Mercury's in retrograde, and folks in Beaumont, South Carolina, are dealing with gossip, scandal, misunderstandings, and more secrets than ever. Local pediatrician Maggie Farnsworth has even bigger worries. Her wild-girl past has caught up with her in the form of her ex-boyfriend, a jailbird who just flew the coop --- and is bent on tracking down Maggie and her daughter. Fortunately, FBI agent Zack Madden is on hand for protection. Unfortunately, his presence is turning up the heat on an attraction Maggie simply has no time for ... or does she? But Maggie and Zack aren't the only ones getting busy: Fleas, the hound dog, is up to his old tricks --- this time with Butterbean, a very alluring ... goat? Jamie Swift and millionaire Max Holt have babies on the brain. And resident psychic-slash-astrologer Destiny is fighting a crush of her own. Since the town's ice cream parlor is a magnet for gossip, no one can keep a secret and the sticky situations are getting even stickier ...
It's the wildest time yet in the town we love to write about, with the characters we can't get enough of. So sit back, relax, and enjoy a FULL SCOOP of fun, adventure, and romance.
Janet Evanovich is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Stephanie Plum series, the Lizzy and Diesel series, twelve romance novels, the Alexandra Barnaby novels and Trouble Maker graphic novel, and How I Write: Secrets of a Bestselling Author, as well as the Fox and O'Hare series with co-author Lee Goldberg.
Janet Evanovich and Charlotte Hughes teamed to write several wonderful screwball romances years ago. I love these books for their entertainment value and the escape they offer for those times I just want to escape both from my life and the general mayhem I usually read. A lot of the pop culture references are dated, but the fun value never is. "Full Scoop" is a fun filled romance that will take you away from whatever you are escaping from. While the narrative is not as smooth as the other books, it does have a real nasty baddie and he isn't funny at all.
Maggie Davenport is a pediatrician in Beaumont, South Carolina and mother to a typical 13-year-old daughter, Meg. When her high school ex escapes prison, Maggie is afraid he is coming for her, and she is not the only one with this fear.
FBI agent, Zack Madden, has just finished a case where he was almost killed. He is on leave but when his boss tells him about Carl Lee Stanton's escape, he knows Maggie is in danger and volunteers to guard her and Meg, even though he's got a broken arm.
Beaumont is filled with eccentric characters and the happenings are off the scale funny from the newest ice cream flavor to the Elvis convention to Fleas the dog and his dogged pursuit of Butterbean the pygmy goat to Jamie and Max and their mission to make a baby.
Full Scoop was another crazy book to listen to. I mean.. a lot of stuff happened in this one but it was also somewhat unbelievable? Almost laughable. From the very beginning, we are thrown into this crazy world where a bad guy escapes prison. Then to top it all off, his son is sent to protect his dad's ex-girlfriend. I won't even get into more detail about what else happened after this because this is just one big book about insta-love filled with crazy decisions from the FBI.
Again, this was laughable and I have no idea how I made it through this book with a straight face. I mean, this could be a lifetime movie/show because they met and fell in love within two freaking days. I've known the dust bunnies underneath my couch longer than that. Besides that, the daughter was just A-Okay with everything that was going on. Even acting like the sudden marriage was just a regular Tuesday for her.
Other than that, this book had a bunch of stuff going on. Lots of twists, turns, and clues that were super easy to follow throughout the book. It was an okay book and so absurd for me to dive into.. and now I'm wondering what the heck books 1-5 are about. Are they equally unbelievable yet highly entertaining? If so, then I might dive into it.
Okay, let's me real here: this book is 100% ridiculous and 100% implausible. I mean, this entire series has been ridiculous (in a fun way) and implausible, but I think this one takes the cake. Let's bullet point things, shall we? - A super bad dude escapes from prison. The FBI sends the stepson of the guy the super bad dude killed to protect the super bad dude's doctor ex-girlfriend, who just so happens to be the mother of super bad dude's kid. - FBI Guy and Doctor Ex-Girlfriend fall in love. IN TWO DAYS. - Doctor Ex-Girlfriend's 13 year old is totally okay with her mother agreeing to marry some guy after two days. - Elvis impersonators. - Secret millionaires. - Super obvious clues that something's wrong being totally ignored. - A whole weird subplot involving voodoo???? - A dog and a goat falling in love.
