Two for the Dough - Janet Evanovich

Two for the Dough by Janet Evanovich
Genre: Adult Fiction
Form: Audio Book
Series: Stephanie Plum Series

Stephanie's new case was supposed to be simple. Kenny Mancuso had shot his friend, not fatally, and then skipped out on his bond. Should be real simple, right? Of course, first she has to find Kenny. Then his friend is murdered. Trying to track down any leads, she joins Grandma Mazur at a funeral home run by Spiro, another of Kenny's childhood friends. But Spiro has a case of his own. 24 caskets have been stolen, and he wants Stephanie to hunt them down. Is there a connection? With Ranger to advise and Joe Morelli to shadow, will Stephanie put all the pieces in place and catch Kenny before he turns on her?

Source: Amazon.com

I am loving this series. It's fun, witty, and Stephanie is a good middle-of-the-road type girl. She's not over the top ditz and she's not super-hero good. Granted, she gets out of more iffy situations than any normal person would - but it's a book. In the world of make-believe, anything can happen!

In this book not only is Stephanie hunting down Kenny - who turns out to be pretty darn psychotic, but we get a bit more action from Joe Morelli. Things are heating up between him and Stephanie, but both characters are just hard headed and stubborn enough that it's just not going down very easily.

Grandma Mazer is quite easily one of my favorite characters in these books. She keeps everything funny and light. She has an abnormal obsession with the dead, and with crime, but she's extremely gutsy for a grandma. Crazy may be a better word actually. All of her antidotes make me laugh out loud.

I've got a few books in head of the next Stephanie Plum book, but it definitely is on my TBR agenda!!

Book Review: In Over Her Head - Judi Fennell

In Over Her Head by Judi Fennell
Genre: Fantasy Romance
Form: Book

HE LIVES UNDER THE SEA
Reel Tritone is the rebellious royal second son of the ruler of a vast undersea kingdom. A Merman born with legs instead of a tail, he's always been fascinated by humans, especially one young women he once saw swimming near his family's reef...

SHE'S TERRIFIED OF THE OCEAN
Ever since the day she swam out too far and heard voices in the water, marina owner Erica Peek won't go swimming for anything - until she's forced into the water by a shady ex-boyfriend searching for stolen diamonds and is nearly eaten by a shark. Luckily Reel is nearby to save her, and he discovers she's the woman he's been searching for...

Before she knows it, Erica is off with Reel on a series of wild underwater adventures to retrieve stolen treasure, battle the mother of all sea monsters, and defy a death edict from the kingdom's high council. But even if they get out of their madcap mission alive, how will they find a way to stay together when she hates the water and he can't survive on land?

Source: Back of Book

In Over Hear Head was very entertaining, and satisfying to the romantic soul. The book is filled with the typical antics of a normal romance book - only 90% of it takes place under water. If you have a good imagination - or you've seen The Little Mermaid, this is a very bright and colorful book. If you like romance, and you like fantasy - but not a fan of dark, bad, and scary - this is the book for you!!

The high points of the book - it was fun light-hearted and the characters were easy to enjoy. I am pretty sure I read that this book is the beginning of a series, and I am intrigued to find out what happens next. Some low points would include the author's use of a famous actor for the description of Reel, the male lead. I don't like it when authors do that. I'd prefer to have descriptive words and come up with my own image.

Hitting bookshelves June 1st, I do think that if you love to see sparks fly - especially between two unlikely characters - In Over Her Head is your book!

A Wedding in December - Anita Shreve

A Wedding in December by Anita Shreve
Genre: Adult Fiction
Form: Audio Book

A Big Chill–like group reunites for a 40-something wedding in this melancholy story of missed opportunities, lingering regrets and imagined alternatives by Shreve (The Last Time They Met). Bill and Bridget were sweethearts at Maine's Kidd Academy who rediscovered one another at their 25th reunion. Bridget was already divorced; Bill left his family; the two have now gathered their Kidd coterie to witness their hasty wedding—Bridget has breast cancer—at widow Nora's western Massachusetts inn. The death of charismatic schoolmate Stephen at a drunken high school party hovers over the event. Stephen's then-roommate, Harrison, now a married literary publisher, remains particularly tormented by it, especially since he had (and still has) romantic feelings for Nora, who was Stephen's then-girlfriend. Abrasive Wall Street businessman Jerry, now-out-of-the-closet pianist Rob, single Agnes (who teaches at Kidd and has a secret of her own) and various children round things out. Tensions build as the group gets snowed in, and someone gets drunk enough to say what everyone's been thinking. Though Shreve's plot, characters and dialogue are predictable (as are her inevitable 9/11 rehashes), she sure-handedly steers everyone through their inward dramas, and the actions they take (and don't) are Hollywood satisfying.

