Book Review - Smokin' Seventeen by Janet Evanovich
Category Book Review Janet Evanovich Smokin' Seventeen
I used to love the Stephanie Plum series written by Janet Evanovich. Laughs, action, craziness... it was all there. But over the last three or four installments, things have stagnated. The plot lines have repeated themselves, Stephanie's love interest between Morelli and Ranger still hasn't been resolved, and nothing new is going on. I'd like to say that Smokin' Seventeen gets back to the original flair and spiciness of the earlier novels, but no such luck. Seventeen follows the recent formula, leaving me wondering if I really care anymore about who she ends up choosing as her love interest.
In Seventeen, the crime element of the plot line involves a number of dead bodies turning up in the lot where Vinnie's Bail Bonds office used to be. One or two bodies are a mystery to be solved, but when additional bodies show up with messages to Stephanie, it ups the ante considerably. Stephanie's love life is as complicated as ever, as she still has the hots for both Morelli and Ranger. But there's a new suitor in the picture, placed there by her mother (and not at all appreciated by Stephanie). Regardless of how much she tells him she's not interested, he just keeps showing up, armed with food and cooking paraphernalia. As usual, Stephanie love life is hosed, cars keep getting blown up around her, and someone wants her dead.
As I mentioned in a review for a previous Stephanie Plum novel, this episode has all the right parts but none of the magic or spark that made this series click in the past. The characters do the same things they normally do (with a bit more "action" for Stephanie due to a hex put on her by Morelli's grandmother), but all the same questions remain at the end. No character growth, no overall resolutions on relationships, nothing...
Unless something dramatic happens in the next Stephanie Plum novel, this series will end up being relegated to the "when I get around to catching up" list. I don't hate the series (yet?), but I'm only a step away from not caring much any more...
Disclosure:
Obtained From: Publicist
Payment: Free
I used to love the Stephanie Plum series written by Janet Evanovich. Laughs, action, craziness... it was all there. But over the last three or four installments, things have stagnated. The plot lines have repeated themselves, Stephanie's love interest between Morelli and Ranger still hasn't been resolved, and nothing new is going on. I'd like to say that Smokin' Seventeen gets back to the original flair and spiciness of the earlier novels, but no such luck. Seventeen follows the recent formula, leaving me wondering if I really care anymore about who she ends up choosing as her love interest.
In Seventeen, the crime element of the plot line involves a number of dead bodies turning up in the lot where Vinnie's Bail Bonds office used to be. One or two bodies are a mystery to be solved, but when additional bodies show up with messages to Stephanie, it ups the ante considerably. Stephanie's love life is as complicated as ever, as she still has the hots for both Morelli and Ranger. But there's a new suitor in the picture, placed there by her mother (and not at all appreciated by Stephanie). Regardless of how much she tells him she's not interested, he just keeps showing up, armed with food and cooking paraphernalia. As usual, Stephanie love life is hosed, cars keep getting blown up around her, and someone wants her dead.
As I mentioned in a review for a previous Stephanie Plum novel, this episode has all the right parts but none of the magic or spark that made this series click in the past. The characters do the same things they normally do (with a bit more "action" for Stephanie due to a hex put on her by Morelli's grandmother), but all the same questions remain at the end. No character growth, no overall resolutions on relationships, nothing...
Unless something dramatic happens in the next Stephanie Plum novel, this series will end up being relegated to the "when I get around to catching up" list. I don't hate the series (yet?), but I'm only a step away from not caring much any more...
Disclosure:
Obtained From: Publicist
Payment: Free
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