Love in a Nutshell by Janet Evanovich and Dorien Kelly

          This was a quick fun read – actually a listen as it was an audio book.  It was totally predictable, which was not a bad thing here. This book did not have any delusions of grandeur.  It was just a simple love story.

          Kate is Evanovich’s typical heroine - little ditzy, but determined and charming.  Matt is a good hero.  He is handsome, of course, a talented brewer of beers, a very successful businessman and all round nice guy. 

          Kate has decided, after her divorce, to turn her parent’s vacation home, called the Nutshell, into a bread and breakfast. The place needs extensive renovation, the removal of thousands of bees, cleansing of mold and serious refurnishing. Kate’s resources are limited and she is racing against time to get the B&B up and running before the place goes into foreclosure.

          The story starts with Kate arriving at Matt’s microbrewery, The Depot, to demand a job.  She believes she was unjustly fired from her last position due to a batch of skunky Depot beer, and Matt owes her a job. Matt is not really planning on doing any hiring, but is intrigued.  He has been having a run of bad luck lately that he is beginning to suspect might not be accidental. Kate agrees to do some snooping for him, and the bonus he promises her for finding the culprit will bring the mortgage on the Nutshell current and pay some of the renovation bills.

          It quickly becomes clear that the bad luck really is sabotage as the perpetrators become increasingly violent and dangerous. Matt wants Kate out of the Depot, and harm’s way, but she is determined to earn the bonus she needs by finding out who is responsible.

          Figuring out who-done-it is as easy as thinking about who has the most to gain by running Matt out of business. How the damage is being accomplished is a bit trickier to determine. And, Kate does finally figure it out, mostly because she runs into the guy in the midst of starting a fire. But her mission is accomplished.  Her bonus is earned and as if that is not enough, she also gets the handsome brew master!

          I listened to this one on audio, so it took several days to get through the whole thing.  This probably would have been a one day read in book form. But it was fun. And, my favorite character is Stella.  If you want to know why, you’ll just need to read the book.