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avocadojam's review against another edition
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
sallyjm's review against another edition
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
katyanaish's review against another edition
5.0
This was insanely fun. So much more than a romance, it had a mystery plot that was pretty compelling - a tangled knot of whatthefuckery to unravel, and it came together nicely.
There were a couple points where folks seemed a little slow on the uptake:
When she called to see if her daughter was okay there at the house, that's when I was 100% positive. And that was before Shane went to "take out the food chain" and we were told the person who hired the hitter was a she.
2. Photographer girl snapping pictures of the whole area the day before the wedding was an obvious hitman associate.
I am sorry, but no one does that, and it felt particularly weird that the experienced killers (Shane, Carpenter) wouldn't have seen through this immediately. That said, I didn't suspect that she was Casey Dean - that was a surprise - though I did think she was the sunbathing chick from the boat, in a wig or something.
3. Across the board, the police seemed to be utter morons.
Dude, she was walking with Maria like 10 seconds before Taylor was stabbed in the throat. Where did she GET the fucking meat fork? And Brenda, again, was such an obvious villain - she had all the motive, given that she wanted the wedding off so she could get the house, and given that her HUSBAND was ditching her - and she should have been in jail for fraud, along with Taylor, the moment the whole scam about the house came out.
4. Doyle was SO OBVIOUSLY the guy who had gotten the money.
Dude (which is apparently my expression for head-shaking disbelief at stupidity today), he had the damn necklace! And he was restoring the gazebo, where the secret door was! I figured he had found the door while restoring, and cha-ching. Again, though, I didn't figure everything out - I never for a second thought he was Frankie.
So there were some things I just kind of rolled my eyes over, but accepted. Because honestly, there was so much going on in this book, and it was happening on so many levels - multiple bad guys, multiple secrets, multiple agendas - that I can understand missing a few things. And the story itself was just so fun. Agnes and Shane were great, as were all the secondary characters (except Taylor, fuck that guy). And there were plenty of twists I didn't see coming, which was super fun.
And in all that, the romance wasn't lost. My heart broke for Agnes, and her history -... no wonder the girl has anger issues - and her sweet hope that Shane would be a good guy, that he wouldn't lie to her.
Will definitely re-read this one. So much fun.
There were a couple points where folks seemed a little slow on the uptake:
Spoiler
1. I feel like it was damn obvious that Brenda hired the hitters that were coming after Agnes, WAY before anyone made that connection in the book.When she called to see if her daughter was okay there at the house, that's when I was 100% positive. And that was before Shane went to "take out the food chain" and we were told the person who hired the hitter was a she.
2. Photographer girl snapping pictures of the whole area the day before the wedding was an obvious hitman associate.
I am sorry, but no one does that, and it felt particularly weird that the experienced killers (Shane, Carpenter) wouldn't have seen through this immediately. That said, I didn't suspect that she was Casey Dean - that was a surprise - though I did think she was the sunbathing chick from the boat, in a wig or something.
3. Across the board, the police seemed to be utter morons.
Dude, she was walking with Maria like 10 seconds before Taylor was stabbed in the throat. Where did she GET the fucking meat fork? And Brenda, again, was such an obvious villain - she had all the motive, given that she wanted the wedding off so she could get the house, and given that her HUSBAND was ditching her - and she should have been in jail for fraud, along with Taylor, the moment the whole scam about the house came out.
4. Doyle was SO OBVIOUSLY the guy who had gotten the money.
Dude (which is apparently my expression for head-shaking disbelief at stupidity today), he had the damn necklace! And he was restoring the gazebo, where the secret door was! I figured he had found the door while restoring, and cha-ching. Again, though, I didn't figure everything out - I never for a second thought he was Frankie.
So there were some things I just kind of rolled my eyes over, but accepted. Because honestly, there was so much going on in this book, and it was happening on so many levels - multiple bad guys, multiple secrets, multiple agendas - that I can understand missing a few things. And the story itself was just so fun. Agnes and Shane were great, as were all the secondary characters (except Taylor, fuck that guy). And there were plenty of twists I didn't see coming, which was super fun.
