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    The Unfortunate Miss Fortunes: A Novel
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    The Unfortunate Miss Fortunes: A Novel
    Unavailable
    The Unfortunate Miss Fortunes: A Novel
    Ebook423 pages4 hours

    The Unfortunate Miss Fortunes: A Novel

    By Jennifer Crusie, Eileen Dreyer and Anne Stuart

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    You're invited to spend the weekend with three extraordinary sisters…

    When she was sixteen, Dee Fortune kidnapped her two younger sisters and ran from danger. Now twenty-nine, she's still trying to control her shape-shifting power—no easy task when Danny James shows up one Friday morning with his deadly smile and dangerous questions about the past.

    Lizzie is determined to save her family from financial ruin by turning straw into gold; now if she could only stop turning forks into bunnies. Then Elric, a sorcerer, appears one Friday—annoyed with the chaos Lizzie is creating in the universe and in his heart. . . .

    The youngest Miss Fortune, Mare, towers above her sisters but her telekinetic power is dwarfed by their gifts. She spends her days at Value Video!! and her nights contemplating the futility of her existence. But then a gorgeous Value Video!! VP and Mare's long lost love turn up. . .and they all turn up the heat on a weekend that no Fortune will soon forget!

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMacmillan Publishers
    Release dateJun 26, 2007
    ISBN9781429995917
    Unavailable
    The Unfortunate Miss Fortunes: A Novel
    Author

    Jennifer Crusie

    Jennifer Crusie has written more than fifteen novels and has appeared on many bestseller lists, including those of Publishers Weekly, USA TODAY and the New York Times.

    Read more from Jennifer Crusie

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    Reviews for The Unfortunate Miss Fortunes

    4/5

    17 ratings13 reviews

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    • 4/5


      Dee, Mare, & Lizzie live in a small town and are trying to be as "normal" as possible. Their parents died at the hands of their Aunt Xan(trippe) when the two latter sisters were young...so they have run away & changed their names. All three have magical powers: Dee shapeshifts, Lizzie transmogrifies objects into bunnies & shoes, and Mare can move objects at will, but because they have had no formal teaching their powers tend to be just a tad out of control.....

      Enter Crash, Danny, Elrich, & Jude their Soul Mates......unfortunately they were summoned by Xan....who is no less than unmitigated badness in form of a very seductive older woman.....

      This book was well written, suspenseful, humorous & it held my interest. But then I happen to like Jennifer Crusie, very much!
    • 5/5
      There are many witch stories out there, but many of them, I'm sorry to say, do not have happy endings. This is a book with a happy ending, suitable for fans of Charmed and Bewitched. This is also a book I gave myself for my birthday; I've decided to only buy books that make me feel good and/or laugh in delight.

      These women can construct a romcom to make anyone proud.

