The Kari AnnAlysis

Posts Tagged ‘janet evanovich’

Whenever you read a book, you always get a picture in your mind of what the people look like. I tend to place the characters as people I know. Well, not really who I know personally, but who I would expect to play them in the movie version of the book.

I do this for most books, so you can expect this to become a regular here at The KariAnnAlysis. Welcome to my first installment.

The Stephanie Plum Series by Janet Evanovich is a series I have had a lot of time to think about. I have read 20 of these books and my choice for Stephanie Plum was easy.

Meet Joanne Kelly who plays Agent Myka Bering in the SyFy show “Warehouse 13″.

I think the main thing that did it for me with Kelly was the unruly hair, but she also kicks some major butt in “Warehouse 13″ and could definitely be seen as a bounty hunter, or a wanna-be bounty hunter as Stephanie normally comes off.

Interestingly enough, the Stephanie Plum series is headed to the big screen and my wishes didn’t come true. Kelly is not playing Stephanie Plum. Katherine Heigl actually is. I am very surprised by this. She is definitely not who I pictured in the role, but I’ll give her a chance (not like I really have a choice.)

Ok, so you all know The Rock. And yes, I am sticking with the Stephanie Plum series here. This bad boy, muscle man to the right is who I picture playing Ranger.

Ranger is dark, mysterious and a serious butt kicker. Ever since I first read his description, The Rock was my first choice of who I wanted to see on the big screen.

Just like my dreams of Stephanie Plum, my dreams about who plays Ranger were crushed. Ok, so it’s really not that big of deal, but The Rock is not signed up to play Ranger.

Instead, Daniel Sunjata got the part. And really, I am not complaining. The “Rescue Me” star may not have the pythons for arms that The Rock does, but who doesn’t love a firefighter?

Although I’m not 100% sold on Heigl as Stephanie, I give the casting director a thumbs up for Sunjata.

Have you read this series? If so, who do you picture in these roles? Or do you have other characters that you have placed? Like Betty White as Grandma Mazur? I can totally see that!

In the latest installment of the “Stephanie Plum, Worst Bounty Hunter Ever” saga, a celebrity chef loses his head, literally. But there’s a witness. Good ole Lula took a wrong turn and saw the whole thing. Now two men, packing a gun and meat clever, are after her. But as always, she won’t go down easy (it’s hard to take a woman that big down). And Stephanie breaks one of her own records, 3 cars and two apartments get blown up, thanks to the head hunters and an arsonist. Speaking of arsonist, don’t think that just because head hunters are on the streets that Stephanie doesn’t have skips to go after. She is doing to spy work for Ranger after a bunch of his security properties get robbed. Oh, and Grandma Mazur says Winkie… you guess what she is talking about.

I don’t know how many Stephiane Plum reviews I have said this in, but this was my favorite book of the series. It had been a while since I had last read a Plum novel, and while I always say it’s my favorite series, I had forgotten how much I loved it. There are so many times during this book that I was sitting on the couch reading, and caught myself laughing out loud. It would be super embarassing if I would be in public. Luckily, my husband has been there for the first 14 books and knows what to expect when I read these.

One thing I love about Janet Evanovich is that 15+ books later, she is still coming up with great new plots and twists and turns. I have two or three sequels planned for my first book, but 15, yeah right. And every book has so many little side stories going on, you’re trying to figure out a number of mysteries and not fall over from laughing. 

These books always make me assess my life. At times reading this, I think I would love to chase criminals. How empowering is a woman bounty hunter? But then there are times when Stephanie gets firebombed in her apartment, gets shot at and beat up by skips and that skank Joyce that I am content with my boring, get a thrill vicariously through the news, life.

I’m a fan of paperback books, but I’m not sure I can wait for Sizzling Sixteen to come out in paperback.

As if you couldn’t guess, I give Finger Lickin’ Fifteen 5 bookmarks.

ISBN: 978-0312383299
Published: June 22, 2010
Buy from Amazon
Kari purchased this book from Borders

On my bookshelf is my own little twist to In My Mailbox hosted by The Story Siren.

Take a look at what I scored this week:

Bought:
I had a coupon and $5 in Borders Bucks this past week, so I bought myself a couple of books I needed in the series’ I am reading.
Finger Lickin’ Fifteen by Janet Evanovich
Scandal by Kate Brian

Publicist:
I got contacted by Jamie Freveletti’s publicist, Kaye Publicity, about her new book Running Dark. It sounded great and i have heard a lot of goof things about it from other readers, but I wanted to read the first in the series first. They were awesome enough to send me both copies.

Running from the Devil: “A chemist for a cosmetics company and an ultramarathon runner, Emma Caldridge in en route from Miami to Bogota when her plane goes down int he mountains near the Venezuelan border. Thrown unhurt from the wreckage, she watches in horror as guerrillas drag the other passengers into the jungle. Stranded and alone in a deadly environment, Emma has no choice but to follow — and stumbles across Cameron Sumner, an injured government agent who was left behind to die.

