Book Review: Wicked Charms

Wicked Charms by Janet Evanovich
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Publication Date: June 23, 2015 by Bantam
Source: Netgalley review copy

Murdered and mummified more than ninety years ago, bootlegger Collier “Peg Leg” Dazzle once found and re-hid a famous pirate’s treasure somewhere along the coast of New England. A vast collection of gold and silver coins and precious gems, the bounty also contains the Stone of Avarice — the very item reluctant treasure seeker, Lizzy Tucker, and her partner, Diesel, have been enlisted to find. While Lizzy would just like to live a quiet, semi-normal life, Diesel is all about the hunt. And this hunt is going to require a genuine treasure map and a ship worthy of sailing the seven seas . . . or at least getting them from Salem Harbor to Maine.

Greed is eternal and insatiable, and Lizzy and Diesel aren’t the only ones searching for the lost pirate’s chest. There are people who have dedicated their entire lives to finding it, and are willing to commit murder or make a deal with the devil, just to hold the fortune in their hands. One of those people may even be Wulf, Diesel’s deceptively charming and enigmatic cousin. Wulf desires the Stone of Avarice. He also desires Lizzy. It’s hard to say how far he’s willing to go to gain either one.

This was a fun book, and I'm actually liking this series better than the Stephanie Plum series. This series still feels pretty fresh, and while there hasn't been a whole lot of character growth, at least it's not the same thing for 21 books. This isn't great literature, but it's a fun way to pass the time for a few hours, and I'll definitely continue reading the series.

View all my reviews

Trailer Tuesday: One for the Money

I've really enjoyed Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series. If you were to ask for brain candy in the form of books, I would point you to this series, no question. However, over time I've begun to suspect that Evanovich is a bit of a one-trick pony. All of her books, especially this series, seem to be the same. Up through book fifteen, I was loving the series, even the repetition. It was comfort reading for me. But something happened when I started to read Sixteen. I just couldn't take it anymore. It seemed that Stephanie would never make any choices or change for the better or anything. But that's not why you're here. You want to see the trailer, so here it is:


I think the movie looks fantastic. It looks like it has all the humor of the books, and they did a decent job with the characters. Although Ranger should be so much hotter, but I'm not sure a guy as hot as book Ranger exists. I will definitely be seeing this one!

If you haven't yet read the Stephanie Plum series, why not check it out? Yes, I do think the series goes downhill, but there's a lot of good times to be had reading the first few in the series. At least read up through Hot Six, which remains my favorite of the bunch. Start with:

Hero at Large

Title: Hero at Large
Author: Janet Evanovich
Genre: romance
Page Count: 320
Why I read it: e-book from library
Grade: C

Synopsis:
Dear Reader:

In a previous life, before the time of Plum, I wrote twelve short romance novels. Red-hot screwball comedies, each and every one of them. The romances were originally published between the years 1988 and 1992. All immediately went out of print and could be found only at used bookstores and yard sales.

I'm happy to tell you that those stories have now been re-released by HarperCollins, presented in almost original form. I've done only minor editing to correct some embarrassing bloopers missed the first time around.

Hero at Large was the very first book published. It's about a sexy guy who cooks a potholder in spaghetti sauce and charms a single mom and former world-class ice skater with the promise of a ride on his Zamboni. It's got broken bones, giant turkeys, cantankerous cars, and Aunt Edna.

This was the book that changed my life forever and made me a published author. When Hero finally reached the bookstores, I was almost arrested for loitering in Walden's. I stationed myself in the romance section and wouldn't leave until I saw someone buy my book. It took three days!

My review:
I'm a big fan of Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series (even though I wonder how long she can stretch it out without any character growth or plot development or anything, but that's a different review), so I've been trying to make my way through her older romance novels. This was her first published novel, and I think it's safe to say that Evanovich is getting better with time.

Although this was a fun, easy read, there just really wasn't much substance to it. It was a very typical romance, where the leads get together insanely quickly, fall in love, problems ensue, reconciliation, happily ever after. Don't be mad at me for giving away the plot. This is the plot of almost every romance novel I've read.

If you're a huge Janet Evanovich fan, and want to read everything she's written, pick this one up. Otherwise, I'd say skip it.

REVIEW - Finger Lickin' Fifteen

Title: Finger Lickin' Fifteen
Author: Janet Evanovich
Genre: Humorous Mystery
Got it from: Library
Why I read it: series book
Grade: A

Synopsis:
While recovering from an ill-timed makeup mishap, Lula is a witness to celebrity chef, Stanley Chipotle, losing his head - literally. Now Lula and Stephanie are on the hunt to identify the killers before Lula is next on the chopping block.
Meantime, Ranger's recruited Stephanie's help for a top secret mission. Someone on the inside at Rangeman is leaking client information, determined to bring the company down. No one is above suspicion, not even Ranger's right hand man, Tank.


My review:
I'll start off by saying this isn't great fiction.  It's formulaic, has very little character growth, and is repetitive of earlier novels.  But this is comfort reading for me.  That's why it gets such a grade.  There's not a lot to the story--it's the same old stuff, and even Stephanie (the main character) realizes that she's stuck and not going anywhere.  It was fun, though.  I laughed out loud a few times, and I'm not really a LOLer.

I would really like to see some resolution to this series, and maybe have it come to an end soon.  There's only so long that Stephanie can get together and break up with Morelli.  There's only so long the sexual tension with Ranger will remain interesting.  There's only so many times that Stephanie can lose the people she's trying to catch as they go out the back door/window, while she stands stupidly at the front door/in their front room.  I would love to see Janet Evanovich writing something new, not just rewriting old stories.