Thanksgiving by Janet Evanovich is a 1988 publication.

Normally, my holiday reading goes straight from Halloween to Christmas.

I have thought about reading a Thanksgiving centered novel on occasion, but found the offerings to be pretty slim. This book is one that usually pops up in any fictional Thanksgiving book search query- but for some reason, although I do like this author, I always passed it over.

This year, on a spur of the moment whim, I decided to give it a try.

This imprint now being sold or found on book services, or at the library, is a 2006 re-issue- but this book was originally published in 1988… and unfortunately, it shows.

It does have a certain charm if one is willing to overlook Pat’s controlling, manipulative behavior towards Megan, especially in the beginning. The plot is light as a feather, but it did make me chuckle a few times.

The book is short- only 166 pages- so it didn’t eat up much of my time, plus I finally satisfied by curiosity about it. While it wasn’t a total wash, overall, it was just okay and I couldn’t recommend going out of one’s way to read it.

2 stars

2.5 stars

I originally gave this 2 stars, but upon further reflection, I felt that was a bit too "generous" on my part, especially considering some of the other crap I've read this year, so went back and changed that review to a lowly 1 star rating.

It's a shame as well. I've heard positive things in regards to Evanovich, however a majority of that positive feedback I've heard has been towards her Stephanie Plum series, and not necessarily towards her...non-Plum books? I'm not sure what these are called, but basically before Stephanie Plum, I understand that Evanovich dappled in the romance genre, and so this falls into that category of her work.

**A Side-Helping of Spoilers with your Turkey**

I willingly admit that the whole reason I picked this book up was because of the title. I love reading and listening to "seasonal books" during their appropriate seasons, and there are so few Thanksgiving-themed romances, I leapt at the chance when this one landed in my lap. Megan, our heroine, is a pottery maker living in Williamsburg, VA. One day she meets Patrick Hunter, the new pediatrician in town, thanks to...a rabbit, nibbling on her colonial costume.

Nope, I'm not kidding, that is the basis for their "meet-cute". The rabbit belongs to Pat, though how it got loose was never really clear. The rabbit manages to get loose a second time (and seemingly not long after the first time it got loose) and this forces our couple together once again. I wondered if this was going to be an ongoing joke, but thankfully the rabbit was retired after that. Instead, we go onto even more outrageous plot lines: Pat and Megan being stuck caring for a baby while her unwed teenage mother goes job hunting without so much as a hint to when she might be back. Clearly this was meant to be the device to keep Megan and Pat interacting, but it really just came across as silly. I never thought that Megan or Pat needed something to "help them" come together, they were both clearly lusting after the other upon first meeting. However, the two do have their own baggage when it comes to relationships--Megan reveals she never plans on getting married or into a serious relationship, due to the fact that she was left at the altar once (and had some other dubious relationships with men who got cold feet near that "engagement mark"). Pat seems to suffer this same issue, although he admits to himself he doesn't want to just sleep with Megan or even have an ongoing-casual fling with her without the promise of *something* possibly happening down the road...yet when the opportunity arises (and it happens PLENTY of times) he can't bring himself to say the words that need to be said. or express that he wants more than just sex. Why he has this fear of marital commitment is unclear, and it just comes across as contrived and cliche: the man who's afraid of getting married.

Speaking of cliches, Megan goes from "I'm never marrying" to "I want to get married and have a baby, why hasn't Pat proposed to me, damn it!?" After spending just a few days with that baby, she suddenly wants to dive headfirst into motherhood. I'm not saying this isn't possible, but it is a cliche, especially in the realms of romantic literature. And Megan's reasoning for wanting a baby is the LAST REASON she should have a baby (the unwed teenage mom returns, and Megan missing the baby now wants to have one so she doesn't miss the baby anymore). Megan, I get that your sad and depressed, but that is not a good enough reason to rush into getting pregnant! Not to mention, you need to consider Pat into all this, especially if you're insisting he be the father of said child.

There isn't a lot of drama in this book. For the most part, it's a fluffy read, and whatever angst the characters do encounter comes across more like "middle school angst". As for the title/theme of the book, if you blink, you'll miss the whole "Thanksgiving" concept. What sounds like a major plot point (as mentioned on the back of the book) are Megan and Pat's families joining the two of them for Thanksgiving, and thinking they are engaged, and we get the whole "fake/mistaken engagement" trope. But nope, that's pretty much skimmed over. I remember the group of them making Thanksgiving dinner in one chapter, talking about Pat and Megan's possible Christmas wedding, and then the next chapter, all the relatives are packing up and leaving. Very rushed.

All in all, this isn't a great romance, and for what's meant to be a romantic comedy, I found myself rolling my eyes more than laughing along with the various antics of the characters. At the end of the day, I just couldn't care less about whether Pat or Megan got together or not. And that's missing the whole point of romance. My investment with the story retired pretty much when that mysterious rabbit disappeared after the second or third chapter.

Another one of these books, another disclaimer: I'm only rereading them because I want to reread all the books I own and see which ones are worth keeping and which I should get rid of. Needless to say, this one goes into the second pile. Look, it had its entertaining moments. But despite Evanovich's attempts at modernising this story from the 80s, it still felt incredibly dated. Add in the fact that it features a couple meeting like a week before Thanksgiving, discussing marriage like three days later because their parents unexpectedly turn up, and then deciding to get married on Christmas Eve, and I was headed to Nope Town.

Add in a world of weird possessive bullshit and pretty dubious consent, and I'm definitely going to be getting rid of this one. It would have been one star territory if it weren't for the fact that there were a couple of scenes that made me snort laugh. So...yeah. Hello, space on my bookshelf.

The thing I enjoyed most about this book was the humor!

The main characters Pat and Megan, are thrown together to care for a baby, Timmy, as the story opens. Pat and Megan meet when his rabbit chews a hole in Megan's skirt! So odd ...

Anyway, one of Pat's patients, he's a pediatrician, drops her baby by his house (out of the blue) to keep for a couple of weeks! No explanation at all! She just takes off. Megan happens to be returning his rabbit that she found wondering in the street and agrees to help him with the baby. These two have just met and are now caring for a baby together! So odd ...

Parents of both Pat and Megan get involved in their strange relationship when they come for Thanksgiving, as does an ex-fiancé of Megan.

I'm not sure why Thanksgiving was involved or why the title is Thanksgiving. We never hear about the rabbit again. Megan, who knows nothing about horses agrees to care for the neighbor's horse for a few days while they are gone. They neglect to tell her the horse will be having a baby any day! Timmy's mom returns with her boyfriend/Timmy's daddy! Why, couldn't she tell Pat, when she dropped Timmy off, where she was headed. It would have taken two minutes, tops!

There are just so many oddities in this book. Two people who have just met end up madly in love within a couple of days! I had trouble overlooking the strangeness!

My daughter loves the Stephanie Plum series by this author, so I may try reading them. I think for right now I'll skip her earlier work and her stand alone books!

I finished this book a little before midnight last night. Toward the end it gets funnier and funnier so that I was laughing out loud. So many of her books are very funny! I needed this book so thanks Carol for alerting me to it.