Hot Six

Stephanie Plum, c'est encore et toujours la même rengaine : une tendance disproportionnée à se mettre dans le pépin à cause de son entêtement (parfois) puéril.
Et ça donne, encore et toujours, des bagnoles qui prennent feu, des types lourdingues qui collent aux basques, des DDC qui refusent de suivre la meilleure chasseuse de primes, des virées nocturnes pour acheter des barres de chocolat, des boulets qui handicapent sa vie sexuelle et des enquêtes qui sont souvent résolues au pif... disons-le clairement.
Dans cet épisode, Stephanie doit retrouver Ranger étrangement mêlé à une affaire de meurtre. Sa grand-mère vient emménager dans son appartement. Elle adopte sans le vouloir un chien à l'appétit insatiable. Et Morelli ronge son frein pour partager un peu d'intimité avec sa douce.
On a donc de bonnes séquences cocasses - heureusement - car le profil global fait penser à du copier-coller pur et dur. À consommer à doses homéopathiques... ou pas !

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
- La vache, si je gagnais un dollar pour chaque bagnole que tu bousilles, je pourrais déjà prendre ma retraite, lança Lula en arrivant.
- C'était pas ma faute.
- Ouais, c'est jamais ta faute. Ça doit être une question de karma. T'as vingt sur vingt au compteur à emmerdes quand il s'agit de bagnoles.
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Book on CD read by Debi Mazar

Episode Six in the Stephanie Plum series has our charmingly inept bounty hunter on the trail of her mentor, and man of hot dreams, Ranger. But Ranger is mixed up in a pretty dicey situation and two thugs are on Steph’s trail, hoping she’ll lead them to Ranger. Bad enough, but Grandma Mazur has moved in, and Steph’s been saddled with the dog from hell, Bob.

This is possibly the funniest of the books in the series that I’ve read. I first read this in about March 2003, and I remember clearly reading in the cafeteria during my lunch break and bursting out in laughter loud enough to have people several tables away look up to see what was going on. It’s the scene where Bob is kidnapped by the two thugs … just after he’s eaten two boxes of Grandma Mazur’s prunes (box and contents). Good Boy, Bob!

Update: Oct 2020 I’m re-reading this for a team challenge. But they’re also a great distraction from the serious issues facing our country right now.

Debi Mazar does a great job of reading the abridged audio version of this book. Having read the book previously, I really missed the episode of Bob in the car of the bad guys, after he’d eaten two entire boxes of prunes (box and contents). I was glad I had the text handy, so I could read that again.

This was the first Stephanie Plum novel I read. You can start in the middle of the series, but it's so much more fun beginning with #1.

Stephanie Plum is perhaps the most inept bounty hunter ever, but she manages to capture most of the FTA's assigned to her. Probably because she's got the help of Ranger, the sexiest, most successful bounty hunter ever. When things go wrong, and they always do, she can count on her sometimes boyfriend, Joe Morelli, to keep her out of jail.

With each successive novel, Janet Evanovich adds new layers of depth and hilarity to her characters. This series is fun to read - told in first person from Stephanie's point of view, the reader gets to "see" the quirky, dysfunctional lives of every day Americans. There's something about Stephanie's family that rings a bell - we don't all have parents like hers or a grandmother who's a comedic genius, inadvertently - but everyone's family has at least some of the funny traits Ms. Evanovich gives to her characters. You can relate!

I recommend this series to anyone who likes lighthearted mystery/suspense novels, told with a witty, sometimes sarcastic, sometimes lovable tone. There are scenes of violence and some hints at sex, though nothing graphic, and a good deal of strong language. If any of that offends you, stay away. Otherwise, dive in and enjoy!

**Content Warnings at the End of Review**

Hot Six is the sixth installment of the Stephanie Plum series and delivers everything readers have come to expect in regards to our favorite Bounty Hunter who is more lucky than skilled. This is my second time reading this novel and other than Bob the dog I didn’t remember really anything about it. I feel as if all my reviews for this series are going to get shorter from here on out unless something truly shocking or unexpected happens.

Hot Six follows Stephanie Plum as she attempts to get her life under control. Unfortunately, the Failure to Appear her cousin Vinnie, who is also her boss, wants her to bring in is Stephanie’s Bounty Hunter mentor, Ranger. When she refuses, the case is given to Stephanie’s arch nemesis Joyce Barnhardt, but as Ranger is the wind Stephanie isn’t too worried. What is worried about is that Ranger needs Stephanie to look into a known lock gun dealer's family while he is hiding from the police who are also looking for him due to one of the sons of this dealer's family ending up dead after a meeting. This leads Stephanie to be shot at a couple of times and followed around by individuals from another crime family who are also interested in finding Ranger. On top of all this, Grandma Mazur has moved into Stephanie’s one-bedroom apartment, taking over her room, she is stuck with a dog named Bob that eats everything and constantly has space cadets Mooner and Dougie stopping at her apartment for advice. Stephanie is just trying to get through the day, but as all the individuals who want Ranger close in on her, things can get deadly.

