Apr 222013
 

Fairy Godmothers, Inc.Fairy Godmothers, Inc.

Author: Jenniffer Wardell

Publisher: Jolly Fish Press

Published Date: April 27, 2013

Hardcover: 302 pages

Genre: Fairytale Romance

ISBN# 978-0-9886491-4-9

Reviewed by: Shanda

FTC FYI: received an uncorrected digital proof in exchange for an honest review

Goodreads Summary

In a world where fairy tale situations are as much a fact of life as death and taxes, everyone knows hiring Fairy Godmothers, Inc. is the best way to assure that your beautiful daughter or enchanted frog of a grandson will get the happily-ever-after he or she deserves. Sure, sometimes a little love potion is required to make sure those quotas stay up, but what Prince Charming doesn’t know won’t hurt him. 

Kate, an experienced Fairy Godmother, who’s enough of a romantic to frustrate her rigidly rule-bound boss, has just received a specialty assignment from one of the company’s board of directors. Cinderella—Rellie for short—was placed with an appropriately wicked stepfamily years before, and now needs the dress, ball, and handsome prince to complete her happily-ever-after. The fact that Rellie isn’t sure this is her dream come true—balls are fun, but princes tend to be less interesting than fluffy bunnies—isn’t something management considers a problem.

Complicating things a bit is Jon, the youngest son of the royal family, who meets Kate, and is smitten, but isn’t quite ready yet to reveal his true identity. After all, it’s his older brother Rupert who’s supposed to marry Rellie, which means pretending to be a lowly civil servant will give him the chance to spend more time with Kate. (As long as he can get the ball arranged, and stop Rupert from getting himself into trouble over his “self-actualization” business, he should have the perfect opportunity to explain everything and get started on making a little magic with the Fairy Godmother of his dreams.) 

But, of course, things never ever happen as planned.

Review

Fairy Godmothers, Inc. was such a fun read. I was entertained from the first chapter to the last. I laughed out loud on more than one occasion. I loved Jon, Kate, Lawton, and even Rellie by the end. As a romance, I knew Jon and Kate would eventually end up together, but there were a few unexpected twists with other characters I didn’t see coming and I wasn’t sure quite how things would work out until the very end.

I read Fairy Godmothers, Inc. pretty much straight through. (The kids had to eat and I had to sleep, at least for a few hours.) Even though the  book is approximately 300 pages long, it moved at a good pace and didn’t seem overly long. I was pulled into the story and thought it was well-written and pretty clean overall. The characters were interesting (Bubbles was effectively intimidating, considering her name), and I cared about what happened to them.

It’s obvious that the author had fun writing this story. A lot of fairytale, a bit of magic, some intrigue and a generous dose of romance all combine to make Fairy Godmothers, Inc. easily one of my favorite reads this year.

Content: There is some mild innuendo; a few side characters consume alcohol but I don’t recall the main characters ever partaking; one mild “curse” word; older teens and adults will probably enjoy this book

Visit Jenniffer Wardell: 

BLOG | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | GOOGLE+ | GOODREADS

Find Fairy Godmothers, Inc.:

AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE | GOODREADS

 

Oct 192011
 

Catspell

Author: Danyelle Leafty

Self Published as a Serial Novel

Published: in full November 2011. The first third is available now under the name The Fairy Godmother Dilemma

ISBN: 2940012988300

FTC FYI: I received a PDF from the author which did not affect my review

Reviewed by Mindy

Goodreads summary:  “Sixteen-year-old Breena never thought anything could be worse than being forced to leave the faerie realm. Then she got stuck with a fairy godmother. But if she has to choose between the two, she’d leave the Faerie Realm over getting bossed about by a faerie with a pointed stick any day. Unfortunately, her attempt to evade her fairy godmother gives her growing pains in the form of fur, whiskers, and a tail.

Turning into a cat is the least of her worries, though. The potion wasn’t meant to bring out her inner feline, it was meant to put her to sleep. Forever. If Breena wants to make it to her Happily Ever After, she’ll have to accept that sometimes a fairy godmother really does come in handy, after all.”

Nerissa is a fairy godmother.  She has just returned from helping a DID (Damsel in Distress), and gave her her HEA (Happily Ever After), but she is frustrated.

Because every girl–odd duck or not–wanted a Happily Ever After, complete with the deserving suitor, the crown, and the sunset.  And for the life of her, Nerissa couldn’t begin to fathom why. page 6

But such was the life of a fairy godmother.  She could help the girls spread their wings, fan their tail feathers, and maybe nudge them off the branch, but is was up to them to fly.  She couldn’t do it for them. page 8

To top it off, she isn’t feeling well.  So, when she receives the “request” from the Fairy Queen’s pesky fire salamander Frax, to help another DID, Nerissa is less then thrilled.  This girl, Breena, is unique.  She is a mortal that has been living with the fairies.  Long ago, Breena’s mother promised Feylinda her first born child in return for as much fruit as she could carry.  Breena’s mother didn’t mention that she had an enchanted basket that could hold as much as she put in.  Now, years later, the blossoms are finally starting to return.  Feylinda has had the girl for 16 years, and wants to be rid of her by pawning her off to Nerissa.  Reluntantly, Nerissa has a new DID, but Breena’s HEA is different.  What she wants varies from other DIDs.

This book is darling.  There were couple mistakes in a chapter with names, and a few phrases that were repeated a bit, but all and all, I enjoyed it.  There are many great characters: Myles the mage in training, Baldemar the Prince on a task from his father the King, and Natter the goblin on a task for her mistress, and lots of pesky cats.  Each chapter is told from a character’s point of view.  My favorite character was Nerissa.  She was written with a clever wit and fun humor.  I loved reading what was in her head.  I thought having many characters was a great way to help time pass, and the author did that nicely. There are many clever lines, and each character is written well.  I loved the end when a character (won’t spoil who) was given a chance for their greatest wish, but chose to help against evil.

4 out of 5 stars.  The first third is available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble for .99 cents under the name The Fairy Godmother Dilemma.  Find more about Danyelle Leafty on goodreads and her website.