Fearless Fourteen (Stephanie Plum #14) – Janet Evanovich

Personal vendettas, hidden treasure, and a monkey named Carl will send bounty hunter Stephanie Plum on her most explosive adventure yet.
    The Crime: Armed robbery to the tune of nine million dollars
     Dom Rizzi robbed a bank, stashed the money, and did the time. His family couldn’t be more proud. He always was the smart one.
    The Cousin: Joe Morelli
    Joe Morelli, Dom Rizzi, and Dom’s sister, Loretta, are cousins. Morelli is a cop, Rizzi robs banks, and Loretta is a single mother waiting tables at the firehouse. The all-American family.
    The Complications: Murder, kidnapping, destruction of personal property, and acid reflux
    Less than a week after Dom’s release from prison, Joe Morelli has shadowy figures breaking into his house and dying in his basement. He’s getting threatening messages, Loretta is kidnapped, and Dom is missing.
    The Catastrophe: Moonman
    Morelli hires Walter “Mooner” Dunphy, stoner and “inventor” turned crime fighter, to protect his house. Morelli can’t afford a lot on a cop’s salary, and Mooner will work for potatoes.
    The Cupcake: Stephanie Plum
    Stephanie and Morelli have a long-standing relationship that involves sex, affection, and driving each other nuts. She’s a bond enforcement agent with more luck than talent, and she’s involved in this bank-robbery-gone-bad disaster from day one.
    The Crisis: A favor for Ranger
    Security expert Carlos Manoso, street name Ranger, has a job for Stephanie that will involve night work. Morelli has his own ideas regarding Stephanie’s evening activities.
    The Conclusion: Only the fearless should read Fourteen.
    Thrills, chills, and incontinence may result

It’s been a WHILE since I’ve read a Stephanie Plum book — or really and cozy mystery — so when I was looking for a quick read, a palate cleanser, and a fun audio book, I knew just where to turn! I actually hadn’t read any of the Stephanie Plum books via audio before but I’ve heard they were good and I was pleasantly surprised to find out that Loreli King was the narrator who I first heard when I listened to First Grave on the Right (I didn’t fall in love with the book, but the narration was great)!

Simply put, Stephanie Plum books are just fun. I think I agree with the masses when I say that they’re good for something light, fun, and definitely not too serious. I really appreciated taking a break from the series for a while and coming back to it… Wow, maybe a year (or more) later? Of course, there are always a lot of hijinks and mishaps going on and sometimes it does get a little silly and unbelievable (even after taking a year break) but I was definitely laughing out loud in my car as I was listening. Janet Evanovich always does a great job of making her books entertaining!

I’m always amazed with after so many books how things are still able to be interesting and new. Stephanie always has a zany new case, and sure, we repeat some of the same jokes, but I’m always in the dark on the mystery that Stephanie needs to solve and somehow I’m never able to come up with the resolution to the mystery first. Maybe because these characters are so off-the-wall that I just can’t possibly predict what will happen next!

I am tiring of some of the characters a little bit. People like Lula and Mooner who have the typical Lula and Mooner things to say and the characters just get a little repetitive and start to get on my nerves. Some of the situations tend to get repetitive as well but that’s also why I was happy to take a break in between books! Once you write fourteen books with the same characters (and I think book #20 just came out), it’s hard to keep things fresh and new while keeping it light at the same time.

One thing I really do have an issue with is the Morelli-Stephanie-Ranger love triangle. Personally? I actually really like both guys. I love Morelli and he seems like the obvious choice, being the bad-boy turned responsible-man, owning a house, and you know, being in love with Stephanie. I always liked Ranger as the dangerous, silent type and having a mysterious quality, but that sort of got ruined when the whole love triangle got ruined when Stephanie ACTUALLY got with Ranger in a previous book. Love triangle explosion. I just can’t stand when characters are essentially more or less legitimately dating more than one person at a time and that crossed the line for me. I took that as cheating and well, with the constant innuendos from Ranger (which I used to enjoy), it just started to feel skeevy.

Will I keep reading this series? You bet. I know not to be blown away by them, but I’ll definitely keep on with Stephanie Plum’s latest adventures when I need a break from heavy reads or my usual YA.

Stephanie Plum // Character Obsessions: Bounty hunting, Morelli, Ranger, birthday cake.
I always love Stephanie. I feel like we have a lot in common (I LOVE birthday cake) and I’ve always kind of identified with her. I think she makes a lot of silly decisions, but oh hell. I love you anyway, girl.
Joe Morelli // Character Obsessions: Protecting & serving, Stephanie, beer, sweatpants, looking fine.
Morelli grows on me more and more each book… And now I’m starting to feel bad for him! It started out as a sort of taunting almost and I felt bad for Stephanie… Now I feel bad for Joe! He has genuine feelings for Steph and I love their relationship… I actually like Ranger a lot too but this side relationship with Ranger is really starting to bug me!

Kept Me Hooked On: Cozy mysteries. It’s been so long since I’ve read my beloved cozy mysteries! I still remember when I picked up the first in this series just over three years ago and read it on a snow day so it’s always near and dear to my heart. It also started my obsession with cozies too and it was good to fall back into them.
Left Me Wanting More: Romance. Oh, there’s romance… But I want that sense of REAL romance and a lasting relationship. Haha I’m totally pushing the Joe issue, here.

Addiction Rating
Read it!

If you’re fan of the series, you know what to expect. If you’re STILL a fan of the series, it’s worth the read and the palate cleanse! I always have fun with them.