In short, it was silly and fun and surprisingly okay as far as consent went (Janet Evanovich has a tendency to get...dubious). Totally predictable, of course, but hey. It kept me occupied on the bus ride home from work, so...there's that.
This is silly, fun and a quick read. Not a love story,(at least not in my opinion) and not a mystery. Hmmmm. Not sure what to call it except funny.
To be fair, at first I was unaware this is a series of books (Full House, Full Tilt, Full Speed, et al.). While some authors do a good job with series books so that you feel as though each book can stand alone, not so much with this one. There were a couple of times when I thought, "Wait. Who is that?" and had to realize it was a character from a previous series.
I found the character of the FBI agent, Zack Madden, to be unrealistic. The man is silly, funny, laidback and flirty while he comes to guard a woman and her daughter when the woman's former lover escapes from prison. Yeah, that sounds just like an FBI agent. Still, I would be lying if I didn't say his character was endearing.
OF COURSE the two fall in love. You see that coming simply because the author tells you it's coming, and not because you see the natural progression of two people falling in love. I'm sorry did I mention this all occurs over the course of a few days?
I have other issues with the plot, but I won't delve into those here because they might be spoilers.
One of the characters has my first and middle names, so that immediately won me over with this book. It enjoyable and I believe the last of the Full series. The only character that remained throughout the entire series was Max Holt so it was a bit frustrating not to really have follow up with the other characters. I guess we got a bit on Dee Dee, Jamie, and few more minor characters like Vera and Destiny. I had to get into the mindset of these being more individual books rather than a series and that helped me to enjoy them more. This one was a good one to end the series.
A killer, an FBI agent, and a pretty female pediatrician set in a story involving witchcraft and astrology. The story was predictable though fun to read. Queenie and Everest stole the show with their interesting skills.
In all honesty, this book was severely lacking in just about every area. It wasn't horrible. I didn't mind reading it, but there were just so many problems with the story as a whole, so many poorly developed aspects that kept it from being a truly good read. The story was very two-dimensional, lacking development and depth. It was just very superficial.
The characters have very little depth or exploration. The authors give you some basic history, but fail to really explore them. They mention things but then never really tell you about them. An example is Maggie's pregnancy. You know that the antagonist got her pregnant at a young age, and you're told that there was some sort of cover-up to get her out of town so no one would know. But they never give you any details. You have no idea exactly how old she was, and you're not told anything at all about this cover-up. Where did she go? What did she do? How did she handle it all? Why did she make up a husband? It would have been nice to have these details and it would have given another dimension to Maggie's character.
Zack's was in a similar state. You know his FBI step-father was killed by the antagonist but you learn little else, other than that Zack was greatly affected by the slaying. I wanted to know how old Zack was when his mother married his step-father, what their relationship was like, how he dealt with the man's death, etc. Again, knowing all this would have made the character more full-bodied. The authors just failed to give these characters any depth at all.
The romance between them was poorly developed as well. It seemed extremely forced, with very little emotion involved. It was like, hey, let's kiss; hey, let's have sex; hey, I think I might have feelings for you. I wasn't feeling the chemistry between them at all. I had a really hard time believing that these two characters were in love.
There were also some minor areas where issues bothered me. One was that Zack, as an FBI Agent, was allowed to participate in the case at all. He was personally connected (his father being killed by the antagonist 14 years earlier). I had a hard time buying that that would be allowed. Also, Destiny, who had roles in the other books, is done a serious injustice in this book. She's paired off and engaged with hardly a whisper. A little more on that would have been nice.
As for the good points...well, I enjoyed the cameos of Max and Jamie. Fleas the hound dog and Butterbean the goat were great. And the actual plot wasn't too bad. But none of that could overcome the holes in the book. I was rather disappointed overall once I finished.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Read these books out of order, but they stand on their own pretty well.
The characters are fun to read about; they fit some stereotypes with a few gentle tweaks to keep them interesting. The plot twists in this one were more convincing that in Full Speed (the other one I read this weekend), and I felt that the banter was more involved and more interesting.