The one thing that is different about this installment is that there is more movement in the sexual tension between Stephanie and Ranger. Numerous times in this novel they are on the edge of something dangerous, but back away. It is interesting because usually, I have feelings about cheating or possible cheating, but for some reason in this series, it doesn’t give me an ick. Perhaps because it is the on-again-and-off-again nature of Stephanie and Joe’s relationship, perhaps it's the fact that Ranger and Joe seem to have an understanding, or perhaps it is the unserious nature of the series in general. I do know that this ‘which one will she choose’ as we get into the high numbers of the series will probably start to drain me, but I enjoy it at this point.

Overall, this is a nice novel but doesn’t stand out in any way. A solid 3.5-star read and a great beach or vacation read, but don’t expect the wheel to be reinvented.

**Content Warnings**
Fatphobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders

**Original Review**

Stephanie Plum is over her head once again when Ranger becomes an FTA and is drawn into helping him clear his name. Soon Stephanie is dealing with drug dealers, gun dealers, Joyce Barnhardt, and a Bob named Bob. All of this on top of a relationship with Joe Morelli which is on at the moment and Grandma Mazur moving into her apartment. Stephanie has a lot of problems and she doesn't even know where to start and all the stress is giving her a huge pimple and an eye twitch.

If you are the fan of Stephanie and Ranger's relationship, than this novel will make you very happy. While they don't get hot and heavy, there is a few passionate kisses and lots of sexual tension. While it makes for a good read, if it was real life I would think that Stephanie was being a bit of a slut. She says she loves Joe, yet she has no problem getting hot and heavy with Ranger. I like smut as much as the next person so I am not going to complain, but I would like a little more consistency from her. Pick a man or at least not say you love one when you are fantasizing about another one. *shrug* just me. Another thing that I loved in this novel was that Lula was more than just comedic relief. You could see that she actually cared about Stephanie and is a good friend to her, even if she's a bit odd at times.

One of the better novels and a bit different plot line then the first couple novels.

This is the sixth book in the 'Stephanie Plum Series' featuring Stephanie Plum as a single woman who lives in the 'burg' of Trenton, New Jersey working as a bounty hunter. Stephanie has a comic cast of characters that aid and/or hinder her investigations. Her competent mentor, Ranger, is falsely accused of murder and her employer expects her to bring him in. As usual, Stephanie can't manage to keep a vehicle very long before it succumbs to some kind of disaster. This series keeps the reader laughing-out-loud.

I've liked every single one of the books in this series, but this one was the best so far. There were a couple good new characters but the best on might be Bob the dog. There is no less than three instances where i actually laughed out loud reading some of the parts in this book involving Bob. A friend asks Stephanie to watch his dog, but before it's too late she realizes he is leaving him for good. So Stephanie with the help of her friends watch this crotch sniffing canine. The plot of the stories are almost secondary to Stephanie's relationships with Grandma, Lula, Morelli, and Ranger. I already have the 7th book ready to read, so if you haven't started these you better hop to it. You won't regret it!

Janet Evanovich, you are killing me with these endings!! I'm at the point where I don't know who to root for....well that's a lie. I would have Steph and Morelli get married yesterday if I had a choice. But Ranger is pretty fabulous himself. :D My thoughts on Hot Six:

1. Swoon everytime Morelli kisses the inside of Steph's hand. Just SWOON.
2. Bob is the MVP this book. And I'm not even a dog person.
3. The only person worse than Terri Gilman is Joyce Barnhardt. No question.
4. Lula is my spirit animal. I completely support her snack of fries, a milk shake, egg mcmuffin, and a coke. Yes, Steph, that is a snack. Don't judge. :D
5. The Trekkies were BEYOND hilarious. ("I don't think so, they're supposed to start showing all the movies soon" This would be me!!
6. Marry me, Morelli.
7. We need more of Grandma Bella.
8. There was an enormous amount of Grandma Mazur in this book and I STILL didn't have enough.
9. I LOVE Steph's Mom (Ellen?)
10. Seven Up, here I come!

Janet Evanovich sta prendendo la brutta abitudine di far si che, una volta concluso il libro, io mi chieda "ma come! devo andare assolutamente in biblioteca ad ordinare il prossimo volume!"

Questa volta Steph è alle prese con due scagnozzi sfigati che la vogliono tagliare a pezzi, Ranger sospettato di omicidio, una famiglia di mafiosi alla ricerca dei propri soldi perduti e lei, la mitica e unica Nonna Mazur alla ricerca di una patente e di un fidanzato!

Inutile ripetere che il mio personaggio preferito è lei, una nonna che quando la nipote le dice che le hanno sparato risponde "Figo!"

Le cose si stanno anche evolvendo sia con Ranger sia con Morelli...vedremo nel prossimo se deciderà con chi stare (w Morelli!)