Screwdrivered Tour Stop!

 Readers back for a third round of the bestselling Cocktail series will enjoy a madcap romantic comedy about bodice ripping and chest heaving, fiery passion and love everlasting. Plus a dash of paperwork filing and horseshi—wait, what?

By day, Viv Franklin designs software programs. By night, Vivian’s a secret romance-novel junkie who longs for a knight in shining armor, or a cowboy on a wild stallion, or a strapping firefighter to sweep her off her feet. And she gets to wear the bodice—don’t forget the bodice.

When a phone call brings news that she’s inherited a beautiful old home in Mendocino, California from a long-forgotten aunt, she moves her entire life across the country to embark on what she sees as a great, romance-novel-worthy adventure. But romance novels always have a twist, don’t they?

There’s a cowboy, one that ignites her loins. Because Cowboy Hank is totally loin-ignition worthy. But there’s also a librarian, Clark Barrow. And he calls her Vivian. Can tweed jackets and elbow patches compete with chaps and spurs? You bet your sweet cow pie.

In Screwdrivered, Alice Clayton pits Superman against Clark in a hilarious and hot battle that delights a swooning Viv/Vivian.

Also within this book, an answer to the question of the ages: Why ride a cowboy when you can ride a librarian?

I have to admit, this series lost me a bit on the last installment.  After reading this one…REDEEMED!  Totally and completely. 

Vivian Franklin is an unassuming software designer with a passion for romantic tales.  When she finds out that her great aunt Maude left her estate to Viv, including her seaside cottage in Mendocino, California.  Viv decides this is a perfect opportunity for her to seek out her own romance worthy adventure and moves across the country to the cottage.  There, she meets Clark, the town librarian and historian, who takes a special interest in Vivian and helping her deal with the historic committee in town to make changes to the cottage.  Clark is sexy, but in a nerdy, bookish way.  Viv recognizes this, but is still looking for her knight in shining armor.  And she gets him in the form of Hank the cowboy. And she meets him while he is riding shirtless on a horse, no less!  Hank is hot, and Viv wants a piece of that action.  Convincing Hank might be another story.  So, who will be the hero in Viv’s romantic adventure?  Clark the librarian or Hank the Cowboy?

This book captured so well what I loved about Wallbanger, which is that it is a FUN read.  It’s written in a way that is irreverent and hilarious at points, plus we get cameos of our favorite series characters throughout.  Viv is a great character to center a book around.  She is hilarious and strong and full of pep.  I absolutely loved her and her witty repartee with Hank and Clark.

The real difference I thought in this book was that it’s mostly about the shenanigans of trying to choose which man to fall in love with.  The result of which means that the couple’s first kiss doesn’t happen until the end.  This led to me feeling the book was a bit rushed towards the end, but it still worked for me.  I was entertained and found that getting to the end to see how it all turned out was well worth it!

Overall, great book.  Funny, interesting and filled with laugh out loud moments as only Alice Clayton seems to be able to do!  Loved it.  4.5 stars.

WARNING – This book made my stomach hurt from laughing so hard and my face hurt from the near constant grin I couldn’t seem to get rid of. Yes, Ms. Clayton has done it again. This installment in the Cocktail series was a blast to read and I already want to read it again.

Even though I read Rusty Nailed less than two months ago, I admittedly didn’t remember who Viv was at first. Now, as soon as she started talking about her tattoos and piercings I had that “AAAAAAHHHHH” moment and got that giddy feeling you get when you realize a book is going to be even better than you first anticipated. I knew I was going to like it because the series is a hoot, but when I realized who Viv was and recalled all that moxie, I knew I was in for a treat. What I didn’t realize, and what made the book so much fun to read, was exactly how much of a romance junkie Viv was and how Ms. Clayton was going to exploit that character trait. It was awesome! She did not disappoint.

What’s even better, is that Ms. Clayton has leveled the playing field of the sexy librarian stereotype with Clark. Oh My! Who knew that tweed and elbow patches could be hot? Not me. But I was more than happy to go along for the ride with Vivian to find out just how hot they could be. And while the chemistry between Clark and Viv was apparent to everyone BUT Viv, their banter and arguing made for some extremely entertaining verbal foreplay. Despite Viv’s overactive imagination, we only get one actual sex scene but it was bringing down the house hot!!!

Screwdrivered is an excellent addition to the Cocktail series. Fans of the series get to catch up with Simon and Caroline as they do make an appearance in the book. As expected, the cast of characters that Viv meets when she moves to Mendocino are a fun bunch and it almost made me want to move to a small coastal town in California. This was an entertaining read from beginning to end and I am already salivating for Mai Tai’d Up. 

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