The book is set up as a mystery novel, but it's really just a series of unfortunate events which happen to the protagonist as she wisecracks at every possible opportunity along the way.

Great book! Fun!! What's not to love about Sally? Also, love that when Steph and Joe finally get together, it's not 'love ever after', "let's pick out china".

Reread- March 2018

Whenever I need a good laugh the Stephanie Plum series never disappoints and this one was no exception, in fact I don't think I have ever laughed so hard, I had family members looking at me like I was crazy.
Once again Stephanie blunders onto more than just retrieving someone for a FTA, crime, torture, missing persons and death not to mention the hunky Ranger and Morelli, what could be better? Oh yeah, don't forgot the crazy cross dressers and ex-hooker and good ole Grandma Mazur!

I really enjoy the fact that I can count on this series being quick and light. I still find these books funny despite the serious elements, and particularly in this book, I enjoyed the introduction of a new character that I hope appears in future books. Of course, I still love my favorites, Morelli and Ranger, and I’m interested to see how their relationships with Stephanie progress.

They really should’ve made this a tv show.

Another glorious tale in the saga of Stephanie Plum, A.K.A. aqua net welding, car destroying bounty hunter.

Hilights include:
1. Sally the transvestite in all his glory (I think he may curse more than me which is an impressive feat)
2. Tula experiments with the taser
3. Stephanie moves in with Morelli, hello #9 and #10, it's about freakin time

Pluses
+ Lula keeps getting funnier
+ Sex with Morelli. Bow-chicka-wow-wow!
+ Is there anything better than a cursing drag queen? I think not!!!

Minuses
I just can’t think of any right now because this hilarious book was exactly what I needed at this point in time. Stephanie Plum is so in!

Se la malinconia e l'ansia devi scacciar/
il libro della Evanovich ti dovrai procurar!

Se cerchi risate/
con l'Evanovich ne avrai assicurate!

Se ami i personaggi matti e strampalati/
con l'Evanovich ne troverai di davvero svitati!

Amo la Evanovich e quindi ho riesumato la mia vis poetica (... XD) per creare un sonetto con rima baciata in suo onore.. :D

Ehhh, lo so.
Ma quando l'ispirazione divina ti scende in petto.. Come resisterle?! :D
Io amo amo amo amo amo amo amo amo amo amo amo amo amo amo amo amo amo amo amo amo amo amo amo amo amo amo amo amo amo amo amo amo (AMO!) la Evanovich. E' una scrittrice grandiosa, davvero!
Riesce a creare situazioni paradossali su situazioni paradossali, tanto per cominciare. Ad ogni pagina, è lì pronta a stenderti con una nuova trovata geniale.. Non ti annoi mai, quando Stephanie è nei guai! :D (Ok, basta Serena).
Poi niente, i personaggi sciroccati. Gli INNUMEREVOLI personaggi sciroccati!! Ho un debole per loro!!
Mi fanno ridere come un'indemoniata e durante la lettura ad un certo punto mi sono accorta di avere il sorrisetto ebete da almeno mezz'ora.. XD
Di sicuro è un libro (anzi, una serie!) adatta a combattere il malumore.. Leggi una ventina di pagine e puff! Ti senti meglio con te stesso, con il tempo, con lo studio, con il mondo intero.. :D
Stephanie, nonna Mazur, Lula, Sally.. Non so chi mi ha fatto più ridere e chi ho amato di più, davvero! Mi è presa una voglia matta di essere a Trenton lì con loro e spassarmela..
Discorso a parte (come al solito, sto diventando prevedibile!) va a Joe Morelli. La sexitudine fatta persone (ma è anche tenero, aaaw! ç_ç) Il co-protagonista che tutti vorremmo avere come vicino di casa. Mi ha stregato, giuro! Continuo a considerarlo uno dei migliori personaggi che ho incontrato.. Anche se, ahimé, avrebbe pure potuto comparire un po' di più.. Di sicuro insieme a Stephanie formano la coppia più bella di sempre! :D
E poi, finalmente, dopo quattro libri finalmente Joe e Stephanie.. Insomma.. Sììììììììììììììììììììììììììììììì!!!!! ♥
Certo, anche Ranger come personaggio maschile è interessante.. Mmmm...

Ok, basta cianciare. Leggete la serie della Evanovich e fatevi conquistare dal suo strambo mondo! L'unica cosa è che dà dipendenza. Cavolo, già mi mancano tutti quanti. Soprattutto Stephanie. E Joe. E Lula. E nonna Mazur. Insomma, tutti ç_ç

"Oi", he said. "This heat! I can't breathe. Somebody should od something".
I assumed he was talking about God.
"That weatherman on the morning news. He should be shot. How can I go out in weather like this?"
I was glad I owned a gun, because when I got as old as Mr Landowsky I was going to eat a bullet.

I looked in my cupboard, but there were no Pop-Tarts. No cookies, no cereal, no cans of spaghetti, no soup, no extra jars of peanut butter. A piece of paper was taped to the cupboard door. It was a shopping list. IT said "Buy everything".
I took the note down and shoved it into my bag so I wouldn't forget what i needed and slung the bag over my shoulder.

"When was the last time you saw Terry?"
"About a week ago. I rano into her in Fiorello's Deli. She was wearing a little denim skirt, and she looked very fine but she's not the woman in my life right now".
I narrowed my eyes. "So who is the woman in your life now?"
"You".

I could go to New York or Vegas with Lula and Sally and never be noticed. In Atlantic City it was like trying to blend in with Sigfried and Roy and five of their tigers.
We came onto the floor, four abreast, letting the noise wash over us, taking it all in . . . the mirrored ceiling, the 3-D carpet, the flashing lights, and hustling, swirling crowds of people. We moved through the room and old men walked into walls, pit bosses turned silent, waitresses stopped in their tracks, chips were dropped on the floor and women stared with the sort of open-mouthed curiosity usually reserved for train wrecks. As if they'd never seen a seven-foot transvestite and a two-hundred-pound black woman with blond baloney curls all dressed up like Cher on a bad day.
Do I know how to conduct an undercover operation, or what?

