Love in a Nutshell

By Janet Evanovich & Dorien Kelly

For a book with 'nutshell' in the title, there were a disappointing number of squirrels. I will allot half a squirrel, if you are interested in the count. One half because there is only a small reference, once, to a squirrel's existence, thus giving the family vacation home the nickname. There was even a squirrel on the backside of the cover and acorns and nuts all over the cover...

Aside from the gross lack of squirrels, the story was adorable. At Christmastime my friend gets a subscription to the Hallmark Movie Channel so as to watch as many of the films as she can in a month-ish. This year I sat and watched a few with her. Hallmark doesn't mess around. The company knows what works, and, if you've seen at least two Hallmark (Christmas) movies, you know the plot to most if not all Hallmark (Christmas) movies. I only bring this into the conversation because Love in a Nutshell was cookie-cutter-cute, like a Hallmark Christmas movie (without the Christmas). The end is obvious, and I think that was okay with the authors. What they did, though, was create adorable and memorable scenes to get readers on-board with the idea of the ending. The guy and girl fall in love. It's in the title, I'm not spoiling anything here. But that is inevitable, as per the genre (basically). Plot points of an allergic reaction to beer, being stuck in a brewing chamber, and improper handling of pups caused just enough discomfort to balance the other intense moments. Scenes of washboard abs, lips brushing against each other, sexy curves filling out jeans, and five o'clock shadows were greatly appreciated by this reader. Romance is not one of the genres I frequent, clearly, and the change of pace was nice for the soul.

A slight hint of mystery was also appreciated, skeptically. (After just finishing another Agatha Christie murder mystery, most other attempts cannot compare.) 

It was a perfect mid-February read and I am glad to have added this universe to my head and to my shelf.

Happy Reading, Bookworms!