Wicked Appetite

This entertaining audio book is sure to delight fans of Janet Evanovich, if you can get past missing Stephanie, Morelli, and Ranger. Diesel is a fascinating man of mysterious talents, but Elizabeth Tucker isn’t sure she really wants to find out what they are. Or does she? This sometimes risqué romp is well performed by Lorelei King.

Overall I thought this was a fun, quick romp. I felt that Diesel fit better here in his own series than in Stephanie's world. I enjoyed the dynamic between Wulf and Diesel, and Lizzie is a likeable heroine. Sometimes I felt that there wasn't quite enough difference between Stephanie and Lizzie, though it's hard to pinpoint what it was exactly.

I'll definitely read the next book, as I think the series shows promise.

And I'll confess I'm probably the only person who does not like Carl the monkey. Give me Cat 7143 any day.

It's exactly what I expected from a Janet Evanovich novel. Yes, it's a little formulaic, but it's still fun. The quirky characters and humor kept me laughing from beginning to end. The highlight of the book was Lorelei King's narration of the audiobook. She captured each character's personality perfectly and added even more whimsy to the story. It is very similar to the Stephanie Plum series, even including some characters from the between the numbers stories, but if you enjoy Stephanie Plum, you'll enjoy Lizzy as well.

Janet Evanovich has a way with words- she evokes images that make me laugh out loud. This is a new series for me and I put off reading it because it looked too 'romance-y.' Ok, so I was wrong. Sort of. The big romance is the last sentence of the last chapter and it was not too 'romance-y.' I actually kind of expected it. I also rooted for it. But I digress.

The story is a lot of fun. Like the Stephanie Plum series, this book is hilarious. There is not so much mystery as laugh out loud moments. I definitely want to read the next one.

Opening Sentence: ‘…My name is Elizabeth Tucker …’

First up I want to say that I really enjoyed this book – it was funny, entertaining plot and a feel good read. I recommend it if you want a light and fluffy paranormal adventure.

Elizabeth Tucker (Lizzie) inherited a house in Salem from her great Aunt Ophelia. Lizzie has a magical touch when it comes to baking cupcakes and she quickly finds a job at Dazzle’s bakery. Everything is going well until a handsome but creepy man comes into the store. He is Wulf Grimoire and wants her to go with him. She refuses. Not long after Wulf’s cousin Diesel turns up and follows Lizzie home. In fact he moves in with her – to protect her from Wulf. Diesel explains that Lizzie is an show more ‘Unmentionable,’ a human who has special ability – hers is to locate magical objects. Diesel (and Wulf) needs Lizzie to help him find the SALIGIA Stones; each one possesses a power of the Seven Deadly Sins. His cousin Wulf wants the stones for his own evil purpose while Diesel works for an unmentionable organisation that wants to keep them hidden in a safe place. The first stone to find is Gluttony, the problem with finding this stone is that the previous holder has died and split the stone into pieces – each piece has been bequeathed to various members of the Hope family in the form of a charm. Diesel and Lizzie race against Wulf to locate the heirs and retrieve the charms.

There are a few really zany sidekicks – both human and animal. Clarinda Dazzle owner of the bakery; Glo the counter girl who is obsessed with a book of spells she has bought and keeps trying spells wreaking havoc as she does, then there is Shirley More the recipient of Glo’s spells gone wrong and first heir located. The animals take over their scenes, a nameless one-eyed cat with fabled ninja abilities and Carl the Monkey – eeep.

WICKED APPETITE is a wonderful romp it is almost impossible to get through a Janet Evanovich book without smiling – and hope the existence of seven stones means there will be six more books to follow. show less

I love Diesel, the drawback of the Between the Numbers books of the Stephanie Plum books was not enough Diesel, so I was delighted that he was getting his own series.
This book is everything that is great about Janet Evanovich's books - mystery, humor, hot guys, skeptical women, silly sidekicks, some slapstick, some danger and fun dialog. Lizzy is a cupcake baker, an Unmentionably good cupcake baker and Diesel needs her help to find the stones that match the 7 deadly sins before his bad boy cousin Wulf finds them and unleashes hell on earth. Sparks fly between Lizzy and Diesel but they can't do too much about it without one of them losing their Unmentionable power, which makes for a lot of humorous sexual tension.
The whole thing is based show more on an acceptance of some paranormal things such as Unmentionable powers, stones holding the powers of the 7 deadly sins and of course, since it is set in Salem, witchcraft. One of the minor characters is sure she is meant to be a witch after she found 300 year old spell book. If only she could get the spells to work properly.
Suspend your disbelief and enjoy the ride. Wicked Appetite is laugh out loud enjoyable & I am really looking forward to the next one show less

This is the first book in a new series written by Evanovich. While I felt like it was a bit of a fluffy read, sometimes that's what you need. The characters and the situations are pure Evanovich: I was entertained and laughed out loud several times while reading the book. I especially like how Lizzie doesn't quite accept as real the supernatural events that she observes/is a part of. I thought it added a real air of authenticity to the character and the plot.

As I said, it was not a hard read. I felt like the plot could have been tighter and that some of the writing was extraneous to the plot. It would have been much improved if some of the extraneous text was replaced by character development. It isn't Pulitzer-worthy writing; but if show more you are looking for a good read that will help lift your mood, this is a good book to pick up. show less