One for the Money by Janet Evanovich

Back in February, The Book Nerds selected One for the Money as our Book to Movie to review.  After reading the book, I decided I would watch this movie on DVD and not in the theater.

Last night, I finally got around to watching the movie.  The storyline followed the book for the most part.  I was surprised to see Stephanie wearing dress clothes and heels while working as a bounty hunter.  It was obvious that she was not a true professional in the book, but I took her for more of the jeans, t-shirt, and sensible shoes type.  I guess they wanted to make sure Katherine Heigl looked good on screen.  She should have taken a few pointers from Ranger on how to dress for the job after he gets shot in the bulletproof vest while bailing her out of a situation.    

Overall, I thought the movie was okay.  It is worth watching if you have read the book, but I was glad I waited to get it from the library.  It was more of a comedy than a police drama, which I am sure was the intent.  Some of the actors, or the way they played their characters, was a bit hokey.  In the book, Stephanie was well aware of the danger she was in, but I didn't really feel that in the movie.  The movie tells the same story, but a lot of the emotion and connection with the characters was lost in the transition to the big screen.  

Here is a copy of my book review for Book Nerds Across America:

I have had these books on my to-be-read list for a LONG time.  This is a VERY lengthy series (18 books as of the time of this post) which has been my number one deterrent.  I wasn't sure I wanted to tackle that many books in addition to all of the other series I started last year and still need to catch up on.  When I saw the movie was released starring Katherine Heigl as Stephanie Plum, I decided it was finally time to step up to the challenge.

This was a very fast read and highly entertaining.  I enjoyed watching Stephanie struggle to learn the finer points of becoming a bounty hunter.  There were a few situations that she got herself into that caused me to literally laugh out loud.  There were others that were downright frightening and would have had me running to the nearest unemployment office.  (Unemployment would have looked like a far better alternative to chasing down fugitives.) 

Once Stephanie realizes this is a life and death occupation, she begins to take things more seriously.  She seeks out the assistance of Ranger (another bounty hunter) and Eddie Gazarra (a relative who is a cop) to teach her how to shoot and successfully apprehend an FTA...a suspect that "failed to appear" for their court date.  None of her training goes to waste.  She has taken on a VERY dangerous occupation and does surprisingly well at it...given her limited amount of training and experience.  She manages to be in the right place at the right time and has reasonably good investigative instincts.  She isn't going to be working for the secret service anytime soon, but she manages to put food on the table and oil in her car.  (You will see what I mean by that last comment if you read the book.)

Overall...If you are looking for a fluffy, fun, read that doesn't require much thought...this series is for you.  I really liked the hot and cold relationship between Morelli and Plum and look forward to seeing what is in store for them in Two for the Dough.