Review: Wicked Appetite by Janet Evanovich

GoodReads Description:

Seven Stones of Power. No one knows when they were created or by whom, each said to represent one of the Seven Deadly Sins. For centuries, treasure hunters have been eager to possess the stones, undeterred by their corrupting nature. The list is long -- Genghis Khan, Alexander the Great, Napoleon, to name a few. Now the Stones have found their way to Salem, Massachusetts, and so has Gerwulf Grimoire, adding himself to this rogues' gallery of power seekers. He's an uncommonly dangerous man, with a hunger for the forbidden, and a set of abilities that are way beyond ordinary. Abilities that he feels entitle him to possess anything he might desire. That would include Elizabeth Tucker, the woman he needs to find the Stones. She's freshly transplanted from New York City to Boston's North Shore. With a new job as pastry chef at Dazzle's bakery and an old house inherited from her Aunt Ophelia, her life is pretty much on track …until it's suddenly derailed by a guy named Diesel, a rude monkey, and a ninja cat. Lizzy can handle the monkey and the cat. She's not sure about Diesel. He's offering up his own set of unusual talents, promising to protect her from Grimoire. The kind of protection that Lizzy suspects might involve guarding her body day and night.

My Review:

Janet Evanovich Strikes again! And this time she's dabbling in the paranormal!! :D I have been a long time fan of Ms. Evanovich's Stephanie Plum Series. It is a cute, light-hearted mystery series involveing an old and semi-senile grandma, various pet animals, and two Hotties named Ranger and Morelli. Now, any of you who are at all familiar with me know that that is WAY far outside my normal genre range...I tend to stick to Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy, or YA titles. However, a friend of my parents heard that I loved to read and literally would not leave me alone until I at least gave the first book in the series, One For the Money, a try. I was HOOKED (literally...there is a hooker named Lula that is perhaps one of my favorite people of all time). 

Wicked Appetite is a spin-off of the Stephanie Plum series. Deisel, the male lead, shows up in several of Stephanie's adventures and (maybe) possesses supper powers. In this new series, Deisel takes the reigns alongside a new female main character Lizzie Tucker. Lizzie makes cupcakes...REALLY GOOD cupcakes. I'm not going to lie...I definitely had a hard time getting through this book. Not because it was in any way boring or bad...but the with the main character talking about making delicious cupcakes on every other page, YOU try to restrain yourself from running out to the store. In fact...I was about halfway through before I was unable to resist the pull of sugary goodness anymore and I ran out to the specialty cupcake place by my house Just Baked Cupcakes and puchased two of the deicious confections...German Chocolate Cake and Carot Cake cupcakes...omg yum!!! I might have to go out and get some more the next time I read a book...they might have to become like caramel macchiattos as my item that I need in order to read a book comfortably. At the very least when I read the next book in this series I will have to invest in some cupcake stock.

I enjoyed this book almost as much as I have Evanovich's other books. The storyline of the new series was a litte simplistic, but it was fun. The paranormal element was pretty original, but it was kind of odd the way that everyone just accepted that one of the girls in the book just up and decided to start casting spells one day. I mean, the story is set in Salem Massachusetts, SO I suppose a certain acceptance of the supernatural is implied...but when a random girl with no apparent magical ability is able to cast a gibberish spell and no one freaks out, that’s a little sketchy. The witty banter between Deisel and Lizzie was pretty cute and flirty and there were a few parts involving paddles and chains that had me laughing out loud. Lizzie seems to be a Stephanie Plum clone, except for the difference in hair color. From the plot of this book, I am pretty sure that there will be at least 6 more books in the series and I will probably read them all. They won't be MUST reads...but when I see them on a random shelf, be it library or other, I will be sure to get a copy. What I like about Janet's books, is that she makes every one kind of a stand alone novel. Sure the relationships progress and change throughout the series, but each book you can read and be satisfied that it's over. Some series drive me crazy, because its almost like each book is a smaller chapter of a larger book...I would rather read 1000 pages of a complete story than get books of 150 or so pages every year or 8 months...

I read this book as part of Rubys Read's Vacation Reads Challenge. I'm sorry if it is a day early, but I just couldn't wait! This is a fabulous challenge and I wanted to talk about the setting of Wicked Appetite! I would absolutely LOVE to visit the east coast, and more specifically, Salem, Massachusetts where the book is set. The combination of rich American history and a slight tinge of supernatural, coupled with the tragic history of Salem itself has had me wanting to visit since I was a little girl and read The Witch of Blackbird Pond and The Crucible

My Rating:
I enjoyed this book. It was a very light, easy read that was hilarious at times. I think I will give it a delicious 7 Cupcakes out of 10...I would say that it is a tasty beach read :D

Adios Muchachos,

~Andra~