Review: Fairy Godmother's Inc. by Jenniffer Wardell

Title:  Fairy Godmothers Inc.

Author: Jenniffer Wardell
Publisher:  Jolly Fish Press
Publishing Date: April 27th 2013

Pages: 350
Genre:  Adult Fairytale Retelling  

Series: Stand Alone
Source: Paperback ARC 

  

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 step family 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.

This story was filled with loads of fun. I received this book from the publisher and was excited to read it. I love fairytales and retellings. I didn’t know that I would be laughing out loud while I read the book. I was pleasantly surprised with the tone of the book and the hilarious characters. A little warning the book is a bit on the cheesy side but in a very good way. The story did stay true to the fairytale traditions of Cinderella… Fairy Godmother, Glass Slipper, Evil Stepmother and Stepsisters, Prince Charming. It did have all the elements needed but told from the point of view of the Fairy Godmother with a bit more of a modern edge. It was just great!

Kate is a Fairy Godmother, it is her job to fulfill the contract of clients when it comes to matching up their loved one. She is handed an very difficult contract (without knowing it would be difficult) to fulfill in one week. She must match up Cinderella with Prince Charming, the one that is heir to the throne. From the beginning the job is messed up. One week and no ball planned, there is a problem with the prince in question, and Kate herself seems to be falling in love. Loads of trouble. She must fight her feelings and work with what she has before time runs out for Cinderella and herself.

Loved this book. The style of writing was simple and very entertaining, the tone was built around humor, and the characters were all a mess and kept me on my toes.

I really enjoyed the overall tone of the book. It was not the original dark fairytale tone, or the sweep me off my feet Disney movie tone, it was “I can’t believe this is happening and I can’t stop laughing” tone. The characters were a bit over the top, the story was humorous, the Fairy Godmothers had a knack for messing up, and the royal family was very interesting.

The plot of the story was really creative and original. The idea may have come from an age old fairytale but the author did an exceptional job of making it her own. I really liked the idea of Fairy Godmothers working for a company and are assigned to those who have been contracted out to be matched. This makes sense to me, why some got one and some didn’t. I also enjoyed the story being told from the Fairy Godmother’s perspective. Cinderella’s Godmother had to go through so pretty hot hoops to get the job done. If Fairy Godmother’s Inc existed, I would want Kate, she is one determined Fairy Godmother.

The characters really got me going. Kate is a great character. She was written well and so very likable. I really can’t think of anything I didn’t like about her. She was a bit dense at times when it came to Jon but she was still great. Cinderella “Rellie” was a hoot. She cared more about the color pink and bunnies than becoming a princess but she would do anything to have a bit of fun, wear a pretty dress, and get away from her evil family. She seemed to act a bit immature for her age but I figured it was from being cooped up away from society for so long. Jon is a super nice guy. I can’t say I swooned over him, but he was totally lovable.

All the characters had something amazing and fun to add to this story. Add together quick pace, fun story, quirky characters, and a lot of mishaps and you get one great fairy tale. Another note of something I really loved, its an adult book, but very clean and reads like a young adult. 

It’s just one of those books that one reads just to escape reality and have a good time. I know I loved it and I am looking forward to reading more from this author in the future.