#Janet Evanovich

[tahelms85]

The literal worst part of the latest Stephanie Plum novel is Herbert. Prove me wrong. I want someone to knock this guy's face through the back of his head.

[monsterkong]

It Takes a Village: The Power of Community and Education in Kenya

Stephanie Swenseid always had a calling. As a child, Africa intrigued her, and she dreamed of one day making a difference. ✨ That dream became a reality in 2009 when she left her corporate career to pursue humanitarian work in Kenya. 💼→🌍

In this week’s Business Story of the Week, Stephanie shares her powerful journey from a corporate photographer to a full-time advocate for children’s education in rural Kenya. Her story is deeply inspiring and a reminder that it truly does “take a village.” 👪

The Journey Begins

Stephanie’s first trip to Kenya was a life-changing experience. Through her camera lens, she captured the raw beauty and immense challenges facing the local community. During this mission, she met Anne, a young girl who would become a pivotal part of her life. 📸✨

Anne, like many children in rural Kenya, faced an uphill battle to receive a basic education. School fees, uniforms, and supplies all cost money, which many families couldn’t afford. Stephanie decided to sponsor Anne, and their connection blossomed into something much deeper. 💞

A Life-Altering Bond

“I never expected to feel such a deep connection,” Stephanie recalls. “When Anne asked if she could call me ‘mother,’ it was like the universe had aligned.” The two formed an unbreakable bond, and through their relationship, Stephanie realized her purpose: to help children like Anne gain access to education. 🎓

Through her initiative, An and Me, Stephanie continues to support children in need of education. “We’re not just helping them learn; we’re giving them a future,” she says. 🌱

Where Is Anne Now?

Anne is now a mother herself and pursuing a career in healthcare. With Stephanie’s support, she has become the first in her family to finish high school and go to college. 🙌 Her story is one of resilience and proof that with the right support, dreams can become reality.

How Can You Help?

Feeling inspired by Stephanie’s story? Here’s how you can make a difference:

Donate to support school fees and educational supplies.

Sponsor a Child through An.org and help make education accessible.

Share the documentary It Takes a Village and raise awareness about the importance of education in rural areas.

Let’s come together as a global village and make a lasting impact. 🌍💡

[quoteablebooks]

Genre: Fiction, Adult, Mystery, Humor

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Content Warning: Ableism, Abortion            

Summary: **A Stephanie Plum “In Between the Numbers” Christmas novel**

It's five days before Christmas and things are not looking merry for Fugitive Apprehension Agent Stephanie Plum. She hasn't got a tree. She hasn't bought any presents. The malls are jam-packed with staggering shoppers. There's not a twinkle light anywhere to be seen in her apartment.

And there's a strange man in her kitchen.

Sure, this has happened to Stephanie Plum before. Strangers, weirdos, felons, creeps, and lunatics are always finding their way to her front door. But this guy is different. This guy is mysterious, sexy-and he has his own agenda. His name is Diesel and he is a man on a mission. And Diesel is unlike anyone Stephanie has ever met before in her life. The question is, what does he want with her? Can he help her find a little old toy maker who has skipped out on his bail right before Christmas? Can he survive the Plum family holiday dinner? Can he get Stephanie a tree that doesn't look like it was grown next to a nuclear power plant? These questions and more are keeping Stephanie awake at night. Not to mention the fact that she needs to find a bunch of nasty elves, her sister Valerie has a Christmas "surprise" for the Plums, her niece Mary Alice doesn't believe in Santa anymore, and Grandma Mazur has a new stud muffin. So bring out the plastic reindeer, strap on your jingle bells, and get ready to celebrate the holidays--Jersey style. In Janet Evanovich's Visions of Sugar Plums, the world of Plum has never been merrier!

*Opinions*

This is the first Between-the-Numbers novella for the Stephanie Plum series. While the main series does not take itself seriously, this novella takes the humor and suspension of disbelief to a whole new level. I like Evanovich’s humor (obviously as I am attempting to read the 30+ books in this series) but if you want a book that takes itself even a little bit seriously, please do not pick up this book. You will DNF it within the first fifteen pages. 

