Heather Hamilton wishes for a lot of things: that she could get a seat on the tube, that she could meet a great man and that she could eat a bag of maltesers without gaining a stone in weight. Typical small wishes that we wish for every day.

Her wishes never come true until one day Heather buys some heather (irony!) from a gypsy and suddenly everything Heather wishes for seems to be coming true. She gets a flatmate, she loses 5lbs, she even gets a fab boyfriend.

Is it really magic?

Be Careful What You Wish For is Alexandra Potter’s fifth novel and is the first where she started using her magic elements in her books. After reading Who’s That Girl?, and enjoying it, I desperately wanted to re-read Be Careful What You Wish For to see if I liked it as much the second time as I loved it the first time around. Thankfully, Be Careful What You Wish For has stood the test of time and was just as enjoyable second time around.

The book is told entirely in the first-person and I have to say Heather’s constant use of the two little words “I wish” before her wishes started coming true was incredibly irritating. It seemed overused and quite unnecessary. However, on the whole, I liked Heather. Alexandra Potter made her incredibly likeable and easy for women to relate to - who hasn’t wished they could lose 5lbs? - and it makes a change to have a heroine who isn’t completely perfect. The best thing about Heather though was the fact that, in the end, she had to face up to the consequences of all of her seemingly small wishes. Heather seemed to have the perfect life after making all of her little wishes but is there such a thing as too-perfect a life?

Heather’s boyfriend James should have come across as the perfect boyfriend, after all, he didn’t seem to do much wrong. The thing is I found him completely unlikeable and I thought he was just too perfect. Who knew such a thing existed? I rather preferred Gabe, an American comedian, who becomes Heather’s flatmate. I thought they got on incredibly well and I could see some sort of relationship forming as the book wore on. There were plenty of other characters in the book to keep it going and I really liked Brian, Heather’s boss as the photography studio. I really liked Heather’s dad Lionel also, he really seemed to care for his daughter and I liked their relationship. Heather’s step-mother, Rosemary, isn’t too likeable at the beginning of the book but as the book progressed, I found myself warming to her also.

The magical element throughout the book was fantastic and I thought Alexandra Potter wrote the magical scenes really quite well. I loved how Heather first came across the heather, via a gypsy lady, and it’s a shame we didn’t see more of the strange gypsy lady. Some of Heather’s wishes came true exactly how she wished them but others didn’t really happen the way Heather wanted to and I liked the fact all of the wishes seemed to have to be specific in order to really come true. There’s a twist towards the end of the book that caught me by complete surprise, and the book suddenly picked up the pace and I found myself rushing towards the finish. Of course, at the end there’s a kind of… I don’t know what to call it… The book kind of flips on itself and leaves us wondering if everything we learnt throughout the book was exactly how it seemed. Alexandra Potter has really covered the magical market for chick lit. Along with Cecelia Ahern, the pair of them rule the roost when it comes to all things magical! Be Careful What You Wish For is an incredibly easy read and perfect for sitting and reading during an afternoon when you have nothing else to do. I really enjoy Alexandra’s books and can’t wait for her next one due in 2010!

Tags: alexandra potter

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