"Wicked Appetite" by Janet Evanovich

Four Stars

There are seven ancient stones, each one representing one of the Seven Deadly Sins. No one knows when they were created or by who. But it is known that they hold great power. Treasure hunters have sought them for centuries, and now it is rumored that all seven stones have found their way to Salem, MA.

Elizabeth "Lizzy" Tucker has settled nicely into her new life in Salem. She has a new old house (recently inherited from her Aunt Ophelia) and a fantastic new job as the pastry chef at the local bakery, her specialty being cupcakes.Yep, everything is great, until a guy named Diesel, a one-eyed ninja cat, and an offensive monkey all move in to her house.

The monkey and the cat are okay, but Lizzy has no idea what to think of Diesel. He says he's there to protect her from his cousin, Gerwulf Grimoire, a seriously scary guy with the power to burn skin with his touch, who is searching for the stones and needs Lizzy to find them. Now Lizzy doesn't know what to fear more, the strange effect the stones have over her or the exciting effect of Diesel.

I read this book because I love Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series, and I loved it! I keep wanting to use the words "cute" and "fun" to describe this book and, when it comes down to it, that's what it is. It's surprisingly PG-13, with a lot of "What the heck?" and "Geeze Louise"'s going on. I am not opposed to sex in books, but it was kind of cool to read one with some sexual tension but nothing more.

The actual plot moves a little slow but it's so quirky and unexpected that you don't mind. There's a good guy and a bad guy but they don't fit the typical molds or act exactly as you would expect them to. Everything about this book is just a little casual and a lot of fun.

This book only deals with one of the stones and sets itself up to be a very entertaining series that I look forward to following.

Highly recommended as a great summer read.