Visions of Sugar Plums follows Stephanie Plum, a better lucky than good bounty hunter, who is having a hard time finding her failure to appear and get into the Christmas Spirit. It doesn’t help that the FTA she is trying to hunt down is Sandy Claws and a mysterious man who might be an alien has just appeared in her kitchen stating he is there to get her into the Christmas Spirit. This mysterious man, who goes by Diesel, is also looking for someone and thinks that Stephanie will be able to help him find this individual, who might also be an alien. Soon, Stephanie is stressing about not having a single Christmas gift, being attacked by angry elves, helping her sister Valerie with a huge decision, and another one of her cars going up in flames. Unless Stephanie gets into the Christmas spirit quickly, the holiday season will crash and burn as well.

Personally, I really like the Between-the-Number novels because they are so unserious. Stephanie really doesn’t question a lot in these stories and invites the reader to do the same. Sure there are people with special powers that can pop into places and open locks magically. How is that any different than all the crazy things that happened in Stepahie’s life up to that point? There were a lot of nods to the series readers and I don’t think anyone who isn’t invested in the series would appreciate this novel. If you enjoy spending time with Stephanie and the people in her life, it is a quick, fun read. 3.5 star. 

[nats-reads-reviews]

One for the Money by Janet Evanovich 3.5/5 ⭐️

This is definitely one of those guilty pleasure reads. The characters and situations they get into are just ridiculous lol. The characters are all pretty satirical New Jerseyan’s but I found myself laughing and enjoying the story a lot. If you’re looking for a cozy mystery series that’ll keep you entertained and laugh, but still has a bit of a gritty element, the Stephanie Plum series has it all!

[the-random-sentence-library]

"I imagine you're looking for level spots on the mountain where someone could bury a chest."

Quote randomly selected from page 170 of Janet Evanovich's novel The Recovery Agent: A New Adventure Begins.

Additional notes: Spoken by the character Thompson.

Quote was selected at random from a book chosen at random from my local library.

[dartumbles]

Review: The Recovery Agent by Janet Evanovich

The Recovery Agent by Janet Evanovich My rating: 4 of 5 stars Another fun road trip read (listen). Lorelei King (Reader) gave Janet Evanovich’s usual fun writing a reality that might not be present as eyes scan a page. She has that acting ability to give each character a different voice. The listener doesn’t get lost between the many people in the book. I have read other fun books by Janet…

[sleepdeprivedsnail]

Why oh why I am hyperfixating on a book series with a target audience of middle-aged women and absolutely no fandom for??

[pithia]

I think [verklempt] might be like an orgasm of the brain.

—Lula (Going Rogue/Rise and Shine Twenty-Nine by Janet Evanovich)

[almosthalfaheart]

Tonight my aloneness felt lonely, and maybe even a little frightening

[tahelms85]

Is it bad that all I want is Paige Tyler's next Alpha Swat series book to come out? The last one was just in September, but I'm IMPATIENT. Plus the new Stephanie Plum book comes out around then and I need Paige's to come out sooner than that so I can space them out because I have a feeling Stephanie Plum may fuck me up. It sounds ominous.

[quoteablebooks]

Genre: Fiction, Adult, Mystery

Rating: 3 out of 5

Content Warning: Misogyny, Torture, Sexual harassment, Murder off-page, Hit and Run

Summary: Fugitive Apprehension Agent Stephanie Plum has a big problem on her hands: Seven-year-old Annie Soder and her mother, Evelyn, have disappeared.

Evelyn's estranged husband, Steven, a shady owner of a seedy bar, is not at all happy. During the divorce proceedings, he and Evelyn signed a child custody bond, and Steven is demanding the money guaranteed by the bond to find Annie. The money was secured by a mortgage on Evelyn's grandmother's house, and the True Blue Bonds Bail Agency wants to take possession of the house.

Finding a kidnapped child is not an assignment for a bounty hunter. But Evelyn's grandmother lives next door to Stephanie's parents, and Stephanie's mother and grandmother are not about to see their neighbor lose her house because of abduction.

Even though Stephanie's plate is full with miscreants who missed their court dates, including old nemesis and violent drunk Andy Bender and an elusive little old lady accused of grand theft auto, she can't disappoint Grandma Mazur! So she follows the trail left by Annie and Evelyn-- and finds a lot more than she bargained for. Steven is somehow linked with a very scary Eddie Abruzzi. Trenton cop and on-again, off-again fiance Joe Morelli and Stephanie's mentor and tormentor, Ranger, warn Stephanie about Abruzzi, but it's Abruzzi's eyes and mannerisms that frighten Stephanie the most. Stephanie needs Ranger's savvy and expertise, and she's willing to accept his help to find Annie even though it might mean becoming too involved with Ranger.

