One for the Money (Stephanie Plum Series Book 1) - Romantic Suspense Novel by Janet Evanovich - Perfect for Mystery Lovers & Book Club Discussions

Loved it from the beginning to the end, worth the time.Stephanie Plum is an adorable tough character that won me over.I really enjoyed the story.Stephanie Plum is so much fun!! The things this girl gets herself into is laugh out loud hysterical! There are several other characters in these books that are highly amusing as well. I would recommend this series to everyone. Once you pick up this book you can't put it down!!Someone recommended this book to me and it sounded like the type of book I'd read. Janet Evanovich did not disappoint. Stephanie and her friends will leave you on the edge of seat with action and laughing out loud at some troubles she and her friends get into. A must read for sure and I will definitely read on in the series"One for the Money" is a first of a series novel by Janet Evanovich. The protagonist is a female who has lost her traditional civilian type job and becomes a "bounty hunter" without any prior training or experience. The setting is Trenton, New Jersey. The style is modern conversational American and is an easily comprehended light read. The novel seemed to start slowly, but picked up the pace at the end. I liked it as an easy recreational style light reading experience.Among my reading interests are the reading of early detective novels of various authors, past and present. One of my favorite modern American Detective Authors is Sue Grafton. This novel, and the protagonist, Stephanie Plum, reminds me somewhat of Sue Grafton and her protagonist, Kinsey Millhone. In that this is only the first Stephanie Plum novel that I have read, I have a completely open mind on the following, but thus far I prefer Sue Grafton. I suppose I should also mention that Sue Grafton has passed away and I feel a certain amount of loyalty to her.Comparing the two first novels, "One for the Money", with "A is for Alibi", both protagonists are younger, but not completely inexperienced females. One series is set in New Jersey, the other in California. Kinsey Millhone is a former police officer. Stephanie Plum has no similar experience. Accordingly, Stephanie Plum makes almost mind numbing mistakes compared to Kinsey Millhone. There is more popular style of humor in this novel. Sue Grafton's humor is more subtle. Sue Grafton seems more of a mature and sophisticated writer. There is almost no obscenity in Sue Grafton's novels that I have thus far read. (I have read "A" thru "H".). This novel has much more common street language. There is as much, or more, vulgarities in this novel as in all of the eight Sue GraftonNovels that I have read, combined.As is common for me, I purchased the Kindle and the audiobook and read and listened simultaneously. The audiobook is completely faithful to the Kindle. The story was at times slow enough that I sped up the reading speed on the audiobook. I would then slow it down when there were any detailed narrative. I also read the climax of the story twice. Once at a rapid speed and then at a slower speed. I liked the way the ending of the story was structured.In summary, I liked this first "Stephanie Plum" novel. I see potential for enjoying future novels in this series. Of all of the modern American female detective authors that I have thus far read, Janet Evanovich and Stephanie Plum puts me most in mind of Sue Grafton and Kinsey Millhone. I always take a break between novels of the same author. In a few months I look forward to reading "Two for the Dough". Thank You....One of my many cousins had never read Janet Evanovich. I sent her 2 in the stephanie plum series as a few of us were discussing them online. She is now as hooked as I am!! I own the books in soft cover, many in hard cover and almost all in audio media!!First time for me reading this author, I am hooked!!!! Enjoyed the hunt, enjoyed the sarcastic comments, had a real belly laugh!! Now maybe I can get stuff done around the house!The characters and story are interesting, but there's just too much violence. Won't read another of this series.I chose this book because I was looking for an 'E' for an A - Z reading challenge and it has turned out to be an excellent choice. I wasn't sure I would like crime fiction but I loved this book. Evanovich had me from page 1 - ''There are some men who enter a woman's life and screw it up forever. Joseph Morelli did this to me - not forever, but periodically.'' Straight away I was interested in Joseph Morelli and whar sort of relationship they had, presumably he could not be that bad or she would not keep giving him the chance to screw her life up. There relationship turns out to be sparky - funny sparky, and I loved it. 'One for the Money' has a great plot which is well told, it moves along at a good pace and it has some truly laugh-out-loud moments.I loved Stephanie Plum, she is a normal girl getting on with her life. She is close to her slightly eccentric family, yet determined to hang on to her independence. When she becomes a bounty hunter she has to wise-up and toughen-up which is something of a learning curve for her, for the reader an enjoyable one.The other characters are a mix of good, bad, bonkers-in-a-good-way, bonkers-in-a-bad-way. Granma Mazur is definitely bonkers-in-a-good-way and you can't not love her. When she gets her hands on Stephanie's gun it is hilarious. I look forward to meeting Stephanie, Joe, Ranger and Grandma in the stories that follow. I recommend this book.This is the first in the long running Stephanie Plum series. When we first meet her, Stephanie has just lost her job and, out of a desperate need for money, takes a job with her cousin as a bounty hunter. It is fair to say that her cousin does not want her to work for him and that Stephanie is totally unprepared for what the job entails. Saying that, Stephanie is both really funny and totally human, so you find that you are really rooting for her.The main plot revolves around Stephanie Plum having to locate Joseph Morelli, an ex cop accused of murder, who she has known since she was a child. As they embark on a cat and mouse game of Stephanie attempting to catch Morelli, while he both evades her and tries to keep an eye on her at the same time, they find that they need to join forces. This is a really funny, fast moving mystery, with great characters. I am sure I will enjoy reading the further books in this series and also enjoyed the authors new series, This book is fantastic. It's not a literary feat that is going to push the boundaries of your knowledge, nor is it a classic. However, it is a brilliant little novel that will make you giggle and you can't help but feel connected to the characters.When Stephanie Plum loses her job, the financial pressures become immense. As a result, she takes a job as a bounty hunter (like you do!) and soon finds herself hunting down a police officer who is on the run after being accused of murder. As cases go, this isn't the easiest one for a fledgling bounty hunter - and Stephanie is soon in well over her head. Dragged into a seedy underworld and hounded by a psychotic prize fighter, the hunter becomes the hunted. Now Stephanie needs protection... and the elusive police officer might just be the one to help.This story is brain candy at its absolute best, a guilty pleasure and a trashy treasure... if anyone can manage to not at least crack a smile when Grandma Mazur gets 'friendly' with a roast chicken, then there must be something wrong with them!I began reading this book, could not get into it, put it away and picked it up again and then found that I could not put it down. I even found myself laughing while reading it to the questioning stares of those around me. Its about a women called Stephanie who is broke, needs a job and takes one on from her cousin Vinnie to bring people in who have broken bail or basically done a 'runner'. Her path crosses with an ex cop Joe Morelli who is like her guardian angel, turns up when she is in real trouble. There is chemistry there but they never get it together. It is in parts quite violent but the undercurrent of this is outweighed by the quirky dialogue and conversations between Stephanie, Vinnie and Joe. The book itself is small in size and ideal for a holiday read, under 300 pages and a quick page turner. I think anyone would enjoy this. If not for a few bedtime laughs.I guess this is what some of my so called 'well educated' friends refer to as "low-brow commercial pulp fiction". Yep! And it's the best of the grange. Can so many readers who leave top reviews be wrong? No. It's sassy, funny and good thrillers that I devour. I enjoy the banter between strong characters, I love the fact that Janet E makes me walk or drive up and down Stark Street -because in my mind, I am there. Great books, entertaining, fun and cleverly written. May never win a prestigious literature prize, but hey, Ms Evanovich has won me and millions of other readers. Get your copy, sit back and enjoy the ride.