ARC Review: Curious Minds by Janet Evanovich and Phoef Sutton

Curious Minds
Author: Janet Evanovich and Phoef Sutton
Series: Knight and Moon
Publication: Bantam (August 16, 2016)

Description: Emerson Knight is introverted, eccentric, and has little to no sense of social etiquette. Good thing he’s also brilliant, rich, and (some people might say) handsome, or he’d probably be homeless. Riley Moon has just graduated from Harvard Business and Harvard Law. Her aggressive Texas spitfire attitude has helped her land her dream job as a junior analyst with mega-bank Blane-Grunwald. At least Riley Moon thought it was her dream job, until she is given her first assignment: babysitting Emerson Knight.

What starts off as an inquiry about missing bank funds in the Knight account leads to inquiries about a missing man, missing gold, and a life-and-death race across the country. Through the streets of Washington, D.C., and down into the underground vault of the Federal Reserve in New York City, an evil plan is exposed. A plan so sinister that only a megalomaniac could think it up, and only the unlikely duo of the irrepressibly charming Emerson Knight and the tenacious Riley Moon can stop it.

My Thoughts: This new series by Evanovich and Sutton is funny, has sparkling dialogue, and makes Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series read like realistic fiction.

Emerson Knight is a very eccentric billionaire who decides that he wants to see his gold. Riley Moon, who is a new employee of the bank that holds the gold, is assigned to Knight to try to convince him that his gold is safe and that he doesn't really need to see it. Riley is a small-town Texas girl who graduated from Harvard, Harvard Business School, and Harvard Law School. She isn't thrown by much but Emerson's unique view on the world comes close.

Emerson's simple desire manages to uncover a deep-seated conspiracy and has Riley and Emerson travels from an underground vault under the Federal Reserve in New York City to Area 51 in Nevada being chased by bad guys all the way.

This was a fun romp. I enjoyed both Riley and Emerson and really liked the dialogue. I can't wait for more Knight and Moon adventures.

Favorite Quote:

The man sounded distracted, as if he had just been pulled away from finding a cure for cancer or a marathon binge-watching of Game of Thrones.

I got this one in exchange for an honest review from LibraryThing. You can buy your copy here.

Teaser Tuesday: Curious Minds by Janet Evanovich and Phoef Sutton

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Books and a Beat. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Teaser:

"I have a contact within the Internet," Emerson said. "And the ability to focus my mind with laserlike precision on any subject."

Riley thought the laserlike focusing was in the ballpark of the mind-clouding disappearing act. A little out there, but what the heck did she know?

This week I am featuring Curious Minds by Janet Evanovich and Phoef Sutton. I won this review copy from LibraryThing's Early Reviewer program. It begins a new series for Evanovich. Here is the description from Amazon:

Emerson Knight is introverted, eccentric, and has little to no sense of social etiquette. Good thing he’s also brilliant, rich, and (some people might say) handsome, or he’d probably be homeless. Riley Moon has just graduated from Harvard Business and Harvard Law. Her aggressive Texas spitfire attitude has helped her land her dream job as a junior analyst with mega-bank Blane-Grunwald. At least Riley Moon thought it was her dream job, until she is given her first assignment: babysitting Emerson Knight.

What starts off as an inquiry about missing bank funds in the Knight account leads to inquiries about a missing man, missing gold, and a life-and-death race across the country. Through the streets of Washington, D.C., and down into the underground vault of the Federal Reserve in New York City, an evil plan is exposed. A plan so sinister that only a megalomaniac could think it up, and only the unlikely duo of the irrepressibly charming Emerson Knight and the tenacious Riley Moon can stop it.

WoW: Copper Beach by Jayne Ann Krentz

Waiting on Wednesday is a meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. She has a linky widget at her site each week for your post and to make it easy to find posts by other people.

The purpose of the meme is to spotlight books that we are eagerly anticipating. It is fun to take a look at what others are waiting for.

I have noticed that it has expanded my wishlist though. Be warned!

