Sizzling Sixteen by Janet Evanovich

Synopsis :

Trenton, New Jersey, bounty hunter Stephanie Plum has inherited a “lucky” bottle from her Uncle Pip. Problem is, Uncle Pip didn’t specify if the bottle brought good luck or bad luck. . . .

BAD LUCK:

Vinnie, of Vincent Plum Bail Bonds, has run up a gambling debt of $786,000 with mobster Bobby Sunflower and is being held until the cash can be produced. Nobody else will pay to get Vinnie back, leaving it up to Stephanie, office manager Connie, and file clerk Lula to raise the money if they want to save their jobs.

Finding a safe place to hide Vinnie turns out to be harder than raising $786,000. Vinnie’s messing up Mooner’s vibe, running up pay-per-view porn charges in Ranger’s apartment, and making Stephanie question genetics.

Saving Vincent Plum Bail Bonds means Stephanie can keep being a bounty hunter. In Trenton, this involves hunting down a man wanted for polygamy, a turnpike toilet paper bandit, and a drug dealer with a pet alligator named Mr. Jingles.

GOOD LUCK:

Being in the business of tracking down people, Stephanie, Lula, and Connie have an advantage in finding Vinnie. If they can rescue him, it will buy them some time to raise the cash.

Between a bonds office yard sale that has the entire Burg turning out, Mooner’s Hobbit-Con charity event, and Uncle Pip’s lucky bottle, they just might raise enough money to save the business, and Vinnie, from ruin.

The job of bounty hunter comes with perks in the guise of Trenton’s hottest cop, Joe Morelli, and the dark and dangerous security expert, Ranger. With any luck at all, Uncle Pip’s lucky bottle will have Stephanie getting lucky--the only question is . . . with whom?


This is what I say :

From the title, it's a dead giveaway that this is the sixteen titles in the Stephanie Plum Series and most probably the last of the series for me for now as I do not think i have anymore of her titles after this particular one.

I kinda stop buying her titles as first of all they are almost the same from one title to another and secondly the books seems to have no resale value *shy smile*. (Yes, I do resale some of my books as if not, they would take over my home and I won't have space for new titles.).

Having said that, Stephanie is a good company when I am driving as when I have to wait for the light to change during traffic, out she comes to keep me entertained and to lessen my stress.

Stephanie and Mma Ramotswe of the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency Series seems to have calming effects on me!

Now that I no longer have Stephanie to keep me company, I think I still have a couple of Mma Ramotswe title to keep me company so I shall remain sane on the road!

Happy Chinese New Year 2018

Image from web. credit to the creator

It's three days into the festivity where Chinese all over the world would welcome the doggy year following the Chinese 12 animals zodiac.

image from web. credit to the creator

Out with the rooster and in with the dog and the cycle goes on for next year will be the year of the piggy!

Do you have any dog theme books?  Being trying to look through my TBR collection and only able to fine one copy of dog theme books.

This is Wolf Totem, A Novel by Jiang Rong.  Supposed to be a semi autobiography.  I bought this book about 10 years ago.  I guess there's no better time than now to read this.

In the meantime, wishing all who celebrates,

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR 

新年快乐

&

ENJOY THE CELEBRATION

恭喜发财

A Valentine's Kiss by Lucie Hart

Synopsis :

This Valentine's day Imogen is going to meet the man of her dreams, if only she can discover who he is 

At a gloriously over-the-top house party in the balmy South of France, trainee chef Imogen finds herself playing blind man's buff with a host of impossibly handsome men, when one of them kisses her. It's the most perfect kiss she's ever experienced in her short—and frankly, to date romantically disappointing—life. But by the time she recovers her wits sufficiently to remove her blindfold, her mystery kisser has disappeared. 

Could her Prince Charming be one of her fellow-chefs, Dimitri or Bastien? Both are clearly interested in her. But there are also enigmatic Latino hunk Enzo, good-times-guy DJ Cheyenne, aristocratic Amaury, and the American visitors—Archer and Everett. So many men, so little time. Imogen can't just keep kissing men until she finds the right one—can she? 



This is what I say :

A chic lite set in a small village in France and features an English Chef but an untrained one but with passion for food and cooking.

She seems to be a magnet for her fellow chefs and other fellows that she met.  

It's a pretty light and enjoyable read and with funny moments thrown in, the book is just like a Valentine's gifts, something you look forward to but might not be memorable :)

Here's wishing everyone a 

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY.  

It's a day for everyone as you have someone to love 

(family, friends, pets, etc) 

and 

someone who love you (family, friends, pets, etc.)

image from web. credit to the creator.

Plum Lucky by Janet Evanovich

Synopsis :

Stephanie Plum has a way of attracting danger, lunatics, oddballs, bad luck . . . and mystery men. And no one is more mysterious than the unmentionable Diesel. He’s back and hot on the trail of a little man in green pants who’s lost a giant bag of money. 

Problem is, the money isn’t exactly lost. Stephanie’s Grandma Mazur has found it, and like any good Jersey senior citizen, she’s hightailed it in a Winnebago to Atlantic City and hit the slots. 

With Lula and Connie in tow, Stephanie attempts to bring Grandma home, but the luck of the Irish is rubbing off on everyone: Lula’s found a job modeling plus-size lingerie. Connie’s found a guy. Diesel’s found Stephanie. 

And Stephanie has found herself in over her head with a caper involving thrice-stolen money, a racehorse, a car chase, and a bad case of hives.

This is what I say :

I decided to go with green font for the fun of it.

I just love Stephanie Plum's adventure for those brainless moment and I have a lot of such moments especially when I am stuck at traffic light.

That's why I have been bringing Stephanie with me whenever I ride and when I am at the traffic light the same side of red, out she comes to keep those moment more pleasant.  I can managed about four to five pages each time although sometimes, it's less but whatever it is, Stephanie is great company during those moments.

That say, Plum Lucky is an in between the numbers novel and if not mistaken it's between book thirteen and book fourteen.

The sequence doesn't really matter when Stephanie Plum's adventures are concerned.  You can actually read it in any sequence and still be entertained.

Dreamscapes by Tamara McKinley

Synopsis :

Catriona Summers' debut in show business came early. Her father, the leader of a travelling music hall troupe that toured the small towns of the Outback, carried her on stage when she was barely minutes old in order to introduce her to her first audience. 

From such humble beginnings Catriona had grown up to emerge as a rare talent, her voice garnering her praise from the public and critics alike. But her journey from performing popular songs for a few pennies to becoming an acclaimed opera diva on the Sydney stage, has been fraught with hardship and tragedy. 

And now some old scandalous secrets from her teenage years are threatening her present, her family and all she has achieved... 

Here is what I say :

I was supposed to read Dreamscapes as a holiday read last year but I decided on another book instead and right before my reading marathon ended, I thought why not give it a go.

It was an okay book.  It wasn't that great but it wasn't really that bad either.  I just felt like the story wasn't properly developed and the whole story line felt a bit rush as in for a moment Catriona was just born but the next moment she's nine years old and the next she's twelve, thirteen and so on and before you know it, the story moved  years into future and suddenly she's in her fifties and sixties!

I just don't really understand why the author need the timeline to be moved so fast and perhaps the same outcome can be achieved by a less paced timeline.  I would prefer for the story to end when she's much younger and to have an epilogue for when she's really old.

Other than that, the story is set in the Australia outback and it's quite a change and ironically pretty refreshing to read about the harshness of the environment and brings the story to a different dimension.

While I have no issue with Dreamscapes, I will not be on a look out for other titles by this author in the near future.