I read this book after I saw the film adaptation when it came out to theaters which I enjoyed. The movie was what got me into the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich in the first place. It is about a girl named Stephanie Plum who works for her cousin Vinnie as a bail bondsman. She has some love interests, Morelli and the mysterious Batman-like character Ranger as well as bad people who mess with her when she gets in too deep. Cars Explode! What more can you want out of a action-packed romance series like this? Plus I like Grandma Mazur. She is funny. Definitely check it out. There are now 21 books in the series but this one started it all.

Four stars for the entertainment factor, it’s not politically correct (the author is now 80), but my rating is not for that. It’s for the silliness and ease. Thanks to my work mate to get me on to something completely new! And that’s what it’s all about.

Stephanie Plum isn't the smartest tool in the shed, no money, no partner, no job. Stumbling into a bounty hunter position, her job becomes a fantastical idea of bringing in felons in promise of the 10% fee.

The audio made it farcical, silly and a bit all over the place, but I suppose she is just that. The narrator's voice had a good accent, showing her Jersey roots.

Those who want something more serious (and don't wish to talk about inappropriate sex stuff) should steer clear, but this suited me as I am having a busy, all over the place week, and missing chunks doesn't matter.

Refreshing it was to hear about answering machines, car alarms, appliance stores and the more simple times, pay phones, grandmothers in bad clothing. Add to the mayhem the 30 something year old woman that should have a little more in the fridge and in the bank, this makes for very light reading, for the right time. This will be a good filler where missing portions of text won't matter too much.

The sexual build up and chemistry was there in the end, I look forward to seeing her learn more and attain proper skills to solve mysteries and whatever bad stuff comes her way. That's if she does learn more.. I have a feeling this might all be about her fluffing her way through, but I will find out more I'm sure.

10-01-2015 Buddy Re-Read

Just for the joy of it - mindless fun and reminiscing of old times:) Looking foreword to the series:)

This was great fun!!! Thanks to the BRG fro doing this together!!! I love shearing books that bring me joy with others! Every time you read one of the Plum books, the enjoyment is inevitable! Hope we can continue on:)

I've been seeing Evanovich books for years and not even once was I compelled to give them another look or find out if they were worth my time. I kind of regret it now.

This 1st book in the series about a female bounty hunter set in New Jersey ethnic neighborhood was quite a pleasure to read. The book was written about 15 years ago and definitely felt dated in many ways, especially in regards to "fashion" - spandex shorts, big hair, hoop earrings and all that. But the humor remained fresh, Plum/Morelli dynamic duo was a lot of fun to follow, and the mystery involving Hispanic and Italian gangsters, prostitutes, a crazy boxer and drugs was an original one.

I am not rushing into reading the 2nd book in the series, mostly because I don't want to overdose on them and there is like a million books in the series, so catching up is impossible. But I will definitely check the next book out whenever I am in a mood for a fast-paced funny mystery.

This review can also be found at Carole's Random Life

I have a lot of mixed feelings about this series at this point. I used to absolutely love it. Stephanie Plum is what got me reading again after not picking up a book for several years when my kids where little. I devoured every book in the series that was available and when a new one was released, I would drive to my local Borders to get a copy. I pushed these books on my mom and anyone else that would listen.

Several years ago, I stopped caring about this series. I realized that I could give a summary of just about any book in the series even if I hadn't read it yet.....because they are all the same. Yes there are small differences but the similarities are overwhelming. I bought this audiobook years ago and decided to pull it out because I wanted to feel a little bit of the magic before Stephanie Plum became boring.

I have read this book at least two or three times before listening to the audiobook. I even watched that horrible movie - at a theater. I know the story and I know it well. Unfortunately, I didn't feel any kind of magic this time. The story was okay. It has its moments for sure if you are looking for a little bit of silly fun in book form. It is really a pretty simple story without a whole lot of complexity to the mystery.

I didn't love the narration. C.J. Critt did a good job with Stephanie which was really the bulk of the story. I really didn't care for the voices used for the other characters in the book. I guess that I have a definite idea about what Ranger, Morelli, and the rest the gang should sound like and the reality of this audiobook just didn't measure up. Benito voice was just odd. Some of the voices used seemed so wrong to me that I found myself being pulled out of the story. I don't think that any of my issues were the fault of the narrator. I just went into the book with definite ideas of what I wanted to hear and this was just different. Not wrong...just different. I would listen to another book narrated by C.J. Critt.

