Review: Explosive Eighteen - Janet Evanovich

Hardcover: 320 pages
Publisher: Bantam; 1 edition (November 22, 2011)
Language: English

Before Stephanie can even step foot off Flight 127 from Hawaii to Newark, she’s knee deep in trouble. Her dream vacation turned into a nightmare, she’s flying back to New Jersey solo, and someone who sounds like Sasquatch is snoring in row 22. Worse still, her seatmate never returned to the plane after the L.A. layover. Now he’s dead, in a garbage can, waiting for curbside pickup. His killer could be anyone. The FBI, the fake FBI, and guns-for-hire are all looking for a photograph the dead man was supposed to be carrying.

Only one other person has seen the missing photograph—Stephanie Plum. Now she’s the target, and she doesn’t intend to end up in a garbage can. With the help of an FBI sketch artist Stephanie re-creates the person in the photo. Unfortunately the first sketch turns out to look like Tom Cruise, and the second sketch like Ashton Kutcher. Until Stephanie can improve her descriptive skills, she’ll need to watch her back.

Over at the Bail Bonds Agency it’s business as usual—until the bonds bus serving as Vinnie’s temporary HQ goes up in smoke, Stephanie’s wheelman, Lula, falls in love with their “largest” FTA yet, lifetime arch nemesis Joyce Barnhardt moves into Stephanie’s apartment, and everyone wants to know what happened in Hawaii?!

Morelli, Trenton’s hottest cop, isn’t talking about Hawaii. Ranger, the man of mystery, isn’t talking about Hawaii.  And all Stephanie is willing to say about her Hawaiian vacation is . . . It’s complicated.

These books provide me with an endless source of entertainment. Reading a new Plum novel is like hanging out with old friends that I haven't seen in a while. Lula, Grandma Mazur, Connie and Vinnie never fail to make me laugh. Ranger and Morelli never fail to make me drool. The best thing is Stephanie never gets any better at her job which keeps things very entertaining. This addition to the series involoved FBI, some fake FBI, dead people and a car full of horse poop. I know some people are getting sick of this series or think that Stephanie should could use some character growth, or at least make a choice between Morelli and Ranger. I on the other hand disagree. This series is perfect, I would love to just keep reading them and enjoying a nice light funny read. This one get 5 stars and huge laughs from me. 

Review: Smokin' Seventeen - Janet Evanovich

• Hardcover:
 320 pages

• Publisher:
 Bantam; 1st edition (June 21, 2011)

• Language:
 English

Where there’s smoke there’s fire, and no one knows this better than New Jersey bounty hunter Stephanie Plum.  Dead bodies are showing up in shallow graves on the empty construction lot of Vincent Plum Bail Bonds. No one is sure who the killer is, or why the victims have been offed, but what is clear is that Stephanie’s name is on the killer’s list.
Short on time to find evidence proving the killer’s identity, Stephanie faces further complications when her family and friends decide that it’s time for her to choose between her longtime off-again-on-again boyfriend, Trenton cop Joe Morelli, and the bad boy in her life, security expert Ranger. Stephanie’s mom is encouraging Stephanie to dump them both and choose a former high school football star who’s just returned to town. Stephanie’s sidekick, Lula, is encouraging Stephanie to have a red-hot boudoir “bake-off.” And Grandma Bella, Morelli’s old-world grandmother, is encouraging Stephanie to move to a new state when she puts “the eye” on Stephanie.
With a cold-blooded killer after her, a handful of hot men, and a capture list that includes a dancing bear and a senior citizen vampire, Stephanie’s life looks like it’s about to go up in smoke.

My Thoughts...

I could read these books forever! I know that after a while some things might get repeated, and that some people want to see Stephanie choose between Morelli and Ranger but I couldn't live without both of them! Once of the things I love is the highly entertaining cast of secondary characters. We got to see quite a few classics.  Grandma Mazur, Steph's parents, Lula, the bail bonds team, and the men. We did get an addition to the crew. Apparently fans aren't the only ones who want Steph to settle down. So does her mom, she thrusts Dave at Stephanie. It was a lot of fun watching Steph fight off advances from Dave, and trying to keep her mom at bay. I won't lie, another thing I love is that they are set in New Jersey. Its nice to read a book set in the state I live in. Ranger and Morelli were both hot in this book, and while I am totally team Babe, I do love Morelli too. This book had everything I have come to expect from this series, a good story, great characters, car deaths, and lots of humor! I give this one 5 stars and recommend this series to everyone!