William Morrow Paperbacks
July 12, 2012
384 pages
add to Goodreads/buy from TBD/or Amazon
- Contains spoilers if you have not read Size 12 is Not Fat, Size 14 is Not Fat Either, and Big Boned Books 1, 2, & 3-
It's summer break at New York College but that doesn't mean assistant residence hall director, Heather Wells is prepping for a relaxing few months of vacation time. Far from it, actually, with not only her ex-boyfriend (and current fiance's brother) Jordan Cartwright and his new wife Tania Trace back in her life.
It looks like someone may be out to hurt - or even kill - Tania and as not only her father-in-law but the head of Cartwright records, Grant Cartwright wants to keep her safe. And who better to keep her safe than Cooper.
With Cooper as her new bodyguard, the College involved with Tania's music camp, Heather just can't escape them.
But when someone is murdered, at Fischer Hall, no less - with Tania as the intended victim - Heather knows she has to help.
I've loved this series from the very beginning (from the chipmunk voiced girl trying on jeans) all the way through the ending of Big Boned. While Big Boned did set things up so that Size 12 and Ready to Rocky could have easily been some sort of happily-ever-after epilogue book, it isn't . . . well, not entirely.
Big Boned made me want to read some of the Janet Evanovich 'Stephanie Plum' books. I'd seen comparisons in reviews before but never thought much about it until reading Big Boned. I think the way Heather really got a team together there - from Gavin to Sarah to Cooper and the humor was quicker - made me make the connection.
While Ready to Rock is not quite as funny-funny, it has even more of the group/team dynamic - and is still has Heather and her whit. I like it so much more. This book gives us the different characters relationships finally either coming to a head, maybe ending, resolving some issues, or just actually happening (hello Heather and Cooper), relationships that have started, been hinted at throughout the series.
While the gap between the third book and this fourth one may have been hard for some fans of the series to wait, it was beyond worth it. Meg Cabot's writing seems much better. She obviously wasn't lacking before but Ready to Rock seems deeper overall and gets us more into the characters that have been present from Book One (namely Jordan and Tania but also the Cartwright family) while still giving the awesome humor and mystery.
>Surprisingly (or maybe not?), Meg Cabot is incredibly good at thinking up ways for people to die in this series that are unexpected but once they happen don't seem all that far-fetched. They're great mysteries, super fun, have a great bit of humor, and I love that we now have some more story, some more knowledge of the characters as well.
I'm thrilled Heather Wells (and co.) are back!
If you missed by Video Veneris post with Heather Wells' Sugar Rush video (doubling as the Size 12 and Ready to Rock trailer) check it out here - POST
Edit/Update: In my mentioning how much I love the book, I forgot earlier, to include a note regarding the setting: Though Size 12 and Ready to Rock is released about five years after Big Boned, it takes place just months afterwards, albeit in a sort of timewarp. Earlier books mentioned TRL and things relevant to the 2005-2007 time period , this book talks about Katy Perry and other things making it obvious it's set in 2012. If the books are read back to back now it might seem the teeniest bit weird, but I preferred the current setting to trying to set Ready to Rock concurrent with the previous books.
Rating: 10/10
Other books you may also enjoy: Body Movers series by Stephanie Bond and Between You and Me by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus
arc from LibraryThing Early Reviewers & finished copy from Harper - Thank you!
I had no idea this was part of a series. I may have to check them out - 10/10?? Sounds good.
ReplyDeleteJenna
I really enjoyed it. I've liked the whole series but I loved that this one went more in depth with the characters but kept the humor and didn't give up having a mystery.
DeleteMakes me want to run out and pick up the Meg Cabot books I haven't read yet!