A - Z Challenge: One for the Money

One for the Money by Janet Evanovich

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.

I have to say that the Stephanie Plum series is pretty hilarious. They are good, quick reads and can make you laugh your ass off. We find Stephanie laid off from her job as a lingerie buyer, she's hawked nearly everything she owns in order to pay rent and feed her hamster, Rex. She's got the over-bearing mother who cooks roast beef every week and thinks Stephanie is dead if she's two minutes late for dinner. Her Grandma Mazur is totally the bomb and as the series goes on, you will love some of the shit that comes out of that woman's mouth. The father seems to mumble and hide behind his dinner plate or the newspaper and tries to not hear the dinner conversations. Stephanie begs for a job from her slimy cousin Vinny at his Bail Bonds shop and is soon chasing skips and trying to bring in Joe Morelli, her childhood nemesis who deflowered her in a bakery and whom she may or may not have clipped with her dad's Buick. Ranger tries to teach her how to be a bounty hunter and she's almost completely hopeless at it but still manages to bring enough people in to pay her rent or at least buy a loaf of bread. There's always a murder mystery and Stephanie ends up way over head and winds up blowing up more than one car in each book. If you're looking for a quick read that delivers some good laughs, look no further. Stephanie Plum is an enjoyable heroine who can crack you up!