Plum Lucky (Stephanie Plum #13.5) – Janet Evanovich

Title: Plum Lucky (Stephanie Plum #13.5) by Janet Evanovich
Publishing Info: January 8, 2008 by Macmillan
Genres: Adult, Cozy Mystery, Mystery/Thriller
Find it on the web: Buy from Amazon // GoodreadsDate Completed: November 25, 2012
Related Posts: Lean Mean Thirteen (Stephanie Plum #13), Fearless Fourteen (Stephanie Plum #14), , Finger Lickin' Fifteen (Stephanie Plum #15), Mini-Reviews: The Audition, Plum Spooky | DNF Report: Tether, Plum Spooky (Stephanie Plum #14.5), Mini-Reviews: Sizzling Sixteen (Stephanie Plum #16) & Smokin' Seventeen (Stephanie Plum #17), Sizzling Sixteen (Stephanie Plum #16), Smokin' Seventeen (Stephanie Plum #17), Explosive Eighteen (Stephanie Plum #18), Sizzling Sixteen (Stephanie Plum #16), Mini-Reviews: Notorious Nineteen (Stephanie Plum #19), Takedown Twenty (Stephanie Plum #20), Top Secret Twenty-One (Stephanie Plum #21), Notorious Nineteen (Stephanie Plum #19), Takedown Twenty (Stephanie Plum #20), Top-Secret Twenty-One (Stephanie Plum #21), , Tricky Twenty-Two (Stephanie Plum #22), Curious Minds (Knight & Moon #1), Turbo Twenty-Three (Stephanie Plum #23), Sizzling Sixteen (Stephanie Plum #16), Dangerous Minds (Knight & Moon #2), Wicked Appetite (Lizzy & Diesel #1), Hardcore Twenty-Four (Stephanie Plum #24), The Heist (Fox & O'Hare #1), Look Alive Twenty-Five (Stephanie Plum #25), Twisted Twenty-Six (Stephanie Plum #26)

    Looking to get lucky? 
Stephanie Plum is back between-the-numbers and she’s looking to get lucky in an Atlantic City hotel room, in a Winnebago, and with a brown-eyed stud who has stolen her heart.
    Stephanie Plum has a way of attracting danger, lunatics, oddballs, bad luck . . . and mystery men. And no one is more mysterious than the unmentionable Diesel. He’s back and hot on the trail of a little man in green pants who’s lost a giant bag of money. Problem is, the money isn’t exactly lost. Stephanie’s Grandma Mazur has found it, and like any good Jersey senior citizen, she’s hightailed it in a Winnebago to Atlantic City and hit the slots. With Lula and Connie in tow, Stephanie attempts to bring Grandma home, but the luck of the Irish is rubbing off on everyone: Lula’s found a job modeling plus-size lingerie. Connie’s found a guy. Diesel’s found Stephanie. And Stephanie has found herself in over her head with a caper involving thrice-stolen money, a racehorse, a car chase, and a bad case of hives.
    Plum Lucky is an all-you-can-eat buffet of thrills, chills, shrimp cocktail, plus-size underwear, and scorching hot men. It’s a between-the-numbers treat no Evanovich fan will want to miss! 

I do have to say that I enjoyed PLUM LUCKY a lot more than the previous “Between the Numbers” books. I always enjoy the Stephanie Plum books regardless of how silly they get, but reading the first two BtN books (PLUM LOVIN’, VISIONS OF SUGAR PLUSM) had more of a paranormal element to them that took it a little outside of the normal fun-loving but (moderately) realistic Stephanie sagas. In each BtN book, we get a glimpse of Diesel, who’s kind of like Ranger only he deals with the fantasy/paranormal worlds and sometimes appears and disappears at will. I think the magical aspect takes away from the normal Stephanie story lines that I always love. PLUM LUCKY dealt with leprechaun luck, but it was much more enjoyable because we just see another zany criminal who thinks he’s a leprechaun and keeps trying to act like one, but really he’s just an average Joe like everyone else.

I’m never a fan of the Stephanie/Diesel interactions — no, scratch that. They’re always decently enjoyable but I always find myself pining for the real stories. Even though it’s been going on for 14 books, I still love the Stephanie/Joe/Ranger love triangle. I still can’t make up my mind how I want that to end (I think I’m on Joe’s side! But Ranger… Oh, Ranger) and I find that to be one of the more enjoyable parts of the Plum books.

Realistically, I like to take these books for what they are: fun fillers. I can’t take them too seriously because clearly they aren’t intended that way! They’re even labeled as “Between the Numbers” and aren’t the meat and potatoes of the series, so I like to take them in their proper context.

Grandma Mazur: I wanted to see more of Grandma in this story! She was a big part of the plot yet somehow absent all at the same time. I love how the grandmother is one of the most unpredictable characters of this series.
Diesel: Eh, Diesel still really doesn’t do much for me. I find his character a little dull and I think of him as the poor man’s Ranger!

Library read

The “between the numbers” books aren’t really my favorites but I do always love this series so I’ve committed to reading them all!