Ranger vs. Morelli
So, I spent all of today re-reading Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series. I stand by my previous statement that Ten Big Ones are the height of said series, and, while entertaining, Eleven on Top and Twelve Sharp are not as good.
Plus, in Twelve Sharp, Stephanie is suddenly back to being a Bounty Hunter - with absolutely no mention of why she quit working at RangeMan, in what seemed to me a far better job. The only reason I can think of is for Janet Evanovich's entertainment purposes, because a Bounty Hunter Stephanie is what the series is about, as opposed to working-in-RangeMan-offices Stephanie.
Anyway, back to my original purpose for this post. I re-read the entire series, and I got to thinking about the whole Ranger vs. Morelli thing going on for Stephanie's romantic life. I've seen a few Steph/Morelli fans, but most of the fic I've read are Stephanie/Ranger - sometimes painting Morelli in a very bad and out-of-character light.
When I first read the series, I liked Morelli. The first couple of books, Ranger was kind of a blink-and-miss-him kind of character, and Morelli was awesome. And then Ranger started to show his interest in Stephanie, and I decided that, while I liked Morelli, I wanted Stephanie to end up with Ranger. I mean...it's Ranger - he's all cool and kickass, plus he throws around Mercedes and Porches like nothing.
Things changed after Eleven on Top came out. By that time, it had been a while since I read the books, so, before reading Eleven on Top, I decided to refresh my knowledge of the series. I read all ten preceding books, and then read Eleven on Top.
And I found myself liking Morelli more.
I mean, there was never a point where I disliked Morelli. I've always liked Morelli, both as a character and as a boyfriend for Stephanie. Hell, as a boyfriend for any woman, Morelli is freaking awesome. I just always found myself thinking that, well, Ranger is a bit more cool than Morelli, so...Ranger it is as my personal preference. But then I read Eleven on Top and thought: You know what? Morelli is just as cool as Ranger, but in a different way. Morelli is a cool guy, a cool boyfriend - Ranger's a cool character in a book. And that doesn't really make for a good boyfriend.
Maybe I grew up a little in what couldn't have been more than a year or two, but, by the time Twelve Sharp came out? I was a Morelli girl.
That's right, I said it: I want Stephanie to end up with Morelli.
It doesn't mean that I dislike Ranger. I still think he's cooler than...well, Batman. But, realistically speaking, I don't think he'd make a good boyfriend for anyone. And Stephanie, despite her tendencies to attract trouble, isn't really someone who thrives in the bounty hunting environment like Ranger does. She manages, but mostly on dumb luck and some really good friends and/or contacts. Most of her insistence on continuing to stay as a bounty hunter seems to stem from the fact that, well, she's not really qualified for anything else, and she has the freedom of a non-nine-to-five job. Plus, you know, stubborn pride; the more others tell her to quit, the more she digs in her heels.
Some of my earlier problems with Morelli was that he didn't really support Stephanie's bounty hunting like Ranger did. I felt that if he couldn't accept her career, then he's not the right guy. But, honestly? Stephanie stinks at bounty hunting. And he's always made his displeasure known, once in the form of an ultimatum, but he seems to have learned that she's going to do what she wants, no matter what. Frankly, Morelli has been supportive of Stephanie these past books, and not just in her career - he's a really good boyfriend.
So...yeah. Lol, man, I can't believe how much I wrote on the relationship between fictional characters in a book series, but... Well, what else is the internet for?
Plus, in Twelve Sharp, Stephanie is suddenly back to being a Bounty Hunter - with absolutely no mention of why she quit working at RangeMan, in what seemed to me a far better job. The only reason I can think of is for Janet Evanovich's entertainment purposes, because a Bounty Hunter Stephanie is what the series is about, as opposed to working-in-RangeMan-offices Stephanie.
Anyway, back to my original purpose for this post. I re-read the entire series, and I got to thinking about the whole Ranger vs. Morelli thing going on for Stephanie's romantic life. I've seen a few Steph/Morelli fans, but most of the fic I've read are Stephanie/Ranger - sometimes painting Morelli in a very bad and out-of-character light.
When I first read the series, I liked Morelli. The first couple of books, Ranger was kind of a blink-and-miss-him kind of character, and Morelli was awesome. And then Ranger started to show his interest in Stephanie, and I decided that, while I liked Morelli, I wanted Stephanie to end up with Ranger. I mean...it's Ranger - he's all cool and kickass, plus he throws around Mercedes and Porches like nothing.
Things changed after Eleven on Top came out. By that time, it had been a while since I read the books, so, before reading Eleven on Top, I decided to refresh my knowledge of the series. I read all ten preceding books, and then read Eleven on Top.
And I found myself liking Morelli more.
I mean, there was never a point where I disliked Morelli. I've always liked Morelli, both as a character and as a boyfriend for Stephanie. Hell, as a boyfriend for any woman, Morelli is freaking awesome. I just always found myself thinking that, well, Ranger is a bit more cool than Morelli, so...Ranger it is as my personal preference. But then I read Eleven on Top and thought: You know what? Morelli is just as cool as Ranger, but in a different way. Morelli is a cool guy, a cool boyfriend - Ranger's a cool character in a book. And that doesn't really make for a good boyfriend.
Maybe I grew up a little in what couldn't have been more than a year or two, but, by the time Twelve Sharp came out? I was a Morelli girl.
That's right, I said it: I want Stephanie to end up with Morelli.
It doesn't mean that I dislike Ranger. I still think he's cooler than...well, Batman. But, realistically speaking, I don't think he'd make a good boyfriend for anyone. And Stephanie, despite her tendencies to attract trouble, isn't really someone who thrives in the bounty hunting environment like Ranger does. She manages, but mostly on dumb luck and some really good friends and/or contacts. Most of her insistence on continuing to stay as a bounty hunter seems to stem from the fact that, well, she's not really qualified for anything else, and she has the freedom of a non-nine-to-five job. Plus, you know, stubborn pride; the more others tell her to quit, the more she digs in her heels.
Some of my earlier problems with Morelli was that he didn't really support Stephanie's bounty hunting like Ranger did. I felt that if he couldn't accept her career, then he's not the right guy. But, honestly? Stephanie stinks at bounty hunting. And he's always made his displeasure known, once in the form of an ultimatum, but he seems to have learned that she's going to do what she wants, no matter what. Frankly, Morelli has been supportive of Stephanie these past books, and not just in her career - he's a really good boyfriend.
So...yeah. Lol, man, I can't believe how much I wrote on the relationship between fictional characters in a book series, but... Well, what else is the internet for?