Meet Robyn Fortune. She is thirty-three, divorced, deep in debt due to her ex-husband's gambling problems, and searching for Mr. Right. She is also trying to be a stand- up comic, and accepts a gig at a family bar mitzvah. Before going on stage, her mother informs Robyn that she is leaving her father, and is planning on moving in with her. On the bright side, Robyn's comedy routine is a hit. She is bribed by a guest to date his brother who happens to have a connection to Showtime. On the down side, her parents and brother walk out in the middle of her performance, and the guest's brother has quite a few problems of his own. Will she survive living with her mother? Will this brother be the man she is looking for or is she only interested in that Showtime connection?
Enter Ken Danziger. He is also thirty-three, also divorced, has lost his best friends, and is still recovering from a ski accident. He is used to being hooked up by his brother and sister-in-law, so he agrees to see Robyn so they will stop pestering him about her. He is still besotted with his ex-girlfriend and will drop anything or anyone to talk to her. Is this relationship doomed from the start does it have the potential to make it?
Robyn and Ken have their ups and downs although mostly downs. Their first date ends or really begins with an ambulance ride to the hospital; however, they don't let that stop them. Through their time together, they realize that their lives have intersected since they were born. They went to the same preschool, the same summer camp, and even the same college. Has someone deliberately plotted to bring them together? Is their relationship due to fate?
Saralee Rosenberg has written a delightful tale. The storyline is kept together by the continuous anecdotes. The one thing that Robyn Fortune is good at is having the ability to make a joke out of any circumstance especially the bad ones. FATE AND MS. FORTUNE is a hilariously charming novel that reminds us that no matter how ill fated we seem to be, our destiny may be lurking just around the corner.
With the name, Robyn Fortune, shouldnβt the streets be
paved with gold? Or at least paved? Not so for this Park
Slope make-up artist/aspiring comic. Ever since her
divorce, life has taken her down a rocky road, with no
signs pointing to fame or fortune. And sheβs not laughing.
Her exβs gambling debts left her teetering on bankruptcy.
Her bi-polar boss at βDaybreakβ is about to can her. And
over at Hotel Marriage, Robyn wonders if sheβll ever check-
in again, while her sexually bored mother, Sheila Holtz, is
threatening to check out.
Back in Jersey, Harvey Holtz, an amateur cartographer,
prefers mapmaking over lovemaking. Heβs a lost soul who
canβt find his way back to his wifeβs heart. So itβs up to
Robyn and her brother, Phillip, to get their parents to
reconcile. Well, just Robyn. Phil would like to help.
Really. But heβs swamped with work and family obligations.
Go figure a family bar mitzvah is where fate steps in,
making it a date with destiny for them all. Robyn is
offered money to go on a blind date with Ken Danziger, a
man who has had even more misfortune than her.
Expecting love at first sight? Sorry, itβs a table for one
at their self-pity parties. Until Robyn sees a photograph
in his apartment she took fifteen years earlier, and
discovers their paths have been crossing since birth.
What follows is a series of hilarious and often
heartbreaking encounters that unlock their secret pasts,
and the roles of their meddling mamas.
Fate & Ms. Fortune is about rebuilding a life after the
marital foundation has cracked and about finding love when
itβs not on the map. But mostly itβs about realizing that
when fate knocks, youβd better answer, for good fortune
could be at the door.
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