Love in a Nutshell by Janet Evanovich & Dorien Kelly

Kate Appleton & Matt Culhane's book





Love in a Nutshell

By Janet Evanovich & Dorien Kelly

Book Blurb:Kate Appleton needs a job. Her husband has left her, she’s been fired from her position as a magazine editor, and the only place she wants to go is to her parents’ summer house, The Nutshell, in Keene’s Harbor, Michigan. Kate’s plan is to turn The Nutshell into a Bed and Breakfast. Problem is, she needs cash, and the only job she can land is less than savory.

Matt Culhane wants Kate to spy on his brewery employees. Someone has been sabotaging his company, and Kate is just new enough in town that she can insert herself into Culhane’s business and snoop around for him. If Kate finds the culprit, Matt will pay her a $20,000 bonus. Needless to say, Kate is highly motivated. But several problems present themselves. Kate despises beer. No one seems to trust her. And she is falling hard for her boss.
Can these two smoke out a saboteur, save Kate’s family home, and keep a killer from closing in…all while resisting their undeniable attraction to one another? Filled with humor, heart, and loveable characters, Love in a Nutshell is delicious fun.

Can you say "plot holes"? Sometimes I wonder how a book by a super famous author could have slipped passed editors with large plot holes. *shrugs* Love in a Nutshell is a super fluffy story (meant in a nice way) but with very predictable characters. 

To start off, I am not sure where Janet Evanovich and Dorien Kelly's style differ. I adore Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series and there are lots of lines and situations that could have been Stephanie's words. Additionally, the story is full of quirky characters and of course pets with personalities. 

I did have lots of smiles but no out and out laughing. Some great lines like, 
"No, in fact I like vegetables. Especially French Fries."

I did like that both Kate and Matt had pretty cool families. Here is a major plot hole though that I don't think was answered but was glaringly obviousness. As Kate struggles to hold on to her family home (30 yrs in the family) it appears to be mortgaged to the max (I have no idea why her parents didn't have a better financial handle on that situation) and she is months behind in her mortgage payments. Additionally her parents seem to be quite wealthy yet knowingly give her the home. The Nutshell in such ruins. If fact, there are numerous comments regarding Country Clubs, retiring in Florida and mink coats in storage that didn't offer the reader any reason why her parents had left that financially maxed, dilapidated family home in her possession. I can't imagine her parents borrowed against the home to secure their champagne taste while in retirement all the while fully knowing how it would drain their already broke daughter's bank account. That bugged me and bugged me. 

I was also baffled on why Matt would not have installed security cameras in his business when he knew that someone was trying to sabotage him. He is a smart guy but maybe the reader was not to think of that as an option. (which also bugged me because Ranger in the Plum series owns a security company so the thought must have come to the authors' minds at least once)

Regarding the sabotage mystery, although I really didn't know who the culprit was, there was hardly any clues or an investigation going on to solve it. I'd like to say that the lack of investigation was because Kate and Matt were too busy getting their romance fired up and going but that was really light too. It just seemed like the entire book lightly touched on all plots and no depth was created. I wanted more. 

Love it a Nutshell is a total beach or vacation read. Nothing too intense and light n' fluffy with a bit of wit. I was actually looking to read just a book like this one so it fit my bill. However I found once I was into the story, I wanted more. 

Teasers: Kamikaze Karaoke, beer gas, house full of bees, poodle with attitude