First published in 2012
My rating: 3.5 out of 5
It's very fitting that I'm finally getting around to reviewing "Love in a Nutshell" on Valentine's Day because it's the perfect book for the holiday of love -- a cutesy romance with a bit of humor and mystery thrown in for good measure. Basically it follows the same format as most of Janet Evanovich's other novels. I found, though, that the writing style in "Nutshell" wasn't quite up to par with Janet's typical firecracker wit, and I can only imagine that it's because she co-wrote the book with another author (Dorien Kelly, whose books I've never read or, to be quite honest, seen. Have you?).
Despite the slightly lackluster writing, the story was still fun, cute, quick and easy. The main character, Kate Appleton, has just moved into her family's dilapidated summer home in a small tourst town on the shores of Lake Michigan. Kate's had bad luck in love and life and hopes to turn things around by transforming the cottage into a B&B. Unfortuantely for Kate, she's behind on her mortgage payments, the house is quickly becoming a money pit, and she's just lost her bartending job because of some faulty beer. Kate does the only thing she can think of and puts on her determined face, marches into the local brewing company whose beer got her fired, and demands a job.
Enter hot-stuff eligible bachelor Matt Culhane, owner of the brewpub, who's having a problem of his own -- someone is out to sabotage the brewery and Matt fears it might be one of his own employees. Equally intrigued and mystified by Kate, Matt hires her to flesh out the sabouteur in exchange for $20,000 -- enough money to pay Kate's debts on the house. As the danger builds, so does the chemistry between Matt and Kate.
Bonus: You'll learn some interesting tidbits about brewing beer!
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Sounds like a fun read for the season. Thanks for sharing your review.
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