Big Girl Panties

Big Girl Panties by Stephanie Evanovich
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

When Holly Brennan meets physical trainer Logan Montgomery on a plane trip, the overweight widow sees a change to regain her life - and result of their workouts will be not only sweat but steam.

First off, let's not mix up author Stephanie Evanovich with her aunt, Janet Evanovich, as I did! This is Stephanie E's first novel.

At the core of Big Girl Panties is a fun fantasy - fat girl wins over studly prince, but the rest is nothing special. The sex scenes and some of the descriptions are awkward ('strong manly hands,' lol), and the rest lacks fizz. The heroine's revenge for a small slight is odd and embarrassing, and the hero at times comes off like a shallow jerk.

I'm not sure the  novel adds much to the discussion of our society's intense disdain for overweight people, but I did find the hero's self-awareness about his own prejudices interesting. The heroine does have to lose a lot of weight to finally gain his attention (and let's just gloss over the ethics of a trainer boning a client), but her backstory is unique and interesting. I wish that her troubled family was more in the picture, because it would have added some needed depth and drama to the story.

That said...it's not all bad. (I know, it sounds bad. But it's not.) For a plane trip or a day on the beach, you could do much worse. Enjoy this book for the fluff it is, but don't expect a whole lot more.

For a funny, action-packed romance with flawed main characters, try Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series, which starts with One for the Money. Another classic of the chick lit genre is Helen Fielding's Bridget Jones's Diary, which also stars a female protagonist who finds love in spite of being on the heavy side. You might also try Stephanie Evanovich's upcoming novel The Sweet Spot if you found yourself enjoying her work and want to see this new author developing her voice.

High Five

High Five by Janet Evanovich
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

With no bail jumpers on the horizon, Stephanie Plum's side gigs prove more dangerous than her normal work: tracking down her missing uncle, doing odd jobs for the mysterious and sexy Ranger, and desperately avoiding an old enemy.

Stephanie is back to being on the outs with Morelli, whose views on marriage differ from her own. She also continues her losing streak with cars, inadvertently introduces Grandma Mazur to the joy of a stun gun, and rooms with a little person. Not to mention a familiar psychopath leaving heavy breathing on her answering machine. Her plate's full, even if her fridge, wallet, and bed remain stubbornly empty.

The pattern of Evanovich is starting to become more clear, but it's still a fun outing in the life of a cupcake bounty hunter. Some jokes at the expense of a new side character gave me pause: so far in the series we've had a large black woman, a female impersonator, and now a little person added to provide flamboyant background color. It's in questionable taste. Keep it classy, Evanovich.

Quotable:

"'Almost everybody I know has died,' Grandma said. 'Bunch of wimps.'"

"It exploded and caught fire and then the garbage truck fell over on it." (Just another day in the life of serial car murderer Stephanie Plum.)

Four to Score

Four to Score by Janet Evanovich
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In the most satisfying Plum adventure yet, lingerie buyer-turned-bounty-hunter Stephanie Plum is on the trail of a missing bail jumper and some funny money.

Stephanie is at her usual car-wrecking best here, trying to juggle the demands of her dangerous job and her unresolved love life. She's getting more comfortable with skip tracing, but still keeps her gun unloaded in the cookie jar.

Morelli, Mr. Hot and Cold, is hot again and has Stephanie in knots trying to decide what she really wants from him. Her newest sidekick is a 6'4", puzzle-solving drag queen named Sally Sweet, who fits in nicely with the former hooker Lula and Grandma Mazur (aka Dirty Harry). There's also the return of her home-wrecking nemesis, Joyce Barnhardt, who has never been more inconvenient.

For readalikes, see my review of One for the Money.

Three to Get Deadly

Three to Get Deadly by Janet Evanovich
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Stephanie Plum's been handed her most difficult bail jumper yet: beloved candyman Uncle Mo, who everyone loves but no one really knows; a man whose disappearance coincides with bodies piling up along Stephanie's path.

With irrepressible former hooker Lula riding along as bounty-hunter-in-training, Stephanie has her hands full. Uncle Mo's reputation is so high she find doors slammed in her face and dead ends wherever she looks - not to mention all the gossip filtering through the phone lines to her mother. Stephanie's still pretty new to bounty hunting, and her inexperience shows. So she's relying more than ever on the mysterious Ranger, suspected superhero, to back her up and keep her in shape for a job she's not sure she wants anymore.

Not only that, but Morelli's been acting oddly around her - when he bothers to come around, that is. Formerly hot and heavy, his coolness leaves Stephanie suspicious that he's gotten a girlfriend who doesn't carry pepper spray for a living.
Evanovich has a knack for funny descriptions and outrageous scenarios, but I hope our bold heroine shows herself a little more capable in the future. Calling Morelli every time she gets into trouble has its limits. She also may want to consider moving - her apartment is a waystation for every lowlife she angers. How can she sleep at night?!

For my readalike recommendations, check out my review of One for the Money.

Quotable:
"Fred looked to be about three hundred years old. Gravity had pulled the skin from the top of his head down to his neck, and Fred had tucked it into his shirt collar." - p. 262

One for the Money

One For The Money by Janet Evanovich
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Lingerie buyer Stephanie Plum is down on her luck and out of work until she goes into business for herself - as a bounty hunter.

This is exactly the kind of book I wanted to read this summer: breezy and fast, with sexy, scary, and funny all mixed in. Stephanie is a total wise-ass and Jersey all the way through. She takes to skip tracing like a duck to jello, but she doesn't quit just because she's humiliated, threatened, or out of her depth. Nope. She's far too broke for that.

Plus, she has a score to settle with an old flame who's skipped out and is on the run trying to prove he's innocent of murder. Joe Morelli may be telling the truth, but he's worth $10,000 to Stephanie and that can buy a lot of beer and pizza.

Now I understand why people were so pissed at the movie - they took Evanovich's sensible though inexperienced heroine and made her a total reckless ditz. They made the men around her condescending jackasses, and scaled back the terrifying psychopath targeting Plum, making both the danger and her triumph feel slight. They attempted to maintain the tone with her voiceovers, but instead put in gems like "His car was yellow." When we're looking right at it.

Yes, I know what color this car is.

There are only two good reasons for watching the film instead of reading the book:


(Okay, so they cast a straight-up Irishman as a Morelli, and Daniel Sujata is a little too much of a clean-cut Adonis for Ranger. Oh well. But both of these men need to be in more movies.)

If you like this book, you're in luck because there are only about a zillion more in the Plum series, handily numbered for your convenience. Once you're done counting, try the alphabet starting with A is for Alibi by Sue Grafton, or the Carlotta Carlyle books by Linda Barnes (number one is A Trouble of Fools).

Quotable:

• "The clock on the dash told me I was seven minutes late, and the urge to scream told me I was home."
• "I shot that sucker right in the gumpy."
• "Suppose I lay down on the pavement and you run over me a few times with my own car...just for old times."
• "My body is not designed to run. My body was designed to sit in an expensive car and drive."