Monday, August 16, 2010

Sizzling Sixteen - Janet Evanovich

Trenton, New Jersey, bounty hunter Stephanie Plum has inherited a "lucky" bottle from her Uncle Pip. Problem is, Uncle Pip didn't specify if the bottle brought good luck or bad luck...

BAD LUCK:
Vinnie, of Vincent Plum Bail Bonds, has run up a gambling debt of $786,000 with mobster Bobby Sunflower and is being held until the cash can be produced. Nobody else will pay to get Vinnie back, leaving it up to Stephanie, office manager Connie, and file clerk Lula to raise the money if they want to save their jobs. 

GOOD LUCK:
Being in the business of tracking down people, Stephanie, Connie, and Lula have an advantage in finding Vinnie. If they can rescue him, it will buy them some time to raise the catch.

BAD LUCK:
Finding a safe place to hide Vinnie turns out to be harder than raising $786,000. Vinnie's messing up local stoner Walter "Moon Man" Dunphy's vibe, running up pay-per-view porn charges in security expert Ranger's apartment, and making Stephanie question genetics.

GOOD LUCK:
Between a bonds office yard sale that has the entire Burg turning out, Mooner's Hobbit-Con charity event, and Uncle Pip's lucky bottle, they just might raise enough money to save Vinnie and the business from ruin. 

BAD LUCK:
Saving Vincent Plum Bail Bonds means Stephanie can keep being a bounty hunter. In Trenton, this involves hunting down a man wanted for polygamy, a Turnpike toilet paper bandit, and a drug dealer with a pet alligator named Mr. Jingles.

GOOD LUCK:
The job of bounty hunter comes with perks in the guise of Trenton's hottest cop, Joe Morelli, and the dark and dangerous security expert, Ranger. With any luck at all, Uncle Pip's lucky bottle will have Stephanie getting lucky--the only question is. . . with whom?

Sizzling Sixteen. . . so hot, the pages might spontaneously combust! 

Title: Sizzling Sixteen
Genre: Adult Fiction
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: June 22, 2010
Source: Borrowed from library.
My Rating: 3/5

Stephanie Plum is back again, and this time, she needs to rescue her cousin, Vinnie, before things end badly. He has accrued a gambling debt and is being held in lieu of the money. If Stephanie wants to keep her job, and her cousin alive; she needs to come up with the money, fast. She still has a job to do, and with Vinnie missing, her hands are full. Luckily, she has Ranger and Morelli to rely on for help.
This is the sixteenth installment in the Stephanie Plum series, and like it's predecessors, it does have several laugh out loud moments. Stephanie still gets into some pretty crazy predicaments, and Ranger is more often than not, running to her aid. It is a light-hearted, fun read, but Stephanie still hasn't decided what to do with her life, or whether or not she wants to be with Morelli or Ranger. Things just seem to be in stasis. Stephanie's character isn't progressing at all. I wish she'd choose one man, or the other, just to make a choice. I did find that the storyline was better in this book though when compared to some of the previous installments in the series. 
Overall it was a lighthearted, fun, and engaging read with many humourous moments, however it doesn't live up to the first books in the series. It is definitely worth a read, though long time fans of either Ranger or Morelli will probably not be impressed with Stephanie's continued indecisiveness.

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