A darkly funny, off-kilter romance where watching and helping blur into the same thing
Eden’s life begins in crisis. A survivor of domestic abuse, she has only her neighbor’s cat, Fritter, and her friend Paige to lean on, and within the first chapters she crosses paths with her ex-husband, Alex. What follows in Maxine Meyer’s Miss Fortune is a rough stretch of attacks, losses, and a low point that leaves her barely holding on. Meyer’s willingness to sit in the dark material makes the opening hit hard, but a narrator who can still make you laugh balances it.
Enter Nathan, an FBI IT specialist, self-described loner, and devoted mama’s boy. He finds Eden through her laptop webcam and, instead of looking away, decides to be her much-needed knight in shining armor. What starts as a glimpse into her life becomes a full-blown fixation, and his solutions (some clever, some deeply unethical) begin to reshape Eden’s world. Nathan’s narration is warm, funny, and approachable, so you are simultaneously horrified by the ethical breach and endeared to his desire to help. It’s an uncomfortable combination, but Meyer leans into this dichotomy with confidence and comedy.
Beneath the romance, a real plot is building. A third POV, Wyatt, is assigned to find a leak inside the FBI, and his thread adds momentum and raises the stakes for Nathan’s increasingly risky choices. The multi-POV structure works well here. Each character, main or side, gets enough detail to feel distinct without slowing the story, and the dialogue is always believable. The office-life digressions can veer into the absurd, but they keep the pages turning.
Eden’s voice is the main draw. The book is full of relatable, quirky moments, and they land even more because she’s going through some of the craziest ordeals imaginable. Her inner monologue reveals the heartiness and perseverance of her character; not to mention, her humor in the face of trauma feels resilient rather than flippant. Elder millennial readers who enjoy seeing themselves in a protagonist will find plenty to appreciate here.
This book won’t be for everyone though. The narration is highly self-aware, and some emotional moments, particularly Eden’s conversation with Paige about her suicide attempt, resolve more quickly than they might in real life. And the stalking at the center of the romance will be a dealbreaker for some readers. There are heavy themes throughout, including domestic violence, suicide, and surveillance, so readers should go in prepared.
But for those who like descriptive writing, a funny and resonant narrator, Miss Fortune is an addictive, strangely captivating read. It asks what happens when someone who’s been watched, harmed, and overlooked finally has someone in her corner, and asks the question: does a woman always have to be a damsel in distress, or with a little help, can she find her own way to happiness?
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