Seven Up

by Evanovich

[Leah]

The smash hit No. 1 bestselling author takes you on the ride of your life in the seventh Stephanie Plum adventure. Stephanie thinks she’s going after an easy FTA: a senior citizen charged with smuggling contraband cigarettes. But when she and Lula show up at his house, they get more than they bargained for – a corpse in the woodshed and an old man on the lam. Stephanie’s mind is on other matters, however, because she has two proposals to consider: vice cop Joe Morelli is proposing marriage, and fellow bounty hunter Ranger is proposing a single perfect night...

I am now seven books into the Stephanie Plum series and thus far I am still not bored. Despite the fact each book is pretty much a carbon copy of the last, there are some interesting differences that make each book unique. Not to mention the fact that as the books wear on, the relationship between Morelli/Stephanie/Ranger takes a step further towards... well, it doesn't take a step towards anything, but the relationships do generally ratchet up another level. I mean, at this point I'm about ready to explode with love for Ranger. I mean seriously. Dangerous? Check. Gorgeous? Check. Dangerously gorgeous? Check check check. As much as I love Morelli, he just doesn't compare to Ranger. At the moment, anyway. I am TOTALLY on the Ranger train.

During the past week I've been going through some of a reading slump and I didn't even want to read on my Kindle, either. So early on I did struggle to get into the book. I did eventually get into it, though I found the whole Morelli/Stephanie 'marriage' idea to be ridiculous because it's never going to happen. Seriously, the day Stephanie and Morelli marry, there's a good chance I'll faint. I don't think it'll ever happen. At this moment in time my Ranger-brain doesn't want it to happen anyway. I must admit, during the first two/three books I did wonder how the love triangle was going to play out because there was no triangle because Ranger wasn't in it much, but if there's any character that's really come to stand out and develop during the book it is indeed the wild cannon that is Ranger. Morelli and Stephanie haven't really changed since book one (although Stephanie HAS stopped ruining cars) but Ranger has. Ranger's still scary, but he's also less scary, if that even makes sense.

Stephanie's Grandma Mazur is back and is as funny as ever. Seriously, I want her to be my Grandma. Mooner and Dougie from Hot Six return, which I loved. There are a few previous characters I'd love to have seen appear again (particularly Sally Sweets) and so to have Moonie and Dougie back, who were hilarious in Hot Six, was brilliant. I so hope that means they'll be in Hard Eight and To The Nines (and the rest!). We finally meet Stephanie's sister (although I must admit, I'd forgotten Stephanie had a sister, doh!) Valerie and her kids. I also want to give a shout out to Stephanie's mum. I LOVE HER. She's always making the sign of the cross, or fainting, but I love her for it. So, yup, Seven Up is a worthy addition to the series. Took a bit for me to get into it and the ending made me want to scream and rush into Hard Eight (honestly, talk about a cliff-hanger). There's a month until book seventeen is out and I only have 9 to go to catch up. Plus the holiday novellas, obviously. So, basically, the moral of my review? READ THIS SERIES.