Rating: 
Summary: Moving a step closer to a great series
Review: 'Full Speed' is the third installment of the series but only the second one of Max Holt & Jamie Swift. The story starts right where we left off from "Full Tilt." I like that we didn't miss any of the action. Max and Jamie are hot on the trail of Harlan Rawlins. He is a T.V. Evangelist who is somehow tied up into the attempts on their lives. Max and Jamie aren't together long before Max decides to send Jamie home (to keep her safe). However, Jamie wants the story for her paper so she decided to continue on her own. Since Max literally left her standing on the side of the road, Jamie purchases a beat-up truck with a surprise. His name is Fleas, a bloodhound who comes with the truck. He has his own personality, much like Muffin. As Max and Jamie go off to Sweet Pea, TN to resolve the mystery that started back in Beaumont, SC, they catch up with each other at the good Reverend's revival. Jamie has decided that since Harlan has a weakness for women, she will get his attention to gain his trust. Max meets up with her here and they start working together...again. The tension was kept on low during this story. I figure it's sort of like dating...things should be heating up after the third date (in this case the third book in the series) not cooling off. Max and Jamie had their moments but nothing too electrifying. I will continue to read this series but it hasn't made me crazy waiting for the next installment. It's a good series but hard to settle for when the Plum series is SO incredible. It has that something extra that is just missing from this series.
Rating: 
Summary: NOT the Evanovich I know and love
Review: *Sigh* I want to start off saying how much I adore Janet Evanovich' stephanie plum novels...they're witty, concise, fun, etc. This isn't. I think that this book is more her lending her name to a friend who can't really write. Not only is the plot TOTALLY ridiculous, it is written very poorly. Jamie is falling for Max, an uber-rich, genius, James Bond-esque character who has created Artificial Intelligence, so he has a talking car named Muffin, who happens to think she is in menopause. Sheesh! I could forgive the weak plot if it was written well and/or amusing, but it's not. There is ZERO character development, and you only ever know what a character is feeling because they tell you...there is no "showing." Jamie will say things like "Oh dear, I'm falling in love with Max" and so that's how the reader knows...not because there's been any chemistry or interaction between them. There were a few times that I laughed during the story...but they were few and far between.
Rating: 
Summary: AN ACCOMPLISHED VOICE PERFORMANCE
Review: Accomplished voice performer Lorelei King gives substance and fire to her delivery of the latest tale by bestselling author Janet Evanovich who created the Stephanie Plum series. A varied cast of characters allows Ms. King to become a shady cleric, mobsters on the loose, a computer guru, and embody love, love, love. This time out we meet newspaper editor Jamie Swift and millionaire Maximillian Holt. Suddenly and surprisingly Jamie is unengaged and has eyes for Max, her silent partner. The feeling, it's clear, is mutual. Together they're chemistry and combustion personified. Listeners won't want to miss a beat in this fast paced tale of Jamie and Max as they get into trouble and explore the tunnel of love. - Gail Cooke
Rating: 
Summary: What a let down.
Review: After 9 1/2 Stephanie Plum novels I was excited to try a new series. But this was a clunker.
Rating:
Summary: Tilt had more speed
Review: Bitten by the Evanovich-Hughes bug, I went ahead and bought more of this "Full" series. The first being Full Tilt and the second being Full Speed. Last I heard, Full Blast is already out and I can't wait to get it. Clearly, I am bitten by the very uncanny humor that the Evanovich-Hughes team has.
But more so, being a sucker for series or anything remotely more exciting than cracking open nuts for my kids, I want to know more about this Jamie Swift and Max Holt, you know, last I heard they were leaving their home town for another town in search for a cunning and mob-like priest. And when you end a book on that kind of note, you have the readers lusting for more. And that's precisely what Evanovich and Hughes did in Full Tilt.
But sadly, this book just isn't as exciting as Full Tilt. Full Speed is not as speedy as Full Tilt.
In this book, there are less car bombs, less office shootings, less steamy scenes between Holt and Swift, there are no crocodiles hunting them down and no madman taking Jamie hostage. It was pretty lackluster, all in all.
But I was completely taken with Jamie's new dog, though, going by the name of FLEAS. Gee, did I tell you those two authors have a really wierd sense of humor or what - but it gets me cracking. Surfing through their websites www.evanovich.com and www.charlotte-hughes.com makes me think of something. Evanovich without Hughes is pretty much the same as the other love story writers. And Hughes without Evanovich is merely a comical writer who writes funny stories. But it's only when they team up to produce their books, then and only then, the chemistry is there.
