Dare You To Read: One for the Money by Janet Evanovich

I love having the opportunity to challenge people to read books that I personally found compelling or interesting or just all out fun.  But I want to know what you think?  Have you read the book?  Did it stick with you?  If so, why?  If not, why? _________________________________________________

 

Genre: Women Sleuths, Mystery, Contemporary Fiction
Order Online: Amazon.com
Author Info: Website | Goodreads
Rating: 4 stars
Borrowed from the library. 

In A Nutshell:
I read this book years ago and thought it was only so-so, but I went to the movie because my friend wanted to go.  After I stepped out of the movie I kept thinking that I liked the story--so why did I not really like the book.  So I tried the book again--this time as an audiobook and loved it!  Every time I had to pause the story, I could not wait to get back to a place where I could turn it on again!

Review:
Janet Evanovich put together an interesting and lively group of characters.  I loved the character of Stephanie Plum.  She has smarts--but she also has things that she does not know and needs to learn.  She has determination and a keen sense of what she needs to survive--but she also has a sense of humor and a sarcasm that left me laughing out loud many times as I read the book.

Joe Morelli is a mystery to me.  On one hand he seems like a stand up guy that got caught up in a bad situation, but then I see the way he needles Stephanie about their shared history and he seems kind-of like a player or maybe even a jerk.  So I am still deciding if I like Joe or not, but more than anything I hope he is in the next book because my desire to figure him out is part of what has got me hooked on this series.

And finally the Plum family.  They add something to this book and to this story that is priceless, but I felt like the real magic of the story comes from watching Stephanie interact with everyone around her--that's where all the laughs really came from for me.

There are many times over the course of the story that it is clear that this book is meant to be the introduction to the series.  There is a lot of explanation about the history of the characters and overt displays of their relationships to show how they interact with one another.  It did not necessarily detract from the book, but I am looking forward to future books with the hopes that there will not be as much time devoted to that.

Recommendations:
I do wish I had given this book another try before watching the movie--so if you have not read the book I recommend that before the movie.  But if you have read the book--I thought the movie was great!