67. Lean Mean Thirteen

By Janet Evanovich
Rated ★★★★


When Dickie Or, Stepahnie's Ex Husband disappears from his house leaving behind only bloodstains and bullet holes, Steffie becomes the prime suspect in his alleged murder. Determined to clear her name, she teams up with Ranger and Joe Morelli, manage uncover Dickie's ties to a shady group of men involved in everything from money laundering to drug running. And when Dickie's jilted business partners decide Stephanie holds the key to the $40 million they believe Dickie stole from them, she's in for a wild ride.

As mysteries go this is one of Evanovich's better ones but as far as I am concerned she did a pretty hit and miss job as far as the characters went. I admit that would have enjoyed it much more if I had been reading it instead of listening to it. Spoken some of the language is a lot more offensive than it is when I read it. Go figure that one!

Grandma Mazur and Lula were both way over the top. Again it may be spoken vs. written. But the interplay between Steffie, Ranger and Morelli was great this time. The person who read this did a great job on Steffie. Overall I gave this four stars as the mystery carried it past the offensive parts. And oh, of course Morelli and Ranger always rate an extra star.

66. Then Came Heaven

By LaVyrle Spencer
Rated ★★★★½

I say the dumbest things about myself sometimes. One of the dumb things I say is that I will not read books with a religious theme. That's obviously not true since some of my favorite books have religious themes. This is one of them.

This is the story of a young widower and the attraction between him and Sister Regina, a young nun who teaches his two daughters. This romance reveals the depth of their commitment to Catholicism, their budding love for one another and their struggles to create new lives for themselves.

It's also LaVerle Spencer's last book and that is a shame. The woman writes lovely romance novels.