Evanovich lives in Florida with her husband, Pete, whom she married in 1964. Members of Evanovich’s family are employed by her company, Evanovich Inc., including her husband, Pete, son, Peter and daughter Alexandra.

That novel, Hero at Large, was published in 1987 in the Second Chance Love category line under the pseudonym Steffie Hall. The following year she began writing for Bantam Loveswept under her own name. For the next five years she continued to write category romances for Loveswept. Her work within the romance novel genre helped her learn to create likable characters and attractive leading men. In this time, Evanovich also became known for the humor that filled her novels. She believes that “it’s very important to take a comic approach. If we can laugh at something, we can face it.”

In 1994, her initial romantic adventure, One for the Money, was published to good reviews. This was the first of a light-hearted series of mysteries starring barely competent bounty hunter Stephanie Plum. One for the Money was named a New York Times notable book, a Publishers Weekly Best Book of 1994 and a USA Today Best Bet.

In 2004, Evanovich launched another series with Metro Girl. This book debuted at Number 2 on the New York Times Best Seller List. The heroine is Alexandra Barnaby, an auto mechanic. Her love interest is Sam Hooker, a hedonistic NASCAR driver. The “Motor” series is set in the southern U.S. states. Further books in the series include Motor Mouth and Troublemaker 1 & 2 (graphic novels).

Evanovich collaborated with Stephen J. Cannell, noted T.V. writer and producer (A Team, Rockford Files, Baretta, 21 Jump Street), on a book entitled No Chance, which was to be the first book in a new series. It was supposed to be released in October 2007. However, in July 2007, the book was canceled. Stephen J. Cannell died in 2010 of melanoma.

In 2010 Evanovich published Wicked Appetite, spinning off the character Diesel from the between-the-numbers Plum books. The heroine of Wicked Appetite is sweet cupcake baker Lizzie Tucker, who, unlike Stephanie Plum, can cook. The “Wicked” series is set in Salem, Massachusetts. In the series, Diesel & Lizzie search for the seven stones of power, each representing a different deadly sin. Lizzie & Diesel are “Unmentionables”, humans with additional powers. Their rivals for the stones are Diesel’s dark cousin, Gerwulf “Wulf” Grimoire, introduced in Plum Spooky and his medieval-esque minion Hatchet. Lizzie’s animal companions are one-eyed Cat 7143 and Carl the Monkey, from Fearless Fourteen and Plum Spooky. Her friends include Glo, a “Questionable,” and Clara Dazzle, an “Unmentionable” who lost her powers after congress with another “Unmentionable.” In Wicked Appetite, the stone sought is that incarnating the sin of gluttony.

Shortly before One for the Money was released, Evanovich sold the movie rights to Columbia TriStar for $1 million. Lions Gate Entertainment released One for the Money on January 27, 2012. The film stars Katherine Heigl as Stephanie Plum, Sherri Shepherd from The View as Lula, Debbie Reynolds as Grandma Mazur, Jason O’Mara as Joe Morelli, and Daniel Sunjata as Ranger. It was directed by Julie Anne Robinson.

In 2012 Evanovich published Wicked Business, the second in the series. In Wicked Business, the stone embodies the sin of lust. A new villain is introduced, deranged candy heiress Deirdre Early, or Anarchy. Lizzie, through a selfless act and exchange of body fluids with Wulf, converts the lust stone into the “icky true love stone”, implying that in the right circumstances, the stones of sin can be converted into stones of virtue.

In June 2013, Evanovich published the novella “Pros & Cons” and the novel The Heist, the first two works in a new series co-written with Lee Goldberg. Since then the series has grown to five novels (The Heist, The Chase, The Job, The Scam, and The Pursuit), two novellas (Pros & Cons and The Shell Game) and one online short-story, The Caper.

In 2015 Evanovich teamed up with Phoef Sutton for the third novel in the series, Wicked Charms. The Stone of Avarice (Greed) is the focus of this installment.

In 2016 Evanovich released the first book, Curious Minds, in her new Knight & Moon mystery series. Co-authored with Phoef Sutton, the book introduces two new characters, Emerson Knight and Riley Moon. Emerson Knight is a rich, eccentric introvert with little-to-no sense of social etiquette. He is also brilliant and handsome. Riley Moon is a recent Harvard Law and Harvard Business graduate. Her aggressive Texas spitfire attitude helped her land her dream job as a junior analyst at Blane-Grunwald where Emerson is a client. Together this unlikely duo finds themselves thrust into solving the most difficult of mysteries.

The protagonist is FBI special agent Kate O’Hare who has devoted her career to taking down one of the FBI’s most wanted con men and master thieves, Nick Fox. That is until the FBI pairs Kate with the most unlikely person, Nick Fox, to take down criminals. Together they travel the globe skirting on the edge of what is legal and illegal. Kate’s father, Jake O’Hare, a retired Special Forces operative, often aids in their quest. In June 2016, the fifth novel in the series, The Pursuit, was released.

Dangerous Minds, the second book in the series, was written by Evanovich and released in June 2017.