Devlin Fitzwilliam caught Meadow Szarvas red-handed, breaking into his mansion to steal a painting. In sheer desperation, she used a case of amnesia as her excuse. But then he pulled a fast one-and claimed she was his wife. Playing along was the only way for Meadow to get her hands on that painting. But what she doesn’t realize is that Devlin has a hidden agenda too-and that someone’s keeping an eye on them both.

This was a cute little caper. Devlin and Meadow start lying to each other from the moment their eyes meet.  The humor comes from the fact that they both know each other is lying, but neither of them is willing to call the other on it. I enjoyed watching their relationship grow, including the frustrations they had with each other.  In fact, I got so caught up in the romance part of it that by the time the climax of the novel came around, I had forgotten they had another bad guy to deal with. I guess that can be seen as both a good thing and a bad thing.  I think Dodd’s books (at least the ones I’ve read so far) are fun, kicky romances, and I look forward to reading more.

Audiobook length: 9hrs 4min | Approximate word count: 100,000

2009: The Stupidest Angel (Christopher Moore)
2008: Loyalty in Death (J.D. Robb)
2007: Tokyo Woes (Bruce Jay Friedman)
2006: The Surgeon (Tess Gerritsen)
2005: One for the Money (Janet Evanovich)

Used in these Challenges: Countdown Challenge 2010; 2010 100+ Reading Challenge; Second Reading Challenge; Audiobook Challenge; Contemporary Romance Reading Challenge 2010;

Looking to get lucky?

Stephanie Plum is back between-the-numbers and she’s looking to get lucky in an Atlantic City hotel room, in a Winnebago, and with a brown-eyed stud who has stolen her heart.

Stephanie Plum has a way of attracting danger, lunatics, oddballs, bad luck . . . and mystery men. And no one is more mysterious than the unmentionable Diesel. He’s back and hot on the trail of a little man in green pants who’s lost a giant bag of money. Problem is, the money isn’t exactly lost.

Stephanie’s Grandma Mazur has found it, and like any good Jersey senior citizen, she’s hightailed it in a Winnebago to Atlantic City and hit the slots. With Lula and Connie in tow, Stephanie attempts to bring Grandma home, but the luck of the Irish is rubbing off on everyone: Lula’s found a job modeling plus-size lingerie. Connie’s found a guy. Diesel’s found Stephanie. And Stephanie has found herself in over her head with a caper involving thrice-stolen money, a racehorse, a car chase, and a bad case of hives.

Plum Lucky is an all-you-can-eat buffet of thrills, chills, shrimp cocktail, plus-size underwear, and scorching hot men. It’s a between-the-numbers treat no Evanovich fan will want to miss!

It was time to pick up this book (or rather, load it on to my mp3 player) because I was anxiously awaiting the arrival of Fearless Fourteen and didn’t want to skip a book! In this “Between the Numbers” book, Grandma Mazur manages to get herself kidnapped and Stephanie needs to get her back with the help of Diesel, Lula, Connie, and a few more of Trenton’s wacky characters. Oh, and Doug the horse.

What I like most about these books is the blatant absurdity. Everything is just a touch over-the-top, and that’s what really makes this series. Stephanie just can’t help the crazy things that happen to her, and as time goes on she accepts it just a little bit more. It could have used a little more Ranger, but couldn’t *every* book use a little more Ranger? It’s no great work of literature, but I was thoroughly entertained, and that’s all that matters.

Page count: 176 | Approximate word count: 44,000

2007: Grave Peril (Jim Butcher)
2006: Twelve Sharp (Janet Evanovich)
2005: Hot Six (Janet Evanovich)

It’s three thousand miles from the green fields of glory, where Henry “call me Hank” Thompson once played California baseball, to the Lower East Side of Manhattan, where the tenements are old, the rents are high, and the drunks are dirty. But now Hank is here, working as a bartender and taking care of a cat named Bud who is surely going to get him killed.

It begins when Hank’s neighbor, Russ, has to leave town in a rush and hands over Bud in a carrier. But it isn’t until two Russians in tracksuits drag Hank over the bar at the joint where he works and beat him to a pulp that he starts to get the idea: Someone wants something from him. He just doesn’t know what it is, where it is, or how to make them understand he doesn’t have it.