I do think that readers looking for a fun silly story will enjoy the Stephanie Plum series. I have a lot of fond memories of reading these books but I don't think that I will be reading this one again. I may try the next book in the series soon to see if it works better for me because I really want to find some of the magic I felt years ago.

Initial Thoughts
I bought this audiobook years ago and decided that I should probably go ahead a listen to it. I have read the book at least twice but this was the first time I listened to any books in the series on audio. I used to love this series but it has lost a its magic for me. I was a bit underwhelmed by this audiobook and really didn't care for a lot of the voices used. It was silly at times but it just didn't feel all that funny this time around.

Full review to be posted soon.

Excellent humorous mystery.

This is the first in a series about a girl who becomes a bounty hunter. She bungles everything but manages some success through it all. Her bungling and not-so-smart choices provide great comedy. I laughed out loud many times. This is not a romance novel. Sexual content: none for the main characters, but one of the "bad guys" is a rapist who uses violence and torture.

Ah, the '90's. Bike shorts, slouchy socks with high-top Reeboks, scrunchies, day-glow.


Stephanie Plum is a New Jersey '90's girl who is out of work. She finagles her way into working for her cousin who is a bail-bondsman. Her job is to catch this guy who took her virginity and she's known most of her life, and turn him into the police. He was a cop who supposedly shot an unarmed man and he skipped out on his bail. If she catches him, she will get $10,000. And, she is pretty desperate for money. Like, sold-all-of-her-stuff, no-food-to-eat desperate.



But, Stephanie is completely out of her league and has no idea what she is doing. This makes for much hilarity as she bumbles and stumbles her way around. She has no trouble finding the guy - Morelli, it's just that she's not exactly sure how to bring him in.

n  "He left."

"Shit," Ranger said. "Didn't anybody tell you that you were supposed to stop him?"

"I asked him to come to the police station with me, but he said he didn't want to."

Another bark of laughter....n

Stupid uncooperative bail-jumper!

Plus, she is kind of conflicted about him:

n  Catching Morelli would be difficult. And turning him back in to the court would feel mean.n

Oh, well if it would feel mean then you shouldn't do your job.

This book was just hilarious. I loved Stephanie, Morelli, Stephanie's family, and all of the side characters. Also, Stephanie has a hamster named Rex. I love him the most! Hamsters are like little furry angels that were sent to make us have cute-explosions.


No, no! You're just big-boned. And adorable!

I know I'm about 20 years late for this party, but it works out nicely because I've got over 20 books already out that I can binge-read. And, I can't wait for Stephanie to get a cell phone. It's going to rock her world! (How the hell did we ever live without them?)

This one was on my TBR for over a decade.

WARNING: Once you read this one, you'll have to read the whole series!

Janet Evanovich has done an excellent job of creating a fast-paced mystery with her tale of how Stephanie Plum stumbles into the bounty hunter business. She's a street-smart Jersey girl you'll never forget! And her search for a fugitive on the lam forces her to cross paths with a sociopath boxer, some of the eeriest scenes you'll get. Even so, lots of parts of this book are pretty funny.

Once you read this one, you'll have to read the other four in this series. Evanovich is more believable than P.D. James or Colin Dexter, and her stories are much faster paced. More clever, too. If you like the smart-talking Archie Goodwin of the Nero Wolfe series, you'll love Stephanie Plum.

I've read and thoroughly enjoyed the Sue Grafton alphabet series (I'm not finished yet. K is for Killer is the last one I finished.) and I also love the Cat Who... series with Jim Qwilleran, by Lilian Jackson Braun, but this series, THIS SERIES, with Stephanie Plum, is now just as high on my list of favorites as those.

And knowing there's thirty more Stephanie Plum books out there waiting for me to read makes me soooo happy.

I mean, Janet Evanovich truly does an excellent, tremendous, spectacular job channeling the story through Stephanie Plum. Stephanie is funny, deadpan, tough, stubborn, brave, and still fragile at times. I loved how she had no idea what she was doing when she starts as a bounty hunter, but she makes it work because she has to. She won't make rent otherwise. I absolutely loved her relationship with Morelli, and his character was so well drawn. It was so great how their contentious relationship went all the way back to grade school. And Stephanie's Mom, Dad and Grandmother are beyond precious, and just truly funny. It's that love/hate relationship we all have with our families.

