This book is number 3 in the Lizzy and Diesel series by Janet Evanovich. I recommend reading them in order so go ahead and grab a copy of Wicked Appetite and Wicked Business, settle in, and prepare to laugh out loud!
Okay, so I'm a huge fan of Janet Evanovich so this review might be a bit biased. Anytime I want to read something light and funny, she is my go to author. Since this one is the third in the series I'll try to provide a bit of background information, but seriously...you need to read them yourself. And when you've read these, do yourself a favor and read the Stephanie Plum Series, and hell ALL of her books!
For lack of a better term, I'm going to call this the Wicked series because I really don't feel like typing out the Lizzy and Diesel series every time. With that being said, in the Wicked series, Lizzy is a baker in the Salem/Marblehead area of Massachusetts. (Long side note...I looked into visiting Salem, MA and all of its tourist glory so it was interesting to read about some of the places in this book and know I had looked at visiting them. One day...I WILL make it to Salem! Hopefully sooner rather than later. End site note.) She lives in a historic home and works at Dazzle's Bakery making all kinds of yummy goodness that is just a little bit special because Lizzy herself is special. She's got a little magic up her sleeve that somehow ends up in her food making it that much better. Lizzy is also one of two people on the entire planet who can detect these enchanted stones known as the SALIGIA stones. They each hold the power of a seven deadly sin. By themselves and in the wrong hands they can create a bit of crazy, but together, they would wreck havoc upon the earth. Lizzy, at one time, thought she was just an excellent baker until a yummy, sandy blonde hair, surfer looking dude who stands at around 6 feet tall with abs of steel showed up. He works for an organization that is tasked with keeping folks with special abilities under control. He's also been tasked to work with Lizzy to find these stones and keep them out of the hands of anyone who would abuse their power. Diesel has a way with picking locks by just holding his hands over the and is just all around good at getting the job done. There's also crazy, wicked sexual chemistry between him and Lizzy...the downside though is that if two people with special abilities do the horizontal polka, one of them would lose their abilities. Considering they've only found three stones, it would be bad bad bad if Lizzy lost her abilities.
Remember I said Lizzy was one of two who can detect these stones? So the other kid who can detect them goes by the name of Hatchet and considers himself to be stuck in the Renaissance era. He works for Diesel's cousin, Wulf, who is all around just creepy. He's hot, but pasty white with long black hair...Lizzy likens him to a Hollywood vampire. Wulf has a crap ton of money and can do this poofing in and out thing kind of like teleportation. He also wants the stones so anytime you see Lizzy and Diesel working together, you can be sure Wulf and Hatchet are going to make an appearance.
In Wicked Charms, Diesel and Lizzy are searching for the stone of Avarice. There's a billionaire in the area named Martin Ammon who believes himself to be the embodiment of Mammon, one of the seven princes of hell and the Demon of Greed...hello weirdo. He needs to obtain the stone of Avarice in order to undergo a ritual that will release Mammon upon the earth. Ugh...people and money! In order to find the stone though, they first must find a coin that has been split up into 8 pieces...ugh...pirates and their pieces of eight! Once the coin pieces have been found, it can be used to decipher the code on a treasure map in order to find the Blue Diamond which will then be used as a guide that actually turns blue when it gets near the Avarice stone. But, it will only 'work' when in the hands of someone with Lizzy's abilities. Through a tale of interweaving pirate tales, Lizzy and Diesel are able to find the pieces of the coin, find the blue diamond, and find the stone. Of course, things never go that smoothly, especially when you've got a billionaire freak on the loose who thinks he's a fucking demon of Greed. Hijinks about for these guys. Glo, the counter girl at Dazzle's Bakery, botches a spell to make Ammon forget they stole his treasure map and ends up making him think he's a fucking dog. Hatchet and Wulf keep showing up throwing a monkey wrench into the plan. Speaking of monkeys, Diesel has one named Carl who says EEP a lot, flips the bird, and moons people. You meet Carl in one of the Stephanie Plum books! There's a crazy history professor that wants to find the stone for himself but he ends up falling off a ledge and breaking his neck. A private investigator hired by Ammon to find the coin ends up shooting himself and then falling thereby causing him to break his neck. There's a coroner who can see the last thing his 'patients' thought. Oh and Ammon wants Lizzy to write a cookbook and gets her to sign a contract so he basically owns everything she's ever thought of cooking. DO YOU SEE HOW THIS COULD BE HILARIOUS?
Seriously, this book is nothing by shenanigans that had me laughing out loud a couple of times to the point I couldn't keep reading until I calmed down. This shit would seriously only happen to Lizzy! It's such a light hearted book that things are settled within a couple of pages when Ammon tries to complete the ritual to become Mammon. The ritual requires a sacrifice but he doesn't want to kill Lizzy himself because he's going to be busy receiving the power of Mammon so he wants his assistant, Rutherford, to do it. Well shit, Ammon. Never give a gun to a man who has no clue what to do with it. Rutherford ends up accidentally shooting Ammon in the chest thereby killing him and all is well with Lizzy when Diesel comes swooping in. Only to Lizzy would this shit happen, I tell you!
I laughed so many times during this book and I just absolutely love the relationship between Lizzy and Diesel. He doesn't always stick around and he typically just shows up out of no where, but they have some weird sort of relationship like they both know they belong to one another. I absolutely love this series, sometimes I think more than the Stephanie Plum series. I cannot wait for the next one to come out which I'm sure will be a while from now. Until then, I'll have to catch up on the Plum series. I cannot say enough good things about the Wicked series. Well done, Evanovich and Sutton, well done!
My final words,
READ THE LIZZY AND DIESEL SERIES! NOW, DAMN IT!
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