The Sweet Spot: A Novel
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The Sweet Spot: A Novel Hardcover – July 8, 2014
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Dorothea Benton Frank
Stephanie Evanovich
Dorothea Benton Frank, bestselling author of The Hurricane Sisters, interviews Stephanie Evanovich
Dottie: I just want to congratulate you on the success of Big Girl Panties, your debut. And you’re following that up a year later with a new novel that I’m sure will keep people talking.
Stephanie: Thanks Dottie! It's been a really fun year. I'm looking forward to the July 8th release of The Sweet Spot. I can't wait to get back out there and talk to readers about it. And congrats on your new release - The Hurricane Sisters. It's the book I think I'll be taking with me when I travel, if I can wait that long to read it.
Dottie: The romantic duo in The Sweet Spot, Chase and Amanda Walker, were sidekicks in Big Girl Panties — did fans specifically ask for you to bring them back for a star turn?
Stephanie: After BGP hit the streets and I started getting feedback, it was pretty clear that some readers really took to them. They nearly stole the show! And I'm positively thrilled by that. They may be my favorite couple.
Dottie: Chase Walker is a superstar baseball player and a lot of the tension in the novel is Amanda trying to decide if she wants to be a superstar’s girlfriend. I know you’re a sports fan - were you excited to have a pro athlete as your hero?
Stephanie: Excited is a bit of an understatement. It was more like crazy-over-the-moon psyched. There's just something about athletes. ..yum.
Dottie: There’s some genuinely fun spicy scenes in this book! How do readers when you turn up the heat?
Stephanie: When I went out on the road with BGP and met readers, fun seemed to be the order of the day. Throw some spice in there and it's a recipe for delicious hotness - at least I'm hoping that's the case.
Review
“It’s easy to fall in love with this flirty, swoon-worthy tale . . . Evanovich entertains with plentiful humor and appeals to the reader’s romantic side. Comedy, passion, and an irresistible couple make for a home run read.” (Publishers Weekly (starred review))
“A sports-filled romance full of steamy sex scenes that will please Evanovich’s fans.” (Kirkus Reviews)
“Rom-com with a kinky twist . . . Readers of Big Girl Panties will remember the couple and will love delving into their story.” (Women's Health.com)
“Evanovich’s breezy style, witty dialogue, and likable characters make this a great summer read. Her fans will be thrilled she’s given Chase and Amanda, who appeared as a married couple in Big Girl Panties, their own book.” (Booklist)
“A sports-filled romance full of steamy sex scenes that will please Evanovich’s fans.” (Kirkus Reviews)
“Rom-com with a kinky twist . . . Readers of Big Girl Panties will remember the couple and will love delving into their story.” (Women's Health.com)
“Evanovich’s breezy style, witty dialogue, and likable characters make this a great summer read. Her fans will be thrilled she’s given Chase and Amanda, who appeared as a married couple in Big Girl Panties, their own book.” (Booklist)
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
By
K. Branfield
TOP 1000 REVIEWER on July 8, 2014
Format: Kindle Edition
Comment
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The Sweet Spot by Stephanie Evanovich is the romance of Chase and Amanda Walker, a secondary couple introduced in her first novel, Big Girl Panties. The two novels stand on their own and can be read independent of one another (but I highly recommend Big Girl Panties).
Chase Walker is an extremely successful and wildly popular squeaky clean baseball player who falls in love with restaurant owner Amanda Cole pretty much at first sight. Amanda resists his considerable charm but he eventually wears her down and they begin dating. When Chase makes a surprising request that involves Amanda’s career, she turns him down and what happens next irrevocably changes their relationship and eventually puts them in middle of a very public scandal.
Despite his successful career, Chase is rather humble and does not take his good fortune for granted. His life has not been all sunshine and roses but he does not dwell on his losses and he tries to focus on the positive. Chase is charismatic, appealing and so unbelievably persistent it is little wonder Amanda finds him impossible to resist.
Amanda is a self-assured and independent woman. She has a few residual self-esteem issues that stem from her childhood, but she does not lack self-confidence. She has been so focused on making a success of her restaurant that she does not date much but she is not inexperienced when it comes to matters of the heart or sex. She is bedazzled by Chase but her self-esteem issues come into play and she is left wondering why he is attracted to her. When Amanda finally does agree to date him, they take things slow and their romance is sweet and despite Chase’s hectic schedule, fairly uncomplicated.
