One for the Money (Stephanie Plum, #1)

by Janet Evanovich

[Leah]

Stephanie Plum is down on her luck. She's lost her job, her car's on the brink of repossession, and her apartment is fast becoming furniture-free. Enter Cousin Vinnie, a low-life who runs a bail-bond company. If Stephanie can bring in vice cop turned outlaw Joe Morelli, she stands to pick up $10,000. But tracking down a cop wanted for murder isn't easy . . . And when Benito Ramirez, a prize-fighter with more menace than mentality, wants to be her friend Stephanie soon knows what it's like to be pursued. Unfortunately the best person to protect her just happens to be on the run . . .

The Stephanie Plum novels are books I've obviously heard of; you'll be hard pushed to find someone who hasn't heard of them. They're hugely popular and the seventeenth in the series is out in June. They've made Janet a ton of money - she was asking for $50 million for four books when her contract was up for renewal before she moved publishers. And I must admit, when I saw that I did say to myself that I probably wasn't going to read her novels. There's greedy and then there's greedy and nobody should get $50 million for four books, it's insane. However, I finally succumbed. I wanted something a bit different to read so I downloaded One for the Money onto my Kindle and God I loved it!

I find it hard to define the novels - they're not Chick Lit but they're not necessarily crime either. They're sorta romantic suspense. Heavy on the suspense. Going by the first book, I'm going to be in for one heck of a ride. Stephanie Plum is seriously my new favourite heroine. I adore her. Sure she's a crap bounty hunter (well she is at the beginning anyway), but she's just so funny! The book had me giggling like a good'un! The plot is incredibly fast paced, something's always happening, and I was sucked in really quickly. The banter between Stephanie and the man she's hunting Joe Morelli is lightning quick and I can totally see them together in the near future. I also reckon Ranger, a fellow bounty hunter, will be in the mix somewhere. Total love triangle alert I'm sure. I'm determined to read the books without reading reviews or spoilers of the later books. I want to be surprised, despite how desperate I am to know if Stephanie and Morelli get together.

So, yeah, I adored the book, I thought it was amazing and I'm dying to dip into Two for the Dough ASAP! I also can't wait for the movie, and I'm looking forward to seeing Katherine Heigl's version of Stephanie. It's not out til 2012 though which is disappointing. I'm pleased I decided to read the book, 'cos Janet knows how to hook a reader into her books. Who knows if she can keep it up for 16 novels, my guess is she can, and I'm looking forward to taking the journey (with any luck I'll manage it right in time for the release of book 17)! BTW I also can't believe the book came out in the early 90s, it's aged REALLY well!