Genre Swap Saturday: The Stephanie Plum Series by Janet Evanovich

Genre Swap Saturday is a regular post (not necessarily every week) hosted by All Things Urban Fantasy, that will highlight books outside of our focused genre that I think will appeal to you.  Feel free to use this on your site, just link me please.

Every Genre Swap Saturday book suggestion will include:

• Why you, an urban fantasy lover, might like this book:
• Why you, an urban fantasy lover, might not like this book: 

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The Stephanie Plum Series by Janet Evanovich

Book Description: Watch out, world. Here comes Stephanie Plum, a bounty hunter with attitude. In Stephanie's opinion, toxic waste, rabid drivers, armed schizophrenics, and August heat, humidity, and hydrocarbons are all part of the great adventure of living in Jersey. She's a product of the "burg," a blue-collar pocket of Trenton where houses are attached and narrow, cars are American, windows are clean, and (God forbid you should be late) dinner is served at six. Now Stephanie's all grown up and out on her own, living five miles from Mom and Dad's, doing her best to sever the world's longest umbilical cord. Her mother is a meddler, and her grandmother is a few cans short of a case. Out of work and out of money, with her Miata repossessed and her refrigerator empty, Stephanie blackmails her bail bondsman cousin, Vinnie, into giving her a try as an apprehension agent. Stephanie knows zilch about the job requirements, but she figures her new pal, fearless bounty hunter Ranger, can teach her what it takes to catch a crook. Her first assignment: nail Joe Morelli, a former vice cop on the run from a charge of murder one. Morelli is also the irresistible macho pig who took Stephanie's virginity at age sixteen and then wrote the details on the bathroom wall of Mario's Sub Shop. There's still powerful chemistry between these two, so the chase should be interesting. It could also be extremely dangerous, especially when Stephanie encounters a heavyweight title contender who likes to play rough. Benito Ramirez is known for his brutality to women. At the very least, his obsession with Stephanie complicates her manhunt and brings terror and uncertainty into her life. At the worst, it could lead to murder. Witty, fresh, and full of surprises, One for the Money was among the most eagerly awaited crime novels of the season.

My Take:
Often imitated but never duplicated, the Stephanie Plum series are light, funny, mysteries.  They are the quintessential popcorn books.  If you haven’t tried a cozy mystery series, these are arguably the best.

Why you, an urban fantasy lover, might like this series:

1. The Between-the-Numbers books (Plum Spooky etc.) could be considered urban fantasy-lite. They have supernatural characters called Unmentionables.
2. The two men in Stephanie’s life are very Alpha.  Ranger especially is one step away from a werewolf.
3. Stephanie's 1st POV will remind you of a more carefree Kate Daniels or Mercy Thompson

Why you, an urban fantasy lover, might not like this series:

1. Lots of quirky characters
2. Lots of dialogue, not so much description
3. Very little story advancement from book to book.  Kind of like a reset button gets pushed before each new book.

Stephanie Plum Novels
1. One for the Money (1994)
2. Two for the Dough (1995)
3. Three to Get Deadly (1997)
4. Four to Score (1998)
5. High Five (1999)
6. Hot Six (2000)
7. Seven Up (2001)
8. Hard Eight (2002)
9. To the Nines (2003)
10. Ten Big Ones (2004)
11. Eleven on Top (2005)
12. Twelve Sharp (2006)
13. Lean Mean Thirteen (2007)
14. Fearless Fourteen (2008)
15. Finger Lickin' Fifteen (2009)

 

Stephanie Plum Between-the-Numbers Novels
1. Visions of Sugar Plums (2002)
2. Plum Lovin' (2007)
3. Plum Lucky (2008)
4. Plum Spooky (2009)

Series by cover