I can't get over how many times this book made me laugh out loud.

The characters in this book are multidimensional and very real, and the plot, THE PLOT, keeps you guessing to the very end.

I seriously can't get over how great this book was.

I foresee myself telling random strangers about it in the grocery store.

When I finished this first Stephanie Plum novel, I felt like I discovered a precious, valuable treasure.

I love movies and streaming, but when you read a book like this, I mean Janet Evanovich REALLY knows how to make the story come alive in your head, you know, right there and then, that reading truly is the greatest form of entertainment, of storytelling, and movies and the like are just pale shades of that incredible magic.

This book was magic. Thank God for Janet Evanovich.

Let's begin with a big shoutout to my daughter Sara who told me how many people enjoy this series at the Branch of the Greenville Public Library system where she works. Have obviously seen and read about the popular series but never tried it.
After having just read The Bully Pulpit, Emile Zola and James Michener this book was like Cotton Candy. Finished it in one day. It is a light and easy read. The author does hold your attention which is good and this is just the first book of the series so there definitely can be a lot of room for growth in both the characters and the writing.
The plot is a tad bit unbelievable. In that an unemployed girl would become a bounty hunter, and knowing nothing about what she is doing she goes after a huge payoff is she can collar and bring in her old HS friend who is now a cop and charged with murder. Not sure if this is supposed to be comical but Stephanie Plum is inept to put it right and stumbles into everything that happens. She is helped out by the very person she is supposed to be bringing in, she buys implements of the trade and has no idea how to use them. When others she associates with are either shot or killed, our girls Stephanie escapes unharmed until the very end when she does get a bullet in the butt, oh my!!
There are millions of Evanovich and Stephanie Plum fans out there and I am sure they love the series for many valid reasons, but for me this first book just comes off a silly and unbelievable, but I am going to try the second book to see if the series gets better. Trying to expand my reading habits to authors I have not read before so this was worth the effort for me.

1st read - January 2012
2nd read - November 2015

Original Review:

4.5 Stars

Stephanie has lost her job, she's completely broke and is about to lose both her car and her apartment so she needs money and she needs it quickly. Desperate she turns to her cousin Vinnie for a job at his bail bond company and finds herself thrown in at the deep end when she is asked to bring in Joe Morelli. Stephanie and Morelli may have history but it isn't going to be easy to capture a cop who is up on a murder charge. Then when Stephanie finds herself getting unwanted attention from boxer Benito it looks like Morelli may be the only person who can keep her safe.

I first discovered the Stephanie Plum series years ago and I must be on at least my third re-read of the series by now (well for the earlier books anyway). I'm a massive fan of Janet Evanovich and with the film version of One for the Money coming out in the UK in February I thought it was about time I picked up the series again. This is one of my favourite series, especially when I'm looking for something light hearted and pure fun that never fails to have me in tears of laughter.

Stephanie is like the Bridget Jones of the bounty hunting world and she skips from one disaster to the next in hilarious fashion. Along with her sidekicks Lula (an ex hooker with a love of all things Lycra, a heart of gold and a big attitude) and Grandma Mazur (a completely kooky old lady who loves guns and dreams of becoming a hot shot bounty hunter like her granddaughter) she manages to get herself into all sorts of trouble. Luckily she has two hot men to call on for back up - the sexy cop Morelli and the deliciously mysterious bounty hunter extraordinaire Ranger. 10 years and more than 15 books since I started reading this series and I still can't make up my mind which of these guys I love the most!

One for the Money is a fabulous introduction to Stephanie's world - you meet one of my favourite casts of characters, the plot is fast paced, the mystery keeps you guessing right to the end and the story will have you snorting with laughter. I can't recommend this series highly enough!

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2nd Read

The humour in these books never fails to make me laugh out loud (even on what must be at least my 4th read of this book!), I love Stephanie and her clumsiness, her crazy family and both of the men in her life. I STILL can't decide who I like best - Morelli or Ranger so I think I'll just have to keep both of them in my harem!

Series group read with Buddies, Books & Baubles starts 1st November. We're planning on reading one book a month so it'll be easy to keep up with if anyone else wants to join us :o)