Saturday, July 19, 2014

Reviewer's Bookshelf: A Match of Wits by Jen Turano

Book Summary (from Goodreads): After his departure from New York two years ago to meet up with his almost-fiancee, Zayne Beckett is the last person Agatha Watson wanted to stumble upon in her travels as a reporter with the New York Tribune. Quite pathetically bedraggled, he clearly needs to be taken in hand and sent back East to his family. Although she no longer has feelings for him, Agatha realizes--by hook or by crook--she'll have to be the one to get the obstinate man home.

Zayne has no desire to be taken anywhere and is prepared to drag his heels all the way home . . . until he finds himself slipping back into the familiar banter of his former friendship with Agatha. Once they arrive in New York, Zayne realizes Agatha's determined nose for news has earned her a few enemies, and he hopes to repay her help with some help of his own. When she rebuffs all his attempts to prove himself a knight in shining armor, the lengths to which they'll go to win this battle of wills lead to some memorable antics.

Everyone else may think them a match, but nothing could be further from the truth--until Agatha finds herself in real trouble. Have these two stubborn, too-smart-for-their-own-good people been meant for each other all along?

My Thoughts...
My first impression of this novel was the cover.  The expression on the face of the heroine was mischief and beauty, and I was excited to see how her character was going to develop.  I love a saucy female in a book and my expectations were high for Agatha.  The title of the book was also very catchy to me, because I love a good verbal spar between a heroine and hero.  A Match of Wits met several of my expectations.  

Agatha is very stubborn (at times it's a little annoying as she goes into obviously very dangerous situations without even thinking of the risks) and isn't afraid of telling Zayne what she thinks about things.  In fact, when she thinks she knows what is best for Zayne, she won't hesitate to tell him and even try to manipulate him a little to get what she wants.  She also has an uncanny ability to get herself into scrapes.  While that usually would drive me crazy, I actually liked the way the author wrote some of these situations, because the outcome often turned out well despite how bad the initial incident was.  
The pace of the novel went from kind of slow at the beginning and slowly built momentum until the end.  I especially liked the portion of the book that took place in New York.  It seemed to be a good place for both of the characters to develop and for the action to step up a notch.  There were several action-packed moments, especially since Agatha is not afraid to put herself in harm's way.  I liked the side stories of those who were helping to protect Agatha.  There was a little bit of mystery surrounding them, so that made their story even more appealing.

Zayne could be characterized in many ways as your typical male hero.  He's got some adventure and the desire to love within, but his heart has been hardened by rejection and a physical injury.  When we meet him he's got a hard exterior, and even though Agatha does nothing right in regards to helping him, she still manages to soften his heart and help him in ways that even she didn't expect.

There are a few aspects of this novel, however, that didn't meet my expectations.  The beginning of the novel, while it did help lead in to the second setting in the book, felt out of place.  The book didn't seem to really get started until the characters arrived in New York.  I also had high expectations for the amount of witty banter that would be in the book.  There were definitely some moments where I smiled and appreciated how Zayne and Agatha related to one another, but I didn't feel the high spark level.  I definitely expected more sass and fun from Agatha.  

I did not realize that A Match of Wits had characters that had been written about in previous novels, but I was able to enjoy the book as a stand alone.  However, if you want more background you may want to read some of Jen Turano's previous novels.

I would give this novel...

**** (4 stars)
The book was an overall good story, with a clean romantic aspect, some good action packed moments, and great supporting characters.  
Happy reading!

**I received a free copy of this novel from Bethany House publishers to give an unbiased review**

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