Note: Spoilers abound.
Are there really spoilers in a Stephanie Plum book, though? I mean, we know that Lula is going to wear outrageous outfits, that Grandma is going to do something wacky, that Mrs. Plum is going to drink a little bit of Four Roses in her iced tea glass, and that Stephanie is going to have some near-death experiences.
In installment 23 (are we really up to that number?), we open with Stephanie and Morelli’s relationship status upgraded to engaged to be engaged. Apparently, Joe had some sort of medical thing in the last book which made him feel especially domestic for a short while. Stephanie’s on the hunt for Larry Virgil, who is out on bond for stealing an eighteen-wheeler full of bourbon, and she and Lula catch him stealing another eighteen-wheeler, only this time, it’s full of ice cream and a dead guy covered in chocolate sauce. So, you know, a typical day in Trenton.
In the meantime, Ranger needs Stephanie to go undercover at the ice cream plant, which is sort of related to the stolen truck full of ice cream and dead guy. The B stories this time include Grandma getting engaged to a biker bartender in one of the more delightful Grandma side-stories, and Lula and Randy Briggs (the short guy) filming themselves in their birthday suits wandering about Trenton for an audition tape for “Naked and Afraid”. Think about that visual for just a few seconds.
But what you really need to know, is that Stephanie sleeps with Ranger. At the Contemporary Resort at Disney World. Twice. While wearing Tinkerbell underwear.
The last few Stephanie books have felt pretty formulaic, and they have been, but they’re still fun, and I’m still reading them. Plus, you know, Ranger. It’s hard to give him up.
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I know I should stop reading these but I can’t. Glad to have some company.
They’re like the last fifteen minutes of eating a bag of potato chips. You know you’re full, you know you’re going to regret it, but you kind of don’t care.
See, the thing you mentioned in your spoiler-tagged section is exactly why I gave up on these books around book 13. All the other incredibly formulaic plot strands I could happily take, but Stephanie is just a deeply dislikable character. She keeps stringing guys who are much too good for her along, refusing to ever choose between them. If Evanovich would just go to the step of having Ranger, Joe and Stephanie in some sort of open, poly-amorous relationship, where both the guys were totally cool about sharing Stephanie, I’d be so much more OK with it.
Instead she keeps jumping back and forth between them, often while in a commited relationship to the one or the other. It makes her a despicable cheater, and it makes them incredibly dumb for allowing it to happen again and again (since we’re on book 23 and she still hasn’t made up her mind, I am assuming it’s just going to keep going on a rinse repeat cycle forever). Joe and Ranger are idiots for not telling Stephanie where to stuff it and going off to find more worthy partners.
Sometimes I feel that way, too. It’s so weird, how Ranger will kiss her forehead right in front of Joe, and Joe just…doesn’t do anything. But then Joe gets jealous or upset when she works for Ranger.
Which brings me to this. Ranger’s supposed to be smart, right? Then why in the hell does he keep hiring Stephanie???
Also, while it’s nice that Ranger always has a GPS tracker on Stephanie to, you know, keep her alive, sometimes it makes me feel squicky.
I gave up around book 13 too. I check back oneline every year or two to see if she finally picks Ranger or Joe. #TeamRanger
I gave up around book 13 too. I check back online every year or two to see if she finally picks Ranger or Joe. #TeamRanger