Book Review: Men Are Frogs (Fairy Godmothers, Inc. #2) (ARC)

Author: Saranna DeWylde

SOMETIMES YOU’RE THE CURSE . . .

Disgraced wedding planner Zuri Davis is so relieved to be offered a job with Fairy Godmothers, Inc., she’s willing to trade the high-rise excitement of Chicago for the small-town charm of Ever After. Falling for one of her grooms, even unintentionally, was enough to destroy her career–and also to prove that all men are indeed frogs. But when she meets gorgeous B&B owner Phillip Charming, who definitely lives up to his name, even she is tempted to test that theory . . .

AND SOMETIMES YOU’RE THE CURE

Three hundred years as a frog by day and himself by night, is enough to test any man’s patience–even if Phillip knows he deserved Petunia’s curse. It certainly taught him not to mess around when it comes to making promises. And stubborn, proud Zuri is a woman he’d like to promise his heart and everything else to–if only he weren’t a sometimes-frog. Can he hope for True Love’s Kiss from a woman whose trust has been so thoroughly broken?

[Fairy Godmother’s, Inc. #1 Review]

In Men are Frogs, we return to the land of fairy tale magic, a small town in Missouri called Ever After. Now that Ransom and Lucky are off on their honeymoon after the “Billionaire Fake Wedding Turned Real,” the fairy godmothers of Fairy Godmothers, Inc., Petunia, Bluebonnet, and Jonquil are off to find their next match. They are still working on setting up Gwen, Lucky’s best friend, and Roderick, Ransom’s best friend, but they are ready to try to find a happy ending for the resident frog prince.

Phillip Charming has been living both the life of a frog and a man for the past three hundred years as part of a curse for a past mistake. He is a frog during the day and a man at night. He turned his castle into a B&B where his best friend Hunter also lives. Hunter is also known as a Beast due to his own curse that turned him into a permanent bear/werewolf-like hybrid. Both of them bond over their curses and both wish to find a way to break them. As time goes by with no hope in sight, that hope is slowly dwindling.

Zuri Davis and her twin sister Zeva are the only family that each other has left after the mother passed away a few years ago. Their father worked a lot and was not around a lot as a result until he suddenly passed away in a plane crash when they were 10 years old. While the story focuses on Zuri as the main character, Zeva does play an important role that comes at a surprise to even her sister Zuri. At the start, Zeva is a social worker for St. Marigold’s Orphanage, while Zuri is a wedding coordinator. While working on her latest wedding for a bride named Jenn and a groom named Alec, Zuri gets a huge surprise as her boyfriend Xander turns out to be the same Alec from the wedding. While Jenn understood that Zuri was not at fault, outsiders planned Zuri and her career is in jeopardy. When a new opportunity to be interviewed in Ever After for Fairy Godmother’s Inc. as a wedding administrator comes about, Zuri is excited for the opportunity.

Phillip and Zuri were really cute together although their relationship was a little insta-love. For me, I would have preferred a slightly slower burn to build up their relationship. It is a little more understanding based on the setting where fairy tales are real, but I still wished for a little more build up. There are many obstacles that this couple has to overcome. Philip has his curse and Zuri is still unsure about fully trusting others again after Alec burned her. The supporting characters in this story continued to be a delight although I did want a little more from Gwen and Roderick as I loved their interactions from the first story and thought they would become a main before this story was announced. I still have hope for a story to be written with them at the center. The other standout character in this story was Ravena, the Evil Queen, as I loved her and wanted even more from her.

Overall, this series continue to be a fun filled fairy tale adventure. The nice part about this series is that the reader can read each as a standalone, if they wanted, although it would be best to read them all in order. The pacing is fairly fast in the story as the tension builds based on Philip’s curse. The writing itself reads like a fairy tale where there is a mix of simplicity and chaos, especially when the characters speak to each other. I loved that the story included both Zuri and Phillip’s perspectives, as it was nice to explore each of their inner thoughts throughout the story. Ever After still remains a destination that I wish was real as I would easily book a trip there ASAP, for a wedding or just for fun. I cannot wait to see the next couple in the series and to read about more Happily Ever Afters!

**I give a special thank you to Netgalley and the publisher, Kensington Books, for the opportunity to read this enjoyable novel. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.**