Two for the Dough

I'm writing this post early, but I expect when this is posted that I will be on my way to Atlantic City for a bachelorette party.  It seems fitting to write about Two for the Dough since it is set in New Jersey and even mentions Atlantic City (although Stephanie doesn't end up there in this book).

I've mentioned this before, but the Stephanie Plum books are my biggest new guilty pleasure.  I finished this book yesterday and all I can think about is how long until I get to read the next one.  I'm unhappy because I know it will be few weeks, since I have a few library books out with waiting lists that need to get read and returned before I go home for Christmas and the bachelorette party (two mentions... I'm excited!).  But I seriously love these books.  I gave my mom the first one with a pair of slippers of Christmas and considered them for several other people as well.

In Two For The Dough, Stephanie (I love that she has my name) once again is given a case that is out of her league.  I find that I care very little about the actually mystery or plot, because the characters and the way Stephanie goes about finding her bad guy is more than enough to keep me entertained.  Stephanie gets help from two skilled characters: Ranger, a bounty hunter of the strong and silent type and sexy, over-confident cop Joe Morelli, who was her target in One for the Money.  They step in from time to time to keep Stephanie alive, and the romance between Stephanie and Joe is fun and funny and everything I could want in a book relationship.

Other than Ranger and Joe, Stephanie blunders her way through her investigation with Grandma Mazur, who messes up quite a few funerals in this book, and a brief appearance from Lula, the overweight hooker Stephanie rescues in One for the Money.  There is also some fun commentary on New Jersey life that I enjoyed because that's where I grew up.  For example, Stephanie threatens the woman she caught sleeping with her husband by saying that she is now a bounty hunter and carries a gun.  The woman replies that it's New Jersey and everyone carries a gun.  Then, everyone in the beauty parlor opens her purse and pulls out guns that are all bigger than the one Stephanie doesn't even carry with her most of the time.

I keep telling myself I'm only reading these books to study the comedy, but the truth is I'm laughing too hard to think critically.  I'd also like to point out that I love the cover where the gun is shooting lipstick.  It captures the essence of the series so well!  I've got Three to Get Deadly requested at the library and I'm hoping to pick it up and get it read first thing in January.