Off the Bookshelf: NOTORIOUS NINETEEN, by Janet Evanovich

I love Stephanie Plum -- especially when I haven't read one of her stories in a looooong time. The silliness and the "what is WRONG with my life?" attitude underlying the narrative voice is great fun. Relaxing. A treat. A reward for working hard the last few months.

Janet Evanovich struck gold when she created Stephanie Plum -- the bounty hunter from the Burg, with the big hair, who hates guns and has no domestic skills, caught between the bad-boy-turned-cop and the ex-Special Forces security specialist. Yeah, the girl who trashes more cars in one book than a smash-up derby.

In NINETEEN, Stephanie is trying to catch a man who vanished from the hospital following surgery and embezzling from a nursing home. Plus someone is out for Ranger's neck and he hired Stephanie to help guard a friend who is also a target, during his wedding. The dress Stephanie has to wear as a stand-in bridesmaid is the WORST! Appearances by Grandma Mazur and previous visiting characters are wonderful, as usual.

Want to laugh and be assured your life isn't half as bad as you think? But start with the first book -- people join the storyline and you learn bits and pieces of their lives as you go along. All the insanity aside, the characters and their interactions are the best part of Evanovich's stories.