Charlotte HughesReviews

There is some harlequin romance stuff in there, not my thing... But just enough Stephanie Plum flavoring and an interesting story overall.

Psychologist deals with being evicted from her office, a manic patient, a man who wants to become a woman, a depressed dog and her ex-husband?s arsonist case. Amusing. Quick read.

Psychologist with a screwy life treats screwy patients. Fun book by friend Evanovich.

just not as funny as a stephanie plum book, but good mindless humor from Janet Evanovich

Psychologist Kate Holly could be considered a nutcase, when you look at her life. She blows up her own office with nitro-glycerine; is about to be evicted from her office; is still crazy in love with her ex-husband (and he is with her); is considering sharing office space with an ex-boyfriend; and then there are some of her clients and their problems!

When a good looking female becomes part of the crew at Kate’s husband’s fire station and makes it obvious she is after him, Kate becomes concerned. Even more so when a spate of fires happen around town and it’s her husband’s station that has to fight them.

This is a fun, mad-cap read. The characters are colourful, the plot moves a a good clip and has good twists and turns to keep you entertained.

Evanovich, Janet, and Charlotte Hughes. Full Blast. Full No. 4. St. Martin’s Paperbacks, 2004.
Yes, there is a murder mystery here. But who cares? There is a new sexy lingerie shop in town, some aphrodisiac brownies, Muffin the AI snarkier than ever, and many lustful thoughts. 3 stars.

Evanovich, Janet, and Charlotte Hughes. Full Speed. Full No. 3. Headline, 2003.
One Goodreads reviewer called Full Speed a “slapstick cozy mystery,” which seems just the right term. Max is investigating a corrupt preacher with mob ties. Jamie wants the story for her paper. So, they compete and cooperate while they pant at one another. Muffin, the car, AI is back. So is Jamie’s self-taught tech savant pal. And there is an old pickup truck that comes with a hound named Fleas. 3.5 stars.½

Evanovich, Janet, and Charlotte Hughes. Full Tilt. Full No. 2. Headline, 2003.
The Full series seems to be a transitional series for Janet Evanovich. The first volume was published in 1989. More than a decade later, she went back to the series and brought in co-author Charlotte Hughes. The second book brings in a new set of characters but keeps the smalltown atmosphere. Our heroine this time is Jamie Swift, the young publisher of a struggling newspaper in Beaumont, South Carolina. She has a new silent partner, Max, who comes to town to check out the paper he intends to rescue (why never made much sense) and helps Jaimie solve a murder and save her brother-in-law’s political career. A slow news day, no doubt. Romance and thriller violence ensue. The clever kid from the first novel shows up to save the day, and, oh yes, Max has a portable, almost sentient AI he calls Muffin. I expected David Hasselhoff and KITT to show up any minute. 3 stars.

Billie Pearce is a divorced mother of two who falls for a rich playboy, who turns out to be a good guy who loves her. Lots of silliness, but weak compared to her Stephanie Plum series.

A light, easy read that is full of laughter, suspense and somehow, just enough love. Evanovich is the queen of quirky characters, and in this one she did not disappoint.

I don't know what I was expecting but this turned out to be a light easy read. Interesting characters, good flow to the story. Nice to know she can do more than the Stephanie novels.

Synopsis: 'Jamie Swift is facing the story of a lifetime that could make or break her. Someone from her newspaper’s Lonely Heart’s column has murdered a local woman. To find the killer, and save her newspaper, Jamie will have to call in mega-handsome millionaire genius Max Holt, who right now is still frustratingly far from becoming anything more than just her business partner. But the real problem isn’t that Jamie wants to get closer to Max, it’s that the killer wants to get closer to Jamie.'
Review: Destiny is introduced. Good tale.

Synopsis: 'Journalist Jamie Swift and millionaire Max Holt drive each other crazy when they work together – but they just can’t stop. Especially when they both have their reasons for wanting to investigate a charismatic preacher with suspected ties to the Mob and a long history with his female church members. The trouble is, someone has got wind of Jamie and Max’s snooping around, and is pretty eager to introduce them to their Maker – a lot sooner than either Jamie or Max had planned…'
Review: Lots of twists and turns in this one. Really thought it was the preacher.