Stephanie, Ranger, Lula (who's not going to miss riding with Ranger), and Evelyn's lawyer/laundromat manager set out to find Annie. The search turns out to be a race among Stephanie's posse, the True Blue Bonds' agent, a Rangerette known as Jeanne Ellen Burrows, and the Abruzzi crew. Not to mention the fact that there's a killer rabbit on the loose!

Strap on your helmet and get ready for the ride of your life. Hard Eight. The world of Plum has never been wilder.

*Opinions*

I am slowly making my way through the Stephanie Plum books and Hard Eight was the next one on the list. Now, I had read this novel before, but I remembered very little about it and after I finished it, I can see why. There was a lot that I didn’t like about this book and not enough that I enjoyed to make this a memorable reading experience. In a series that is this long, they aren’t all going to be winners and this was not a winner for me. 

Hard Eight follows Stephanie Plum as she continues to make rent by bringing in FTAs as a bounty hunter for her cousin Vinnie. Stephanie herself says that she is more lucky than good at her job, but she is not having a lot of luck this week. On top of all that, her parents’ next-door neighbor is asking for Stephanie to look for her daughter, Evelyn, and her granddaughter, Annie. What seems like a simple request quickly turns complicated and Stephanie is put in the path of Eddie Abruzzi, a powerful and unhinged man. As the search for Evelyn turns deadly, Stephanie needs to turn to her fellow bounty hunter Ranger for assistance, even with the sexual tension between them. Soon, Stephanie is being cashed by a man in a rabbit suit and needs to find Evelyn before she dies in Abruzzi’s twisted war games. 

This novel delves further into dark territory than some of the novels before this one. It always surprises me how dark the first novel was when I reread it and there were some very dark parts of this novel. Evanovich does attempt to lighten up these areas with humor, like Grandma Mazur with the flashing rabbit and her mother joking after hitting the rabbit with the car. Still, a lot in this novel can leave the reader feeling uncomfortable. It is not material that bothered me, but for readers who are coming to this novel for humor, it might be jarring and uncomfortable. 

The thing that really annoyed me about this novel was the way that the two interesting parts of this novel were completely glossed over in a sentence or a paragraph. The one that really gets me is that Ranger and Stephanie FINALLY have sex after books' worth of tension, and it is glassed over in a paragraph. Now I am not one of those “is there spice” readers, but if you are going to build up a sexual encounter for books, I want at least a page before you cut to black. Especially when you are telling me that this man is so good in bed that he might ruin a woman for all other men. I need some details and I know Evaonvich can write a sex scene because she did so for Morelli a couple of books ago. Then, when this same man, KILLS SOMEONE FOR HER, it is discussed in a single sentence and then Stephanie goes to have sex with Morelli. I just…there was so much time in this novel spent with Stephanie spinning her wheels or straight-up failing, I would have liked that to be cut down to dig into the juicy stuff. 

The pacing of this novel was off and the storyline was not one that really interested me. Even the climax (literally) was so boring that I forgot it even happened this early in the series. It wasn’t that I didn’t enjoy myself, but there are definitely better books in the series. This is a 3-star read. 

[mayliang17]

Book review: The Recovery Agent by Janet Evanovich

The Recovery Agent by Janet EvanovichMy rating: 3 of 5 starsThis is the first in a new series by a well-known mystery author, Janet Evanovich, who writes the Stephanie Plum series. Gabriela Rose is a “recovery agent,” someone who is retained to find lost/stolen/missing items. And this time she is off to find lost treasure in order to save her family’s home.While the premise of this mystery is…

[abouttimefirwomenpower]

A Fun Thanksgiving Read

Can you believe that Thanksgiving (USA) is next week?!🤔😳 This year went by way to quickly.

With all the talk about the holiday, whether it's ethical to celebrate it....cause we are supposed to be punished for what our ancestors did.... I decided to change the holiday for me. I am a lone shutin(poor health) anyways. So, now it's the first day of the holiday season day....

I decorate my apartment then I read this book. It's such a fun a quick read. Janet Evanovich is such a hoot. I like the other one called Thanksgiving, sadly, I'm on hold for that. I can onky afford library books.

Are there any Janet Evanovich fans?

Peace, love and hugs, Renee

[siete-pecados]

BOOKS I READ IN 2023 → The Recovery Agent by Janet Evanovich

[mood2you]

JOMPBPC September 1 TBR

[thumbedpages]

Janet Evanovich - Fortune and Glory