The Running Bibliophile

In the latest installment of the Stephanie Plum book series, Sizzling Sixteen (Stephanie Plum, #16) by Janet Evanovich, Vinnie Plum has run out of luck. His gambling debts caused him to be kidnapped and put his business, Vincent Plum Bonds, in jeopardy. Vinnie's employee and cousin Stephanie ropes coworkers Lula and Connie into helping her find Vinnie.

Although, I thoroughly enjoyed Sizzling Sixteen, the one thing that I was confused about throughout the entire book was that Lula kept mentioning her car (a Firebird), and I thought it was destroyed in Finger Lickin' Fifteen (Stephanie Plum, #15). I kept telling myself that maybe she purchased a new Firebird, but she sure didn't act like it. I go back and forth between liking Lula and disliking her. There are some books where she just gets on my nerves, and this is one of them.

With that being said, I did enjoy that Connie was featured more than normal and that we learned a little bit more of her. I hope we get to see Connie…

Finger Lickin' Fifteen (Stephanie Plum, #15) by Janet Evanovich is the fifteenth installment of her Stephanie Plum book series, if you don't count the four in between the numbers books she's written. In this edition, Lula witnesses celebrity chef Stanley Chipotle, who is in town for a barbecue cookoff, being murdered by two men, and now, the murderers are after her. Now, Chipolte's sponsor is offering a reward to anyone who can provide information to his murder, which leads Lula to pull in Stephanie Plum and Grandma Mazur to help her to capture the killer.
What can I say? I just become more and more enamored with the Stephanie Plum book series. It's a perfect book to read on vacation or even to just relax, regardless of the serious topics it deals with like murder and burglary. Even though a lot of the books in this series has a subplot, Finger Lickin' Fifteen seemed to have more of a subplot, which had me wanting to stay up into the wee hours of the night. And…

Janet Evanovich writes a few books in the Stephanie Plum book series called "A Stephanie Plum Between-the-Numbers Novel". Typically, they're novellas, and I finish them with the thought that they're cute but not very engaging, and they usually don't move the rest of the series forward. And, I don't particularly like the character named Diesel. On top of that, the third "Between-the-Numbers Novel", Plum Lucky (Stephanie Plum, #13.5) couldn't hold my interest, and I gave up after the first chapter.  I do plan on going back and reading it to see if I just wasn't in the right mindset to read it.
With that being said, I was pleasantly surprised with Plum Spooky (Stephanie Plum, #14.5) by Janet Evanovich. This time, it is a full size novel, and I have to say, it's the one I absolutely fell in love with and changed my mind about the "Between-the-Numbers" books in the series.
Things I enjoyed about Plum Spooky was that it somewhat pic…

Ain't Seen Muffin Yet (Lexy Baker, #15) by Leighann Dobbs follows Lexy Baker, her grandmother, and her grandmother's friends on a case where Henry, the grandson of Nan's neighbor, is accused of murdering his wife. The only clue to the real murderer is a corn muffin with sugar on top.
When I first started reading the Lexy Baker cozy mystery book series, I thought it was cute, and it gave me a nice read when I wasn't in the mood for something heavier. However, I found myself struggling with the latest edition, Ain't Seen Muffin Yet (Lexy Baker, #15). I was forcing myself to finish the book because it just seemed like it was a carbon-copy of the last few books in the series, and it seemed very formulaic. I just so desperately wanted to love it because I was in the mood for a cozy mystery, and it fell a bit flat to me, especially after reading Gemma Halliday and Kelly Rey's Peril in High Heels (High Heels, #11).
What I did notice is that Leighann Dobbs didn't …

While purchasing Peril in High Heels (High Heels, #11) by Gemma Halliday and Kelly Rey, I thought I'd check to see if A High Heels Haunting (High Heels, #4.5) by Gemma Halliday was available for purchase because every time I went to buy it previously, it was never available. I was super excited that I was finally able to buy it.
Since A High Heels Haunting is really a novella, I was able to finish it in one sitting. Although it is technically part of the High Heels book series, Maddie Springer was barely in the book, and I wasn't expecting that, so I was very disappointed. 
It was very well written and kept me intrigued. I feel like if it hadn't been tied to the High Heels book series, I would've enjoyed it so much more because I kept waiting for Maddie to make a big appearance. What I did love was that I never guessed who the killer was . . . I guessed someone completely different.
The novella is about a web designer named Kya Badder who falls in love with a pair of …

Peril in High Heels (High Heels, #11) by Gemma Halliday and Kelly Rey brings back the beloved character of Maddie Springer who is in heaven watching her best friend Dana star in a film that is an adaption of her favorite book. Things go downhill when the director is found in his trailer . . . stabbed to death with one of the prop swords.
The High Heels Mysteries book series is one of my favorite cozy mysteries. Not only does it have mystery, there is a little romance and a bit of comedy. I have to say that other than Maddie, her husband Jack Ramirez is my absolute favorite character.
What I loved about Peril in High Heels is that there were several red herrings, but I tried to figure out who the killer was early on . . . I was glad to find out that I was correct in my guess, but I couldn't quite figure out the motive. Of course, Maddie gets herself in a pickle and becomes a target herself when she starts asking the right questions around the movie set. I wasn't expecting the …