Janet Evanovich - Sizzling Sixteen

Now for a book from one of my favourite authors, Janet Evanovich, and series, Stephanie Plum. I've pretty much read everything of Evanovich's that I can get my hands on and I've always loved the Stephanie Plum series and the characters within them. 

Sizzling Sixteen is quite obviously the sixteenth normal book from the Stephanie Plum series that just feature Joe and Ranger, the two men in Stephanie's life who she is constantly flitting between which complicates her life along with her job, and the twentieth book that includes the "Between the Numbers" books that feature another man in Stephanie's life who complicates her life even more. Stephanie Plum is a young woman who at the start of the series is an unemployed ex-lingerie saleswoman who blackmails her cousin, Vinnie Plum, into giving her a job as a bounty hunter; at this point in the story, Stephanie has pretty much bumbled her way through apprehending the many FTAs she's been given by Vinnie, gaining a trusty sidekick in the ex-hooker, Lula, and has been on and off with Joe multiple times and slept with Ranger once.

Rating: 9

Recommended To: Chick lit lovers; crime readers; not really necessary to read the previous books but reading the first one, One For The Money, gives you a background on most of the characters and maybe Hot Six for a bit more of information on Mooner (Moon-Man)

Favourite Characters: Mooner; Morelli; Connie. All these characters make me laugh

Favourite Part: Morelli grinned down at me. "I don't know where he's getting it, but he's got some really good shit in those brownies." - Page 232

Good Points: Completely random in the grand scheme of things but still relevant to the previous books; Stephanie; Morelli

Bad Points: Pick Morelli or Ranger, for God's sake, Steph; Vinnie really grossed me out

What's not to love about the Stephanie Plum series, the protagonist is called Stephanie, what a great name.  But this may be a subjective opinion.

I've loved the Stephanie Plum series for about a year now after my friend from school recommended it to me constantly by badgering me about it for years; I now regret not getting into this series sooner because it's funny, with a dash of romance thrown in, while fighting crime in the weirdest way.

With this being the twentieth book out of the entire series, there is a worry the material would become stale and though some stuff is a bit worn-out (the Morelli/Ranger conundrum); however, in my opinion, the Stephanie Plum series always has something unexpected because what happens within every book is so random.  The randomness keeps my interest which is important in a book and if it's been twenty books with the same characters and I'm still interested, I think that's pretty good going and that is why Janet Evanovich's books are some of my favourites.

As the protagonist of this series, Stephanie Plum, the girl from New Jersey of Hungarian and Italian descent, is a good point for me as she is the source of all the calamity that happens within this book which is great; I mean it can't be possible for all of this to happen to one woman.  She has murdered many a car and the only survivor is Uncle Sandor's Buick, "Big Blue"; she has bumbled her way through many of her apprehensions; she has constantly been on and off with Morelli with a dash of Ranger thrown in.  Her life is so unrealistic in these books that I am able to leave my world and go into the world of Stephanie Plum.

One thing about the Stephanie Plum series that my friends and I debate about is who is better: Morelli or Ranger?  For me, it's Joe Morelli, the Trenton homicide cop, who Stephanie lost her virginity to in high school in the bakery she was working in; he's flirty, passionate, protective of Stephanie, and clearly wants something more than a sexual relationship with Stephanie unlike Ranger.  I can see the appeal of Ranger but he's not the one I like, sorry to say.

Morelli is definitely one of my favourite characters because of his passionate behaviour but so are Mooner and Connie; all three of them make me laugh.  Mooner just doesn't live in this world and seems even weirder than all of the other characters but he cares about his friends, wanting to help however he can, and this makes me think we all need a Mooner in our life; a weird stoner who cheers us up and cares for us.  Connie just makes me laugh because she has to deal with so much crap from all of her colleagues and should have left Vinnie and his perverted ways a long time ago but it can be read that she cares about him too much to do that.  Now Morelli, his flirty nature with Stephanie tends towards the funny which makes him appealing; his nature is a contrast to Ranger's where he has a more seductive nature so while it is funny that Stephanie gets flustered by Ranger, her interactions with Morelli are more normal as they have a banter together which is funny.

It's been years now and I think I'm kind of fed up of Stephanie sitting on the fence between the Italian Stallion (Morelli) or Michelangelo's David dipped in caramel (Ranger).  Yes, they're both hot and she's slept with both of them so she knows how good they both are in the sack but she really needs to pick which one she wants because it's getting a bit tedious that she and Joe are always arguing and clearly love each other and they would marry if they didn't have conflicts constantly while Stephanie and Ranger are attracted to one another but Ranger won't commit.  However, the only way Joe and Stephanie would marry if she gave up her job so that would be the end of Stephanie's life as a bounty hunter.

I know it's the point of Vinnie Plum, Stephanie's cousin and boss, but he really grosses me out; at least in most of the other books he's only briefly mentioned or featured doing something disgusting but he plays a more major part in this one.  It was bad enough in other books when he was doing "things" with people in his office but when he's wandering around in Stephanie's underwear is just something you do not want to imagine.  I apologise for this point being brought up.

Morelli grinned down at me. "I don't know where he's getting it, but he's got some really good shit in those brownies." - Page 232

This is one reason I love Morelli; he's a cop but because he's in homicide, he lets Mooner get away with making funny brownies and even eats one which is funny. I think that's why this is one of my favourite parts of this book because it shows Morelli is more than a cop and is up for a laugh, overlooking Mooner's sales of technically illegal baked goods that are intended to save Stephanie's place of work.

Now for the next lot of randomness from Stephanie Plum and company in Smokin' Seventeen.

Predictions

1. Stephanie and Lula will bumble through more cases as per usual
2. Stephanie and Joe's relationship goes back on
3. The bonds' office gets rebuilt eventually but not without some struggles along the way

I know these are vague but these books are completely random so there really isn't I can predict other than these things.

Other Books by Janet Evanovich