carolesrandomlife

This review can also be found at Carole's Random Life.

I really enjoy Jennifer Crusie's writing so when I saw that I had the chance to review this story, I didn't even think twice about it. Of course, I would love it. I always love Jennifer Crusie's work. But then a strange thing happened while I was reading it, I found that I didn't really care for it. It actually made my head hurt a little to read it. I even stopped to check that I was really reading a Jennifer Crusie story a couple of times while I was reading this story just to be sure. I have to admit that this story was kind of meh for me.

I expected this to be a romantic story but I didn't find a lot of romance in this one at all. It is Christmas Eve and Trudy is determined to find this year's hot toy for her nephew. When she finds the shelf where the toy should be bare, she doesn't give up like most people would do. She proceeds to tear the store apart looking for a misplaced toy all while being shadowed by Nolan, a man she dated a few times until he stopped calling. One thing leads to another and Trudy finds herself on a wacky adventure with Nolan and Reese but will she be able to find the toy she is looking for?

This story was a bit too wacky for my tastes. I don't usually mind it when a story is far fetched but this one was just over the top silly in a way that wasn't very entertaining. Much of the story was simply chaotic with Trudy talking to people in the store while she talks on the phone with her sister. I don't know how she kept anything straight because I sure couldn't. Trudy drove me a little nuts. She waits until Christmas Eve to buy the year's big toy and then proceeds to tear the store apart looking for one when she doesn't quickly find it. I didn't find it funny at all and I kind of wanted to smack her while she was doing it. The whole spy thing was just over the top crazy.

This is not a new story. It was previously released as part of the anthology, Santa Baby. I honestly cannot recommend this one. I didn't find it romantic or funny. I still plan to continue reading Jennifer Crusie's work since I usually really enjoy her brand of romantic comedy. This one was a miss for me.

I received an advance reader edition of this book from St. Martin's Press via NetGalley for the purpose of providing an honest review.

Initial Thoughts
Meh. I think that this was supposed to be a silly and fun story but it just felt chaotic and weird to me. I didn't think it was really funny or romantic.