See – Elisabeth Brown – "the romance of this collection". "delicate writing style". "She writes characters you cannot help but like…" – A painfully shy Cinderella, with absolutely lovely stepsisters and stepmother… Or is she painfully shy? The story's ending casts some doubt on that, for me. I've been painfully shy all my life, and I wanted to shake Arella. All the elements of the fairy tale were referenced, kind of, but … far from having to go to great efforts to get to the ball, this Cinderella has to practically be dragged, and once there has to practically be nailed to the ballroom floor. It wasn't awful. I just didn't like it. Two stars.

Broken Glass – Emma Clifton – "a side–splitting comedy" – I guess I don't have the genes for most fiction which is intended to be funny. Because if this was a side–splitting comedy, I … this was a side–splitting comedy? Someone borrowed Rosalind's glass slippers and lost one at the ball, and now because of that she is apparently being forced to marry the heir apparent – although she is actually being courted by his younger brother. She is strident and obnoxious; younger prince Henry is a milquetoast (to the extent that I don't understand why they even tolerate each other, much less want to marry; I give it three months), and I hated it so much I couldn't finish. And for some reason it's steampunk. Sort of. I'm not sure what that was all about. I did skip to the end and read the epilogue, and approved, but – too late. One star, DNF.

The Windy Side of Care – Rachel Heffington – What is it that makes people think "strident" is funny? Cinderella is a litigious serving maid trying to prove she's a noble. The writing was rather worse than that of the other two, and I hated everyone in the story, and again refused to finish. One star, DNF

A Cinder's Tale – Stephanie Ricker – Here, now. This is something else. This is a scifi retelling, in which our heroine is Elsa, a "cinder" – miner of cendrillon on a planet of boiling lava, an occupation which tends to leave its workers smudged with soot. Score. "Pumpkin patches, so named because the superheated lava puffed out in large bubbles" – score. Fairy, or fay, godmother – score. Wicked stepmother, or supervisor – score. It didn't take long to realize this was something else entirely.

The way that everything in the fairy tale – from pumpkin patches to Jaq and Gus to Perrault himself to the need to fit an article of clothing to the corresponding body part to identify the girl – was lovely. I'm glad I started this review while I was reading the book (although I then promptly forgot about it); I am glad to be reminded of this author. I'd like more from her. Five stars.

She gave him a shy smile. "I suppose I must seem like an odd bird out of air."
Jaq attempted to translate the mashed idioms. "Er, a fish out of water."
She cocked her head at him. "I don't think that's an accurate metaphor. A fish out of water would be dead."

We should be celebrating, not sitting around looking like someone kicked our frog."
"Dog," Jaq said absently.
"Close enough," Marraine said dismissively.

The Moon Master's Ball – Clara Diane Thompson – And then back to the not-so-great. It was confused, and confusing, and once again filled with unlikeable characters and muddled writing. By this point I think I can just say that all the positivity in my rating goes to "A Cinder's Tale", and leave it at that. ( )