How to Summon a Fairy Godmother: A Laugh-Out-Loud Fairytale What-If

Fairies and Familiars, Book 1

De: Laura J. Mayo

Narrado por: Josie Charles

If a fairy godmother can get one sister into a marriage, getting another out of one should be easy…

Lady Theodosia Balfour has certainly gotten the short end of the stick—her stepsister, the newly crowned Princess Beatrice, is telling everyone in polite society that Theo, her sister, and their mother are evil, wicked, and horrid people who treated her like a slave. Though Theo knows this isn't exactly true, it seems her life is thoroughly ruined by the rumor. With the Balfour family estate on the verge of bankruptcy, Theo's only path forward is a forced betrothal to the Duke of Snowbell, a foul-tempered geezer who wishes only to use her as a brood mare for spare heirs.

Desperate for help, Theo clings to the only thing that might save her: the rumor of a fairy godmother, one that supposedly helped her stepsister secure a prince. After discovering a way to summon a fairy in Beatrice's old room, Theo thinks her prayers have been answered. But the fairy she meets isn't at all what she imagined. Drop-dead gorgeous, incredibly cunning, and slightly devious, Cecily of the Ash Fairies is much more interested in gathering powerful favors and smoking her pipe than providing charitable magic for humans in a bind.

Before she receives magical assistance, Cecily sets Theo to three tasks, seemingly to prove that Theo is a selfless and kind person. Helping her along the way are Cecily's familiars, the flirty human-turned-mockingbird Phineas and the aloof Kasra, a fox shapeshifter who should not be as handsome as he is for someone with such cutting remarks. As Theo works on her tasks, she shockingly finds kinship with the magical creatures she's helping, and starts to wonder if a continued life among her human peers is what she really wants after all.

From debut author Laura J. Mayo comes a hilarious new spin on the Cinderella tale!

©2024 Laura J. Mayo (P)2024 Orbit

A must-read.

I could not stop listening. Amazing author! Highly recommend!! Made me laugh and cry. One of my favorite books!

Such a great listen!

I loved this book! I’m looking forward to the 2nd in this duology. The twists were really good and unexpected. I felt so much sympathy for Theo. I can’t wait to read more.

Slow start

You have to get quite far into this book before the story really starts to build. It takes a while to understand the protagonist and start to root for her. This is one of the better expansions on the Cinderella story that I have read. There is violence but it's not graphic and anything romantic is more implied than shown, for people that that matters for. I suspect this is the first book written by this author and I think she has quite a lot of potential to write some really amazing stories. I suspect on a reread I will like the beginning better as I already know and like different characters. It was a good enough story for me to immediately buy the sequel which is not often the case. I would not describe this personally as laugh out loud funny but it is a light caper and quite enjoyable I think it's a little bit misrepresented though in it's description.

Fun, funny and creative

I loved this story! It was a very creative retelling of the old Cinderella story told from one of the step sister’s point of view. I highly recommend for an excellent, light hearted listen.

Not what I expected

It takes a while to find it's rhythm but there is surprising depth to this story line; Theodosia starts out being immensely unlikable and ends up a wonderful heroine that you can't help but root for. I look forward to the next installment.

Great story with meaningful ending

I really enjoyed this book. It had laugh out loud moments and an ending with a message for today’s world and problems. I hope the next book in this series comes out soon

Adorable read

I honestly loved this book and would recommend it to anyone. But really, Who roots for the evil step sister? This girl right here! I sure ended up loving Theodosia so much! The What if to the classic Cinderella story was quick and light listen. Theodosia’s character growth has a great flow. It had a little bit of a slow start but I quickly kicked up the pace. Im excited for book 2. I can’t wait to see what else is in store for her. This is my first read from this author and I like her writing.

Format - Audiobook via Audible

Narration – Solo

Thoughts on Narrators – Josie Charles definitely brought Theo to life and portrayed her well.

Charming and Inspired

This twist on Cinderella is an empowering story sprinkled with quite a few dashes of flirty fairy fun!

Fantastic Story

Loved the story had some great plot twist (that was at times predictable but still fun). Enjoyed the character development and cadence of the story. Narrator did a phenomenal job!

Excellent story

I loved the twist on the Cinderella story, and the evil stepsisters. it took some time to warm up to Theo, but her attitude was well earned.
She was a little slow at seeing the picture at times, but considering the twists and machinations of everyone around her... I can't blame her.
The narrator was good, but some of the voices were hard to tell apart. Overall a great job on hitting the right notes and tones of the different dialogue.