Finger Lickin' Fifteen

Finger Lickin' Fifteen (A Stephanie Plum Novel)by Janet EvanovichI laughed out loud from page one of this novel right until the last page. The year wait from hard cover to paperback was worth it. I think this was one of the best Stephanie Plum books yet.You know, I see a lot of complaints at how Stephanie is still an incompetent bounty hunter and after all this time she should be better. Yes, it is true, but if you read these stories carefully you'll notice that she's not a mess up at everything. I mean, Ranger has her look into break-ins for him and to try and figure out who might  be double crossing him on the inside and Stephanie has a really keen eye for figuring out connections between burgled sites and how it could be done. She's got the smarts for an investigative job, she's just not a great bounty hunter.And to be honest, she's NOT a bounty hunter, she started that gig to be able to pay her rent and just sort of stuck with it.How she hasn't been killed yet is beyond me. And I still get a kick out of every car she has being destroyed in some manner. Heck, it'll even be destroyed just by being a bystander, er, bycarer, or whatever it cars are. That scene nearly killed me.There was little Morelli, which was fine by me, but I did feel a little pang of loss like Stephanie did when she'd see him or drive by. And there was a ton of Ranger (pardon me while I wipe drool off my keyboard) and as much as he tried to get her into bed, she resisted! (what is she? a nun? He's RANGER!) But at the same time I felt that made her a much stronger character and it said a lot about her as a person.The amount of Lula and Grandma in the book was borderline too much and just right. The story focuses on Lula and her witnessing a murder and those murderers trying to kill her and aside from how irritated I got when she decided she was moving into Stephanie's house without asking, I think she was tolerable. She always makes me laugh but sometimes she's just TOO MUCH LULA for my patience. Of course her crashing at Stephanie's meant that Steph was crashing at Ranger's and Mmmmm. Ranger.Evanovich never lets me down in a Stephanie Plum book. Sure I might not be as entertained by some as others, but I think this one was just what I needed after a craptastic week at work and heatwave that nearly knocked me out.(Also, Stephanie trying to dance in a hot dog costume nearly drowned me while I was in the bath. I laughed so hard I slipped and nearly dropped the book in the water. Best. Scene. Ever.)Stephanie Plum series

1. One for the Money
2. Two for the Dough
3. Three to Get Deadly
4. Four to Score
5. High Five
6. Hot Six
7. Seven Up
8. Hard Eight
9. To the Nines
10. Ten Big Ones
11. Eleven on Top
12. Twelve Sharp
13. Lean Mean Thirteen
14. Fearless Fourteen
15. Finger Lickin’ Fifteen
16. Sizzling Sixteen
17. Smokin' Seventeen (June 2011 - hard cover

Stephanie Plum Between-the-Numbers Novellas

1. Visions of Sugar Plums (between 8 & 9)
2. Plum Lovin’ (between 12 & 13)
3. Plum Lucky (between 13 & 14)
4. Plum Spooky (between 14 & 15)