No. 46: Smokin' Seventeen

Smokin' Seventeen by Janet Evanovich
Did you know that Janet Evanovich celebrates my birthday? She totally does! Every year, right before my birthday, she releases a new Stephanie Plum book so I can get it as a birthday present! Isn't that sweet? I am thinking of sending a thank you note. I am not sure how many years this has gone on, but at least 5 or 6 if not more. It is awesome to have such a great and famous author recognize my birthday like this :)

Anyway, this is obviously number 17 in the series. And despite a slight repetition in theme, I loved it! I mean, the repetition is what I love - I need some Lula talking crap, the destruction of cars, a trip to the funeral home, a mysterious killer stalking Stephanie. I need it all, or it wouldn't be the same book. Now I will say that this book was slightly different in a few key ways.

(1) More Ranger - and more sexy Ranger which I am 100% in favor of. Seriously.

(2) Less Joe - which is sad, but I guess if you are going to have more Ranger the inevitable result is less Joe. Overall the series has been more focused on Stephanie and Joe's relationship so I can appreciate the break. Especially since said break lead to item 1 on our list.

(3) More explicit sex scenes. Now this doesn't come close to some things I have read (and I am glad) but I thought it was a little sexier than the other books. This may because it was the Ranger show and Ranger is more overtly sexy than Joe (although I can't say that is really true because Joe is pretty hot too). Or it may be because the author felt like it and I am reading too much into it because it is a book and not real people. Hard to say.

Anyway, to sum up - loved it, love Ranger, love Janet Evanovich, love my birthday.