Fairy Godmothers Inc #3
Author: Sarana DeWylde
I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Juniper Blossom and Tomas Rivera have been best friends since they met at a park at the tender age of six. They are as close as two friends can be. However, they are polar opposites in their beliefs about love: she’s a romance novelist who truly believes in HEAs and he is a divorce attorney who has a strong belief in NOT believing. When the meddling of their families becomes annoying and being in a serious relationship becomes a contingency in Tomas’ job for him to become a partner, they come up with the good ole fake dating ruse to buy them some peace and get Tomas his dream partnership.
They set off to Ever After, where Juniper’s grandmothers live, to attend Juniper’s favorite event in the world: the fireflies ceremony held on Halloween. There will be a wedding/masque ball that they will attend as a couple. But Ever After is not a regular town, and the grandmothers are actually Fairy Godmothers. Animals behave in a peculiar way and things happen that make Juniper start to realize that things in her life have always had a touch of magic… but that, to Tomas, is just inadmissible.
The fake dating and the forced proximity soon blur all the lines and deeper hidden feelings emerge. But they are still pretty much at polar opposites when it comes to views about love. Can there be a Happily Ever After for them?
I really wanted to love this book. It had everything I like in the synopsis, but, maybe because it’s a third installment in a series, I was a little lost. Like Tomas, too much was expected of me in terms of believing and embracing the characters and plot. Maybe it’s not the same for people who read the previous books. It’s still a sweet and steamy friends to lovers romance, with the whimsical addition of the meddling fairy godmothers and of magic everywhere, but something was lacking for me.
Also, the whole book is just the two of them in a very loving tug of war about beliefs and Tomas is very firm in his, so is Juniper. I thought that the revelation of the existence of magic in the world and his acceptance of it was just too quick. It could have been done throughout the book.
I might still read the first two because the idea of the town really intrigued me, like a modern day Brigadoon. So if this intrigues you too, maybe read the others first.
