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Agnes and the Hitman by Jennifer Crusie, Bob Mayer
Book Summary InformationAuthor: Bob Mayer, Jennifer Crusie Edition: Hardcover Published: 2007-08-21 ISBN: 0312363044 Number of pages: 384 Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Book Reviews of Agnes and the HitmanBook Review: Fabulous! Summary: 5 StarsI wasn't sure what to expect when I bought this. I love everything that Jennifer Crusie has ever written, no matter how long ago it was but I didn't enjoy Don't Look Down very much. A little too much action, underdeveloped secondary characters and a plot that just didn't feel right. Plus a couple that didn't really inspire me to root for them. The writing was good and I certainly enjoyed portions of it as it's still lightyears ahead of some of the things I've read in the past.
But about a page into Agnes and I was sold. This is a heroine that I thoroughly enjoyed. She's not perfect, she's not sweet and special and considerate. This is a woman who has a temper and loses it on occasion. She's got some rage and the portions where it comes out...that's just god damn funny to read. Agnes does the things we only dream about. For example, if you came in and found your boyfriend having sex on your table, you'd certainly want to hit him with a frying pain or threaten him with a meat fork, right?
The hero was a little harder to pin down much but it's refreshing to read about a hero that's written by a guy. I'm not saying women authors don't generally hit the nail on the head with their guys, but sometimes there are just things even we can't explain and that's when it's nice to have a guy involved. Shane was definitely a little mysterious but it was a pleasure to watch him to try to keep up with Agnes all week. By the book's end, he knew her better than anyone else and it's mostly because he paid attention. Something we can dream about right?
The romance might have felt like it was all about sex to other readers, but I liked when Shane grabbed Agnes' To Do List so he could help her with it and that he was pretty laid back about her violent tendencies (well, he is a hitman). There were no huge moments, no misunderstandings. With Shane and Agnes, it was all in the details and they were some great details.
The secondary characters were there this time around. Lisa Livia, who is [...]fabulous. I don't know if I could handle her as the lead in any book, but she was an outstanding supporting character as were Carpenter, Maria, Garth, Doyle and Joey.
Brenda Fortunato has to be, hands down, the most enjoyable bad guy I've read in a romance novel. I've liked the villains before. I've indentified with them, sympathized and loved to hate them. (Sometimes, I've just hated them), but I don't think I've laughed as hard as I have with Brenda. She was a tour de force and just fabulous. I enjoyed every single moment she was on the page. I don't think this book would have been as marvelous without her.
I liked that the plot didn't feel like it was wrapped up tightly. At first, there felt like there were a lot of coincidences and catastrophes happening the same week, but when they finally realize that not only are they all connected but they lead back to the same person, I never felt like it was the convienent ending. I could only think Of course! It makes sense now! It felt right and that's always an accomplishment when you have a complicated plot with many little threads that wraps up tightly, but not too neatly.
A fabulous effort by my favorite author and I look forward to their next project.
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Summary of Agnes and the HitmanTake one food writer named Cranky Agnes, add a hitman named Shane, mix them together with a Southern mob wedding, a missing necklace, two annoyed flamingos, and a dog named Rhett and you’ve got a recipe for a sexy, hilarious novel about the disastrous side of true love… Agnes Crandall’s life goes awry when a dognapper invades her kitchen one night, seriously hampering her attempts to put on a wedding that she’s staked her entire net worth on. Then a hero climbs through her bedroom window. His name is Shane, no last name, just Shane, and he has his own problems: he’s got a big hit scheduled, a rival trying to take him out, and an ex-mobster uncle asking him to protect some little kid named Agnes. When he finds out that Agnes isn’t so little, his uncle has forgotten to mention a missing five million bucks he might have lost in Agnes’s house, and his last hit was a miss, Shane’s life isn’t looking so good, either. Then a bunch of lowlifes come looking for the money, a string of hit men show up for Agnes, and some wedding guests gather with intent to throw more than rice. Agnes and Shane have their hands full with greed, florists, treachery, flamingos, mayhem, mothers of the bride, and—most dangerous of all—each other. Agnes and the Hitman is the perfect combination of sugar and spice, sweet and salty—a novel of delicious proportions.
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