Synopsis: 'Jamie Swift just wants to keep her beloved Beaumont Gazette afloat, even if she occasionally has to sell the furniture to keep the town newspaper running. Having her financial partner come to check on her is the last thing she needs – particularly when that partner turns out to be multi-millionaire Max Holt, handsome, charming, and pathologically flirtatious. But someone wants Max in town even less than Jamie does – and they’ve got the guns and dynamite to prove it…'
Review: Glad to see Max in a series.

This tale has a little bit of everything - romance, mystery, and suspense, with humor sprinkled in throughout the book. Billie, divorced with kids, decides to take polo lessons. This puts in motion a chain of events that begins with her disastrous first lesson, continues with her attraction to the wealthy and handsome stable owner, and ends with, well, you should read the story to find out how it ends. There’s more than romance in the air. Maybe it’s not a true Evanovich book unless a car blows up! What starts out as a light-hearted tale soon takes a darker turn. Interesting characters and an intriguing plot combine for an entertaining read.

I haven't read the previous two books in this series, but I have read Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series and the Between the Numbers books. This book seems to follow a similar pattern to most of her Plum books.

POTENTIAL SPOILERS AHEAD (READ AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION)
***

Jamie Swift takes the Stephanie Plum role--she's a newspaper owner who's after a story and trouble manages to find her. Along the way, she acquires an old truck and a dog named Fleas.

Max Holt takes the Ranger/Morelli roles from the Plum series. The plot arc of having them attracted to each other but not moving forward in their relationship is stale for me after 25 Plum books of the same thing.

Dave apparently takes the role of Lula, the sidekick--at least for this book. He's not quite as entertaining as Lula is in that role. I do like Dave though--at least he's consistent in his character, and I suspect he's loyal to Max.

The history between Max and Nick Santoni is not spelled out in this book. We're told something happened but I'm not sure what--only that Nick got the worst of the deal. (Well, I guess right near the end of the book we are told it had something to do with a TV station--the TV station was mentioned other places in the book, but I hadn't realized how it tied together until the end of the book.) Nick's apparently out for revenge--Nick's also apparently on thin ice with his family.

Great stuff!!

I don’t feel this series is as good as the Stephanie Plum books. But this was an entertaining light romance/mystery story. I liked the main character, Jamie. I was annoyed at how many people in the town were upset when the lingerie shop was opened. This book was written in 2004, not 1904. If you want a fun, mindless read you’ll enjoy this.

See Bride Run! By: Charlotte Hughes

I received a copy of this book for an honest review. Never having read this author before I did not know what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. This was a book that had me rooting for the heroine. See Bride Run is a highly enjoyable read. What a find.

Received an ARC of Tall, Dark, and Bad for an honest review. Charlotte Hughes has written a funny, sexy and entertaining story. Summer and Cooper areas opposite as two people can be. She's uptown and he's a biker. Cute yet hot at the same time.

This is a reissue of an earlier book under a different title, but I really enjoyed it. It is a funny, sweet second chance romance.

Maddy and Michael are about to get a divorce. Michael is the the workaholic husband who is trying to make it big in one of the most successful law firms in the area. Maddy, his wife, tried everything thing she could to get his attention back. She fails to do so and after a heart-wrenching experience she files for divorce. She packs up, moves into an unknown location, quits her job and does not tell Michael where she is. That finally wakes him up, but he is unable to locate her and when he showed up at her new job, he was escorted out. With the sneaky interference of their doctor, they both end up at their mountain cabin stranded during a major snowstorm on Thanksgiving weekend. Maddie arrives first and when Michael arrives she's terrified because she's not expecting anyone and bangs him over the head and knocks him out. When he comes too, he finds that he is suffering from temporary amnesia. Michael's nephew, Danny, has hidden in his vehicle so has also ended up at the cabin acting as chaperone and referee. When Michael regains his memory, he decides not to come clean and use this opportunity to try and win Maddy back. Will he be able to win her back before they get themselves dug out?

This is a cute, romantic holiday read. The characters are very likable down to the loveable, but contrary dachshunds.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Good story with just enough sense of knowing what is happening, in terms of characters and they're relating to one another, to not know what is going to happen next.

thrilling books with a hard to put done attitude a mystery should have

Good book with an interesting storyline

Oh man, the only good thing I can say about this book is that it makes me feel heaps better about my own pitiful attempts at writing. And there's no excuse for the ridiculous amount of errors - Joel is referred to as Joey for a solid 3 pages, then goes back to being Joel, Nick's called Neil at random a time or two... So bad. So, so bad.