Book Review: Dear Pen Pal (The Mother-Daughter Book Club, #3) by Heather Vogel Frederick

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Dear Pen Pal (The Mother-Daughter Book Club, #3)  by Heather Vogel Frederick  is the third book in a middle grade book series that is being rereleased. Chaos erupts in this third installment as the daughters in the book club get themselves into trouble. Each of the girls have big changes in their lives:  Jess is going to boarding school; Megan's grandmother comes to live with her; Emma starts a campaign against school uniforms; Cassidy has a lot of unexpected change coming to her family. Will the mother daughter book club stay together? I'd like to thank NetGalley, Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing, and Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers for an Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) of Dear Pen Pal  by Heather Vogel Frederick with it's upcoming rerelease to the public. I always love a good book that involves books, even if its target audience is children between the ages of eight and twelve. It wasn't until I reached the end of the book that I realized that it...
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Book Review: Dirty Thirty (Stephanie Plum, #30) by Janet Evanovich

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Book Review: Dirty Thirty (Stephanie Plum, #30) by Janet Evanovich
Book Review of Dirty Thirty (Stephanie Plum, #30) by Janet Evanovich
Dirty Thirty (Stephanie Plum, #30) by Janet Evanovich is the latest installment in the long-running and beloved Stephanie Plum series, and it opens with Joe Morelli asking Stephanie to dog-sit his famously quirky dog, Bob, while he’s out of town testifying at a trial. As expected, things quickly spiral into chaos when Stephanie has to bring Bob along while attempting to apprehend her usual lineup of FTAs. Between chasing fugitives, dodging danger, and juggling her complicated personal life, Stephanie also finds herself seriously questioning whether marriage is something she truly wants.

Each book in the Stephanie Plum series tends to follow a familiar and comforting formula, with everything wrapped up in a neat, tidy bow by the end. That predictability is actually one of the main reasons I keep coming back to these books. I always know Stephanie will get herself into trouble, Ranger or Morelli will step in to help, and the bad guy will eventually be caught. Sometimes I just want something familiar and reliable to read, and I don’t mean that in a negative way at all. These books let me escape reality for a while and provide plenty of laughs along the way. For me, the Stephanie Plum series is the literary equivalent of comfort food.

dirty thirty stephanie plum 30 janet evanovich
The last few installments felt a bit off to me, almost as if they had been ghostwritten, but Dirty Thirty feels much more in line with the earlier books in the series. I didn’t get that disconnected feeling this time around, which made the reading experience far more enjoyable. Unlike most previous endings, this one also leaves readers with a bit of a cliffhanger ... Stephanie receives marriage proposals from both Morelli and Ranger. Since she was previously engaged to Morelli earlier in the series and ultimately called it off, I’m genuinely intrigued to see if she’ll finally choose one of them and actually get married. I really hope she does.

One of my favorite characters has always been Bob, so I absolutely loved the fact that he played such a large role in Dirty Thirty. As an animal lover, I can’t help but adore this dog and the chaos he brings to every scene he’s in. Ranger was also a standout for me in this installment, and I really enjoyed how he was written in this storyline.

I gave Dirty Thirty (Stephanie Plum, #30) by Janet Evanovich five out of five stars. I’m a little sad that I’ve finished it because I already want more, and now I have to wait another year or so for the next Stephanie Plum book to be released.

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