Under the Table

Under the Table (Stephanie Evanovich)

I sort of won this book. 

I stopped by a local Indie bookstore on Independent Bookstore Day (April 27th, if you’re wondering).  All day they had been having raffles and other fun things, but I didn’t get there until about ½ hour before closing.  I bought a book (maybe two), and as I was checking out, the cashier pointed to a stack of books that they hadn’t yet given away.  She said, the day is almost over, take what you want. OMG, heaven!!! I picked about 5 books from the stack, and this happened to be one of them.

The Premise: Zoey is separated from her husband, biding her time until she can officially file for divorce.  She has moved to NYC to live with her sister. Zoey is a good cook, so she’s been catering small dinner parties to earn enough money to support herself.  Enter Tristan Malloy…the name says it all right? Handsome, rich and paying her under the table (get it, it’s the title of the book) to prepare dinner for a business meeting at his upscale apartment.

This is a sweet romance, that does take a couple side steps over to the risqué side (but nothing too crazy).  A nice light story with characters that you can’t help but like.

I have only one criticism.  Toward the end, there is a big conversation between Zoey and her sister Ruth.  Ruth shares her feelings about Zoey’s soon to be ex-husband, but her thoughts, feelings and recollections seem way out of left field and don’t mesh with previous conversations. I couldn’t decide if Evanovich was trying for an unreliable narrator moment (allowing Zoey to mislead us earlier with her incorrect assumptions and interpretation) or if Evanovich didn’t know how else to wrap up the story.  Whatever her intent, that part felt incongruent to the rest of the book.  It could just be me…read it and let me know what you think!

And, this rounds out the 5 Books I’m Definitely Going to Read This Summer list!  Whoo-hoo!!

Luckily there is still time left to sneak in a few more summer reads before I start working on my Fall TBR List!