EXPLOSIVE EIGHTEEN

Stephanie Plum is returning from a disasterous trip to Hawaii when her seatmate on the plane stashes a photo in her purse. Stephanie isn't willing to talk about what happened when she was gone but she has a tan line on her finger where a ring used to be and both Ranger and Morelli are unhappy. Stephanie soon finds out that alot of dangerous people are looking for the photo and they are willing to do her a great deal of harm to get it back.

It's another chapter in the Stephanie Plum saga by Janet Evanovich. Some people seem disappointed that Stephanie never seems to change and the romance triangle continues. At the beginning of this book, the reader has hope that something may be going on that will tip the scales toward one man and not another, but alas, it's still pretty much the same. Still, Stephanie is great light reading, again and again.

Rating - B+

TROPHY HUNT

Joe Pickett is dealing with a killer who is tracing down hunters in the Saddlestring area. The killer is vicious in the killings. Saddlestring is also dealing with Clamith Moore, a nationally known anti-hunting spokesman. It seems to Joe that he might be involved in the killings. Joe is also having to deal with an ineffectual boss but Joe is still reporting to the governor, who wants Joe on the case of finding the killers.

Once more, C.J. Box has written a very thought provoking book. Joe in his role as game-warden is pro-hunting but in a responsible way. Still, he has some sympathies for those who are outside of the law, including his friend, Nate Romanoski. This book was a thriller from beginning to end.

Rating - A

WINTER AND NIGHT

Bill's nephew, Gary, who he really doesn't know at all calls Bill to get him out of jail. Bill takes the boy home and before he can really find out what's going on, the boy runs away. Bill is determined to find him. Doing so, brings him back in contact with his sister whom he hasn't seen for years and his very hostile brother-in-law. He also finds himself in a small town where football is everything and the jocks run the town, no matter what. When a local girl is found dead, things get even more tense as it seems that Gary may have run away because he was involved in the murder.

I always love S.J. Rozan and this book was no exception. Bill is tense and brooding in much of this book but it does explain his family history and why he is the man he has become. Lydia is always at his side, keeping him sane and from stepping over the boundaries that will cause him to self-destruct as they figure out what Gary might be doing and what happened in their small town twenty-some years ago.

Rating - A-

HISSY FIT

Keely has a big old-fashioned hissy fit when she catches her fiance at their wedding rehearsal dinner with her best friend. A.J.'s family is wealthy and runs just about everything in town so things get pretty difficult for Keely for calling off the wedding. Her daddy gets kicked out of the country club and she and her aunt are losing decorating jobs left and right! So, when Keely gets an offer to restore an old antebellum mansion she can hardly turn it down - even though he witnessed her most embarrassing moment of her hissy fit which inclued keying A.J.'s car with the word "A-S-H-O-L-E". Besides, Will has problems of his own. He wants Keely to fix up the mansion so that a woman will fall in love with him and he has bought the nearly defunct Loving Cup Bra factory.

This is the second Mary Kay Andrews books that I have read and I loved this one, too. I loved the descriptions of the decorating process. Keely and Will were both fun, lovable characters. The rest of the town sounded so nice that I really wanted to visit there. The Southern charm just oozed from every page.

Rating - A