But (isn’t there always a but?Read more ›
Chase Walker is an extremely successful and wildly popular squeaky clean baseball player who falls in love with restaurant owner Amanda Cole pretty much at first sight. Amanda resists his considerable charm but he eventually wears her down and they begin dating. When Chase makes a surprising request that involves Amanda’s career, she turns him down and what happens next irrevocably changes their relationship and eventually puts them in middle of a very public scandal.
Despite his successful career, Chase is rather humble and does not take his good fortune for granted. His life has not been all sunshine and roses but he does not dwell on his losses and he tries to focus on the positive. Chase is charismatic, appealing and so unbelievably persistent it is little wonder Amanda finds him impossible to resist.
Amanda is a self-assured and independent woman. She has a few residual self-esteem issues that stem from her childhood, but she does not lack self-confidence. She has been so focused on making a success of her restaurant that she does not date much but she is not inexperienced when it comes to matters of the heart or sex. She is bedazzled by Chase but her self-esteem issues come into play and she is left wondering why he is attracted to her. When Amanda finally does agree to date him, they take things slow and their romance is sweet and despite Chase’s hectic schedule, fairly uncomplicated.
But (isn’t there always a but?Read more ›
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By
Deborah Cook (@ Debbish dot com)
on July 27, 2014
Format: Kindle Edition
Comment
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I have a confession to make.
I had a brain freeze. I was *possibly* tired and emotional when I accidentally requested a review copy of The Sweet Spot.
You see, I'd just seen something about a new Janet Evanovich book and was thinking of Stephanie Plum, when this book by Stephanie Evanovich popped up on NetGalley.
I mean… you can understand my confusion.
Anyhoo…
Amanda Cole, owner and manager of a successful restaurant (with the help of mummy and daddy – sorry, can’t help myself!) is bemused when handsome and charismatic baseball star Chase Walker enters her life.
Chase soon becomes beguiled by the woman who (unlike others) refuses to pander to the baseball superstar. Amanda however, is eventually won over by Chase’s kindness , (bizarre) devotion and lack of pretentiousness; and soon the pair are in love.
Naturally however, happily-ever-after comes at a price and it’s one which Amanda might not want to pay.
The pacing of the novel was a bit off for me. Days or weeks passed in some sentences with other sequences stretching out. It was a bit like series of scenes between story-telling-like narratives.
The dominance / submission thing came from left field. Suddenly The Sweet Spot became a completely different book. I really don’t care what people want to do (as long as it’s consensual), but I did find the whole thing a bit derivative. (The source being obvious.) On top of that, it didn’t really feel authentic.
I guess what irks me about the dom/sub thing in recent novels is that the man in question is always wealthy and charismatic. It really wouldn’t play if the guy was a poor meth-head who lived in a trailer park.
However, that aside I thought the plot had promise. A famous almost-perfect guy interested in a relatively normal girl – quite frankly - the fantasy of many.
1.5 stars from me.
I had a brain freeze. I was *possibly* tired and emotional when I accidentally requested a review copy of The Sweet Spot.
You see, I'd just seen something about a new Janet Evanovich book and was thinking of Stephanie Plum, when this book by Stephanie Evanovich popped up on NetGalley.
I mean… you can understand my confusion.
Anyhoo…
Amanda Cole, owner and manager of a successful restaurant (with the help of mummy and daddy – sorry, can’t help myself!) is bemused when handsome and charismatic baseball star Chase Walker enters her life.
Chase soon becomes beguiled by the woman who (unlike others) refuses to pander to the baseball superstar. Amanda however, is eventually won over by Chase’s kindness , (bizarre) devotion and lack of pretentiousness; and soon the pair are in love.
Naturally however, happily-ever-after comes at a price and it’s one which Amanda might not want to pay.
The pacing of the novel was a bit off for me. Days or weeks passed in some sentences with other sequences stretching out. It was a bit like series of scenes between story-telling-like narratives.
The dominance / submission thing came from left field. Suddenly The Sweet Spot became a completely different book. I really don’t care what people want to do (as long as it’s consensual), but I did find the whole thing a bit derivative. (The source being obvious.) On top of that, it didn’t really feel authentic.
I guess what irks me about the dom/sub thing in recent novels is that the man in question is always wealthy and charismatic. It really wouldn’t play if the guy was a poor meth-head who lived in a trailer park.
However, that aside I thought the plot had promise. A famous almost-perfect guy interested in a relatively normal girl – quite frankly - the fantasy of many.
1.5 stars from me.