Source: Amazon.com

Anita Shreve's books always draw me in. She has a poetic way of writing that just fits. I often get frustrated with other authors who spend too much time describing scenery or using flowery words in their writing, but somehow when Anita does it, it just works. Her characters are always very real. I do think she has a bit of a thing for the concept of a second wife though, as it seems to be a reoccurring theme in her books, although this time it was a very small mention as such.

The thing I liked about this book the most though was the end. In a way, she left everything all up in the air; Bridget's fate, Harrison's final decision, but instead of being melancholy as the rest of the book seemed to be, it almost had a hopeful feel about it. Like no matter what, everything was going to be okay.

There was one small part of this book that stood out to me more than everything else, and I think it has a good meaning. Unfortunately I cannot transpose what happened exactly because I listened to this as audio book - and finding it would be that much more difficult. Anyhow, the basic idea was this: Harrison was walking in the snow, on his way to Nora's place when he stopped, because he had a thought about his wife. He described himself as having two lives that were at that point colliding, but only one could be reality and one could only exist in imagination. It was at that point that he turned and went back to his room. I'm sure that doesn't sound near as well with me summarizing as it did in the book - but I just felt like it was a moment of truth for Harrison.

This book was quite mild, but very entertaining to listen to. There were stories within stories. There were confessions of love and confession of sins. It was the High School Reunion you don't mind being the fly on the wall for, but definitely would pass on being a participant.

Holly's Inbox - Holly Denham

Holly's Inbox by Holly Denham
Genre: Chick Lit
Form: ARC Book

It's Holly Denham's first day as a receptionist at a busy corporate bank, and frankly, it's obvious she can't quite keep up.

Take a peek at her email and you'll see why: what with her crazy friends, dysfunctional family, and gossipy co-workers, Holly's inbox is a daily source of drama. Laughter, friendship, and romantic interludes keep her going, until one day, Holly's secret past begins to catch up with her...

Written entirely in emails, this compulsively readable UK smash hit will keep you laughing and turning the pages all the way to its surprising and deeply satisfying ending.

...source: back of book...

I must admit, when I first picked up Holly's Inbox, I was a bit leery of the concept of an entire book written via email. I like character interaction in books. I like dialogue, thoughts, details. None of which you really get out of an email...can you?

Well, Holly Denham surprised me! I found it amazingly hard to put this book down. The whole book draws you in. Yes, you do miss details, descriptions an avid book reader would love to have, but it was okay. The characters of this book keep it entertaining. It's a book you'll enjoy laughing with. The story line was captivating enough, although the "surprise" ending was a bit predictable in my opinion - but who cares. The book worked, and that's all that matters.

Fun, light reading that sucks you in until the last page - Holly's Inbox hits the bookshelf in June!

One For the Money - Janet Evanovich

One for the Money by Janet Evanovich
Genre: Adult Fiction
Form: Audiobook
Series: Stephanie Plum Series

Stephanie Plum is so smart, so honest, and so funny that her narrative charm could drive a documentary on termites. But this tough gal from New Jersey, an unemployed discount lingerie buyer, has a much more interesting story to tell: She has to say that her Miata has been repossessed and that she's so poor at the moment that she just drank her last bottle of beer for breakfast. She has to say that her only chance out of her present rut is her repugnant cousin Vinnie and his bail-bond business. She has to say that she blackmailed Vinnie into giving her a bail-bond recovery job worth $10,000 (for a murder suspect), even though she doesn't own a gun and has never apprehended a person in her life. And she has to say that the guy she has to get, Joe Morelli, is the same creep who charmed away her teenage virginity behind the pastry case in the Trenton bakery where she worked after school.

Source: Amazon.com

Another good start to another good series. I am quickly becoming a fan of Janet Evanovich's writing. I enjoy her quirky humor and light hearted books quite a bit.

Stephanie Plum is a fun character. I enjoyed her adventure to becoming a reputable bounty hunter, and boy does she get herself into some interesting situations. Good thing she has friends to help her out. I also enjoyed Joe Morelli, especially because you couldn't tell whether you could trust him or not from the start, but he always had a sort of tenderness about him the entire time. I'm hoping he remains a figure in the books to come.

My hope for the future - that Stephanie gets increasingly better at this job. I love girls who can kick some but, so I have some high hopes for Stephanie.