      personal copy
    • 5/5
      I read this years ago, long before my vow to write something about every book I read; likely just after joining GoodReads back in the halcyon days when the site was actually fun, but I was still too nervous to write anything. I loved it, as is evident by the 5 star rating I gave it back then (and I'm keeping for posterity's sake). Sunday I was feeling slumpy and needed something easy, and since I've always wanted to go back and write something about all the early books, a re-read of this accomplished two goals. 3 sisters with powerful magic, hiding from the Aunt that killed their parents while stealing their powers. A fabulously evil Aunt determined to get the sisters to surrender their powers to her, who attempts to bribe them all by sending them their soul mates; or in one case, a reasonable facsimile thereof. A showdown in a small town whose residents are obviously deaf, dumb and blind in the extreme. Heaps of humor, sass, girl power and HEA's. An absolutely awesome, awesome cat name Pywackt. I didn't expect it to stand up very well over time. I love a few of Crusie's non-paranormal titles to death, but she's not a consistent writer, her paranormal stuff tends to be over the top, and I remembered this being more romance than chick-lit (fine line, I know). But it did stand up rather well. It's not one of Crusie's best by a long shot - although it's really one 1/3 hers anyway, as she co-wrote it with 2 other authors: Eileen Dreyer and Anne Stuart, neither of whom I know anything about - but it's fun without being flaky or formulaic. The humor stands up, and there are a few sex scenes which I'd forgotten about that are far steamier than Crusie's other works (making me think that perhaps those scenes represent some of Dreyer and Stuart's contributions). All in all still a great read when you're in the mood for a literary rom-com.
    • 3/5
      Sisters (and witches) Dee, Lizzie and Mare have been hiding from their Aunt Xan, who killed their parents, since Dee, the eldest, was 16 years old. Thirteen years later, Xan has used a spell to conjure all three sisters' True Loves and they will help Xan get to the girls. This was ok. It was easy to read, but there was more romance in it than I like, and it was kind of corny at times. I would have preferred more story and less romance, but I guess I got to liking it a little more toward the end. In the end, it was a cute little story. I did like the girls and wanted them to end up with their respective True Loves.
    • 3/5
      Three sisters who are witches with magical powers are trying vainly to live a peaceful small-town life. Romance comes for each of them.
    • 3/5
      Fluffy romance featuring three sisters blessed/cursed with magical powers. Stalked by their power-hungry aunt, who may have murdered their parents and certainly covets their magic for her own, the three have town-hopped across the U.S., finally settling in sleepy Salem's Fork. Now their true loves, and their aunt, have found them. Frogs, transformations, romance and mis-adventure ensue before everything resolves itself nicely into happily ever afters for all three.I'd actually read this a few years back (pre-LibraryThing), and don't recall liking it that much. I must have been in a better mood this time - although it's still not top of my list, it was enjoyable enough.
    • 3/5
      Very light reading...if you liked Dogs and Goddesses...you like this. A little "get on with it" for me in the middle. Romantic comedy with juicy love scenes...
    • 5/5
      How on earth could I resist this novel (it's not an anthology!) when two of the collaborators are favorite authors? And even if they hadn't been, their joint blog about the book would have convinced me.Let me repeat: this is a novel, not an anthology. It's one story, written by three authors. Three heroines, three heroes, one villain.The three Fortune sisters have magical gifts, but it hasn't made their lives easier. Ever since the death of their parents, they've only had each other, and they never stay in one place for very long because their aunt Xantippe keeps catching up with them.And why not? It's not like Dee, Lizzie, and Mare are using their powers. Heck, those powers are making them miserable. If Xan takes those powers, she'd be doing them a favor, really. And if doing so keeps her young and beautiful, well, she deserves to be paid for that favor, right?So Xan has cast a spell to send her nieces their true loves, giving them a reason to give up their powers. For Dee, there's Danny, who's writing a book about their parents; sorcerer Elric is for Lizzie; and for Mare, there's Jude, a VP at Value Video! where she works, who's offering her a dream job. Except that Mare's ex, Crash, shows up too.The sisters are all individuals, each with her own niche in the family, and their powers reflect their personalities, or vice versa. The heroes likewise are perfect for each of them. And it's loads of fun watching how Xan's plan backfires when finding true love doesn't make her nieces want to surrender their powers.Xan is a great villain, too, because she's just so reasonable. She's not evil, she just sticks up for herself, and everything would be just fine if people would only listen to her. And when things go wrong, it's not her fault. Much fun. It's really a shame this isn't the start of a series (it's not--the authors have said unequivocally that there'll be no sequel), because I'd love to see more of Xan.As with the Crusie/Mayer partnership, each author wrote the scenes that are in her character's POV: Dreyer writing Dee, Stuart writing Lizzie, and Crusie writing Mare and Xan. Since the author shifts coincide with POV shifts, the collaboration was very smooth, and without the three names on the cover, I wouldn't have been able to tell it wasn't written by a single author.Unsurprisingly, The Unfortunate Miss Fortunes was featured in the Cherry Forums Book Club. You can find that discussion archived here.
    • 5/5
      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.
    • 4/5
      I love and adore Jennifer Crusie and I’m usually in line to purchase her books on the day they come out but I waited to buy this and I’ll tell you why: I’m not a fan of books that are written by more than one author and I’m not a huge fan of anthologies. I had never read anything by Anne Stuart and I had never even heard of Eileen Dreyer, so I decided to wait a while until I had some extra money.I’m sorry that I was so quick to judge — this is a very fun and fast-paced novel, one of the hallmarks of a fabulous Crusie novel. At first, I wasn’t able to tell which author wrote each character but as soon as Mare’s story got going, I could pick out Crusie’s voice very easily. That didn’t mean that Lizzie and Dee were not as fun or well-written, but after reading everything I can get my hands Crusie-wise and then reading it again, it was easy to pick out her contributions.The reason that I gave it an A- is simply that I felt in some ways the stories were just a little too fast. It takes place over a weekend and usually, I can overlook that sort of thing. A great number of romance novels take place over a short amount of time and the mark of a really fabulous author is to make you forget that everything you just read happened in a matter of days. I wasn’t able to get there. Mare’s story was easier to believe because her true love was a man from her past and I could believe her story having a resolution in about forty-eight hours.But it was hard to buy Lizzie and Elric and Dee and Danny in particular. I just didn’t feel it. I could feel they were very attracted to each other but I just couldn’t see their resolution as neatly. The authors were trying to submerge you into this entire world and I just never quite had a handle on it.In the end though, it was well-written, the characters were fun and easy to read and I would not have minded longer books (or even a trilogy with a different book from a different author). Even if some aspects of the book were not exactly what I wanted, I still enjoyed it thoroughly and now I have two new authors to track down.
    • 3/5
      I disagree with some of the critiques I've read of this book, namely that it's disjoint and doesn't hang together as a novel. I was very impressed at how well it does hang together, actually; usually multiple heroine romances are much choppier and flimsier than this one. My problems were actually inherent in reading a multiple author book where I adore one author and not the others.Mare reads so clearly like a Crusie heroine, and I like her quite a bit. Her displays in the video store are inspired, and her speech to eavesdroppers in the diner is gorgeous. Dee's story is bland but adequate; it's perfectly acceptable par-for-the-course romance. I wish she weren't a vergin, but at least the reason she's a virgin is funny.But Lizzie's story is not at all to my taste. Her man is patronizing, superbly magical, and named *Elric*. Elric! Of all the stolen fantasy names that do not conjour romantic overtones, Elric is right up there, between "Thomas Covenant" and "Grima Wormtongue". On top of that, Lizzie's sections don't trust the reader. Romance novel readers do not need to be told, in so many words, that "shoes ha[ve] a strong connection to sexuality" -- we *know* that, and we know that a heroine with whimsical shoes has hidden sensuality. Finally, Elric is repulsive, everything I hate in a romance hero: smug, patronizing, condescending.The narrative has some bugs -- motivations aren't always consistent, and the math of the girls' history doesn't work out at *all* -- but for the most part it's still a fun read. Except for the Lizzie and Elric parts, which are really unreadable. If I skip that storyline, it's a fun read. It's no Bet Me, but then, what is?
    • 4/5
      A bodice-ripper, but with humorous twist. The three Misses Fortune are untutored witches with no control over their powers and their Own True Loves suddenly thrust into their lives. An evil aunt wants to strip them of their powers, but the True Loves - normal and paranormal - are getting in the way.
    • 3/5
      Three sisters are witches, on the run from their evil aunt, and she conjures up their 3 soul mates in order to steal their power... Sweet book but given the calibre of the authors, it should have been much better. Very light and easy to read, but also too easily forgettable.