Early Evanovich

Early Evanovich is exactly what it sounds like: a collection of three of Janet Evanovich's pre-Stephanie Plum category romance novels from the late 80s. The pleasure of reading these now is mostly as career archaeology. You can see, page by page, the comic register and the particular comfort with working-class New Jersey settings that would later become the Plum books' engine.

The romances themselves are exactly what the form provides. Quick reads, low stakes, comfortable resolutions. The Plum-style banter is already showing up in the dialogue of the third novel in the collection.

Three stars. Recommended only to readers already inside the Plum catalog who are curious about Evanovich's pre-Plum work. Not the entry point for either form.