I am waiting for Copper Beach by Jayne Ann Krentz. I am a huge fan of her work. I think I have every book she has ever written on my keeper shelves. The book doesn't come out until Jan. 10, 2012 but I won an Early Reviewers copy at LibraryThing and hope mine will get to me much sooner.

Here is the product description:

A rare book. An ancient code. An all-new novel from the New York Times-bestselling master of passion and the paranormal.<

Within the pages of very rare books some centuries old lie the secrets of the paranormal. Abby Radwell's unusual psychic talent has made her an expert in such volumes-and sometimes taken her into dangerous territory. After a deadly incident in the private library of an obsessive collector, Abby receives a blackmail threat, and rumors swirl that an old alchemical text known as The Key has reappeared on the black market.

Convinced that she needs an investigator who can also play bodyguard, she hires Sam Coppersmith, a specialist in paranormal crystals and amber-"hot rocks." Passion flares immediately between them, but neither entirely trusts the other. When it comes to dealing with a killer who has paranormal abilities, and a blackmailer who will stop at nothing to obtain an ancient alchemical code, no one is safe.

I can't wait to read this one!

Thing 35: Books 2.0

Now you are talking to me! The opportunities to feed my reading addiction have really multiplied with the internet.

Organize Your Personal Library

I have my library listed on LibraryThing (as my sidebar shows) and will be using lib.rario.us as a cataloging/social site for my CDs, VCR tapes and DVDs. I just wish there was a cuecat scanner to use with lib.rario.us to save some keying. Adding in all my CDs, DVDs and VCRs is a rainy weekend project.

Books On Your Phone

I am likely one of the three people in the United States who still does not have a cell phone. So those applications are of no use to me.

Readers' Advisory

As a school media specialist, I am constantly doing reader's advisory. Two sites that I depend on are Juvenile Series and Sequels from the Mid-Continent Public Library though I have noticed that the lists aren't as current as they could be. I also depend on Fantastic Fiction to find out series order and "what comes next?"

Online Book Communities

I haven't tried any of the listed communities. I do look at many of the groups on LibraryThing. Barnes & Noble also have discussion lists in a number of genres and I have used them. Some of the authors I read also have their own discussion lists. Many of the blogs I follow also sometimes have discussions in the comments sections.

I use my blogs mainly to find good books to read. I don't usually feel the need to discuss a book I have read. I'm too eager to get to the next book. I can talk about books with my students. I don't need to find an online way to talk about books.

Book Group Resources

I recently discovered another site for author resources that looks like it could grow to be quite a community. It is FiledByAuthor and has the potential to be useful. BookSprouts looked interesting and I plan to explore it as soon as I have a little time. I added it to my delicious account so that I can get back to it easily.

I think that the Books 2.0 sites have greatly enhanced the reading experience for me. My TBR pile expanded exponentially since I started reading book blogs and other Books 2.0 sites.

I really enjoy the opportunities it has provided for my students too. Author websites and book websites have enhanced the reading experience for students. And what about the new concept of combining a book with online portions the way Skeleton Creek does?

Thing 14: LibraryThing

I started a LibraryThing a while ago when one of my favorite Science Fiction authors talked about it on their blog. Of course, when I went back to it now I couldn't remember my user name or login. I know I didn't add too many books at the time. I have thousands in my home library.

So I didn't feel too bad when I started over this time. I paid the fee to be a lifetime member and ordered the CueCat scanner. My goal now is just to get all of my To Be Read piles entered. I'll tackle the ones I have already read some time in the future. I put the LibraryThing widget on my blog page too. It is interesting to see who else has the same books I do (and how they tagged and reviewed them). Since I'm beginning with books I haven't read yet, I didn't do any reviews or comments.

I like Brook Berg's account where she adds the books she has read and includes in the Comments section other books that a person might like. That would also be a good option for our High School Media Center. I'm always reading and recommending books. This would help my "failing" memory when someone asks me about a book I read. I added a few groups that I was interested in too. Now I just have to remember to check to see if they are talking about anything I need to know or want to comment on.

I can see starting an account for my school for the new books. I can put the LibraryThing widget on my New Books page of my Media Center website too.