Book Review : “Wicked Appetite” (Lizzie & Diesel #1) by Janet Evanovich

“Wicked Appetite” (Lizzie & Diesel #1) by Janet Evanovich (2010)

Genre: Fantasy, Humor, Romance, Fiction

Page Length: 313 pages (hardcover edition)

Synopsis:

Wicked Appetite by Janet Evanovich is the first in the Wicked series. The novel is set in Salem, Massachusetts. Our main protagonist is Lizzie, a baker, who has moved to Salem after inheriting her dead aunt’s house. Lizzie soon meets a mystery man named, Diesel (You may recognize the character Diesel from Evanovich’s previous Stephanie Plum series’ various novellas, if you’ve read them before) Diesel appears in front of Lizzie, after his cousin, Wulf, shows up at the bakery trying to interrogate and kidnap her. Diesel needs Lizzie’s help to retrieve the Stone of Power and wants find it before his evil cousin Wulf gets to it first.

Diesel tells Lizzie she has magical powers like him. It turns out they are both Unmentionables, both with different types of special powers. Lizzie proceeds to help Diesel retrieve the stone all the while dealing with crazy hi-jinks like: a monkey named Carl, a one-eyed cat, a friend who can’t properly use a spell book, and more!

Review:

This is a fun, light read from Evanovich. The story is funny, and fast paced (in a good way). Lizzie is a likable character who is quirky and lively making the story an enjoyable read. Diesel is that handsome hunk who helps save the day. Evanovich mixes magic and real life into one and it’s cool to see how Lizzie tries to deal with regular day things like paying the bills and trying to get her cookbook published on top of dealing with the new-found fact that she has magical powers.

Pretty much all the characters are likable and sometimes the story is a little bit predictable, but it works. The monkey, Carl, always manages to steal the show in some kind of hilarious way (read the book and you’ll see what I mean). Also the characters somewhat mirror the characters in the Stephanie Plum series a little bit, but I don’t mind that either.

Final Verdict:

If you like Evanovich’s novels, read this book. If you never read Evanovich’s books, this is a good start. It’s a good mix of fantasy and comedy, with some romance thrown in.