Review: Wife For Hire

Wife for Hire by Janet EvanovichI was first turned on to Janet Evanovich and the Stephanie Plum series a few years ago by the wife of DH’s boss at the time. I went through them like candy. The only problem is now that I’m caught up, waiting for the paperbacks to come out a year after the hardbacks are released really sucks. If you haven’t discovered the Stephanie Plum Novels, they’re a fun read. Plus they’ve got Morelli and Ranger!

Wife for Hire is another of her re-releases from the time before Plum. These books seem to have been practice for the Plum books. You’ll run into some characters which feel very familiar after you’ve read the Plum books, but these short contemporary romance novels also pack in some great stories along the way. This is one of them.

Aspiring author Maggie Toone, desperate to escape her hometown of Riverside, NJ where everyone knows your business, never hesitates to judge you for it and remembers everything you ever did, especially if it’s bad, meets with Hank Mallone to discuss a business deal to spend six months with him in Vermont so she can work on turning her aunt’s diary into a novel while posing as his wife. Maggie and Hank struggle with their growing attraction to one another as well as the notoriety and sudden crime spree surrounding her aunt’s diary while attempting to present a stable, settled front for his father, the president of the bank who can’t believe his ne’er do well son has changed his ways and can responsibly run the family orchards and refuses to approve his loan application. Will Maggie learn the lessons she discovers while fictionalizing her aunt’s diary or will she return home to Riverside at the end of their deal, leaving behind the man she loves, his expanding orchard operations and everything else she has come to love about life in this small, rural New England town?

Maybe it’s because I grew up in a small, rural community and I’m also attempting to write a novel that so much of this is familiar ground. However, this story, like many of the others from this stage in Ms. Evanovich’s career, is sweet with just the right amount of sexual tension and release to satisfy everyone. If you’re looking for a few hours’ escape, this book fits the bill.