Rocky Road to Romance
(No Series)
Romantic Comedy
Her tall, dark, and deliciously dangerous boss . . .When the delightful, daffy Dog Lady of station WZZZ offered to take on the temporary job of traffic reporter, Steve Crow tried to think of reasons to turn Daisy Adams down. Perhaps he knew that sharing the close quarters of a car with her for hours would give the handsome program director no room to resist her quirky charms. He'd always favored low-slung sportscars and high-heeled women, but that was before he fell for a free spirit who caught crooks by accident, loved old people and pets, and had just too many jobs!
Loving Daisy turned Steve's life upside down, especially once he adopted Bob, a huge dog masquerading as a couch potato. But was Daisy finally ready to play for keeps?
Being a huge fan of the Stephanie Plum series, I thought giving Evanovichs' early, full-blown romance a try seemed to make sense. The typical style of Evanovich is easily recognizable with it's quirky cuteness, yet 'The Rocky Road to Romance' is a much lighter load than her later mystery fare. To the point and simple to read with adequately sized font, bulkyish paragraphs, and a mere 266 page length, it didn't take me long at all to zip through this one.
Her Plum books - the comparison is inevitable - just seemed to contain more weight per word. Here it's almost too light and fluffy, the characters nearly too wide-eyed and innocent. Despite these typical romance-book faults, the haphazardous journey Steve and Daisy traveled to get to joyous bliss was exciting in parts. There was a time I laughed outside my head - loudly - and there's just this quaint adorable vibe going down throughout the novel.
Characters were just fun, with the heroine being the more boring of the bunch. I just loved Steve's direct mind and blunt manner, the kid brother was hilarious, and Elsie...well, I can see where Grandma later came in with the Plum books (too cute). Oh, and of course, BOB, a dog you have to read about to appreciate to his - ahem, *her* - fullest.
Pacing won't be a problem for those who want a quick read, for from day one there's always something going down, whether it's a lucky criminal capture, freaky car incident, or amusing moment. Attraction felt plausible, but lust and sex was strayed away from. It's there, but no details, and I just didn't feel any strong build-up. There's not much mystery on who the assailant is with the side story, and I found myself sadly forgetting about that much of the time. It just didn't seem that urgent. Then again, in a light romance story you know everyone will be all right, so perhaps this is why.
Thankfully Evanovich's knack for writing deliciously enchanting dialogue holds true here, and even though she dished out a rather formulaic tale, it's still fun to sit through, especially for fans who are frustrated waiting for the next installment of her series. It's worth a look back at her earlier works, just don't hold your breath for something unforgettable.