If you know a single mom who is a pediatrician addicted to chocolate, I think you'll get a kick out of the main heroine. If you're in awe of spunky teenage girls ready to take on the world, it might be good for you too. No explicit sex content, and a light, fun read. Queenie the Voodoo practitioner has a fun role, as does the town gossip. :)
My problem with this book is the same I had with the one before it. With Jaime's storyline we had three books for her to fall in love with Max Holt. These books, the women fall in love by the end of the book and it's been only about 2 weeks in real time. I don't know what they are putting in the water in Beaumont, SC, but sign me up for some! It's just a bit unrealistic, but then I guess it wouldn't be a romance novel. I liked the characters of Maggie and Zac and were glad they got together. The storyline was predictable. I could have told you that Zac was going to end up as the new police chief of Beaumont. But it was still a fun story to read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Full Scoop was one of the more humorous books in the Co-Authored Romance Novels – Charlotte Hughes with Janet Evanovich in southern Beaumont, SC. Some of the same funny characters – Destiny, Max and Jamie Holt, Vera and local pediatrician Maggie Davenport and her teenage daughter. Maggie’s reckless past and ex-boyfriend who gets out of jail to claim what is his causes some major issues and yummy FBI Zack Madden comes to the rescue! As always Lorelei King does a bang up job with the performance on audio!!!!
As usual books by Janet Evanovich are full fun with a little mystery and romance thrown in for good measure. I enjoyed the story of Maggie and her friends in Beaumont, South Carolina. The romantic interest happens to be an FBI agent guarding Maggie and her daughter, Mel. At first, I thought there were too many characters to develop their personalities in one little book, but I was mistaken. Ms. E. and her co-author, Charlotte Hughes, did a great job and I came to like everyone (well, almost everyone -- always someone in these books you love to hate). Thanks for another fun read!!!
Listened to this one on the way to the beach. Typical Janet Evanovich brain candy. I do enjoy how Evanovich can write a feel-good story even though the plot deals with an escape convict on the hunt for the main character and stowed money. The characters ring very true to the typical Stephanie Plum characters, but for a brain-candy book, that is a good thing. Nicely read. Closer to a 3.5. If you like the Plum books, you'll like this one too.
Okay I was originally going to give this 3 starts but because it has a little bit of everything I had to give it 4. It has mystery, mischief, thrill, romance, and it’s a cute fast beginning of summer read. The romance portion was not my favorite but this book definitely had me laughing so hard. I would definitely recommend this book. I know there’s five more before this one so I’ll have to check those out.
Now I am more than happy to announce to the world that I L-O-V-E love the Stephanie Plum series. I don't care if she never chooses and the whole Ranger/Morelli thing goes on until we're all in nursing homes! No problemo! But this book just left me cold. I didn't laugh, I didn't connect with the characters and I was really disappointed. So theres not much else to say really...
This was a really cute chick lit fluff book. It was fun and a fast read. Funny & entertaining.
Local small town doctor, Maggie, and her 13 year old daughter are being protected from an ex-boyfriend who just escaped from prison, by a cute FBI guy. Throw in some funny girlfriends, farm animals and a fast moving storyline and you have a fun read.
Well, I finally made it through. This one was actually a little better than it's predecessor, but none of the books in this series are as good as Stephanie Plum. If you're looking for something good, read those, not these.
A quick easy romantic suspense. The local doctor, Maggie Davenport, has a good life practicing medicine and raising her teenage daughter until her past catches up with her. When an escaped convict comes after her, a gorgeous FBI agent shows up to protect her. Let the love begin.
Janet Evanovitch is best known for the Stephanie Plum novels, set in New Jersey and featuring her eponymous bail bondswoman heroine. This novel is not one of those. Rather, it is part of Evanovitch’s “Full” series, set in Beaumont, South Carolina, and featuring a recurring cast of ‘zany’ main and supporting characters. Full Scoop is the 4th novel in the series and it is the one I started with- I don’t think I missed much not having started at the beginning.
Full Scoop is a light and frothy thriller-cum-romance, focusing on the town’s 36 year old pediatrician, Maggie Farnsworth, her 16 year old daughter Mel, Maggie’s long-ago ex-boyfriend and baby daddy, Carl Lee Stanton, and the FBI agent, Zack Madden, who is responsible for protecting Maggie and Mel from Carl Lee. Carl Lee is bad news- he has escaped prison and is set on returning to Beaumont to recover his hidden bank robbery money and enact a little vengeance on Maggie at the same time. Zack Madden is retired but returns for one last mission, motivated by Carl Lee’s murder of his step-father years before. The stage is set when Zack moves in with Maggie and Mel, ostensibly to provide greater protection from Carl Lee but also allowing for the romance plot between Maggie and Zack to bloom.
