Summary:
Nick is a riding instructor and newspaper mogul with tons of money. Billie is a divorced mother of two with a bug problem and an empty house while the kids are with their dad. In the first ten pages, you know these two are going to wind up sleeping together, no matter how much Billie protests. But first, Nick cons Billie into letting his annoying cousin Deedee live with her for two weeks before Deedee gets married. Nick's taking care of Deedee's little brother Max, who likes blowing things up to get Nick's attention. In classic romance novel fashion, after sleeping together twice, Nick and Billie are hopelessly in love and there's almost immediately talk of marriage and happily ever after. Some minor trouble appears when there are a string of break-ins in Billie's neighborhood, a persistent bug problem that the bug man can't get rid of, and things start blowing up at Nick's, and it isn't just Max. When the kids get home early, the situation gets more complicated, and Billie and Nick have to figure out how to deal with it all.
Thoughts:
Honestly, not one of Evanovich's best. It's one of Evanovich's early books, published originally in '89, and it showcases her early talent for spinning a story, but not much with her actual prose. It's stiffly written, and the particular copy that I had included several glaring editing mistakes. (Nick is called Neil for a couple paragraphs on the same page as he's called Nick, and Billie's son Joel is called Joey for two full pages.) The prose really sounds like someone testing out the writing waters which, of course, she was at the time of the original writing. Honestly disappointing compared to her later work in the Plum series. Thank goodness Evanovich got more into the mystery end of the writing and didn't stick with the romance. There is a little mystery in this particular book, which is a minor redeeming quality, though it could have been a little less obvious who was actually making the mischief.
Book 36 of 50
Pages: 334
Genre: Romance, with hints of mystery
Grade: C+
Would I Recommend?: Eh. If you want to see how Evanovich handled a romance pre-Plum, or want to be an Evanovich completionist, go for it. Otherwise, find a better romance novel in the Romance section of your local bookstore.
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