Maja (The Nocturnal Library)'s Reviews > Curious Minds

Janet Evanovich is my go-to author for a funny, relaxing reading experience. I’ve been known to laugh like a lunatic while reading one of her books, sometimes loudly, and sometimes even in public (which I suppose explains my lack of social life). Her books are often plotted and executed like episodes of Looney Tunes, some more than others. Curious Minds follows the nonsensical path when it comes to character interactions, and sometimes even the plot. It’s precisely what one might expect from Evanovich, which unfortunately makes it a story we’ve all read before.

After only a day on her new job as junior analyst at Blane-Grunwald, Riley is sent to appease the multimillionaire Emerson Knight, who suddenly wants to see his gold in the company’s vault. Instead of diverting him from his course, Riley gets tangled in his plan to uncover a massive conspiracy that extends to the highest levels of the US government. She gets dragged along from one insane plan to the next and she does very little but follow Emerson’s insane instructions. The seemingly endless dialogue between them is sometimes funny, but sometimes seems a bit forced.

Riley Moon is just like every other Evanovich’s heroine. In fact, I often couldn’t differentiate between her and Lizzy from the Lizzy & Diesel series. Aside from the few superficial things like education and profession, they really acted like one and the same. Emerson and Diesel also share many similarities, mostly in behavior. They come up with hare-brained schemes and plans that work only because they miraculously seem to be a step ahead of everyone else. They are both eccentric, charming and they own strange animals, including monkeys. Janet Evanovich and Phoef Sutton co-authored the third Lizzy & Diesel book, and then they co-authored this, so some similarities were to be expected. Still, these characters were carbon-copies of each other and I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was reading yet another Wicked book, minus the paranormal element.

Like with the Lizzy & Diesel series, we’ll likely be teased about the romance for at least two more books. There is some light tension between Riley and Emerson and a whole lot of teasing, but nothing actually happens, and I doubt anything will. It’s fairly standard for Evanovich and Sutton, and I suppose I’m a bit tired of it. Nevertheless, readers who are new to their books will find plenty to love in Curious Minds. For them, it will be fresh and hilariously funny, and the characters will be endlessly entertaining. Older readers might find themselves struggling through several parts, but then again, maybe that’s just me.