Motor Mouth - Janet Evanovich

This review is for Deb R , because she voted first and her blog is fantabulous, just click her name and be hooked like me! I've been in a bit of a funk lately, my writing is not going well at all and that has me in a sad way. So yesterday I made a sappy CD from my iTunes, there are only 14 songs on it, but I went ahead and did a Music Meme with it, just click here to participate. It should be rather easy, and it will show you just how sad my mood has been. We are getting lots of entries in our Veterans and Rookies contest for this month. You can either click over to that post and leave a comment or you can e-mail your entry to deeanddeedish@sbcglobal.net . We love to hear from our readers and this contest is super great because it gives us a bit of insight to your reading likes. And now, without further ado, on to the review...

Motor Mouth by Janet Evanovich
JCC

Those metro maniac Alexandra "Barney" Barnaby and NASCAR driver Sam Hooker are back!

Miami is still freakin' humid. The nights are even hotter. And there's a body on ice. And that's just the beginning of this adrenaline-rush of a hot-wired ride from phenomenal number one New York Times bestselling author Janet Evanovich.

A woman with a taste for speed and a talent for breaking the rules, Barney also knows a little too much about cheating. First there was Hooker and that salesclerk. Now she's convinced one of the competitors is up to no good on the track. Snooping to find evidence, Hooker and Barney "borrow" a NASCAR hauler. Turns out, the hauler is carrying two race cars and a dead guy. It looks like Barney and Hooker are facing multiple counts of grand theft auto and homicide.

So buckle up as Barney, Hooker, a 150-pound bundle of Saint Bernard love names Beans, and Super Cigar Ladies Felicia and Rosa shift into gear on a wild race around South Florida and Concord, North Carolina.

Everything you always wanted to know about righteous indignation, stealing an eighteen-wheeler, and sex in the fast lane.

HA!! Finally, I get to say I really, really, REALLY, did not like this JCC. Whew! I was afraid publishers were getting their acts together and I wouldn't have fodder. Okay, my first impression was, kiss Evanovich ass much? (And I should say, my first impression was but a few moments ago as I typed it.) My second impression was to roll my eyes at the over abundance of adjectives. And my third and final thought was close but no cigar! While Barney and Hooker do end up stealing a hauler, they do it for a slightly different reason than the JCC suggests. Felicia is in the fruit business, it is Rosa that is a Cigar Roller. Geez, trivial maybe, but I don't like misleading or incorrect information. It's deceiving and just wrong.

All of the above said, the actual book within the cover, isn't too bad. Not great either. If you are an Evanovich fan, it's worth the read, but don't expect to be blown away. I was sorely disappointed at the lack of actual character interaction. In typical Evanovich style, Mouth is written in First Person, and while it works well for the Plum Series , I just didn't feel connected in anyway to Barney, even though she was the one telling the story. It felt like Evanovich herself doesn't know what Barney is all about, so she's gonna fake it until it comes to her. She seems to have borrowed a few things from the Plum's, first off, Beans the dog is just Bob the dog in Saint Bernard clothing, and second, Rosa and Felicia are straight off the casting couch for a role in Stephanie's life.

Motor Mouth begins with Barney spotting a race for Hooker and noticing how the 69 car is cheating. She's not sure how, but she knows he is. Gobbles, another spotter, is next to her. When Gobbles' driver is in a wreck that puts him out the race, Barney learns that Gobbles is in a load of trouble. This is how Barney and Hooker end up stealing the hauler with the dead guy in it. But they've got it, so why not do a little investigating as to how the driver was cheating? That is until the brother of the dead guy wants his car back and they sort of don't have it anymore. But the bad guys have Beans and Hooker's future as a race car driver in their hands and the race is on to get Beans and figure out why this race car is so important.

As far as books go, this one isn't too bad. I'll no doubt by the next installment in the series, but I'm an optimist where my books are concerned, and since I am a big fan of Plum, I'm willing to continue to give Barney a chance.

Lucy, the next review will be for you - I'm In No Mood For Love will be up tonight or tomorrow morning! Check back!

Take Care