THE SWEET SPOT started charming me from the beginning. By
page five I was laughing out loud. Stephanie Evanovich has
a way with words and clever repartee and the characters
were promising and believable.
Amanda Cole is funny, real, and not perfect. Chase Walker
is a gorgeous, successful, and rich baseball player and he
is interested in Amanda. It's a formula that many people
respond to in print; an ordinary girl attracts an
extraordinary guy.
I'm working my way up to a "but" (and there is no pun
intended). This contemporary romance began to curdle and
lose its sweetness on page ninety-six. It became a
confusing jumble of exploitation and manipulation from
that
point on.
Amanda is an independent woman; she owns her own
successful
restaurant but hasn't taken any time for a personal life.
She thinks the hunky baseball player is conceited and
egocentric. Chase comes to her restaurant every chance he
can get until he wears her down and she agrees to go on a
date with him. He's like a really charming stalker at this
point. He convinces all her employees and even her parents
that he is a nice guy.
Slowly, step by step, Amanda gives up her independence and
her good sense as she succumbs to Chase and his demands.
The cute, loving way that he treats her in public just
doesn't make for the way he treats her in private; the
fact
that he's convinced her that she likes the way he treats
her is a bitter spot for me.
Ms. Evanovich is a gifted writer. Her first novel, Big
Girl Panties is original and fresh. She has a definite
finesse in creating characters and her dialogue is
sublime.
I just don't understand why she gave in to trends and
created her own shade of gray (maybe a really light shade
of gray, but gray nevertheless). I hope THE SWEET SPOT is
only the result of a phase that will pass, because I am
interested in reading other books by this author.
A sizzling story of everyone’s favorite couple from
amazing
Stephanie Evanovich’s New York Times bestseller
Big Girl Panties: hunky professional baseball
player Chase Walker and his sassy wife Amanda.
When
pro baseball player Chase Walker first meets Amanda at her
restaurant, it’s love at first sight. While Amanda can’t
help noticing the superstar with the Greek-god-build, he
doesn’t have a chance of getting to first—or any other—
base
with her. A successful entrepreneur who’s built her
business
from scratch, Amanda doesn’t need a Prince Charming to
sweep
her off her feet. And a curvy girl who likes to cook and
eat
isn’t interested in being around the catty, stick-thin
herd
of females chasing Chase and his teammates.
But
Chase
isn’t about to strike out. A man who isn’t interested in
playing the field, he’s a monogamist who wants an
independent woman like Amanda. His hopes rally when she
discovers that squeaky-clean Chase has a few sexy and very
secret pre-game rituals that turn the smart, headstrong
businesswoman on—and into his number one fan.
Then a
tabloid discovers the truth and turns their spanking good
fun into a late- night punchline. Is Amanda ready to let
loose and swing for the fences? Or will the pressure of
Chase’s stardom force them to call it quits?