As a Washington, D.C. , task force races to the crash site in hopes of finding survivors, Emma and Cameron creep closer to a nightmare they may be powerless to prevent. But Emma is no ordinary woman — and she guards a secret both powerful and deadly that her adversaries would gleefully kill to possess.

And now she must run…”

I am getting ready to start Running from the Devil, as fast as my little fingers can get this post typed out!

Running Dark: “Emma Caldridge is on mile thirty-six of the fifty-five-mile Comrades ultramarathon in South Africa when a roadside care bomb explodes. Dazed and disoriented, she regains consciousness after the blast to find a man standing over her with a white plastic injector. She feels the prick of a needle and the rush of the medication under her skin, but before she can make a sound, the man is gone.

Shaken by the event and unsure of what substance was pumped into her, Emma calls the one person who can help her figure things out: Edward Banner of the security company in Darkview. But Banner has his hands full with another emergency: Somali pirates int he Golf of Alden have attacked a cruise ship, and Darkview has been hired to assist with the rescue.

However, according to intelligence sources, the ship is carrying cargo far more valuable than wealthy passengers — something that could be a new weapon of unknown origin. Suspecting the weapon may be chemical in nature, Banner asks Emma to infiltrate the ship and use her professional expertise to identify it.

Emma konws it’s a risky job, one that she might not survive, But when she learns that special agent Cameron Sumner — a man who has saved her life in the past — is among the hostages, nothing will stop her from getting on board, no matter what the cost.”

Librarything:
And finally, I won an ARC of Infinite Days from the Early Reviewers Program

“After centuries of terrorizing Europe, Lenah Beaudonte, with the help of the handsome Rhode, has been able to realize the dream of all vampires — to be human again. Now, as a raven-haired, sixteen-year0ld, Lenah believes her greatest challenge is fitting in at her new school. But the challenges have only begun. The vicious coven Lenah once ruled is threatening the new found pleasures of her human life, including the one guy who makes her feel most alive, Justin. Can this ex-vamp survive in an alien time and place or will her past come back to haunt her…forever?

How fun does that sound? And I can’t wait to see what brings them back to life! Wonder if the Cullen’s would do it

What did you guys get this week?

Drivers, start your engines, Alex “Barney” Barnaby, queen of the track is on a mission.  Sister of the year award goes to the Baltimore woman. She is such a great sister that when her brother Bill calls her late one night and hangs up after a woman screams, she jumps on a plane to go save his butt. Bill lives in hot, muggy Florida and it doesn’t tell Alex long to figure out Bill is in some big trouble. But luckily, Barney isn’t alone on her mystery solving trip. She is assisted by NASCAR guy, Sam Hooker who doesn’t quite know that while Barney holds an office job, engines are her thing.

Little do they know, once they embark on this “save Wild Bill” mission, do they know they are dealing with some hardcore Cubans, a major bomb that could take out hundreds of thousands of people and more gold than a jewelry store. This novel is action packed, funny and extremely empowering to women. Wouldn’t expect less from Janet Evanovich.

I have had this book on my shelf for the past couple of years. I also have the sequel, Motor Mouth. I am definitely disappointed in myself for not picking these up earlier.

I have come to love Janet Evanovich through the Stephanie Plum series and if I read this book without knowing the author, I probably could have told you by the end, Evanovich had the pen. It reminded me a lot of Plum, the characters, the drama and of course, the writing. Normally I think that similarities in different series’ by the same author would probably bother me, but this one definitely didn’t. I loved the Plum series, so similarities are more than welcome.

This book was a page turner, filled with drama from the first phone call. Of course, there’s a bit of a love story intertwined, it’s not a Nicholas Sparks love story, but it is definitely love, in a “let me drive your NASCAR car” kind of way. I am uber excited to read Motor Mouth now.

Oh, and I love the premise for the title. It’s not something you understand until the end, but I have to share this. We have all heard of a metro sexual, a guy who grooms more than women, tans, dresses to the nines, spends more money on hair product than a salon, but definitely likes the ladies. Barney, well she’s the opposite. She knows more about engines than most men, she drives cars and kicks major butt, all while wearing a pink mini skirt.

I give Metro Girl 4 bookmarks.

Teaser Tuesday is held by MizB at Should Be Reading. The idea is to grab your current bo0k, open it to a random page and pick two random sentences to tease your book.

Well, I kind of cheat. I look for awesome teases to make you want to go out and buy the book I am reading

Today’s tease comes from Metro Girl by Janet Evanovich.

Pg1: “Just because I know how to change a guy’s oil doesn’t mean I want to spend the rest of my life on my back, staring up his undercarriage. Been there, done that.”

I am just starting this book, but I am already in love with it. Janey Evanovich is awesome at creating these amazing, hilarious, witty, girl-power characters. Can you tell I have a reading crush on her?

What are you reading this week