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One for the Money (Stephanie Plum, #1)

Janet Evanovich

Start date: January 16, 2012

Finish date: February 16, 2012

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Discussion leader: Shellbelle

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What Members Thought

Jan 16, 2011 Lisa Kay rated it it was amazing

Shelves: authors-j, genre-mystery, series-s, genre-humor, genre-rom-com, authors-e

Hollywood is in the process of making One for the Money by Janet Evanovich, staring Katherine Heigl as Stephanie Plum. With luck it will be half as good as the book, a box office success, and therefore inducing them to develop the rest of the series. Right now Evanovich is up to Smokin' Seventeen (with a few holiday side specials). Because of the movie, I’m sure more people will be picking up this book, the first in a series, as JE does a hilarious job of blending Stephanie Plum’s character as ‘ ...more

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Jun 30, 2011 Erin *Proud Book Hoarder* rated it really liked it

Shelves: mystery, movie-seen, anthony-award, edgar-awards, reviewed, part-of-series, 4-star, mystery-read-and-solved, a-own-book-form, agatha-award

I'm not sure why I waited so long to try this book. I think the cover threw me off. Strange, I know, and you should 'never judge a book it's cover,' I know, but there was something about it that put me off. I'm glad I took the whim and dug it out the To Be Read pile, though, as Stephanie Plum now has a new delighted fan who is eager to read the rest of her stories.

The plot is a great one, where Stephanie is as hard on her luck as she can get, having to work for a slimy relative to bring in the m I'm not sure why I waited so long to try this book. I think the cover threw me off. Strange, I know, and you should 'never judge a book it's cover,' I know, but there was something about it that put me off. I'm glad I took the whim and dug it out the To Be Read pile, though, as Stephanie Plum now has a new delighted fan who is eager to read the rest of her stories.

The plot is a great one, where Stephanie is as hard on her luck as she can get, having to work for a slimy relative to bring in the man who did her wrong in the past. Completely unprepared and wracked with hilarious 'accident's, the book is as amusing as it is intriguing. Small suspenseful scenes pop up too, especially with the deranged nut Ramirez. That's a sideplot not advertised that's almost as interesting as the main story.

Character wise, Stephanie is almost perfect. She's an ordinary gal scraping the bottom of the barrel, not stunningly beautiful but cute in an ordinary way, with a crappy car, intelligence and good sense of humor. Nothing is over the top with her, which is a good change for those tired of following the lives of unrealistic heroines. Her family was especially funny, especially the dialogue between dad and going-senile Grandma. Morelli is a little more stereotypical, but of course still a man you love to hate and then love again, with a strange scarred history toward the heroine not usually done in these sorts of stories. A refreshing change, there. Together all work to form a cute, exciting grouping. Ranger wasn't in much and I hated to see so little of him after he saved Stephanie - again - but I've seen hints he's shown more in coming books.

Charged with a fast pace and tense atmosphere at the right moments, never weighed down by too cutesy antics but still rich with humor and warmth, this is a book I'd recommend to many. It did have flaws, though. Stephanie was right, maybe, in her end turnaround with Morelli and his 'problem', but it disappointed me a bit too. I know the villain had more at stake in the story than was let on, but I was still surprised to see his actual role, so that was a nice surprise as well.

Violence is graphically described but not shown, so the squeamish should be fine reading through this one, while mystery hounds can rejoice, romance fans eagerly reading on. It's another book with a lot going on - Stephanie coming to terms with her loss of work, then finding another job that takes learning, fighting off the bizarre Ramirez, coming to terms with her relationship over Morelli, and the slightly abnormal family interference.

Stephanie is definitely an unlikely heroine - as Morelli is a bit of an unlikely hero - and Ranger is an unlikely helpful assistant - but it all comes together in the end to work out in a pleasing, inventive manner. I highly recommend this novel to readers of nearly any genre, for it's guaranteed to bring both chuckles and warmth. ...more

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Sep 28, 2009 Charlotte (Buried in Books) rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: crime, chick-lit

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Nov 12, 2009 Tania rated it it was amazing

The first time I read this, the first book in the Stephanie Plum series, I was delighted. I've found that it stands up to rereads as well. It's laugh out loud funny, and if I'm reading in public then people pretty much think I'm crazy, because I can't help but laugh at Stephanie's antics.

In One For the Money we meet a host of zany characters that will be with us for many books to come, including our heroine Stephanie Plum, the men in her life Joe Morelli and Ranger, her cousin Vinny, her sweet ...more

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