Smokin' Seventeen

Janet Evanovich

When you're broke, you'll take all sorts of jobs. Stephanie Plum, intrepid bounty hunter (OK, flaky bounty hunter) is now after a man who thinks he's a vampire. If he is taken out in daylight he cowers and insists on cover. When she and Lula try to capture 72-year-old Ziggy, things keep happening.

Then there are the bodies that keep showing up on the land where Uncle Vinnie is trying to rebuild the bail bonds building. After the building was destroyed (ask Stephanie...), he has an empty lot and wants to put up a new building. Construction keeps getting delayed as bodies keep appearing overnight at the construction site. In the meantime, the offices are in a hippy's trailer - not the most professional setting.

Stephanie has to deal with her mother and her match making as well. The guy who was the high school football star when she was in high school is back in Trenton. Dave seems to agree with her mother - he keeps showing up at Stephanie's apartment with the ingredients for great meals that he cooks. Stephanie cannot convince Dave or her mom that she isn't interested in him. Right now she is trying to decide between Morelli and Ranger - if she can. She's trying to avoid Morelli's grandmother who keeps cursing her.

Smokin' Seventeen is fairly short and funny - and packed with story lines that twist into each other and away again. It doesn't take long for a reader to figure out the mystery Janet Evanovich has added in Smokin' Seventeen. But the romance story lines, the wanna be vampire, and Grandma Bella - who knows where each one is going? Smokin' Seventeen ends with a Morelli/Ranger (or someone else???) cliffhanger.

Evanovich's Smokin' Seventeen is cute and funny. It's fun to follow Stephanie's exploits, but the book isn't demanding. This is a great book to read when you want something light that doesn't need much concentration.

Notice:  Non-graphic violence, Suggestive dialogue or situations

The Series:

One for the Money
Two for the Dough
Three to Get Deadly
Four to Score
High Five
Hot Six
Seven Up
Hard Eight
Visions of Sugar Plums
To the Nines
Ten Big Ones
Eleven on Top
Twelve Sharp
Plum Lovin'
Lean Mean Thirteen
Plum Lucky
Fearless Fourteen
Plum Spooky
Finger Lickin' Fifteen
Sizzling Sixteen
Smokin' Seventeen
Explosive Eighteeen