BOOK REVIEW: Good Luck by Whitney Gaskell

Ever had one of those days when everything goes wrong? Lucy Parker is having one of those days.

She loses her job due to a conniving student, loses her boyfriend to a a woman with a belly ring and fake boobs, and loses her car to mechanical failure.

Before she can quite take it all in, however, she wins several million dollars, enough money to start all over again and recreate herself as a new person. As she embarks on her shiny new life, however, she encounters the age-old question of if you can really run away from your problems. And whether happiness is something that you can really put a price tag on.

While you may be sitting there gagging at the sticky sweetness of the sappy moralistic storyline, let me assure you that I really did enjoy this book. It might not be Wuthering Heights, but who wants it to be??? I give it 3 packs of Dunhills and a bag of Senseo Coffee pods.

BOOK REVIEW: Foul Play by Janet Evanovich

'Oh, cruel fate / That brought me to select this book / As my eyes so quickly pas'ed o'er / Swoon'



If you'll forgive my crappy writing, I'll forgive Janet Evanovich the publication (and outrageous expensive price) of this book. Well, I may not forgive the price.

I pulled this book off of the shelf, thinking that it was a continuation of Evanovich's most recent series, the Plum Holidays. I thought both of them were Evanovich's funniest in a very long time, so when I saw a turkey with Evanovich under it, I grabbed it off of the shelf.

That was my downfall, for this book was a complete turkey. I expected Lula, Grandma, Stephanie, Joe, and Ranger.

Instead, I got Jake and Amy, two of the sappiest lovers ever.

The storyline is great, Evanovich at her hokiest, with enough screwball to satisfy. It's the execution of the main characters that falls flat. The characters fall In Love almost immediately, so there's a lot of sappy introspection. Ugh. Neither one is exceptionally feisty or scrappy, so their times together are not all that enjoyable. I can see why this book became a big hit at garage sales everywhere. I give it one pack of Pall Malls and a cup of Folger's Instant coffee.

I didn't even want to waste your time with an ad for it, so I put up Janet Evanovich's Plum Spooky instead. I haven't read it yet, but I am sure that it will be a lot better.

Okay, I'll put this one up, too:

BOOK REVIEW: Quicksand by Iris Johansen

Iris Johansen is one of the few authors whose characters seem just as comfortable in modern as in historical times. She has a few dialogue quirks -- either her people don't speak in complete sentences and cut themselves off, or they interrupt each other a lot, but she does appear to be improving on that issue.

Anyhow, Quicksand is the latest Eve Duncan mystery. Just when we were beginning to get tired of poor Eve Duncan and her weary stepdaughter and husband, Johansen infuses some new blood into the series. First, there's Montalvo, for whom Eve is beginning to feel a tendre. Then Johansen pulls in Megan Blair from Pandora's Box to add another dimension to the already freaky connections Eve has experienced.

Personally, I think Johansen is getting tired of her main storyline, too. Her entire oeuvre seems to revolve around Bonnie, who really isn't all that compelling as a character to begin with. Eve, Joe, and Jane are all intriguing on their own. Eve's new sizzle, Montalvo provides an interest and an excitement that I have not felt for an Eve Duncan book. There are only 2 more names on Montalvo's short list of guys who could have killed Bonnie, and for that I am truly grateful. We could hear about forensic skull reconstruction for days, but we'd like to see Bonnie laid to rest and Joe pushed to the edge by excitement and adventure, not because he's competing with a dead child for Eve's attention.

In spite of my griping over the direction this series has taken (the early books were really exciting), I did enjoy Quicksand. It was a fast-paced, entertaining read, and I give it 3 packs of Dunhills and a pound of Mello Joy Medium Roast.

BOOK REVIEW: Agnes and the Hitman by Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer

Lucie and Gracie had nothing on this dame. Cranky Agnes, the celebrity chef and quirky heroine of this screwball tale of love, murder, and food, is a throwback to the girl Fridays who came armed with razor-sharp wit. Agnes has one up on them: she's also been notoriously armed with a frying pan, which she wields with great effect upon the unsuspecting males who turn the heat up under here.

Out of all of the kitchens in all the world, Shane the hitman has to walk into hers -- really. He's there to protect Agnes at the behest of a friend, who also happens to be a friend of Agnes, AND a friend of the Mob. In the meantime, Agnes finds out that she needs more protection than she had ever thought possible: scheming relatives, dead bodies in the basement, and a seemingly unceasing series of attempted hits on Agnes by a small-time crime family. What starts off as being a simple accident opens the door to much deeper secrets being kept by everyone. Like Hepburn and Tracy, Agnes and Shane verbally (and physically) parry and thrust their way through a rollicking good time to true love. You will, too.

For an easy, fun read that delivers on many levels, I give this one four Dunhills and a pound of Carnival Cake flavored Community Coffee.