love in a Nutshell

Love in a Nutshell is the first book in the Culhane Family series by American authors Janet Evanovich and Dorien Kelly. Divorcee Kate Appleton has a problem. Her family's summer house, Nutshell would make an ideal Bed & Breakfast except for the fact that it's heavily mortgaged and needs quite a bit of work. Kate has no money and no job.

When Kate turns up at the Depot Brewery looking for a job, Matt Culhane is instantly attracted. He figures to keep Kate around by employing her to do some covert investigation into who might be sabotaging his company.

Here's a romance-mystery where the romance is a bit too slow moving while the mystery is more irritating than intriguing. The characters are really just OK, but it's got a "phoned-it-in" feel: there's not enough depth in it to warrant reading the second book in the series, The Husband List. A bit ho-hum.