Rating: 
Summary: Smart Talking Bounty Hunter from Jersey! Woo Hoo!
Review: Growing up in New Jersey myself, I was thrilled to read about newly turned Bounty Hunter, Stephanie Plum, Hungarian-Italian from Trenton who previously worked for a lingerie company.
Hysterical and witty and so much fun you will wonder as I did, where I've been all these years NOT reading this series!
A friend of mine recommended this 11 book series (as of 2004) but I was a little skeptical, being that sometimes as you probably know, some 'comedies' tend to be 'unfunny.' Too much unbelievable action sequences and dialog that it makes you harumph and wonder what the author was thinking. I too thought this was one of this unfortunate group, but no way! This was one of the gems in the long, long line of comedy/action/mysteries. With a little romance thrown in for good measure, I enjoyed myself so much I went out and bought the entire series!
This is the first in the famous 'Plum Series'. Aptly titled 'One for the Money,' we meet Jersey talking Stephanie Plum. Frizzy hair and big bones from her mother's Hungarian side (although her mother and grandmother have dainty gypsy bones is beyond her) she inherited the plow driving peasant build.
Stephanie is a woman on a mission. Recently laid off from a job with a warehouse lingerie company, she is hurting for money. The solution? Her cousin Vinnie has a bail bonding business that does very well in Trenton and is looking for a filing clerk. Just the job she could use, but when she arrives, she is too late. The job's been filled. No worry, the assisant to Vinnie, Connie urges her to try Apprehension Agent...in other words? Bounty Hunter extrondianire.
Vinne is NOT happy and soon tries to discourage her. Stephanie is not having any of it, this could get her an easy $10,000 bucks! All she has to do? Find and bring in Joe Morelli...former vice cop on the run for murder. There's a catch though...Joe and Steph have a past...a very steamy and volatile past.
More problems arise when she confronted by a cranky ex-prze fighter who doesn';t like her snooping around in his 'nieghborhood' and the other Bounty Hunter called 'Ranger' who thinks Stepahnie is WAY out of her league.
Not to mention her mother who thinks all she needs is to check out Macy's and become a makeover girl and everything will be okay, right after she goes home to eat...because God knows she just doesn't eat enough. Her grandmother seems to think bounty hunting is 'neat' and wants to know everything! Her father is just waiting for everything to get quiet so he can read his paper in peace.
Funny funny funny...the mishaps this woman gets herself into and the things she encounters is just too much. Joe is [attractive] and very determined NOT to get caught. But yet, toying with Ms Plum has always been fun...he he he
A great read not to be missed! (...)
Rating: 
Summary: New to the Plum Series
Review: This is my first Sephanie Plum novel--I actually tried reading the first book first for a change. I enjoyed the book a lot, and would recommend it to James Patterson fans as well, for a good read.The main character, Stephanie Plum, is wonderful--very real and funny. The situations she gets herself into are not realistic, but that's all part of the fun. Lots of interesting twists and Stephanie gets hersef in and out of trouble. I'd recommend this book, and will be reading others in this series.
Rating: 
Summary: Spare me the confessions
Review: One of the cardinal rules of mystery writing should be: Do not ever have the criminal hold a detective hostage and confess into a tape recorder. Sure as shootin' the detective is going to squirm out of the danger and nail the crook. Real criminals would shoot and be done with it. Real perps don't often feel the need to waste time in explanations, especially to someone who is going to be dead shortly. Mystery writers continue to use this easy way out, especially when it's obvious that the evidence adduced is insufficient to convict anyone of anything in court. This book is a good case in point. Perhaps the writer just couldn't think of another way to end the book. The characters are interesting enough, although Ms. Plum seems to be a clone escaped from Sue Grafton's Kinsey Milhone series: smart-mouthed, tough, enduring. The plot, up to almost the end, is more than a trifle outlandish (a complete novice cutie pie hiring out as a bounty hunter in a tough city--NOT!). The atmosphere (Trenton, NJ) is gritty and mean; the descriptions of the Garden State capital would induce few readers to want to visit. The humor has its moments, although some asides seem misplaced, askew. Perhaps the subsequent novels from the series are improved, but I will probably never know first hand after reading this one.
Rating:
Summary: More like 3 1/2 stars
Review: Unemployed and down on her luck, Stephanie Plum takes a job with her cousin Vinnie's bail bond service as a bounty hunter. Soon she is on the heels of Joe Morelli, a cop wanted for murder with whom Stephanie also has a complicated personal history. This is a light, breezy story whose main charm is its amusing lead character, who narrates the story and her many screw-ups on the way to ultimate victory in a very humorous voice. The end disappoints by denying us a major confrontation that seemed inevitable and by falling back on the old device of the villain who is undone because he takes the time to explain his schemes. Still, it remains a fast, enjoyable read.
Rating:
Summary: STEPHANIE PLUM ROCKS!
Review: Wow, this is such an amazing mystery/humor book! There's everything some sex appeal, some hot main guy charachters, and a main girl that EVERYONE can relate too!
Rating:
Summary: A Hoot!
Review: I haven't read a book in a long time that made me laugh so much out loud in just two short days! I went straight onto the 2nd and the 3rd, and now I'm about to start the 4th. Everyone should read this series! Stephanie Plum, the girl with crazy hair, is the kind of sassy chic that most of us would secretly love to be, and her relationship with the sexiest cop ever, something we'd all like to experience. The dinners with the family will make you cry laughing!
Rating: 
Summary: Did no one else notice the childhood sexual abuse?!
Review: I am stunned that no other readers commented on the childhood sex abuse Stephanie suffered at the hands of Joe Morelli. I was reading along, really enjoying the beginning of the book, when all of a sudden, Stephanie describes what Joe did to her AT AGE SIX as "fingering." Um, excuse me?!?!? I assumed when they played "train," it was sort of like playing doctor - harmless peeking, you know? But when she described it otherwise, I was horrified. I read it a few times just to be sure my eyes weren't deceiving me. And then Stephanie goes on to have sex with Joe 10 years later? And is still drawn to him years after that? I'm not sure Evanovich is right in the head. I just did not see that one coming... Needless to say, I won't be reading any more of her books. Maybe "fingering" is different in Jersey than it is in Detroit. In Detroit, fingering a 6 year old is a felony and will probably cost the victim years of abuse counseling. I just can't see the justification for that kind of violence in a supposedly "funny" book. I'll stick to Sue Grafton when I want to read about a female heroine.
Rating:
Summary: aWsOmE!!
Review: AlL i CaN sAy iS tHaT tHiS iS tHe BeSt BoOk I hAvE eVeR rEad!!! HiGhLy ReCoMeNdEd!!!
Rating:
Summary: one for the money...
Review: This book is a GREAT comedy/mystery. It is so funny and is definitly a page turner with a laugh a page. recommended to anyone who wants to read a great book and be completley entertained! I wish i could give this books 10 stars!
Rating:
Summary: A Stroke of Genius
Review: I'm tired of authors trying to creat masterpieces. It doesn't work. Fancy language, and symbollism doesn't amount to anything without a decent story. Janet Evanovich realizes this. She has written a hilarious, brilliant dark comedy that never tries to be a classic, but will end up being one anyway.
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