Now or Never

Title: Now or Never

Author: Janet Evanovich

Publisher: Atria

Date of publication: 2025

Number of pages: 336

Genre: mystery

Audience age range: Adult

A quick personal review:

The adventures of Stephanie Plum continue!  I look forward to the new book in the series each year.  I love the tension between Stephanie and her love interests, and this book starts with her being engaged to both of them!  I love the goofy nature of Lula and the brashness of Connie.  Grandma Mazur is always hilarious also and her adventures at the funeral home never disappoint.  With each book, I wait for a car to explode.

Perhaps it was my state of mind or the level of stress I was under, but this volume did not leave me with the same feeling as the last ones.  This novel has a vampire and a trafficker, both of whom could lead to Stepahnie’s untimely death.  In the mix this time is also a modern Robin Hood, and of course Stephanie has attracted an unusual friend, Eugene Fleck, an influencer who seems to have money but little work to do.  He helps Stephanie by fixing up her fire-bombed apartment and befriending Grandma.  But is he a good guy?  Or is he the Robin Hood who is stealing from the rich to help the poor?

And the biggest question of all is who will Stephanie choose?  Through the majority of the book, she avoids the decision or letting either of the men know that she is engaged to the other one. However, she must choose. Maybe that is also part of the reason that this book let me down.  She didn’t choose whoI had hoped!

Unique qualities:

None - unless the near death experiences, cars exploding, donut eating, Lula shooting, and inept takedowns count!

Red flags:

There is sexual content and language; however, this book is for adults.

Recommendations:

If you have read the others in the series, this book is a must; however, if you are unfamiliar with the Stephanie Plum series, start with the first one.