Smokin' Seventeen

I actually enjoyed returning back to Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series with "Smokin' Seventeen" (308 pages).  I read most of the books in the series over a short period of time a year or two ago and it was a little much. From Goodreads:

"Dead bodies are showing up in shallow graves on the empty construction lot of Vincent Plum Bail Bonds. No one is sure who the killer is, or why the victims have been offed, but what is clear is that Stephanie’s name is on the killer’s list.

Short on time to find evidence proving the killer’s identity, Stephanie faces further complications when her family and friends decide that it’s time for her to choose between her longtime off-again-on-again boyfriend, Trenton cop Joe Morelli, and the bad boy in her life, security expert Ranger. Stephanie’s mom is encouraging Stephanie to dump them both and choose a former high school football star who’s just returned to town. Stephanie’s sidekick, Lula, is encouraging Stephanie to have a red-hot boudoir 'bake-off.' And Grandma Bella, Morelli’s old-world grandmother, is encouraging Stephanie to move to a new state when she puts 'the eye' on Stephanie.

With a cold-blooded killer after her, a handful of hot men, and a capture list that includes a dancing bear and a senior citizen vampire, Stephanie’s life looks like it’s about to go up in smoke."

Rather than adding a "traditional" recap, I thought I would add some quotes from the novel as I have with other books in Evanovich's series.  For the most part they're all pretty much the same with a few changes in plot.

"Lula hauled herself up off the floor and put her hand to her neck.  'Do I got holes?  Am I bleeding?  Do I look like I'm turning into a vampire?"'
"'No, no, and no,' I told her.  'He doesn't have his teeth in.  He was just gumming you.'"

"Here's the thing I've noticed about Lula.  I've seen her when she's on a healthy eating plan, holding her calories down, I've seen her on ridiculous fad diets, and I've seen her when she eats everything in sight.  And so far as I can tell, her weight never changes."

"Fortunately for you I know the perfect cure for a pimple of that magnitude.  Sweaty gorilla sex.  Lots of it."

"We all went dead still, absorbing the fact that a large bear was loose in the Burg."

"'I'm not going,' Lula said.  'This job gets worse and worse.  Vampires and bears and big guys with boners.  Okay, so maybe I didn't mind the big guy with the boner so much.'"

"Maybe you want to think about getting a different job.  Something with better work conditions... like roach extermination or hazardous waste collection."

"A madman is sending me dead people, a crazy woman wants to run me over, I need to catch a guy who thinks he's a vampire, and I have the vordo."

Again, Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series usually is just more of the same but it sure can be a fun ride and fun to read.  Catching her novels about once a year is definitely the way to go.  Recommended for fans of the bumbling bounty hunter and those who like an easy, funny read.