I really love these quirky romances by Janet Evanovich and assorted co-writers. They are cute with hottie guys, ditzy (but hilarious) heroines and screwy circumstances. Who could ask for more in a funny romance.

Kate Appleton has returned to her childhood vacation home with the hopes of renovating the cottage into a Bed and Breakfast. Unfortunately her parents have allowed the mortgage to go into arrears (is that the correct term?) and now someone has purchased the property and is trying to evict More...

WARNING for audiobook readers:
Janet Evanovich uses the same narrator that she used with the Stephanie Plum series. My only complaint about the narrator is that the character voice sound just the same. A few times I caught myself saying that's Stephanie, Joe Morelli or Ranger's voice.

Quick short fun summer read. I enjoyed the characters but thought it ended abruptly! I may try another Janet Evanovich book

As a fan of her Stephanie Plum series and the one Diesel Tucker novel I've read , I have decided to go on a Janey Evanovich spree and check out her other novels. The first one up was Love in A Nutshell co-authored by Dorien Kelly. Love in A Nutshell takes us into the world of Kate Appleton whom has lost everything she had spent her life gaining from her job to her husband and even her house and pet dog Stella. With nowhere else to go, Kate decides to head to the family's summer Lake House in Kee More...

Janet Evanovich's books are one of my guilty pleasures. I’ve been known to sit down and read an entire Stephanie Plum book in one sitting. Every once and a while, I come across one of the romance novels that she’s co-written with someone else, and I’ll pick it up in the price is right. I recently acquired Love in a Nutshell by Evanovich and Dorien Kelly from the bargain bin at my local Walmart. It was only $3.95, so I happily purchased it. And I’m glad I did.

Love in a Nutshell is a goofy spin on More...

Love in a Nutshell is another romance by the team of Janet Evanovich and Dorien Kelly, best known for The Husband List>. This contemporary romance stars a recently divorced and unemployed Kate Appleton. Down on her luck Kate has an idea to turn her family’s summer home on Lake Michigan into a charming B&B. Her only problem is money, which lack of employment exacerbates.

Kate realizes she has to use her natural gumption to get a job at Depot Brewery. She had no option to take “no” for an an More...

Kate Appleton is a hot mess and from page one that will entice you.

Fact - She's lost her job.
Fact - She lives in an old broken down house that she'd like to make into a bed and breakfast.
Fact - She has no money.

This hard headed female doesn't let that stop her. She marches right to the gentlemen who got her fired in the first place. The hottie who owns a very popular brewery and who will soon own her heart, Matt.

He gives her a job - To spy on his employees. Some strange things have been happeni More...

It's a bit discouraging when an author becomes so formulaic that the publisher holds them to a certain word or page count, and than 9/10ths into the book the writer realizes they had better start wrapping things up. "Love in a Nutshell" is one of these books. Janet Evanovich has perfected the light-romantic-mystery formula with her Stephanie Plum series; however, she may want to look at other authors' techniques for writing and concluding a stand alone book.

"Love in a Nutshell" is a fun book, ni More...

I love this writer, but I don't love her as much when she is teamed up with another writer. I also really love her stand alone romances, nearly as much as I love her series so when I saw another one out I snatched it up!

It was a very cute book....but it dragged at many points for me. There always seems to be at least one unique pet or person and sometimes both in each of these romances. This one wasn't any different and as always I enjoyed them. Chuck and Stella are definately quirky!

There was More...

I started the day with Love in a Nutshell which I had picked up on my last trip to the library. I haven’t managed to quite jump on the Stephanie Plum wagon yet, but that has more to do with finding the time to sit down and read the entire series. I’m a pre-Plum, Evanovich fan and have most of the re-released romances in digital form. I also love the co-authored romances with Charlotte Hughes. Love in a Nutshell was cute. Kate Appleton moves to Keene’s Harbor, Michigan to renovate her parents ol More...

Fans of Evanovich's Stephanie Plum books will feel right at home with this co-written [with romance novelist Dorien Kelly] novel that introduces readers to a fun new cast of characters. Kate Appleton is returning back to Keene Harbor, Michigan, after a rough divorce to settle into the family home, the Nutshell, with the hopes of turning it into a bed and breakfast. The only problem is the mortgage payments are past due, and the Nutshell has no shortage of repairs that need completing. What is sh More...

Kate Appleton's life had hit the skids. Suddenly jobless, husbandless, and really feeling kind of low, she decided that the only she wants to be right now is at her parents summerhouse, The Nutshell in Keenes' Harbor Michigan. Unfortunately, much like her life, The Nutshell has seen better days as well and Kate finds herself needing cash in supply if she is about to renovate this house into her dream, a bed and breakfast.

Enter Matt Culhane, owner of a local brewery but having some major issues w More...

Classic Evanovich, this story features a quirky heroine who's a little off balance and a left of fitting in with regular society slightly. Also per usual it was the characters themselves that made this story stay with me and kept me listening to the audio.

I thought the mystery plot of the book was well paced and as the reader I didn't figure it out until much later in the story, which was really nice since some romances tend to very thinly veil the villain. The balance between the mystery and t More...

This book is awful in a stellar way. The plot is like every Janet Evanovich only less funny, sexy, or thrilling. The writing is pretty cheesy, and I have proof:

"She looked up from the cross word puzzle she was doing. "What's a four-letter word for idiot? She asked. "Matt." "Really. Throw me a word." "Dolt." She frowned down at the puzzle, then smiled up at him. "That fits." And it fit him, too. Since when had he not grabbed for what he wanted? "Can you call and reschedule tomorrow's meetings un More...

