Review: One For the Money by Janet Evanovich

Title: One For the Money

Author: Janet Evanovich

Series: Stephanie Plum, 1

Genre/Audience: Mystery, humor, adult

Publication: 1996

Source: Library

This book (series, actually) is one I've been meaning to read for a long time now, along with a billion other popular series that I have YET to read such as Twilight and The Hunger Games (I know. Beat it!). My mother insisted I read it this week, though, so we can see the movie tomorrow, as she is a huge fan of the series. So, I read it finally!

One For the Money introduces Stephanie Plum, a 30-something down on her luck New Jersey girl. She recently lost her job as a lingerie buyer for an outlet, and is desperate enough for cash that she goes to her cousin Vinnie, a bonds bailsman, and becomes a bounty hunter. Though she has no experience, she is up for the challenge when she hears that catching her first fugitive will land her $10,000. Joe Morelli is the guy she's after, a cop accused of murder, and they have a long history together starting when he took her virginity in high school and ending when she hit him with her father's Buick shortly thereafter. Now she just needs to find the man who broke her heart, while avoiding being killed herself by dangerous men and she'll be in the clear.

I thought this book was A LOT of fun! I loved reading about all the crazy adventures Stephanie got herself in, and watching her dodge several proverbial (and real) bullets throughout, including being stalked by a violent and psychotic champion boxer, and stealing Joe's new car while he's on the run... then proceeding to get it blown up... oops! Stephanie really had no idea what she was doing, but she did it anyways, and this provided a lot of entertainment value. There were also quite a few funny moments. My favorite character in particular was Stephanie's Grandma Mazur who is a nutty old woman. She has several great moments such as accidentally shooting Stephanie's new gun at the dinner table, and wearing bright blue spandex shorts to a funeral with a pink and orange shirt. Basically, Grandma Mazur don't give a shit! (kind of like Honey Badger... hmm?).

All in all, I enjoyed this book and I'm glad my mom pushed me to read it when she did. I will definitely continue on with it to see what more trouble Stephanie gets into! While it's not the number one series I've ever read, I did think it was good, silly fun. I did think there were slightly too many characters, so hopefully that gets toned down in the next book a bit. While I'm not rushing out to read the next book or anything, I do look forward to reading it in the future!

My Rating: 3.5/5

P.S. That is one ugly cover, right? I like the newer version slightly better, but this is the one I read.