What
a hoot! Rabbits, and lost keys, and accidents, oh my! This book kept me
turning pages just to see what mess Richard and Ellen would get into
next.
Ellen is certain she’s a jinx, because from the moment
she met Richard and he sliced his hand open in her bedroom, nothing has
gone well. Even their first kiss ended in an accident! Enter Hoss the
rabbit – because if one rabbit’s foot is good luck, then four must be
truly excellent!
But still the mishaps continue. Big or
little, poor Richard and Ellen can’t catch a break, and despite their
desperate attraction for one another, Ellen is certain she’ll kill him
if she sticks around... so she decides: No. More. Dates.
The
author’s skillful writing and slightly warped sense of humor make this
a thoroughly delightful read. The fun never stops, and the sexual
tension is high from the first few pages until the very end of the
book. Every single scene is handled believably, and I had a smile on my
face throughout.
Jennifer Johnson is a romantic comedy author
to watch. Even better, a little bird told me she has another novel
forthcoming... I’ll be first in line to snatch it up. If you’re a fan
of fun, I highly recommend you grab this book and plop it on your
keeper shelf.
The Black WRDF button means "Fanstastic: Stays on the Shelf"
Title: The Jinx
Author: Jennifer Johnson
Genre: Contemporary Champagne Rose
Page Length: 208 pages Spicy
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
ISBN 1-60154-291-7
Rick Braswell is a man who knows what he wants.
He is happy with his success, content running
his business,
one handed down from father to son, and even with his so-so
love
life. That is the only area that is not
in full bloom, but his
current girlfriend is on the marriage track, and far too
clingy for
Rick’s taste. He would not
mind being married, but it is not a
necessity or a high priority, and as Maggie
pushes, he is
moving farther and farther away.
There is not too much in life
that he is not prepared for, that is until
he meets Ellen Anderson.
From the first
meeting, she has been nothing but trouble, and
yet he can’t seem to get her out
of his mind. Being bored out
of his
mind, he went to her house to get a ring from a drain, and
things seemed to
cascade from there. For Rick, it was a
lark,
a way to get back into the working side of the business instead
of just
seeing it from behind his desk. He
didn’t make up a bill
for her because he did it just for the enjoyment. The work was
what he loved, and the act of
getting his hands on the working
end of a wrench was not usually dangerous, but
the little
mishaps seemed to follow him around.
He was not usually
accident prone, maybe it was the woman. Now it seems more
than just coincidence,
because every time Ellen shows up,
something bad happens…
Ellen Anderson was out of her mind with worry about her
grandmother’s ring, and so when the plumber from Braswell
Plumbing showed up,
she was quite relieved. Of course when
he turned out to be somewhat more than cranky, Ellen didn’t
quite know what to
do, and even stranger was the fact he
retrieved the ring, but left no
bill. When she repeatedly
tried to pay
him, and he kept returning the money, Ellen
resorts to sneaky ways to make
certain she is not under any
obligation to him.
From sneaking money into his secretary’s
cashbox, to stealing the key
and trying to hide the money in
his desk, she is increasingly inventive in her
quest. But there
is also something else
happening. What was merely fleeting
attraction to a good looking man is becoming a whole lot more.
She would like to blame it on ideas her
mother keeps trying to
put in her head, but if Ellen wants to be honest, Rick
Braswell
is looking really, really, good in her life. She can picture him
filling her life in more ways than one, for Ellen is seeing him as
a friend, a lover,
and possibly, heaven forbid, husband material.
Jennifer Johnson’s book, The Jinx, is a hilarious
read.
Following the “courtship” of Ellen
and Rick is a study in mishaps
at a graduate level. Looking at the story, you find two people
drawn together almost against their will, yet when all is said
and done,
underneath there is a true love and attraction which
is unmistakable. These two were definitely meant for each
other, and till they do finally get together, all around them is
chaos, and
great entertainment for the reader. What
starts
out as an innocent attempt by Rick to do some hands on
plumbing, the
kind he misses being stuck behind the desk,
turns into a series of mishaps and
a contest of wills, ingenuity,
and finally a path to love. The humor is subtle at some places,
can cause
snickers and guffaws here and there, and then
morph into downright laugh out
loud at others. This racy and
most
delightful take on love and relationships is found at The
Wild Rose Press, and
I really suggest you take yourself to
their bookstore and get a copy of The
Jinx by Jennifer Johnson today.
Review by Rose
WRDF Review