Janet Evanovich's One for the Money
Pestered by her close New Jersey family, Stephanie Plum offers to catch high-school crush Joe Morelli, cop turned bail jumper, for her cousin Vinnie's company. She questions "working girls" to find the missing girlfriend of vicious prizefighter Benito Ramirez while Joe secretly watches her back. Ranger mentors her and supplies vehicles when hers explode. [ synopsis from goodreads ]
So until the film version of this came out a few years ago, I don't think I'd ever really heard about this series. I mean, I'd seen the books around but I didn't really know anything about them?? But then when dear Beth visited, we happened to rent this movie and I believe we both loved it. So since then, I've been collecting all of the books. My goodwill always seems to have them in ample supply (don't read too much into that) and I'm only too happy to take them off their hands.
That all being said, I've had infinite opportunities to sit down and start this series but, for some reason, I never have. So I'm really glad this one came up as a book club pick and actually got me to sit down and finally read this one. I enjoyed it so, so much. It was so hilarious and fun and just an all around good read. It was light and really easy to just breeze right through (which I did, every time I had a moment to sit down and read) and I deeply enjoyed all the time I spent with it. And now I'm eyeballing all the other ones I've purchased over the years and I'm ready to start devouring them.
So if you're looking for a fun mystery-type ride with a whole host of great characters, this one is great! It's a bit different than your usual mystery series. I love the whole setting and the small town feel. I just really enjoyed this one all around? I highly recommend it if you're looking for something light and fun. I know I will definitely be coming back for more!
(Though, as a side note, I didn't enjoy this one as much as I would've if I hadn't seen the film first. I felt like I knew where this one was headed all the time (though there are definitely some big differences compared to the film) and, therefore, the mystery aspect didn't really ~grab me like it probably would've normally. So whether or not I really like the mystery is something I probably can't speak to until I read future books where I don't already know the outcome. So my review of the next one will probably end up being far more concise than this one.)
review originally posted on goodreads
