Audiobook Review | Back to the Bedroom

    After listening to this book, Hallmark is and should be SHAKING!
    Janet Evanovich is coming for your BRAND Hallmark!
    Well, she came for your brand twenty-nine years ago but still, you should be SHAKING!
    In case you're not familiar with Back to the Bedroom here's the premise:

From the #1 "New York Times" bestselling creator of the Stephanie Plum series comes a revised, repackaged classic novel involving a driven redheaded musician, a sexy slacker, love at first sight, a lovable gun-toting granny, suspicious neighbors, and a thrilling mystery.
For months he'd thought of her as the Mystery Woman, draped in a black velvet cloak, with outrageous red curls, flawless skin, and carrying a large, odd case--but the night David Dodd saw a helicopter drop a chunk of metal through the roof of his lovely neighbor's bedroom, he got to meet the formidable and delightful Katherine Finn at last! Rescuing damsels and fixing roofs was dangerous work, he told her, and at the very least he deserved a kiss--didn't he? Kate couldn't argue with Dave's logic, but how could she, the driven concert musician with more commitments than hours in the day, be falling head over heels for a likable cuddler who seemed to be drifting through life? No one had ever made her feel as cherished or desirable, and she'd never had so much fun, but even though her eccentric boarder, Elsie, assured her that where Kate was concerned Dave had plenty of ambition, could she really love a guy who was just smart, sexy and rich?

SPOILERS?

         I love a good romance. However, I think I might have been spoiled by other works for this book. I will be upfront and say that I have read better romances than Back to the Bedroom. In my video, I consistently said that I felt like I'd been dropped into an Alternate Universe Fanfiction of a Frandom that I've never heard of before. Except in most fanfictions, my suspense for disbelief is usually upheld. In this case I just...
         It was so cheesy!
         Which is usually a good and wanted attribute of romances or meet-cute fanfics, however with this... I just... I've read better. I've seen better on Lifetime and even Hallmark. I think that this wasn't Evanovich's best work and I'm semi-sad that I was introduced to her this way. That being said, I still want to read more of her work to see where this one falls. In the Goodreads comment section, many were saying that this wasn't her best work either so I'm hoping that means the rest of her work is even better.
          All of that isn't to say I didn't like the book. It was cute for what it was. Yet, it felt like I was reading a checklist of late 80's romance tropes instead of the story of Kate and Dave. Maybe this is just my preference for reading but I like to be delved into the world of which the book takes me to and I feel like we only skimmed the surface of the surface for Back to the Bedroom.

I should really bring up my love for Golden Girls more often

           Again, I've come to realize this is the first book of the Elsie Hawkins novels, so maybe the world behind Back to the Bedroom is more explored and I'm just sounding off like an idiot over here.  But... That's kinda my #brand so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.
        Also if you've listened to or read this book didn't Elsie give you Sophia Petrillo vibes? I really did like her and I felt like she was allowed to be more of a character than that of Kate and Dave! 
       This could have been an epic romance if it had been allowed to be. Though I don't think that was the point. This was a supposed to be light entertainment, and it very well succeded at that. I do wish that we knew more about Kate and Dave, they just seemed so boring outside what little we knew. Kate is nothing but her work. Literally nothing. Which is interesting but it doesn't go anywhere because of how short the book is and also the plot. Dave's rather allusive and somewhat boring due to again the big reveal around the plot.
            Maybe I really have been ruined by fanfiction as far as romances go. I've read such epics that get to the very nuances of these certain characters that it feels like they're real. That I'm reading the diary of people who existed and loved in this world.
           But hey! That's my cup of tea and Back to the Bedroom might be just the right type of spicy you're looking for!
           In conclusion for those of you that didn't view my video and missed out on the main point I'm trying to say in this review:

        This was C̶̨͟U̵͜T̸̛͠Ę̀͝͡!̶̴́͢!̷̧!̀͜!̢͘͞͏͘!̴̸́͢!̨̨͠

Overview

Back to the Bedroom by Janet Evanovich
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

So a friend of my mom's gave this to us to read while we traveled across the country to entertain ourselves. It was entertaining and cute, like a Hallmark movie, which I absolutely adore for their contrived and awkward plots. If you're into quick, light on plot, romance novels, Back to the Bedroom is definitely for you.
I feel bad for giving it only a 2-star rating but there was no It-was-cute-for-what-it-was rating which would land somewhere between the 2-star and 3-star ratings. I've just read better books that have more of a complicated plot outside of the romance that tickled my fancy. It was very cute for what it was and kept my mom and I entertained going across middle-America.

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❤CJ❤