Twelve Sharp

Stephanie Plum has two love interests. She has been in an "on-again, off-again" relationship with Joe Morelli since childhood. Now he is a Trenton New Jersey police officer. She has lived with him at times but always moves back to her apartment when she misses her independence.

Carlos Monoso, better known as Ranger, has been a mentor and protector for Stephanie since she lost her job as a lingerie buyer and moved into a contract job as a bounty hunter. Stephanie is inexperience and incompetent so Ranger often steps in to help her find individuals who skip Court and risk losing their bond money. When Ranger and Stephanie find the skippers and turn them into the police, they receive a receipt that entitled them to ten percent of the bond money. That's how they pay their bills.

This work is the only income that Stephanie has but is only a small part of the large security business that Ranger runs in two countries.

In "Twelve Sharp" Stephanie is surprised when a woman shows up at her office and states that she is Ranger's wife. She is obviously misinformed about the relationship that Stephanie has with Ranger and it is obvious that her jealousy is going to cause trouble.

Ranger is out of town. In fact, he has gone to Florida to deal with some trouble there and Stephanie cannot get ahold of him. Ranger has always been so private that she doesn't know what to believe.

Then the woman who has been stalking her, ends up dead and Ranger shows up asking Stephanie to help him find his missing ten-year old daughter who has been kidnapped.

Stephanie is torn between Joe and Ranger who are very competitive. Even though they have frequently worked together in the past, it is obvious that they each want Stephanie and are not willing to share her with the other fellow.

Now Stephanie has to figure out how to stay close to both men without letting them know all the facts about what is happening. She knows that Joe, the police officer, would need to arrest Ranger so cannot tell him that Ranger has moved into her apartment and is living with her. Double trouble occurs when Joe shows up at the apartment informing Stephanie that he is moving in with her!

Stephanie agrees to become a decoy to attract the kidnapper with the hopes that Ranger will be able to save his daughter. That puts her in a high-risk situation, especially after she is kidnapped and there is no way that Joe or Ranger can find her.

Stephanie is quite brave and eager to help other people in her life. She is not, however, very good at looking after herself. She doesn't eat right and her bad habit of lying often gets her into deeper trouble than she is already in.

The Stephanie Plum novels are an interesting mix of danger and humour. There are times that I just laugh right out loud!

On to the thirteenth novel in the series!