Sizzling Sixteen

It is my fervent wish that Janet Evanovich never stops writing books in her Stephanie Plum series. These books are laugh-out-loud funny and give me the opportunity to share with other folks a new author (I'm always reading one of them in a public place when the person sitting next to me asks what book I'm reading that is causing me to laugh so much)! In this installment, Sizzling Sixteen, Stephanie's Uncle Vinnie is kidnapped because he owes too much money to his bookie. This is a big problem because with Vinne kidnapped Stephanie is unable to do her job as a bounty hunter and collect funds so that she can pay her rent! Even though Vinnie is a sleaze, bless his heart, he is related to Stephanie and she feels as if she owes it to him to try and rescue him. Of course, she has help from plus-size former prostitute Lula, her policeman on-again-off-again boyfriend Morelli, the elusive bounty hunter and private contractor Ranger, and the Bonds Office Manager Connie. The group performs several hilarious rescue attempts while Stephanie is chased (literally) by the bad guys hunting Vinnie and (figuratively) by Morelli and Ranger. I enjoy this series because it paints a realistic portrait of Trenton, New Jersey and its residents and the book characters are very enjoyable. One for the Money, the first book in the series is currently in production as a movie and if it resembles the book even a little bit the movie should be a real treat to watch.