Foul Play

The premise sounded cute. Unfortunately, the execution fell short of what I’ve seen from this author’s other works. I find the idea of falling in love, having a sexual relationship, and deciding to marry in the space of a few days ludicrous, at best. Yet, that is exactly what this book has the two main characters doing — all against the background of an insufficiently handled mystery over a missing performing chicken. The “romantic” scenes read more like soft-core porn.

I’m glad this is not my first Evanovich story or I doubt I would read another.

I like Janet Evanovich, but this particular book, one of her early romances, is like eating commercial icing out of the container. It needs some cake! The last chapter, nine, was especially poorly written. The book does show how far Evanovich has developed as a writer.

This is my first Janet Evanovich and I think it might be my last. Flat characters, helpless virgin, madly in love and engage within 5 whole days and don't forget the man sweeping in and rescuing her with no thought or discussion to what she wanted. Maybe I'm missing something? Was this tongue in cheek? I'll let you know after I get the bile out of my mouth.

This is one of Evanovich's fluffy screwball comedy/romances. Do not come looking for substance, but they are truly hilarious comfort reads without a lick of realism. Which was exactly what I needed at the time. This one takes place when the heroine loses her job to a chicken and a nice veterinarian comes to the rescue. Recommended for when you just want to laugh and believe the world is a nice place.

There is a note that this book was originally published as a "Second Chance at Love" paperback in 1989, in a slightly altered form, by the Berkley Publishing Group under the pseudonym Steffie Hall. I did not realize that Janet Evanovich was one of the authors that published her work using a pseudonym. The new title and 'cover art' capture the story with the humor and lightheartedness that one can always expect from one of the author's novels.
Or, as per one of her quotes, "Romance novels are birthday cake and life is often peanut butter and jelly. I think everyone should have lots of delicious romance novels lying around for those times when the peanut butter of life gets stuck to the roof of your mouth."
If you have some peanut butter of show more life stuck to the roof of your mouth and love animals, picking up this novel will definitely give you pause for a few minutes of giggling to hilarious escape. show less

Love at first site, in a grocery store parking lot? Jacob Elliott was pretty sure he was hooked after the first site of Amy Klasse in all her klutzy ways like tearing her dress, dropping the eggs, forgetting her purse and locking her keys in her car. The store cashiers and customers all agreed that the local veterinarian was the type that any women would love to make dinner for, but Amy didn’t know if she could trust herself, he made her ‘tingle’ just being so close. What a day, she had lost her job, to Rhode Island Red a rooster that could dance, than all her problems at the store and now Jake in her house making her forget how to make a meatball. Who knew that rooster would show up in Jakes office, then go missing. Jake just show more wanted to protect Amy, everyone seemed to want to blame her for the roosters disappearance, but it was his office, he needed to know what happened to that rooster for so many reasons.

This is a cute, quick and easy story. The characters are not complex, it has some funny lines that are a hoot. Jake is a determined man which is nice but I didn’t like how Amy lost her good spirit in the end, she ran away, a bit disappointing. The ending was abrupt and felt a little lacking, the conversation basically never happened and I felt it needed a bit more closure. For a quick, fun, cute, mellow, relaxing read, this one would do it with a bit of love, a little mystery and several laughs to entertain the afternoon away. Published under Steffie Hall in 1989. show less

After reading Evanovich's Stephanie Plum Novels, I decided to look into her novellas. Foul Play focuses on Amy, a television star for a childrens; show who is replaced by a chicken named Red Hen, and Jake, a sexy vetinarian who falls in love with Amy the first time he sees her. Jake's character is refreshing, down to earth, and very likeable, while Amy's character somewhat prudish and cowardly. Still, thier relationship is full of sexual tension and cheesy banter, whcih I love!!!! I will continue to read her novellas and hope to find a favorite one.