Leading Men

No one has perfected the leading man like Janet Evanovich in her numbers series. First, there’s Morelli. Italian. Cop. Strong. Walks the straight and narrow. Hot as hell. He’s smart, funny, earthy, and he wouldn’t mind taking care of Stephanie, if she weren’t so hard to tame.

Early on, the reader learns that Morelli is a ladies’ man and that Stephanie Plum lost her virginity to him. Then she hit him with her car. So there’s history there. Fiery history, which implies that these two share a serious spark that may lead to fast-paced action and toe-curling romance. Not bad for a few lines of backstory.

Then there’s Ranger. Hispanic. Bounty hunter. Wears lots of black. Exotic. Renegade. Ranger thinks of laws as mere suggestions, but he never crosses the line unless it’s to help someone out. Mostly Stephanie. Ranger makes it clear that he’s more than willing to rock Stephanie’s world and he wouldn’t want her to change a thing. But that doesn’t mean he would stick around forever.

Quite the triangle we have here.

Ranger is Stephanie’s go-to guy when she needs help on the job and when she might do something on the other side of the law. Morelli is who Stephanie calls to buffer dinner with her parents and when she wants to share a pizza.

It’s the personification of most women’s desires. Domestic versus dangerous. Lust verses love. We want it all but that’s not usually possible. So here we have the best of both worlds at the same time. And the endless question keeps us reading book after book.

Who will win Stephanie’s heart?