Product Description

He lives life in the fast lane and she's along for the ride-with no brakes....

Jamie Swift has one priority in quiet Beaumont, South Carolina: running the local newspaper. Romance runs second. But with the arrival of her silent partner, the notoriously mysterious and sexy Maximillian Holt, Jamie's life gets shaken up. Max claims he's here to give his brother-in-law a vote of confidence. A former wrestler, Frankie Fontana's now taking his shots in the political ring. Beaumont could use a mayor with scruples, but what it gets is a crime-and what Jamie gets is a story that's taking her for a ride on the wild side, complete with two assassins, a washed-up stripper, and an insane poacher. Between a spray of bullets and a fast getaway could it get any more romantic-or dangerous? Max and Jamie are betting their lives on a long shot.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #38194 in Books
• Published on: 2003-02-17
• Released on: 2003-02-04
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 352 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780312983284
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Amazon.com Review
Mysterious and sexy, Maximillian Holt moves into Jamie Swift's life like a steamroller. She's the owner of a small town newspaper and he’s a notorious, brilliant billionaire--what could they possibly have in common? Apparently quite a lot, for besides their mutual affection for Max's airhead sister Deedee and his investment in Jamie's struggling business, they share an explosive sexual chemistry. Unfortunately, Jamie's already engaged to be married. But when someone sprays her office with gunfire, only Max can save her. Now she'll have to rely on him to sort out the tangle of embezzlement, mayhem, and attempted murder that threatens her bucolic world of Beaumont, South Carolina. But if they unravel the mysteries and manage to stay alive, is there any hope for a shared future between a cosmopolitan guy committed to tracking down evil and a small-town girl who just wants a normal life?

Authors Janet Evanovich and Charlotte Hughes have paired up to create a fast-paced, wacky novel filled with eccentric characters and southern ambiance. In the time-honored tradition of such detective couples as Nick and Nora Charles (The Thin Man, After the Thin Man) the hero and heroine trade quips and parry sexual innuendos with panache while easily deciphering clues and adroitly coping with danger. Readers will thoroughly enjoy this Jamie Swift/Max Holt adventure, the first in a new series from this author duo. --Lois Faye Dyer

From Publishers Weekly
What do you get when you throw together a daredevil multimillionaire, a talking car, a flaky newspaper owner, a retired wrestler turned mayoral candidate, a crazy Vietnam vet and a town full of corrupt bureaucrats? A far-fetched mystery that reads like a carnival ride spun out of control. While some readers may enjoy the ride, others will simply want to plant their feet on the ground. Playboy Max Holt, the bomb-setting boy genius from Evanovich's Full House, returns to Beaumont, S.C., to check up on his investment in the local paper, run by workaholic Jamie Swift, and to help his brother-in-law, mayoral candidate Frankie Fontana, locate the town's missing tax dollars. But when he and Jamie are shot at, it becomes clear that someone doesn't want him poking into Beaumont's financial affairs. The shooting doesn't deter Max, and neither do his subsequent encounters with dynamite, an alligator and a trigger-happy war veteran. Jamie, however, is sufficiently distraught for both of them, and her hysterics will make fans of Evanovich's more capable heroine, Stephanie Plum, cringe. Though the story is stuffed with marginally developed, oddball characters, their off-the-wall antics aren't enough to keep the suspense rising and the reader engaged.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
Raves for HARD EIGHT"Evanovich does it again, delivering an even more suspenseful and more outrageous trun with the unstoppable Stephanie." - Publishers Weekly"The things Evanovich does so well - family angst, sweet eroticism, stealth shopping, that stunning mix of terror and hilarity - are doe better than ever here." - Booklist -- Review

Customer Reviews

Never Again....
will I buy an Evanovich and Hughes collaboration. I love the Stephanie Plum series by Evanovich, but I struggled thru the earlier book, Full House. And I couldn't even make it thru this one. It is AWFUL! I love to read. I read the cereal boxes at breakfast, but I couldn't make myself finish this book. The characters are very one dimensional. The writing is inconsistent (sometimes Max is the cousin and other times, he's the brother-in-law). Where was the editor? Please don't waste your time and/or money.

Adventuresome!
No, this series is not like Stephanie Plum. This is not for Mystery fans, but more Romance fans. The Characters are well developed, but a bit far fetched, and the plots are a bit unbelievable. Even after all this I don't think it is a bad read. The story moves very quickly and is a page turner, it is not like you are getting bored throughout the book. I still am a fan and we will see as the series grows it may get better, there is a lot of room for that.

Max and Dee Dee are back from Full House, twenty years later. Dee Dee's Husband, Frankie, is running for mayor and is looking for missing tax dollars. His brother-in-law, Max Holt, comes to town to help him out. Max is helping out one of his sister's friends, Jamie Swift, by investing in her news paper. There is an instant connection there!

This was a fun, quick read, and full of adventure!

maybe I missed something??...maybe not.
As an avid reader of Janet Evanovich's stephanie plum series I was ecstatic when I saw that she has now decided to resurrect some old romance novels and revamp then in her now famous style.
When I read the first book in this series (Full House), I thought wow - cool - now I don't have to wait til June for the next stephanie plum. But then, unfortunately, I picked up full tilt. What a let down.

Clearly my opinion is not shared by everyone - in fact one of the reviewers that I usually respect - harriett klausner clearly really enjoyed the book. However, I think if you are a fan of romantic suspense and janet evanovich as well, you will be left unfulfilled by her latest novel. Unlike Full House, in which billie and nick drew you in as characters, I found Max to be generally uninteresting and unlikable - which seems like it would be hard to do with a character who is a genius, rich, and comes from a zany yet troubled past.

In addition to a boring (sorry but he is) male character, there is the relatively forgettable female lead, the head of a truly uninspired newspaper (a potentially interesting subplot which was really never explored). There is also Vera, an obnoxious semi-mother figure who really made me yearn for Grandma Mazur, and God help us all, a talking computerized Car - named Muffin. Please make it stop. To all the authors out there (Catherine Coulter this means you too) please stop with the artificial intelligence in anything from a car to a calculator - it is manufactured, unconvincing, and overall - not funny!

I really felt like full tilt had major potential, including characters and locations that could have been creatively utilized, but the story just did not gel - nothing came together. In fact, I practically had to force myself to slog through this sucker. My recommendation - read full house instead and put your seven fifty in a fund towards To the Nines, coming out in June - at least that is what I wish I had done.