Fairy Godmothers, Inc. + Top Fairy Godmother Qualities By Jenniffer Wardell

Hello Everyone!

Please join me in welcoming Jenniffer Wardell to the blog today. She's the author of the delightful YA novel, Fairy Godmothers, Inc., the story of a world where fairy tale endings are as common as death and taxes, but they take more drama to pull off than they ever appear to. Thanks so much for being here today, Jenniffer!

My Review

I read an ARC of Fairy Godmothers, Inc., last week, given to my courtesy of Jolly Fish Press in exchange for an honest review.


Kate is a citizen of a fairy tale land full of arranged and paid-for happy endings, love potions, and minimum wage fairy godmother jobs. Kate is stuck in a job she doesn't particularly adore because she's not good at anything else. She receives an assignment from a board member of her company to make sure his niece receives a happily-ever-after with the crown prince, who happens to be having an identity crisis. Rellie (short for Cinderella) is a sweet, if somewhat silly girl, and Kate's frustrations are lessened with the help of a charming stranger. One who conveniently forgets to mention that he's the crown prince's brother. And that's just the set-up!

I try to read and review the books of my fellow JFP Authors, but I wasn't particularly excited to get to this one. I thought it would be a too-cutsy tween novel. And don't get me wrong: it kind of was. But it was DE-LIGHT-FUL!!! I totally loved it.

Wardell can unleash humor and sarcasm with the best of them. She writes Kate like a deserving but over-worked customer service rep dealing with divas. Her frustrations are so relatable that you just can't help but root for her. Jon has to deal with a silly and difficult family (who doesn't) and on top of it all, Wardell manages to poke fun at the fairy godmother/happily-ever-after conventions we've put on our fairy tales in a way that is both light-hearted and hysterical. She combines those conventions with the labor force/taxes/legal ramifications of our world to make a world that's totally new, yet familiar enough to create humor.

To me, it smacked a bit of Pixar's Shrek films: making fun of the conventions but also putting a fresh new twist on them. I mean, who thinks about the hazards of wearing glass slippers to a dance, or how much our heroine could sue for if the prince steps on her toes? Awesome!

If you're looking for a fun, quick, highly entertaining read that will keep you chuckling and also melt your heart a bit, this is the book for you! Here's to bibbity-bobbity-boo!

                        Buy on Amazon

Top 10 Qualities All Good Fairy Godmothers Should Have (In No Particular Order)

By Jenniffer Wardell

Discretion

            Fairy Godmothers should be neither seen nor heard. This is the client’s moment in the spotlight. The Fairy Godmother is there to make sure nothing accidentally explodes.

Problem-solving skills

            Of course, things will explode. Or they’ll find some other way to go wrong, creating an impending disaster that somehow no one managed to anticipate. It’s the Fairy Godmother’s job to keep everything running as smoothly as possible, which usually means inventing solutions on the fly that would make their boss’s blood boil if they ever found out about it. More than one happily-ever-after has been ensured with duct tape and a little sleeping potion.

The ability to not panic

            This is immensely helpful when trying to solve the inevitable disasters mentioned above.

Quick thinking

            Disasters will study a situation in advance, just so they’ll know the worst possible moment to spring themselves on an unsuspecting Fairy Godmother. This is normally less than 30 seconds before a client’s big reveal, or occasionally right in the middle of the reveal, which leaves a Fairy Godmother very little time to keep things from sliding off the rails completely.

The ability to keep other people from panicking

            A Fairy Godmother’s clients are mostly made up of young people who have spent the last several years either being coddled or cleaning toilets. The former aren’t used to things going wrong, and the latter are desperate to get into a situation where they can hire someone else to take care of the toilets. Either way, they probably won’t be able to deal well with a crisis. It’s a Fairy Godmother’s job to keep them from either dissolving into tears or doing something incredibly stupid.

Patience

            Customer service is never easy, especially when you have to spend anywhere from a full night to an entire week with a client. Some of the people a Fairy Godmother will be hired to help are perfectly nice, intelligent people. Unfortunately, others will be rude, demanding, stupid, and sometimes even clinically insane. A good dose of patience will help keep you from killing them.

Decent fashion sense

            The client always gets the final word when it comes to formal wear, but girls getting their first ball gown don’t always make the best fashion choices. It’s sometimes best for everyone if Fairy Godmothers carefully steer clients away from choices that might, say, permanently blind people (too many sparkles are a danger to us all). 

Tact

            It’s not easy to tell a sweet, excited 18-year-old that a skirt made entirely of ruffles makes her look like an overly decorated sausage, but you also don’t want some random stranger at the ball to do it. When situations like that happen, it’s best if you can explain things as gently as possible.

           

A mean right hook

            Getting girls to fancy dress balls can occasionally be a dangerous business. During an average case, a Fairy Godmother might run into angry ogres, monstrous ex-boyfriends, sorcerers with a grudge (or a competing contract) or even drunk party guests. Since knights in shining armor never seem to be around when you need them, a Fairy Godmother needs to know how to defend herself. (For the record, wands can also make good impromptu weapons.)

A sense of humor

            Sometimes, your only choices are laughing or going on a homicidal rampage. And no one’s going to take a killer Fairy Godmother seriously. 

Thanks so much for guest posting here today, Jenniffer! I think those are great qualities for anyone to have (especially the Decent Fashion Sense) but I can see that they'd be especially important for a Fairy Godmother. :D Best of luck with your book and your tour. I hope it's downright magical!!!

Do you agree with the fairy godmother qualities Jenniffer has listed? Will you read Jenniffer's book?

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