Me and Stephanie Plum

Here's the thing. Anyone who knows me knows that I love Stephanie Plum. I love her quirky friends and her love of birthday cakes and her inability to keep a car from exploding. I have read every book. Yes, that's 18 books now. I have been pretty tolerant of the lack of any character development for 18 books. I have been able to suspend reality enough to accept that Rex could live happily in his soup can for 18 books even though the average hamster is lucky if he lives 3 years. I have embraced the goofy criminals even when they seem to be recycled versions of the same ones every time. I once discussed how awesome it would be to have my own Stephanie Plum action figures. I am a true Plum fan.
But....I think even I have reached my limit. Why? Because Janet Evanovich still spends chapters upon chapters retelling us who everyone is...that Lula was a ho, that Vinnie is the scumbag owner of the bonds agency, that Ranger is a man of mystery, yada yada. She retells us the Plum family dinner table routine, that the funeral home is a hot hangout, that her mom hides booze in the cabinet. Who does she think is buying her books? We all know this, every last detail of it. It's book 18 in the series, we know who Morelli is! So is it simply filler to get by with less and less storyline?
I was actually hopeful that this book would be different. The Hawaii thing was her chance to stir it up. I was hoping that Joe would dump her, that Ranger would do something out of character, that Rex would escape....anything. But it isn't to be. Please, dear friends, don't let me crack under the pressure and run out to buy 19 on the release day.