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18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An enjoyable romp with larger than life characters and a few twists..., March 2, 2011
This review is from: Gone with a Handsomer Man (Hardcover)
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Teeny finds her first cooking class is canceled and heads home to be with her fiance. Unfortunately for Teeny, her fiance wasn't exactly expecting her home that evening. An unfortunate series of events follows, and Teeny finds herself incarcerated and alone -- and that's only the first chapter... This book had me interested right from the start. The crazy, over the top characters, worried me at first. I wasn't sure that I would care about them enough to continue, but I did want to see what was going to happen next. I am glad that I kept going. After the initial introduction of characters: Aunt Dora, Bing, Natalie, Coop and the rest, I became invested in finding out how Teeny would handle all her challenges. At times the book reminded me of Carl Hiassen, other times Janet Evanovich, and other times just a fun old chick-lit novel. If you are looking for a quick read that will keep you smiling, this is it. There is romance, mystery, deceit, and wit. Once I got started, I had a hard time putting it down. There was a depth to the characters that surprised and delighted me. There were some interesting plot twists that made the story all the more unpredictable and enjoyable. This was the first book I have read by this author, and I will definitely look for more.
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11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Funny, real, and spunky, March 14, 2011
This review is from: Gone with a Handsomer Man (Hardcover)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
I loved the heroine of this book. Teeny is a great, well-developed character. I liked that she had little character quirks, such as her recipe writing and her less-than-perfect grammar. The flow of the story worked very well and kept me reading. The resolution was not what I expected, and it's always good to be kept guessing at a murder mystery. But this story is not completely mired in the mystery element, as other well-developed characters move the story forward.
Really, I loved this book until the last few pages. The ending seemed very forced and contrived toward the setup of a sequel book. But the story itself had already had a resolution, so it didn't ruin the entire story. It was still a good read for me.
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11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
The Road to Peachy Death, April 5, 2011
This review is from: Gone with a Handsomer Man (Hardcover)
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I'm not sure if it's cool for a guy to admit it, but I'm a Janet Evanovich fan. Her writing is off the wall and unpredictable, her characters are insanely quirky, the humour often provokes laugh-out-loud moments, the pace is rapid, and the romance is present but usually understated. Since authors tend to endorse books similar to their own, when I saw Janet's name on the cover, I had high expectations for this book. Probably too high.
Teeny is a woman who thought she had her life on track for happiness and success, only to find things spinning rapidly out of control. She comes home unexpectedly to find her wealthy fiancé in the back yard with two women, starkers all. Her peach flinging revenge lands her in jail, and when he turns up dead shortly after, she becomes the prime suspect. Fortunately, by the most incredible of coincidences, her hometown first-love -- whom she hasn't seen in years -- just happens to be in the bar she stumbles into, just happens to be a lawyer, just happens to be between jobs, and just happens to have become recently available. Sort of. He takes on the case, and with the help of his wife and P.I., sets out to protect Teeny while clearing her name.
There is some quirkiness here, but it's as uneven as it is charming. Teeny loves to cook and bake, which is fine, but all of the Food Network references become a distraction. The humour is woven throughout but rarely rises above mildly amusing. Romance is in the driver's seat, not quite to the point of being a Harlequin novel, but it drags the pace down to a crawl. If you're looking for a Janet substitute and don't mind forgoing the romance, Carl Hiaasen would be a better choice.
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