Customer Reviews

Asking For Trouble

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3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
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Newly divorced Beth has turned her ancestral home in the aptly named town of Mediocrity into a B&B, with her quirky elderly spinster great aunts in residence. One is a horn dog who likes to download porn; the other was left by her lover, had a baby out of wedlock, and took up witchcraft. Her lover went missing 50 years ago and everyone suspects that Iris had something to do with it. When Beth finds bones in her basement, she decides to keep them a secret to protect Iris.

Widower Brad has arrived in town with his surly daughter in tow in search of his missing father Armed with a complimentary post card as his dad's last known destination, he starts asking questions and Beth tries to keep him from talking to her aunts or making the discovery in the basement. Meanwhile, all her efforts to get a loan are thwarted, and wealthy entrepreneur Aubrey is trying to buy her out (he is the long lost son of Iris). But somehow she and Brad find the time to ogle each other and have sex in the barn before it goes up in flames.

Millie Criswell is an automatic buy for me, but after this one, I may have to rethink that. This was such a hard book for me to get into. I usually read a book a day - this one took three. Frankly, the story was clunky, the characters unoriginal (Aunt Ivy reminded me of the elderly hookers from "Left turn at Sanity"), and overall, the story was just stale - particularly the dialog. I had a hard time with the romance between Beth and Brad. On the one hand, he did not trust her, and he thought that the aunts were guilty. Yet he continued to let his pre-teen daughter spend time with them so that he could be with Beth. There were also too many subplots that conveniently got wrapped up in the end. Get this one from the library. Or better yet, read her Little Italy (Mary, Annie, Angela, Mia) series instead.

The story line was interesting but the she always drags out her story. I started skipping paragraphs because it was starting to get boring.

In Mediocrity, Pennsylvania, thirty-four years old Beth Randall runs the Two Sisters Ordinary Inn out of a converted Victorian home that her two beloved eccentric great aunts gave her. She worries about the septuagenarians as Ivy has discovered internet porn and Iris witchcraft. Worst yet, she has dug up bones in the cellar that she fears is Iris' lover Lyle McMurty, who was allegedly murdered fifty years ago.

Widower Dr. Brad Donovan accompanied by twelve years old daughter Stacy arrives from Virginia in search of his missing father, whose last message was a postcard from the inn. Beth pretends to know very little as she now fears the remains in the cellar is that of Brad's dad. Brad soon realizes that the three females are hiding something from him as none are good liars. As Brad and Beth fall in love over the objection of his daughter and the elation of her aunts, the missing father keeps them apart while businessman Aubrey Fontaine has arrived allegedly to buy property targeting the inn in particular, but in truth for something more personal.

ASKING FOR TROUBLE is a fabulous humorous romantic cozy starring a beleaguered young woman just trying to make it when the skeletons in her family closet decide to come out and rattle quite loudly. The story line is character driven as the support cast provides zaniness (the older generation) and seriousness (the daughter and Aubrey) that either propel or repel the romantic pair. Millie Criswell provides a warm romance with a secondary lighthearted mystery to spice up the relationships.

Harriet Klausner

This book is worth the read just for the characters. I particularly liked the way the author weaved relationships between four generations of characters. The book centers on Beth who, after a nasty divorce, turns her eccentric aunts' home into a small inn. Beth's aunts continue to live in the inn and provide lots of comic relief and quirkiness. Beth struggles to improve her own self confidence, open a new restaurant in the inn, balance financial problems, solve a couple of mysteries, and discovers her feelings for Dr. Donovan all the time under the close scrutiny of the citizens of the small town of Mediocrity. There are several subplots and that can be a bit distracting at times, however, they are all resolved and intertwined by the end. Overall, this is a recommended read.