Janet Evanovich Book Group discussion

I recently finished book number 26 and I absolutely loved it.
There was just one comment made by Ranger towards the end of the book that left me confused. Stephanie says to Ranger: "You're good with children" and he responds: "You've seen my family in Newark. Lots of kids. Even more in Miami..."
Now I am wondering if there was a scene in one of the books in the series where Stephanie actually meets Ranger's family and I missed it... I have read all books, or at least I thought I had!
I am hoping maybe someone knows about this, it's driving me crazy not knowing if I missed a whole book or at least an important scene!

In Eleven on Top, Ranger says he has four sisters (one of whom is named Celia) and one brother. Stephanie does meet Ranger's family at some point, but I can't for the life of me remember in which book (I assume it was after Eleven on Top). If I remember correctly, Ranger and Stephanie were questioning people in the neighborhood, and since his parents lived nearby, Ranger took Stephanie to have dinner with his family. His brother and some of his sisters were there, and Stephanie sees him interacting with his nieces and nephews.

Ugh, now it's driving ME crazy that I can't remember which book this happened in. I know it wasn't book 12, because I've re-read Twelve Sharp numerous times. I've spent the past hour searching key words in books 13-25 but unfortunately I've had no luck finding that scene. I hope someone else knows and responds.

I've been rereading, actually listening to the audio (which is fantastic), and is where Stephanie meets Rangers ex-wife and child.

I'm my next book is and so far I haven't read about Ranger's Newark family, but I do remember that she has met them, I just don't remember which book.

Thanks for your replies!
I was so excited to hear that there is another scene with Ranger I didn't know about, but I can't find it either!
I have now gone over all 26 books and the scene where Stephanie meets Ranger's family doesn't seem to be included in any of them...

Do you think it is possible that it's not in the ebooks? I have only read those, and not the paper copies.

Raffa wrote: "Do you think it is possible that it's not in the ebooks? I have only read those, and not the paper copies."

It's definitely in the ebooks. I re-read all of Ranger's scenes about a year ago, and I did that by searching "Ranger" in the ebooks and reading every scene where his name is mentioned. I remember the scene where Stephanie meets Ranger's family in Newark.

I started going over the books again as well, but Ranger is mentioned often, so it's quite time-consuming. If I ever happen to do another re-read of Ranger scenes, I'll reply here if I find that scene again.

I can’t remember which actual book that Steph meets Ranger’s family and it’s driving me nuts. I know I also read it in multiple fanfiction stories 😂 but I know it was inspired from a book scene. I’ll keep thinking!
Really hoping for substantial Ranger scenes in the upcoming book! I LOVE them.

Samantha wrote: "I can’t remember which actual book that Steph meets Ranger’s family and it’s driving me nuts. I know I also read it in multiple fanfiction stories 😂 but I know it was inspired from a book scene. I’..."

Ha, it's driving us all nuts now. Does anyone know of any Janet Evanovich or Stephanie Plum facebook groups? There are probably more members there who would see the question. I don't really use facebook, but that would be a good place to ask.

I've also read many fanfics where Stephanie meets Ranger's family! I hope now that Janet is changing the series up a bit (adding in the new character of Gabrielle and changing the naming style of the titles), she also changes her approach to Ranger. Ranger got a lot of character development in the first half of the series, but he hasn't been featured prominently for a long time. Now that Stephanie has been in a relatively stable relationship with Joe for several books now, Ranger has been sidelined and just flits in and out to rescue Stephanie.

Twelve Sharp is my favorite book because it had a strong, compelling story with character development, and we got to see Ranger and Stephanie work closely together for the duration of the book. I'm longing to see that again. However, I am worried that the addition of the Gabrielle character is going to mean even less time for Ranger, since it seems like she's going to play a role similar to the one Ranger plays:

“She’s going to give Stephanie a real run for her money,” Evanovich says of Gabrielle — the polar opposite of Plum, whom the author describes as truly average yet heroic when necessary. “By the time we get to the third book [No. 28] and they’re actually forced to work together, it’s going to be like the odd couple. Gabrielle has a military background. She’s good at hand-to-hand combat. She’s a gun nut. She doesn’t keep her gun in the brown bear cookie jar like Stephanie.”

I've reread the books SEVERAL times. She has never met his family other than his daughter. He has mentioned his family, and she kind of met a guy who used to date his sister, but that's it. She's either referencing something that happened off the page or she goofed.

I wish we could meet Ranger's family.

The part of that scene that stuck out to me the most was Ranger saying he could salsa. Now THERE'S a scene we need! :)

Antara wrote: "In Eleven on Top, Ranger says he has four sisters (one of whom is named Celia) and one brother. Stephanie does meet Ranger's family at some point, but I can't for the life of me remember in which b..."

You have to be talking about a fanfic.

That family dinner scene never happened. She has never met his family other than his daughter. The closest she got was when they were in his family's neighborhood asking questions and he specifically said he was going to try real hard not to run into his grandmother.

I just caught up with you all and am also wondering about Ranger’s family. Does Janet have a webpage where she might have answered this mystery?

This topic is amazing. I love it. I always wondered about his family!