Bewitched

by Isla Fisher

Valentina, a talented young dancer, is destined to be the next Fonteyn. Manipulated by her mother's ambitions, she has allowed Madame Galliano to dictate her life. Defying her mother, Valentina begins to search for her father in Russia, and becomes bewitched by Alexei, a Kirov dancer.

Genres: Young Adult, Chick Lit

216 pages, Paperback

First published September 26, 1996

About the author

Isla Lang Fisher (born February 3, 1976) is an Australian actress and author. She was born in Muscat, Oman, to Scottish parents from Bathgate and Stranraer, and was raised in Perth, Western Australia. They resided in Muscat because of her father's job as a banker for the United Nations. Her mother is a romance novelist. Isla's name, after the Scottish island of Islay, is pronounced eye-la. She began acting on Australian television, on the short-lived soap opera Paradise Beach before playing Shannon Reed on the soap opera Home and Away. She has since been known for her comedic roles in Wedding Crashers (2005), Hot Rod (2007), Definitely, Maybe (2008), and Confessions of a Shopaholic (2009). She is married to comedian Sacha Baron Cohen. Fisher and Baron Cohen have a daughter, Olive Baron Cohen, born on October 19, 2007 in Los Angeles.
In the summer of 2010 Isla gave birth to her second child with Sacha Baron Cohen.

Reviews

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought Isla Fisher was so cool and beautiful in Home and Away- plus I really wanted to be a red head, so I was pleased when I'd found out she'd written a book for people of my age group!

[Kathryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

FIsher's second teen romance is the better of her two novels, and is, once again, co-written with her mother Elspeth Reid.

Set in Australia and Russia, this book tells a Dolly Fiction style romance (remember those?) about a young, aspiring ballerina who is controlled by her strict mother. In Russia without her mother, Valentina falls in love with a scoundrel named Alexi while her best mate Ben pines away on the sidelines. The ending is predicable, though the journey makes for enjoyable light reading.

[Marie Dozier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Isla is following her mother's romance writing footsteps here. (Little does she know that she will dance the BLACK SWAN and meet Sacha Baron Cohen.) They will go on to star in Crazy in Alabama... both wanting to be on BEWITCHED with Melanie Griffith. There, they will talk to a real Judge... whilst the consensus is broken over Scalia.

[Kirsten · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ah yes, a M&B for teenagers including a Russian ballet dancer. Definitely a guilty pleasure.