With his heart’s desire at stake, can he resist giving Fate a little nudge?
Half-norn event planner Anders Skuldsson is under strict orders from Asgard not to meddle with Fate. But with Enchanted Occasions’ latest booking—the competition for the hand of Faerie’s one true prince—crashing around his ears, it’s really, really, really difficult to toe that particular line. So… if Andy just happens … line. So… if Andy just happens to pose as a contender for the prince? It’s an emergency, damn it. Besides, it’s only temporary, so Odin can hardly blame him. Right?
If Conall of Odstone hadn’t sworn a blood oath to protect his half-brother, Prince Reyner, he’d murder the idiot himself. Rey was supposed to be here, choosing a mate before being crowned and wed. Instead, he’s disappeared, leaving Con to impersonate him. Again.
But when Con meets Andy, his anger turns to desire… and despair. Even if Andy forgives him for pretending to be someone he’s not, how could a man as appealing and accomplished as Andy—a man who’s eligible for a prince’s hand, for pity’s sake—settle for the court outcast?
As for Andy, his burgeoning feelings for the prince are both unfortunate and hopeless because hello? Half-norn? Faerie prince? Not exactly a match made in Valhalla.
When the Faerie Queen herself hands down an ultimatum, the double deception isn’t their only obstacle. Unless Andy makes the right decision, both their fates could be sealed by… well… Fate.
Nudging Fate is a 54,000-word paranormal rom-com featuring mistaken identity, royalty in disguise, interfering coworkers, an iron knight with a soft heart, a temperamental goblin chef, and a guaranteed HEA.
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Yet ANOTHER winner from writer E. J. Russell and this one in audio format narrated by the simply incredible Kirt Graves. The author gives us a double deception romance with a fantasy version of The Bachelor! Half-norm Anders Skuldsson is a planner who is managing a special event. The booking involves a competition for the hand of Faerie Prince Reyner and he takes his job seriously, wrangling the male and female contenders while ensuring that everything is picture-perfect for the occasion.
Catastrophe strikes in the form of the Prince who decides to get his half-brother Conall of Odestone to stand in for him during the preliminaries of dinners and dates with the competitors. Though Anders is unaware of the first catastrophe, he is a party to the second one when a competitor decides to poison the others leaving them too sick to meet with Prince Reyner. The magical iron knight makes sure the miscreant suffers the same fate, leaving no contender available to make a bid as the prince’s consort. A coworker comes up with the best possible idea given the circumstance, she puts Anders forward as a contender! Claiming that he had suffered a rough trip where luggage was lost or stolen, Anders takes his turn at meeting with the prince only to discover a considerate, charming, as well as handsome man! Too bad he’s the prince, or so he thinks.
Standing in for Prince Reyner as he has done so very many times before, Conall is delighted by Anders who is handsome, charming, and considerate! Too bad he is charged with selecting his half-brother’s consort when he’d like to have Anders all to himself. But Andy is there to marry the prince and not a half-brother imposter. And Andy is not really a contender at all, just a half-norn event planner trying to hold the competition together. When it’s all said and done, the actual prince has made his own selection while living it up in Los Vegas and come back in time to claim his crown. But fate (and NOT Anders’s doing) has plans of its own.
Author EJ Russell engages in some of the BEST writing legerdemain imaginable in keeping readers from going crazy with the double deception that occurs between Conall and Anders! After establishing how perfect they would be together, she turns the readers’ focus on all the other truly delightful events in the book, leaving them to enjoy other aspects of the story. Just before readers throw their arms up in despair, the deception is revealed and the actual prince is back in the picture only to take the readers off on another development in the narrative. The story ends with an OMG moment that many would not expect! With incredible world-building, wonderful characters, a beautiful premise uniquely executed, Nudging Fate is ABSOLUTELY brilliant!
Love this new series (an audio review)
I adore E.J. Russell books. I’ve been on a kick for a bit, plowing through all her recently released audiobooks. I’m truly enjoying myself, and this new book is no exception.
Enchanted Occasions is the premier party planner for the Fae. Andy runs the company, often employing those who cannot pass in the outer world. He’s lucky, he can. Comes in handy when he takes the prince to Portland. Or the man he believes is the prince.
Conall has spent a good portion of his life pretending to be someone else – literally. His half brother is the prince and he’s a slacker. So Con transforms and attends boring meetings and events where the prince’s presence is required. Normally he just goes along with the ruse, but when he meets Andy, everything changes. Suddenly he wants the half-norn for himself, and he’s happy to leave his brother to sort out the whole betrothed thing. If Prince Reyner would actually show up!
Anyway, everything gets chaotic – as it often does in a rom-com – and then everything gets sorted out. I certainly enjoyed the ride and might have caught myself laughing out loud numerous times.
To top off my enjoyment, Kirt Graves narrated the book. I adore him and his narration was perfect. Another great book.
Nudging Fate is the first book in the Enchanted Occasions series, an urban paranormal series with romance and incredible world building. I’m a huge fan of E.J. Russell’s fictional worldbuilding. She does her research when it comes to legends, myths, and fairytales which she then weaves together into a fascinating “modern” world. The setting for the Enchanted Occasions series is rich with a lot of layers and depth which makes me excited to see how the world evolves.
Andy and Con were interesting characters. I especially liked Andy’s power of fate, something I’ve never seen in another book before. The romance between Andy and Con was sweet, and there were many humorous moments with mistaken identities, fussy and snobby guests, and all the shenanigans that come with a bachelor-esque style competition with magical beings. My only complaint was that the book felt too short and wished it had been a bit longer so we could enjoy more of the courting competition. However, there are more books in this universe, and I’m so excited to see what else happens.
The audiobook was well done. Kirt Graves narrated the book, and he’s just a fantastic narrator who is a master at his craft. The characters were all voiced perfectly and I loved the audio performance. I listened to this entire book in one day because it was so much fun.
Fairy Enchanting
I wish I could have an event organized by Enchanted Occasions. They make everything so magical. Really I just want to meet the people in this series: Andy, his colleagues and of course, Con and his knight. I adore them all and had so much fun reading this amazing, incredible adventure. It has magic, intrigue, friendship and a love that’s meant to be. Andy and Con are swoony, dreamy and sizzle. “We all nudge Fate every day, with every choice we make.” I’m so glad there’s more in store for us in this world. It must be my fate that we don’t have to say goodbye.
Loved the sweetness of Con and Andy together. These two had such kind, giving hearts. Both have lived with scrutiny and derision their entire lives and I loved that it hadn’t made either one bitter. If this is book one of the series I’m definitely going to be reading the rest.
Audiobook: Awesome narrator