My Review:
If you are looking for a light, fluffy romantic read with a dash of suspense and mystery thrown in, this is a good book for you. This book was very entertaining and fun. I loved the brewery setting and I enjoyed Kate and Matt. There isn't anything too deep in this book...not even the romance. Honestly, I can think of only a handful of kisses throughout the entire book. Although saying that, I have to admit that I never did figure out who the bad guy was until it was revealed in the boo More...

2.5-3 stars for what it is, a fluffy, chick lit/romance read with a bit of mystery to it and not a lot of depth. It's like drinking Mountain Dew. Why did I read this? because the reviews were good and it sounded like a good beach-read type book. LJ: "Sassy dialog, laugh-out-loud humor, vastly appealing characters, and an intriguing setting make this fast-paced, suspenseful romance one to imbibe." Bah. Not so much, LJ. It's ok. It's close to that, but a few notches below achieving it. Fast read, More...

Kate Appleton just wants a chance to restart her life. Her husband divorced her, taking her beloved poodle with him, and much of her self-confidence. Movie to Keene’s Harbor, and remodeling her family’s old summer cottage, The Nutshell, into a bed and breakfast is the new start she is hoping for; until she loses her job, and she discovers that the Nutshell needs more than just a touch of paint. In a fit of temper, Kate storms in to Matt Cuhane’s office and demands a job, because she blames him

More...

This was an ok book that was a quick light read but nothing that I would highly recommend. I have been a big fan of Evanovich's Stephanie Plum books, but it was hard to tell how much of this was her work and how much was Dorien Kelly's work.

The plot had holes in it. After a divorce, the heroine Kate Appleton moves back to a small town in Michigan where her family has a summer home. Kate plans of fixing the home up and opening a bread and breakfast. Problem is there is a huge mortgage on the home More...

A cute but rather flat romance between a struggling B&B wanna-be and the successful owner of an independent brewery in the small resort town of Keene' s Harbor in Michigan.


My Take
It's a cute but standard heroine needing rescue with the gallant hero saving the day---but totally respecting her independence. The whole premise with the family summer home being in danger of being foreclosed just doesn't work for me. Her parents are wealthy so how would the house have even gotten to a point of f More...

4.5 stars

Love in a Nutshell

This is a sweet, light hearted and very wholesome romance/mystery and a very quick read.

Kate has just been fired from a bartending job, something she had to take to earn some money while she is trying to fix up her parents old B&B on Lake Michigan. She stomps off to confront the person she thinks s responsible for her job loss and meets Matt Culhane, who just happens to hold the mortgage that Kate is trying so hard to pay back Of course that mortgage is so far past More...

This was a nice light romance from the team of Janet Evanovich and Dorien Kelly. For readers used to the craziness of Ms. Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series, this might seem a little tame, but it is an enjoyable read. The two main characters are normal everyday people who find that they need help from each other to get their lives back on track. It is refreshing to read a book that is just plain fun to read.
Kate is divorced and trying to keep her family home so she can start a new life and career More...

Looking to start over, Kate Appleton returns to the small town of Keene's Harbor, Michigan, to turn her family summer home (The Nutshell) into a B&B. Only she's facing a foreclosure deadline from the new mortgage owner of the property and a deadline from her folks that if she can't maintain the home (and its mortgage) by a certain date, they'll be selling the property to the new mortgage holder. And now she's unemployed and desperate. With nothing to lose, she demands a job from the owner (M More...

The audiobook uses the same narrator as they do for the Stephanie Plum novels so I think I liked it more because I felt I knew the characters. The plot did have it holes in it. After a divorce, the heroine Kate Appleton moves back to a small town in Michigan where her family has a summer home. Kate plans of fixing the home up and opening a bread and breakfast. Problem is there is a huge mortgage on the home and it needs major repairs. The repairs I can understand ... but the mortgage. Her family More...

Kate has lost her job again. She is living in her family summer home, Nutshell in Keene's Harbor, Michigan. The house is falling down around her and she wants to turn it into a bed and breakfast. Her parents have given her until Thanksgiving to make good on this project or they will be selling it to a person who offered them a more than fair price for it. Desparate, Kate strong arms the owner of a microbrewery into hiring her. Bad things seem to be occuring at the brewery and he wants to find ou More...

I gave it 3* even though it probably only deserves 2*, because it was a fun and fast read but it had so many "plot holes" that i'm not really sure whether they were left on purpose or by accident (how can that even happen?! editors?! SECOND author?! noone caught this?!):

- Who pays a random inexperienced stranger $20,000 for finding out who keeps breaking into/vandalizing a bar!? no police/security/cameras/alarms?

- Who moves in with a man, yet allows a DOG to stop them from being "intimate" at le More...

Kate can't help but feel like a failure. Crawling back to her childhood lakeside summer home and leaving behind an unsatisfactory career and failed marriage, she hopes to salvage the crumbling lake house into a bed and breakfast and prove to her parents once and for all that her life isn't as hopeless as they'd like to think. But with foreclosure looming on the horizon and one disaster after another appearing in the house, that possibility is growing ever dimmer. When she's offered the chance at More...

This book was just meh. It wasn't great and it wasn't horrible. It fell to just "ok" Maybe its me getting over the whole romance genre. Who knows. It wasn't a thick book by any means so realistically I should have been able to finish in a day maybe two. Well I kept setting it down. I liked the characters for the most part but I felt like the book was lacking something. Just not sure what. I am a HUGE fan of Janet Evanovich books. Her Stephanie Plum series is one of my faves. This book almost fel More...

So many plot holes that it interfered with story.
http://anotherlookbookreviews.blogspo...

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 a More...