THE TOTAL PACKAGE by Stephanie Evanovich

Publisher:    Avon

Published:   December 27, 2016
ISBN:        978-0062415110
Genre:       Contemporary Romance
Format:      Print
Obtained via:  Publisher  
Reviewed by name and email address:  Gina  Ginalrmreviews@gmail.com

 

Two-1/2 HEARTS

Known at one time as Ella Bella, after an intensive self-make over she has recreated herself as Dani Carrino.  And lucky Dani, she’s got her dream job as a sports caster on national television.  But her goal has more to it than to be the best sports caster out there – while in college, to earn a little extra money, she tutored other students. Among them was the school’s star quarterback, one Tyson Palmer. Along the way she fell in love with Ty, so much so that she would have done anything to get his attention.  In the end, while she didn’t get his attention, she got something much more precious.

 Ty quickly rose to be football’s golden boy.  He could out run, out pass, out throw anyone on the field.  And with each injury he sank deeper and deeper into addiction until he hit bottom, only he didn’t realize it.  One man did—Clinton Barrow decided it was time to pull Ty out of the hole he dug and get him back on track.  Step by arduous step Ty fought his way back to the world of the living and made amends for those he wronged as best he could.  But there was one wrong he had no idea he committed—one that Dani doesn’t know quite how to tell him.

I just don’t know what to make of Stephanie Evanovich.  In BIG GIRL PANTIES it felt like she decided to write a book but couldn’t decide what genre to write in so she basically threw it all in – at least for the most part. There were parts of that book that were spot on—other parts just left me cold.  The SWEET SPOT was a really good read. I couldn’t put it down until I got to the end of Chase and Amanda’s love story.  Admittedly, I skimmed the BDSM parts – it doesn’t appeal to me but the rest of the story was pretty good.  Since THE TOTAL PACKAGE is Evanovich’s third book I thought she would have hit her stride in it.

I was disappointed. Aside from the fact that I’m not a sports fan, have no use for football, it was the long drawn out early histories of both Ty and Dani that turned me off.  By time I got done with their individual early stories, I didn’t much care what happened to either one. It took too long for them to tangle, truly tangle as a couple. A drunken night in a hotel or dorm room just didn’t count as a couple coming together.

It was a nice touch that Logan and Holly from BIG GIRL PANTIES and Chase and Amanda from SWEET SPOT appeared in this story as a chance to catch up with them. 

I’m not sure if I’ll read another of Evanovich’s books.  After the high point of SWEET SPOT I felt let down with this one.

 

This is an objective review and not an endorsement of this book.