I find it absolutely amusing that Jamie was constantly feeling so satisfied knowing that she turns Max on and yet Max is totally unabashed about his affections for Jamie. It makes me feel like....yeah, gurl, go for it! And yet, Evanovich and Hughes keeps the couple away sex wise. They come close to 'doing it' but they don't. It keeps the readers panting for more, you see. Pretty smart, don't you think?
And in this book, Max's smart-ass talking car computer, Muffin, did not get the kind of attention and feature as she got in the first book. I found it totally out of this world when Muffin suffered from Menopausal symptoms after talking to Max's sister, Dee Dee. She's a computer for crissake! But accordingly, she is so smart that she can emulate human behavior and feelings. But this time round, there's no such thing.
In Full Speed, Muffin loses her cover - that is her posh looking shell. The car. The computer gets transported into a lousy old company pickup truck and although she doesn't seem to mind, it just doesn't give her the kind of edge she had in the first book. She sure looks and sounds so much more interesting when she was attached to a posh looking car that was literally indestructible.
In conclusion, while the first book kept me leafing through the pages and peeking at the ending, this book had me rolling around in laughter but I still had lots of time to knit. Interesting but it didn't keep me thirsty for more.
Go figure. I can't wait for the next book, Full Blast.
Rating:
Summary: A NICE BREAK FROM "CHICK-LIT"
Review: By the looks of the reviews below and the "star rating" for this novel, I must honestly say I probally would have never picked up this book if I had read these reviews first.
I usually read the cliche british chick lit books where someone is in PR and dating ["jerks"] aimlessly. I was surprised while reading this novel to not be along the same lines. I have only read "Rocky Road to Romance" and I naturally thought this novel would be the same but I came to discover there was more mystery and suspense. Very intriguing.
Overall, I enjoyed this book, it was short, a quick read, and a nice break from the novels I am used to.
Give it a try. Don't knock it until you tried it. I am glad I didn't.
Happy Reading!
Rating:
Summary: Better to read the Stephanie Plum series...
Review: Disappointing. I can recommend the Stephanie Plum series but not the _Full_ collaborations.
Rating:
Summary: Not Quite Up to Full Speed
Review: First, I wish Amazon allowed for half stars because my true rating is a 3 and one/half. I expect by Full Blast the authors will have a smoother style. Can you tell I'm a true half cup full person? This book is definitely a step up from Full Tilt although I disagree with a review I read that said this book has a Nick and Nora repartee....not quite there yet. Things are still a bit stilted in dialog and plot. I like the premise of Muffin's interaction but the sizzle is still lukewarm between Max and Jamie. Dave's paranoia doesn't quite catch if he was to be the comic foil. The writing is still to static...for a visual think pop-up videos. If you are a Stephanie Plum fan consider these books the half hour TV sitcom to Ms Plum as the feature presentation. But as I said before I am optimistic. I anticipate that Ms Evanovich and Ms Hughes will become more comfortable in combining their writing styles and hopefully future books will display this.
Rating:
Summary: Evanovich should stick with Stephanie Plum
Review: I agree so totally with Mayfayre's review that I couldn't even finish this book. It was a terrible disappointment. The characters are flat, the dialogue boring (yeah, as Max or Jamie would say) and you could almost pick out the few parts that evanovich had a hand in. The first two "Full" books had promise, though not up to Stephanie Plum. This one falls horribly flat. Nobody could believe Max and Jamie are real people. Even the hypochondriac Dave is annoying - worried about much more than a hypochondriac would be, worried about more than a real psycho would be. He's just plain nuts, and the other characters don't pull you in at all. I wish evanovich wouldn't waste her time on these books, and spend more time on the plum series, which, written on her own, are clever and funny and interesting. Please, more Stephanie Plum and no more of this nonsense.
Rating:
Summary: Big Disappointment
Review: I am a big fan of the Stephanie Plum series so when I saw this book I grabbed it and couldn't wait to get started. It's been a big disappointment. The characters are flat and stereotypical--I can't buy Jamie as the owner of a newspaper and Holt. . . .well, he's just over the top. As for sexual tension--or tension of any kind--it's just not there. The only character I cared anything at all about is Fleas, the dog. But the very worst part is the writing itself. The book could have used a good copy editor with a forest of red pens. Stephanie Plum and Joe Morelli (and of course Ranger)--now, that's the real thing.
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