Dear Reader:
There's a whole lot of trouble going on in Beaumont, South Carolina. According to resident psychic-slash-astrologer, Destiny Moultrie, Mercury's in retrograde; Venus is in the seventh house, and the combination has turned Cupid wacko! Chaos rules as tempers flare and lust runs rampant. Newlyweds Max Holt and Jamie Swift-Holt are trying to make a baby, but their recently purchased antebellum mansion is under renovation and filled with feuding contractors. Vera has a crush on her new mailman, and is bent on looking ten years younger. Destiny is marked for marriage by the changing planets, and she's running for her life as the local redneck and bait shop owner is determined to make her his. Meanwhile, local pediatrician Maggie Davenport has considerably bigger problems now that her wild-girl past has caught up in the form of ex-boyfriend and jailbird who just flew the coop—and is determined to track her and her daughter down. If he doesn't expose her secrets, there's a good chance Jamie's editor, intent on getting the Full Scoop, will. Fortunately, FBI agent Zack Madden is on hand for protection; but the new danger is the wild attraction he and Maggie share. Fleas the hound dog is experiencing his first crush on Maggie's adorable and alluring…um…pygmy goat? Add to that an Elvis convention and a local root doctor and hoodoo practitioner who decides it's time she take charge; only to have one of her spells backfire, and you've got a gut-busting, laugh-out-loud story we hope you won't forget!
It's just another wild ride in the town we love to write about, and the character's we can't get enough of. So kick off your shoes, sit back, and enjoy a FULL SCOOP of fun, adventure, and romance.
Janet and Charlotte
Having quite enjoyed Full Bloom I was a bit apprehensive about reading this book, mainly because my enjoyment of this series has varied from pretty good to pretty bad (particularly in the early books in the series) with a few stops in between. I have to admit that it during the first part of this book I thought that I had another not so good one on my hands, but in the end it turned out to be pretty good.
The back cover blurb pretty much covers the book so I am not going to say much more. It is a pretty much standard romance storyline - heroine is in danger, FBI hero moves in to protect her and they fall in love.
I am not sure why but the first half of the book felt a lot less enjoyable to me. Maybe it was just because you kind of expect that there would be less establishment of characters required in a series book, but the truth is that we had never even known that Maggie existed as far as I can recall from the earlier books in the series. It is understandable that we never knew Zack before he is an outsider.
Quite a few of the characters from the previous books are back - Jamie and Max, Vera and Destiny amongst them. Although it has to be said that Max in particular has nothing more than a cameo role, and there was barely even a mention (if any now I think of it) of Maggie and Wes from the previous book in the series. It would appear however from the resolution to this novel, that Zack in particular will make appearances in future books of the series.
Since moving the focus away from solely being on Jamie and Max, and instead allowing other people from the town of Beaufort to step up to the plate, the series has definitely become stronger and more entertaining. I'm not sure that I'm willing to reconsider buying any future books in the series...yet, but I don't think I am that far off.
Overall...a mostly positive experience this time around, but not enough to make me completely convinced that the next one will be a winner as well!
Rating 4/5
