Be Careful What You Wish For

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Be Careful What You Wish For is a 2006 novel written by Alexandra Potter. It tells the story of thirty-year-old singleton Heather Hamilton who is constantly wishing for things. Not just the big stuff, like being whisked off her feet by Brad Pitt, but little things like getting a parking space and losing a bit of weight. With her luck, she moans, they will never come true.

Until one day, she buys some lucky heather from a gypsy. Suddenly the bad hair days stop, a handsome American answers her ad for a housemate and she starts dating the perfect man. But are these wishes-come-true a blessing or a curse?

Heather lives in London and works for a wedding photography company called Together Forever with an older gay man called Brian.

Every wish Heather makes come true but generally they cause bad luck too. Some of the big ones and their problems include:

She wishes...

for the perfect man - he was too perfect, and she didn't love him
for a miracle to get Together Forever out of debt - the wedding of her ex-boyfriend to a member of the aristocracy
to win the lottery - her ticket was stolen just before she realised she had won
England would win against France - meant her football-obsessed brother spent more time watching TV than spending time with his wife and unborn child
no traffic on the roads - fine, until she got a speeding ticket
that it would be sunny every day - all the plants start wilting and Heather thinks of herself as a "bumblebee killer"
for those pink satin stilettos in a size five - fell over while wearing them and hurt her ankle
that she could lose those stubborn few pounds - meant her boobs looked smaller and her face was drawn