Title :: Full Tilt
Author :: Janet Evanovich & Charlotte Hughes
Publisher :: St. Martin's Press
Rating :: (out of 5)
Recommendation :: Fast paced, sexy, witty and totally unbelievable action in just one book. Good for anyone who is looking for a totally engaging read

:: Full Review
The name of the author preceded the book, in my case. I've heard of Janet Evanovich somewhere. Being an ardent fan of a good book any time, anywhere, I take heed to new names and good authors. But frankly speaking, after having my kids, reading turned into a wish, or a dream. I picked this book up by chance. Cause it was on discount. I wouldn't have picked anything like it some years back because I wasn't really looking for sex scenes, men chasing and a shallow read. But Full Tilt changed my mind.

I have to hand it over to Evanovich and Hughes for churning out larger than life stories - the kind of life you know you wish you could have. Wild car chases, bullet dodging, handsome, young, rich men like Max Holt trying to get into your skirt....etc. The stuff. This, being my first Evanovich book, I must say that I am impressed. Filled with wise cracks and heart stopping moments every page. I have not read cover to cover for a long time now and this is one of those books deserving of that! Nothing less.

I have not laughed out loud while reading for the longest time. I believe the last time I laughed reading was when I was reading an Archie book when I was still in high school. And that feels like centuries ago.

Maximilian Holt, as they will tell you, is the kind of man that doesn't exist in real life. I mean, let's face it. Where can we find a man who is a genius (and IQ that is off the charts), gazzilionaire, handsome as hell, and has a personal assistant named Muffin in the form of his Maxmobile. This reminds me of Knight Rider, the bad-guy-busting-car-TV series - for the younger generation, that is also another car that talks and have a mind of its own. Max is attractive, intelligent, swift, handsome, rich and have no fault whatsoever - except for his ego the size of Mexico. But I don't really call that a fault because the way I see it, his ego brought me the most laughs in the book.

The character is almost totally unbelievable, unreal - it's not possible to find a man like him in real life. Maybe that's what some of us secretly want, and maybe that's also why Evanovich/Hughes books have a mind of their own - flying off shelves like that!

I was expecting Plum to be main character of the book, so, yes, I didn't read the back of the book before making for the checkout counter. I didn't have the time since my younger son was making a quick getaway with another dinosaur book. I had to make the purchase soon and bust the young kid with the dino book, you see. But in this book, the leading lady is Jamie Swift.

She does OK, just a might tight, that's all. She sort of belongs to the same category as....well, the rest of the world. The struggling business owner with skeletons in the closet, who is looking for security and assurance that life's going to turn out OK in the end.

And that's why the combination of Max and Jamie seems so perfect. Although they secretly hold a candle for each other, they still don't voice out their inner feelings in the book. I am already reading the follow-up book Full Speed now and looking forward to a sex scene cause there was none to be found in Full Tilt. As soon as they started to get emotional on each other, either Max's ego gets in the way or Jamie's need for security gets in between.

But that's the secret of writing a page-turning book and frankly speaking, I think Evanovich and Hughes got it right.

:: Full Tilt - Janet Evanovich & Charlotte Hughes