The kid pulled a Buck knife out of his pants pocket. "How about giving me your purse, bitch?"
Sally hiked up his skirt, reached into his briefs and pulled out a Glock. "How about using that knife to slice off your balls?"
Lula whipped a gun out of her red satin purse and Grandma hauled out her .45 long-barrel.
"Day my make, punk," Grandma said.
"Hey, I don't want any trouble," the kid said. "We were just having some fun."
"I want to shoot him," Sally said. "Nobody'll tell, right?"
"No fair," Lula said. "I want to shoot him."
"Okay," Grandma said. "On the count of three, we'll all shoot him."
"No shooting!" I said.

I'm a firm believer in denial. My reasoning is why deal with unpleasantness today when you could get hit by a bus tomorrow. And if you procrastinate long enough, maybe the issue will go away. Unfortunately, this issue wasn't going away. This issue was beyond denial. This issue was fucking depressing.

I could call Ranger, but no one knows where Ranger lives. If Ranger took me in for the night, he'd probably have to kill me in the morning to make sure his secret was safe.

They definitely didn't want me sticking my nose into their business. Which meant either they had something to hide or else they didn't like me. Since I couldn't imagine anyone not liking me, I was going to assume they had something to hide.

My mother and grandmother were at the door, watching us get in the car. They stood backs straight, hands clasped. Lips pressed tight together. Good Hungarian women. My mother wondering where she went wrong, wondering why I was riding around with a man wearing rhinestone earrings. My grandmother wishing she was with us.

n  n    Four to Scoren  n
n  n    Stephanie Plum , Book 4n  n

n  I Picked Up This Book Because:n Continue the Series

n  The Characters:n

Stephanie Plum:
Joe Manelli
Lula, Grandma Mazer, Ranger

n  The Story:n

Stephanie must sleep on a bed of four leaf clovers. It’s been a few days since I’ve listened to this and all I can remember is her a Joe finally getting together. His family is hilarious btw. I’m not quite sure where their relationship is going. They seem to run hot and cold with each other but I’m enjoying the ride.

n  The Random Thoughts:n

I still miss the original narrator. She gave Stephanie some flavor.

n  The Score Card:n



3.75 Stars

Another fast, entertaining read! I love the new character Sally Sweet. One of my favorite characters along with Lulu and Grandma Mazur. I also like how Stephanie Plum is so flawed. It's a little formulaic and silly but such a fun ride!

10 steps to writing a Stephanie Plum novel:

1. give stephanie a "skip" who isn't easy to find immediately or who disappears, thus leaving her feeling "funky" in her gut
2. include several scenes where stephanie finds herself with her "skip" but the "skip" is not caught - actually, make one scene involve stephanie getting her own equipment used against her and you'll meet this requirement
3. toss in a few "dinners at home" with her funny/dysfunctional family, including her gun-totin' grannie and her mother who serves dinner at 6. sharp.
4. throw in a couple of scenes involving either stephanie's ex hubby dickie or his mistress joyce. focus on stephanie's blind rage.
5. scatter delicately several scenes involving joe morelli and his voracious sex drive.
6. add 2-4 scenes of the cryptic ranger, usually assisting stephanie in her attempts at apprehension
7. make your real "big bad" someone who is both the least likely person possible and someone who is vaguely connected to both stephanie's skip and whatever case joe morelli is supposed to be working on when he's not trying to sex up ms. plum
8. include a scene at the end where stephanie almost gets killed by the big bad but is rescued by one of her many colorful sidekicks
9. end on an ambiguous note, usually pertaining to the state of joe and stephanie's relationship
10. mention hairspray, spandex, the burg, the rangers, cars, surveillance, and doughnuts at whim.

truth be told, this one is my favorite so far. i laughed out loud several times, my favorite involving a scene where sally sweet (stephanie's new transvestite sidekick), lula (the 250 pound former hooker who helps stephanie), grandma mazur (the gun-totin' grannie who looks for "babes" and dresses like her granddaughter) and stephanie (the bounty hunter) get held up at knifepoint. three of the four have guns on them; i'll let you guess who was the odd man out.

finally some development in the morelli-plum relationship. of course, evanovich has to blow up stephanie's bedroom at 2am thus forcing her to stay at morelli's place for a couple of days (hello awkward plot device)...my only beef was this: after the steamy love connection, stephanie (and we the readers) are faced with the cold reality of the morning after, when morelli's hair is now too long (no longer sexy) and he fails to meet her high standards of having a cookie jar in his kitchen. when i read books like these, i want a departure from the mundane. i HAVE the reality; i don't need to be reminded of it in my crap-fiction. you dig? an odd moment of truth in an otherwise delightful installment of predictability.

2.5ish stars?
I liked the story and the cast of characters. And while I get that having the main couple finally heading to bed together makes for the semi-humorous, non-pregnancy plot-line, I feel the author could have dragged out the romantic tension much longer.

I stopped reading these for a while and I am glad that I am back. I absolutely love Stephanie Plum and this one did not disappoint. I managed to read it all in one day and was pleasantly surprised at the resolution. Usually, there are a couple different situations that need to be resolved, and this is no different. In addition, there were some hilarious characters. Loved Sally, the drag queen who isn't actually gay and the member of a popular rock band. Then, there's Joe Morelli, who you wish would just get together with Stephanie already. Whether or not that's ever going to happen is still up in the air. There were a lot of funny moments, which is one of the main reasons why I read these books. Looking forward to the next one.