Within twenty-four hours Hank is running over rooftops, swinging his old aluminum bat for the sweet spot of a guy’s head, playing hide and seek with the NYPD, riding the subway with a dead man at his side, and counting a whole lot of cash on a concrete floor.

All because of two cowboys, two Russian mafia men, and some of the weirdest goons ever assembled in one place. All because of Bud. All because once, in another life, in another world, the only thing Hank wanted was to take third base—without getting caught.

This is Charlie Huston’s debut novel, and I picked it up after seeing Mr. Cactus rave about Huston. I have sort of mixed feelings about this. It got better as it went along, and by the end I was quite engrossed, but I almost didn’t make it past the first 50 pages. What happens to Bud just made me nauseous. I can read about people being killed and/or tortured all the livelong day, but hurt the kitty cat and I’m debating whether to finish a book. Go figure.

Page count: 240 | Word count: 82,878

2007: Die Trying (Lee Child)
2006: Skinny Dip (Carl Hiaasen)
2005: The Haunting of Hill House (Shirley Jackson)

A strange twist of fate brings Elizabeth Jones face to face with her idol, the brilliant, eccentric historian Margaret Rosenberg, at the Copenhagen Airport. An even stranger accident makes Elizabeth the esteemed scholar’s new private assistant. But luck can go from good to bad in an instant — and less than twenty-four hours later, the great lady is kidnapped by persons unknown. Suddenly desperate in a foreign land, Elizabeth must cast her lot with Rosenberg’s handsome, insufferable son Christian in hopes of finding her vanished benefactor. On a trail that leads from modern wonders to ancient mystery, a determined young woman and an arrogant "prince" must uncover shocking secrets carefully guarded in the beautiful Danish city. And they must survive a mysterious affair that is turning darker and deadlier by the hour.

This was basically a cute little caper with a convenient romantic entanglement. Not as well-written or in depth as Peters’ Amelia Peabody series, but an entertaining read none-the-less.

Page count: 384 | Word count: 65,108

2007: Birthright (Nora Roberts)
2006: Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
2005: E is for Evidence (Sue Grafton)

Congressman David Dilbeck has a bad problem. “I should never,” he says, “be around naked women.” But he just can’t stay away. And late one night, at a gaudy Fort Lauderdale strip joint, Dilbeck loses control. He leaps onto the stage with the performers and proceeds to demonstrate his affections in a most unconventional way. The congressman barely escapes the scene, but not before being recognized by an odd little customer known as Mr. Peepers – an unlikely blackmailer, but (it turns out) a cunning one. To save himself from an election-year sex scandal, David Dilbeck desperately turns to Malcolm “Moldy” Moldowsky, a devious and cold-blooded political fixer. It is Moldy’s mission to protect the congressman’s reputation, shaky as it might be, and soon the stakes are murderously high. Meanwhile, the lust-struck Dilbeck secretly pursues the current woman of his dreams, a formidable nude dancer named Erin Grant. She has her own special plans for the wayward politician. The chase leads from the staid corridors of Congress to the sweltering cane fields of Lake Okeechobee, from a topless wrestling pit to a sunken Guatemalan banana boat. It’s a manically inventive and suspenseful tale that resonates with the furious intelligence, merciless characterization and savage good humor that we’ve come to expect from Carl Hiaasen. “He is so good,” says Donald Westlake, “he ought to be illegal.” In Strip Tease, Hiaasen is better than ever.

I spent several weeks listening to this on my way home in the evenings. This was a great book to listen to. I’m going to have to look for more Hiaasen books in audio, because they’re perfect. They’re light and funny and the plots aren’t so convoluted that you have a hard time following what’s going on. The characters are colorful and interesting and unique. I thought this was really good.

Book count: 80
Pages in book: 418
Page count: 34,113
Words in book: 117,642
Word count: 10,100,413

1,000,000 words surpassed — 2/2/06
2,000,000 words surpassed — 2/14/06
10,000 pages surpassed — 3/10/06
3,000,000 words surpassed — 3/16/06
4,000,000 words surpassed — 4/3/06
5,000,000 words surpassed — 5/30/06
50 books surpassed – 6/12/06
20,000 pages surpassed — 6/29/06
6,000,000 words surpassed — 6/29/06
7,000,000 words surpassed — 7/21/06
8,000,000 words surpassed — 8/18/06
30,000 pages surpassed — 9/3/06
9,000,000 words surpassed — 9/6/06

10,000,000 words surpassed — 9/27/06