Men Are Frogs (Fairy Godmothers, Inc., #2)

Men Are Frogs (Fairy Godmothers, Inc. #2) by Saranna DeWylde

Published July 27th 2021 by Zebra

4 Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I really enjoyed the first book in the Fairy Godmothers Inc. series and was looking forward to reading this one. I enjoyed it almost as much as the first. Each book in the series is the story of a different set of characters. so you do not need to read them all or read them in order. Men Are Frogs is the story of the real Prince Charming. Phillip Charming has been a frog for over 300 years and time is running out for the curse to be broken. He is a man once the sun sets, but turns back into a frog at sunrise. With the Fairy Godmothers, Petunia, Jonquil and Blue Bonnet opening up Ever After as a wedding destination, they need to hire a wedding planner. Disgraced wedding planner Zuri Davis is offered a job with Fairy Godmothers, Inc., and she’s willing to trade the excitement of Chicago for the small-town charm of Ever After. She fell in love with one of her grooms, but that has since ended and she is ready for a new life. When she meets the gorgeous owner of the B&B where she is staying, she wonders about true love. So, now that she knows about the magic and realizes that she loves Phillip, will true love’s kiss break the 300 year old curse?

This was another fun story set in Ever After. We met Phillip in the last book, but this is his story. He has been kissing women for centuries, but not been able to break the curse. He was always a somewhat shallow prince, who has lessons to learn before the curse can be broken. Zuri and her twin sister, Zeva are great additions to Ever After. Zeva discovered the magic on her own and is not attending Fairy Godmother Academy, while Zuri is trying to plan the next wedding as well as figure out how to break Phillip’s curse. She is also dodging Alec aka Zander, the lying groom from the disastrous wedding. Zuri does not have a very good self-esteem and blames herself for everything that goes wrong. She needs to develop confidence that she is enough and can do a great job for Fairy Godmothers Inc. I enjoyed seeing Phillip and Zuri fall in love. There was some rude language and sexual talk, but otherwise it is a relatively clean story. This is a fun story with other fairytale characters that I hope will find their own Happily Ever After in Future books. The publisher generously provided me with a copy of this book upon request. The rating and opinions shared are my own.

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Summer in Provence by Lucy Coleman. Lucy Scott (Narrator)

Published April 2nd 2020 by Boldwood Books

4 Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I can’t imagine taking a “Marriage Gap Year”. Summer in Provence is the story of Fern and Aiden. A married couple who seem to be going through the motions of life together. When they win the lottery, Fern wants to pay off the cottage and bills and then start a family. Aiden, who loves to travel and have adventures, wants to travel the world. That is of no interest to Fern, so they agree to take a year to do what they want and then settle down and start a family. Fern heads to Provence to a retreat for a year. She offers to work at the retreat in exchange for painting lessons. Fern is in her element. She has undiscovered talent and is also great with people. Aiden is off mining in Australia, hiking, surfing etc. As Fern gets more comfortable at the retreat, a gallery offers to sell her work and she discovers some secrets about painter, Nico. As communication between Aiden and Fern becomes less frequent, this reader figured out where that relationship was going.

I really liked Fern’s character and wanted her to find the happiness she craved. Was her place with Aiden or at the retreat with Nico? I liked how she discovered what made her happy and Aiden does as well. I know they say opposites attract, but can they go back to their old life? Fern is strong, smart, caring, compassionate and talented. She is a great character to carry this story. The secondary characters all played an important part in her journey and helped her figure out what she really wanted. Their backstories were great and showed us more about Fern based on how she reacted to each of them. The setting was beautiful. I would love to spend time at a retreat like that, although not for a year. This was an enjoyable, enchanting and heart warming story of self discovery, love, learning new skills, relationships and moving on.