Ticket 2 Ride

I love Janet Evanovich, her Stephanie Plum bail bonds books drop every year. Now or Never is number 31 in the series if you are counting.

Not a lot changes from book to book, although Stephanie finds herself engaged to both men in her life: Ranger the security ninja, and Morelli the cop. Does she marry? Who might it be? And she thinks she is pregnant, but not sure. Is she preggers and by whom? The answers to these questions at the end of the book.

That’s where the story begins, while Stephanie also attempts to corral a handful of bail jumpers, some more easily than the others. This time around, Stephanie is after a vampire, Robin Hoodie who hijacks trucks and gives the contents to the needy, and a man who is proud to show off his manhood.

We visit Stephanie’s family, who are there to worry about her chosen career and hope that she will just settle down. Morelli is the safer choice, but his family brings their own quirky concerns. Grandma still gets a good seat at funeral viewings, her mom still drinks to deal with her family, and Stephanie’s dad still avoids as much of the chaos as possible.

The best part of the book series is Stephanie and Lula, when they are on the trail of a jumper. Evanovich writes Lula in comedic, but not unrealistic style; Lula doesn’t do or say intentionally funny things, but her observations and directness play perfectly off the situations.

One might suppose that after 30 books that the characters and situations, as delightful as they are, would become old or predictable, but Evanovich finds new twists or different twists on familiar ground. Frankly, I doubt readers want big change or going outside the well-established character-play.

As usual, a delightful read. 4/5