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5 of 7 people found the following review helpful
By
Greeneyes
on July 15, 2014
Format: Hardcover
4 Comments
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This entire story revolves around a very tall, of course, very handsome, of course, famous, of course, sports figure, Seducing then grooming a woman to accept punishment in order to satisfy his need to be dominant and perhaps even able to perform. I'm aware that there are men who cannot perform without either punishing or being punished, I just have no desire to read about it although apparently a number of women think it's exciting. This guy has very rigid rules and by the end you can see he's got plenty of insecurities of his own, what a shock! She has to insult him in order to excite him, I wonder if he'll whale on her when she's pregnant or just won't be able to perform. Of course she learns to love it so it's all ok. The writing overall is simplistic and even adolescent at times, with some vulgar talk by the woman which leads, of course, to more punishment by the guy. The story is absurd, nor particularly well written and I strongly doubt it would have made hardcover without the Evanovich name. Here's a $27.00, so called romance, (I borrowed it from the library) that can be read in a couple of hours, had a number of editing errors and tells a shallow tale with cringeworthy dialogue. There are so many really good women writers out there published only in paperbacks, far more literate and who tell delightful, well written stories that are far more worthy.
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By
H. Barlow
on September 9, 2014
Format: Hardcover
Comment
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I received a copy of this book from the publisher for review consideration.
Stephanie’s debut novel Big Girl Panties was super popular last summer, and I’ve wanted to read it ever since. So I dove right in and then followed it up with her latest novel The Sweet Spot. Which is kinda, sorta a prequel to Big Girl Panties.
Those of you who have read Big Girl Panties will be familiar with Chase and Amanda. A married couple, constantly in the spotlight due to Chase’s high-ranking baseball status, who partake in some not so secret bedroom antics. I loved Chase and Amanda in Big Girl Panties, a couple so obviously and hopelessly in love, and was happy to hear that with The Sweet Spot, Evanovich would take us back to how they met and how they became THE Chase and Amanda.
I read Big Girl Panties and The Sweet Spot back-to-back. I don’t feel as though you have to read one before the other, and I can only speak for myself here but knowing how happy they ended up, in Big Girl Panties, helped me in sympathizing with them and the struggles they went through in The Sweet Spot.
The Sweet Spot delves into the lives of Amanda and Chase, right from their first meeting to his relentless chasing (excuse the pun!) of Amanda. Their first date, the decisions and changes Amanda has to make to continue a life with Chase. The dilemma Chase finds himself in when he realizes that Amanda may just be the one for him, and how he must share his secret with her and hope it doesn’t push her away. Amanda embracing Chase’s lifestyle choices, both with his career in baseball and his bedroom behavior. Then just as everything is going perfectly, Amanda gets a taste of what it means to be one half of a celebrity couple when their private life becomes front page news.
I LOVED The Sweet Spot! It was funny and endearing all at the same time. I can’t wait to meet Stephanie at the end of the month, and bring home a signed copy for my shelf!
Stephanie’s debut novel Big Girl Panties was super popular last summer, and I’ve wanted to read it ever since. So I dove right in and then followed it up with her latest novel The Sweet Spot. Which is kinda, sorta a prequel to Big Girl Panties.
Those of you who have read Big Girl Panties will be familiar with Chase and Amanda. A married couple, constantly in the spotlight due to Chase’s high-ranking baseball status, who partake in some not so secret bedroom antics. I loved Chase and Amanda in Big Girl Panties, a couple so obviously and hopelessly in love, and was happy to hear that with The Sweet Spot, Evanovich would take us back to how they met and how they became THE Chase and Amanda.
I read Big Girl Panties and The Sweet Spot back-to-back. I don’t feel as though you have to read one before the other, and I can only speak for myself here but knowing how happy they ended up, in Big Girl Panties, helped me in sympathizing with them and the struggles they went through in The Sweet Spot.
The Sweet Spot delves into the lives of Amanda and Chase, right from their first meeting to his relentless chasing (excuse the pun!) of Amanda. Their first date, the decisions and changes Amanda has to make to continue a life with Chase. The dilemma Chase finds himself in when he realizes that Amanda may just be the one for him, and how he must share his secret with her and hope it doesn’t push her away. Amanda embracing Chase’s lifestyle choices, both with his career in baseball and his bedroom behavior. Then just as everything is going perfectly, Amanda gets a taste of what it means to be one half of a celebrity couple when their private life becomes front page news.
I LOVED The Sweet Spot! It was funny and endearing all at the same time. I can’t wait to meet Stephanie at the end of the month, and bring home a signed copy for my shelf!
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