Author: Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer

Release Date: August 21, 2007

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press

ISBN: #978-0312363055

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Format(s): Hardcover (368 pages), paperback (432 pages), e-book, audiobook

We (Gikany) purchased a copy (in numerous formats) of this book for the purposes of our own enjoyment.

From the author’s website:

If you can’t stand the heat…

Agnes Crandall’s problems are roiling to a boil. First, a dog-napper invades her kitchen, seriously hampering her attempts to put on a wedding that’s she’s staked her entire net worth on. Then a man climbs through her bedroom window to save her. “Shane” (no last name) may be Agnes’s hero, but he’s also a professional hitman–so he’s no stranger to trouble himself…

Get out of the kitchen.

Between a rival who wants to take him out and an uncle who may have lost five million bucks in Agnes’s basement, Shane’s plate is plenty full. Soon Agnes and Shane are tangled up with the lowlifes after the money, a gang of Southern mob wedding guests, a dog named Rhett, and–most dangerous of all–each other.

What Gikany & Una are talking about:

One of the most noticeable and delightful elements of this book, is the hardcover looks like a cookbook (once you remove the dust jacket). Maybe we are easily amused but we find that a really nice touch for this book. It is not the first book that Ms. Crusie and Mr. Mayer teamed up on, but is by far their BEST collaboration, bar none. Agnes and the Hitman is witty, sexy, fun, adventurous, engaging, did we mention fun? We can’t tell you how many times we have read this book and yet every time we picked it up, we laugh, we giggle and enjoy it all over again.

The book begins with Agnes on the phone, baking of course, with Rhett, her faithful hound patiently waiting for scraps, when some kid comes into her kitchen with a gun. The kid attempts to dog-nap Rhett, which Agnes will have none of. She successfully thwarts the dog-napper, only to find herself deeper in trouble. Her “Uncle” Joey, looking out for her best interests, sends his nephew Shane to protect his “little Agnes.” We could go on, but the unraveling of the story is all part of the fun. Agnes tries to dig herself out of trouble while not falling for the mysterious Shane, hosting a wedding (if she gets the house fixed up in time), keeping the bride and groom together, surviving the bride’s wicked grandmother, baking the wedding cakes, hosting the rehearsal dinner, and write her darn column. Sounds interesting, it should!

Agnes and the Hitman will keep you glued to the pages. The characters are hilarious, grounded and real. The different intersecting plots lines you would think would be confusing and too much, aren’t. It helps add to the richness of this adventure/mystery/humorous romance. The writing is witty, the pace and flow are even and well balanced. And between the flamingos, grass green fondant, mob bosses and the Venus de Milo statue, you will be sitting on the edge of your seat, laughing out loud while fully engrossed in the story.

So, if this isn’t enough to convince you…check out our VERY terse teaser coming up on a Sunday Snippet.

Their Rating:

5 stars: Personal favorite - a must read (A+)