Janet Evanovich can be trusted to provide readers with a few hours of light reading with quirky characters and an improbable but humorous plot. Wife For Hire is no exception.

I originally bought this book because I thought it was a new release and was hoping that it was another Stephanie Plum Bounty Hunter novel. I discovered that it was re-released in October, 2007 but was originally published in 1990. While the character development and plot is not as detailed as her later work, Wife For Hire is classic Evanovich style.

Hank Mallone returns to his small hometown in Skogen, Vermont after inheriting his grandmother's apple orchard. When he left, he had a reputation as a wild and irresponsible child who never held a steady job. He now has plans to build a cider press, a bottling plant, and a bakery. Unfortunately, his father, the bank owner, refuses to loan him the money due to his past irresponsible behavior.

Maggie Toone, a school teacher in an equally small New Jersey town, is anxious to take some time away from teaching. She inherited her Aunt Kitty's diaries and hopes to publish them. Aunt Kitty owned a brothel. Maggie is also hoping to escape small-town life and the constant loving-but-meddling presence of her mother and her Aunt Marvina.

Hank travels to New Jersey to hire a pretend wife, believing that he will appear to be a stable and mature man to his father, thereby receiving the bank loan. Maggie takes the opportunity to escape her suffocating small town and take a sabbatical from work so that she has the opportunity to write her book.

The plot itself is simple: Hank falls in love and must convince Maggie that he and the townspeople love and accept her. Meanwhile, there's a mini-mystery unfolding. It appears that, not one, not two, but half of the town is trying to steal her aunt's diaries. Enter Elsie Hawkins. She appears in a similar form in many Janet Evanovich novels. She is the elderly, grandmotherly housekeeper who drives a '57 Cadillac, dates, and carries a gun in her purse. It is speculated that the attempts to steal the diaries may be related to something incriminating therein. Between the hapless burglars and the resourceful housekeeper, Wife For Hire is a fun, light-hearted and quick read.