And in all that, the romance wasn't lost. My heart broke for Agnes, and her history -
Spoiler
her long, devastating string of people abandoning herWill definitely re-read this one. So much fun.
aranafyre's review against another edition
4.0
I loved this. It is sweet and sexy and funny. Agnes is awesome and so is Shane. This is an excellent light pick me up sort of read. Perfect for the beach.
tpatti's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
emerygirl's review against another edition
2.0
I did not enjoy this book. “Why are you still reading it?” my son would ask? Valid point. But it wasn’t that I hated it, but it also wasn’t like I had to find out how it ended. Maybe I just had to see it out because it has set on my goodreads “to read” shelf forever.
What I didn’t like:
1. Page after page of what should have been plot development but instead was plot thrown in between line after line of talking about food. I’ve never read so many descriptions of butter melting.
2. Confusing family tree. I get that mob families have a don and that they all share the last name, but for the life of me I couldn’t keep straight who was who and who the don was and who the mother of the bride vs the grandma of the bride was.
3. I did not get the plot. At the end, I still did not get the plot. Why did they kill off certain characters? Beats me!
4. Brenda. I kept waiting for her to redeem herself... she didn’t. I found it implausible that Agnes could go from liking her enough to trust her in a business deal to wanting to kill her in a chapter.
What I liked:
1. Cranky Agnes columns were funny.
2. I kept expecting the Venus statue to have something to do with something.. surprised me there.
3. It made me want to eat pancakes.
What I didn’t like:
1. Page after page of what should have been plot development but instead was plot thrown in between line after line of talking about food. I’ve never read so many descriptions of butter melting.
2. Confusing family tree. I get that mob families have a don and that they all share the last name, but for the life of me I couldn’t keep straight who was who and who the don was and who the mother of the bride vs the grandma of the bride was.
3. I did not get the plot. At the end, I still did not get the plot. Why did they kill off certain characters? Beats me!
4. Brenda. I kept waiting for her to redeem herself... she didn’t. I found it implausible that Agnes could go from liking her enough to trust her in a business deal to wanting to kill her in a chapter.
What I liked:
1. Cranky Agnes columns were funny.
2. I kept expecting the Venus statue to have something to do with something.. surprised me there.
3. It made me want to eat pancakes.
cathybruce208's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this book. It's funny and sexy, with great characters and a complicated plot about a wedding, the Mob and a big, old house in SC with more than a few skeletons in its closet.
Agnes, a newspaper food columnist and cookbook author, finally has her dream home. She and her fiance agreed to buy the home from her best friend's mother, with the understanding that her best friend's daughter would have her wedding there in lieu of the first three months mortgage payment. (Got all that?) The action starts a week before the wedding, with a man barging into Agnes' kitchen and trying to kidnap her dog at gunpoint. I won't give away any of the plot, except to say that it's complicated, with a lot of twists, turns and betrayals.
There is a lot of violence in this story, but it's handled with a light touch. The tone reminded me a little of the writing on TV's "Burn Notice." I really enjoyed the way the point of view alternated between Agnes and Shane, the hitman. I found myself laughing out loud at many parts of the story. I highly recommend this book.
Agnes, a newspaper food columnist and cookbook author, finally has her dream home. She and her fiance agreed to buy the home from her best friend's mother, with the understanding that her best friend's daughter would have her wedding there in lieu of the first three months mortgage payment. (Got all that?) The action starts a week before the wedding, with a man barging into Agnes' kitchen and trying to kidnap her dog at gunpoint. I won't give away any of the plot, except to say that it's complicated, with a lot of twists, turns and betrayals.
There is a lot of violence in this story, but it's handled with a light touch. The tone reminded me a little of the writing on TV's "Burn Notice." I really enjoyed the way the point of view alternated between Agnes and Shane, the hitman. I found myself laughing out loud at many parts of the story. I highly recommend this book.
amlibera's review against another edition
3.0
I really don't have a handle on how I feel about this book. Part Married to the Mob, part cozy romance novel, part domestic murder mystery but all of those parts don't ever quite add up to a coherent whole. There were characters I enjoyed and moments of terrific humor but the darkness was frequently too dark and the characters multiplied in a fashion reminiscent of a bad farce.