Love Overboard

Rating:
Summary: disjointed precursor of stephanie plum
Review: It is definitely interesting to see the beginnings of Stephanie Plum in this novel. The Stephanie in Love Overboard -- a former cop who moves to Maine to start a bed and breakfast, with a down to earth attitude and penchant for wacky highjinks is pretty much the future Stephanie Plum transplanted out of Jersey.
I can't quite recommend this novel, as it is a bit disorganzed and the motives for many character's behaviors are pretty unbeleivable. Ivan is pretty much a non-character, he's a nice guy, looking for the right woman and seems about as complicated as vanilla pudding. Yet, it is entertaining, and you can clearly see Ms. Evanovich beginning to hone her trademark writing style (a style I personally love). If you just want a really quick read and have pretty good suspension of disbelief skills -- this will probably hit the mark while waiting for the real steph's next novel. However, if you're new to the Evanovich scene, seriously forget this and read one of the real Stephanie Plum novels.

Rating:
Summary: A Fast Read
Review: I don't understand why some reviewers are disappointed in this book. It doesn't claim to be of great literary value. How seriously can you take a book which was orignally titled "Ivan Takes a Wife"?

But it is interesting to see how Janet Evanovich practiced with the characters which were finally refined in her best selling Stephanie Plum novels. Each of these early books has a tone of the later ones and that is good to read in and of itself.

I enjoyed the book - read it on a winter afternoon in Wisconsin. No, not on the front porch I love. Parts of it were quite funny. Some of it didn't make too much sense but really - some of the Stephanie Plum books don't either and we still gobble them right up.

I'm not sorry I read it and I think you will enjoy it too.

Rating:
Summary: Surprise, Surprise
Review: Ms. Evanovich has swept me away with the blue skys of Maine and the wavery waters of the seaside. I imagined myself there. The story and plot was a new and interesting one and the ending was definitely a surprise. It isn't her hit Plume series, but its not a bad read.

If you're looking for a different and exciting novel, read LUST OF THE FLESH by Beverly Rolyat. A story about district attorney, Nick Allapapalaus, who finds himself caught up in a web of lust, deceit, mystery, suspense, betrayal, murder and sex galore. Is he really the biological father of his ex-wife's promiscuous teenage daughter's infant son? Or has he been set up? A compelling, riveting, engaging, pageturning novel. Enjoy!

Rating:
Summary: OK, but far from the author's best.
Review: This novel is a "re-released" romance novel from the Loveswept line, written before Janet Evanovich started her bestselling Stephanie Plum series. The novel has been updated a bit, but the writing and the story still seem a tad stale.

The story focuses on Stephanie Lowe, a former Jersey City Narc with a unnecesarily mysterious past. She has left her former life to open a Bed and Breakfast in Camden, a small coastal town in Maine. Stephanie finds herself spending a week as the cook on Ivan Rasmussen's sailboat cruise in exchange for her cousin's husband doing free plumbing repairs on her crumbling house. Many hijinks and cooking disasters occur on the way to Stephanie and Ivan finding love. This book co-stars a somewhat crazy girl with brightly colored spikey hair, a "dead body" and the ghost of a pirate's widow.

I felt that the writing simply wasn't as good as I have come to expect from Evanovich. This is easily understood as it was one of her first novels and was written as part of a numbered monthly romance line. The characters weren't well developed and little was done to build chemistry between them. One of the best things about Evanovich's books is the amazing job she does on her supporting characters. I found this to be a bit lacking here as well. The plot was unique, but a bit contrived. It was far from predictable and I was quite surprised in the end.

It seems possible that, Stephanie Lowe, the heroine for this book may have loosly inspired the much beloved Stephanie Plum, but Plum is far more rounded and likable.

In all, the book was enjoyable. It was a quick read and I'd suggest it to fans desperate for a little Evanovich between releases of her series novels. For non-fans looking for a great story, I would recomend trying one of her other books first.