If you’ve read the Stephanie Plum novels, be warned that this more akin to the late series Plum novels than the early ones in its ridiculousness- there are ‘crazy’ side characters, plot holes, bumbling local law enforcement, animal romances, voodoo hexes and Elvis impersonators. Very little feels realistic, but that isn’t really the point. It was a quick read, and although I didn’t hate it, it didn’t leave me wanting to pick up the other novels in the series- I’m not invested enough in any of the characters.
Silly, fun, and a very entertaining end to this series. Maggie Davenport had a relationship back in high school with a troubled kid who turned out to be a killer. Unfortunately he's escaped from prison and is on his way to Beaumont to find her. And she has a secret she wants to keep from him (and everyone else) about her 13-year-old daughter. Enter Zack, an FBI agent who has been assigned to protect them. Carl Lee has lots of adventures on his trip. He finds himself dealing with incompetent associates, steals a car from an old guy, has to don unlikely disguises, and generally has to continue to be a very bad guy in a humorous book. Even though you dislike him, you can't help but laugh at the things that happen to him through no fault of his own. The plot was interesting and even a little suspenseful despite the humor. And it was fun to revisit with Max and Jamie, Vera, and Destiny from previous books in this series. I really relate to Evanovich's sense of humor and always enjoy her books--this was no exception. Lorelei King is becoming one of my favorite narrators, and she did a great job here. I'm sorry to see this series end but feel it has had a good run.
Newlyweds Max Holt and Jamie Swift-Holt are trying to make a baby, but their recently purchased antebellum mansion is under renovation and filled with feuding contractors
Dr. Maggie Davenport learns that a mistake she made in her past is about to catch up with her. Old boyfriend turned thief and murderer Carl Lee Stanton has escaped from prison and appears to be deadheaded over to Beaumont, S.C. to pay her a visit. Rumor has it the $250K he stole before he was caught is hidden somewhere in town.
Maggie's 13-year-old daughter Mel is unaware of her mother's muddied past, and truthfully unaware of her own past as well. Maggie is sure of one thing - Carl Lee has no business in her life or in her daughter's life. He has not even one virtue to offer to them and their best chance at a good life is without him.
Zach Madden from the FBI is sent to protect Maggie and Mel and to bring Carl Lee to justice. But Zach has his own past with Carl Lee which will complicate matters and perhaps lend a different meaning to the word justice in Zach's eyes.
There was a lot of humor in the book which made this a very quick read.
Maggie's ex-husband has escaped from prison. She and her daughter Mel are in danger, luckily the FBI has sent an agent to protect them. Zack Madden takes his job seriously but he can't help falling for the woman he's bound to protect. Unfortunately Mel, a high spirited teen, doesn't take this seriously at all....it's nothing but an inconvenience....keeping her from her friends and life outside of home. Maggie hasn't told Mel the truth about some things....waiting for the right time ...but how can she reveal it now with so much tension in their lives already? As the ex, Carl Lee drives across the country to get to Maggie, and the money he hid years ago, Maggie and her friends wait an agonizingly long time to see what he may do. Carl Lee is capable of anything...he has no conscience...he is someone to fear.
Just finished reading Full Scoop & then read some of the reviews. Several reviewers wished each book in the series contained the same main characters. I liked the fact that the previous books characters had appearances so we could see how they were connected but had new lead players. Falling in love in 2 days is hard to believe but 2 weeks doesn't become any more believable as in the earlier books. These are light, easy reading stories. If you're looking for more background & details you won't find that in 350 pages. The "Full" series was nice but I prefer Evanovich writing solo or her collaborations with other authors.
Full Scoop delivers the same excitement that I remember from Full House. FBI agent Zack is a core part of this story and brings all the action together. Maggie, the female protagonist mostly worries throughout the story as to what will happen later, but her plight is riveting. Mel, her 13-year-old daughter keeps things amusing right along with Zack. I think this book wrapped up the series well. The town of Beaumont, South Carolina never fails to deliver with entertainment. I love the cast Evanovich and Hughes put together for the Full series, even if some characters changed out for most of the books. Beaumont is as much a character as anyone in the books.
2.5 stars, rounded down to 2. This is OK but not as good as the others in the "full" series which were 2.5 stars rounded up to 3 if I'm remember right.
I like the setting and the doctor who is the main character; the relationship she has with her daughter seems very realistic. I would love a series based on her, frankly. The FBI agent protecting her was not really fleshed out as a character.