The Unfortunate Miss Fortunes
Title: The Unfortunate Miss Fortunes
Author: Jennifer Crusie, Anne Stuart and Eileen Dreyer
Genre: Paranormal Romantic Comedy (yes, I just made up a subgenre)
Pages: 416 (Paperback)
I first saw this book advertised and reviewed in Romantic Times Book Reviews and immediately thought, "Oh my God, I have to read this book--it's going to be freaking hilarious." Sure enough, I was very correct.
The premise of this book was what first caught my eye: three sisters, all of them witches, who have powers. The hook? They hate their powers. The oldest sister, Dee, is a shapeshifter. Unfortunately, every time she tries to get intimate with a man she shapeshifts--into his mother. The middle sister, Lizzie, can transmute objects. The only problem is that she keeps turning forks into bunnies, and any time she's sexually aroused or frustrated a new pair of shoes appears on her feet. The youngest sister, Mare, is telekinetic. However, she's barely managed how to figure out how to move muffins. Plus, her powers have wreaked havoc on her sex life considering any time she finds herself in the throes of passion things start flying across the room.
Needless to say, the sisters tend to see their powers as more of a curse than a gift, and they would be more than happy to give those powers up.
Their evil aunt Xantippe (Xan, for short) killed their parents years before while trying to take their powers away from them. Xan is obsessed with youth, beauty and power, and has devised a plan to obtain the sisters' powers which will result in her living longer, growing younger and most importantly being more powerful. How does she plan on doing this? She sends them their true loves with the thought that the sisters would be more than willing to sacrifice their magic for True Love.
The entire book takes place over one weekend, and in the course of three days (Friday, Saturday and Sunday), the sisters fall in love, have fantastic (and dare I say magical) sex and realize they actually want their powers.
Aside from the storyline I was also intrigued by the fact that this book was written by three different women, the sisters' stories intertwined rather than being separated into three short novellas. As a writer I was intrigued to see A) if they could pull it off and B) how they pulled it off if they did.
They definitely pulled it off.
This book is a great example of voice and POV. Each sister definitely has a distinctive voice (each writer told one sister's story), but they're woven together so well that it's very difficult to tell that the book was written by three different people. There are also seven Points of View--the three sisters, their true loves and Xan. That's pretty much unheard of in romance--unless you're Nora Roberts. The POV's are done extremely well, with no head hopping whatsoever. There was one place where I distinctly remember being pulled out of Lizzie's POV, but I was so wowed by the book as a whole that I can't even remember what about it pulled me out. Yes, this book was that good.
The only thing that I can even remotely complain about is that it's hinted that Danny (Dee's true love) has magical powers himself, but it's never explained how he came by them, what they are, if he accepts them, etc. Sure, he accepts Dee's powers (he was firmly anti-witchcraft) and loves her anyway, but when Dee tells him he's also magic he completely rebels against the idea. There wasn't any resolution to that particular thread, and I really would have liked to have seen it. I also kept wondering if Crash (Mare's true love) had any magical powers or if he was just completely ordinary.
I have to say that I absolutely adored this book. I started reading paranormal romance before everybody and their grandmother decided to write it, and I've always had a soft spot for stories about witches. Considering I also like a story that makes me laugh out loud, this was definitely a perfect fit. This was a great collaborative effort between three well-known romance writers (although, I have to admit, I'd never read anything by Stuart or Dreyer before this book), and a great illustration of just how much fun a well-crafted romance can be to read.
I give it:
Author: Jennifer Crusie, Anne Stuart and Eileen Dreyer
Genre: Paranormal Romantic Comedy (yes, I just made up a subgenre)
Pages: 416 (Paperback)
I first saw this book advertised and reviewed in Romantic Times Book Reviews and immediately thought, "Oh my God, I have to read this book--it's going to be freaking hilarious." Sure enough, I was very correct.
The premise of this book was what first caught my eye: three sisters, all of them witches, who have powers. The hook? They hate their powers. The oldest sister, Dee, is a shapeshifter. Unfortunately, every time she tries to get intimate with a man she shapeshifts--into his mother. The middle sister, Lizzie, can transmute objects. The only problem is that she keeps turning forks into bunnies, and any time she's sexually aroused or frustrated a new pair of shoes appears on her feet. The youngest sister, Mare, is telekinetic. However, she's barely managed how to figure out how to move muffins. Plus, her powers have wreaked havoc on her sex life considering any time she finds herself in the throes of passion things start flying across the room.
Needless to say, the sisters tend to see their powers as more of a curse than a gift, and they would be more than happy to give those powers up.
Their evil aunt Xantippe (Xan, for short) killed their parents years before while trying to take their powers away from them. Xan is obsessed with youth, beauty and power, and has devised a plan to obtain the sisters' powers which will result in her living longer, growing younger and most importantly being more powerful. How does she plan on doing this? She sends them their true loves with the thought that the sisters would be more than willing to sacrifice their magic for True Love.
The entire book takes place over one weekend, and in the course of three days (Friday, Saturday and Sunday), the sisters fall in love, have fantastic (and dare I say magical) sex and realize they actually want their powers.
Aside from the storyline I was also intrigued by the fact that this book was written by three different women, the sisters' stories intertwined rather than being separated into three short novellas. As a writer I was intrigued to see A) if they could pull it off and B) how they pulled it off if they did.
They definitely pulled it off.
This book is a great example of voice and POV. Each sister definitely has a distinctive voice (each writer told one sister's story), but they're woven together so well that it's very difficult to tell that the book was written by three different people. There are also seven Points of View--the three sisters, their true loves and Xan. That's pretty much unheard of in romance--unless you're Nora Roberts. The POV's are done extremely well, with no head hopping whatsoever. There was one place where I distinctly remember being pulled out of Lizzie's POV, but I was so wowed by the book as a whole that I can't even remember what about it pulled me out. Yes, this book was that good.
The only thing that I can even remotely complain about is that it's hinted that Danny (Dee's true love) has magical powers himself, but it's never explained how he came by them, what they are, if he accepts them, etc. Sure, he accepts Dee's powers (he was firmly anti-witchcraft) and loves her anyway, but when Dee tells him he's also magic he completely rebels against the idea. There wasn't any resolution to that particular thread, and I really would have liked to have seen it. I also kept wondering if Crash (Mare's true love) had any magical powers or if he was just completely ordinary.
I have to say that I absolutely adored this book. I started reading paranormal romance before everybody and their grandmother decided to write it, and I've always had a soft spot for stories about witches. Considering I also like a story that makes me laugh out loud, this was definitely a perfect fit. This was a great collaborative effort between three well-known romance writers (although, I have to admit, I'd never read anything by Stuart or Dreyer before this book), and a great illustration of just how much fun a well-crafted romance can be to read.
I give it: