This is book one of a new series by Janet Evanovich. Gabriela Rose, divorced from her high school sweetheart, Rafer, has moved from her southern island home to New York City where she runs a service to locate and missing items of high value for individuals, insurance companies, and others who need the service.

After her grandmother tells her the 'family ghost' wants her to go treasure hunting, Gabriela decides to go for it. Since she gave the her house to ex Rafer in the divorce, and there are clues to the treasure there, the two of them end up working together. The whole process involves guns, danger, drug lords and travel through South American jungles and Californian vineyards. Gabriela and Rafer know their families really need the money to save their homes so they are intent on solving the mystery. Despite their none-too-friendly divorce, the two of them develop a successful working relationship.

Fans of her Stephanie Plum series will enjoy this as well.

In the Stephanie Plum series, the appearance of Gabriela Rose added something interesting. She was tough, she was mysterious, she added a bit of a challenge to both the characters and the storyline. On her own, she fell kind of flat for me. She added interest to the other series, but she wasn’t interesting enough on her own. She’s organized beyond comprehension, she’s good at seemingly everything, she has a beautiful apartment, beautiful clothes, beautiful life, and a beautiful ex who still adores her. Everything is just beautiful and organized and perfect, and I like messy and imperfect and room for improvement.

Gabriela is like a female Indiana Jones, and she goes on plenty of adventures. In this book, she’s searching for ring that a ghost told her she needs to retrieve. Well, the ghost is a friend of her grandma, and her grandma relayed the message to her. Her journey takes her and her ex-husband to the jungles of South America in search of the object, where they run in to trouble in the form of cartels and other unsavories who also want the ring for themselves. Her ex added a bit of fun, he’s like the Lula for this series, and there’s a bit of a romantic undercurrent that still runs between them.

My whole problem with this book was it felt too much like a copy of Stephanie Plum. Newcomers to Evanovich might be enchanted with Gabriela Rose, but longtime fans of her work will definitely see the similarities between the two. For every relationship that Stephanie has in the Plum series, Gabriela has the same kind of character in this series. Rafer/Lula, Marcela/Connie, the fun Peruvian guys/Trenton’s oddballs residents. Even Grandma in this book was eerily similar to nutball Grandma Mazur. Gabriela’s parents felt like copy/paste versions of Stephanie’s. The audiobook narrator, Lorelei King, was fantastic, as always, though I didn’t feel particularly wowed as I normally do with her narration.

All told, this was a fast-paced and often fun mystery, though I’m not sure if I’m a fan yet. I may give book 2 a go and see if Gabriela, Rafer, and their shenanigans grow on me. 3 stars.

This book felt very forgetable I often was forgetting where they were at and what they were doing that being said it was an ok read but no where near as fun as other Janet Evanovich book. This story follows Gabriella a recovery agent or a treasure hunter. Gabriella also can speak with ghost and a ghost told her that there was a secret treasure in her old house only problem is her ex husband owns the house and all things in it. Rafer, Gabriella's ex- husband, throws his hat into the search forcing Gabriella to work with him and split the profit. Off the two go to Peru to meet the guide who is suppoose to help them find the seal of solmon ring but Gabriella soon finds out Pepe the guide was also a drug runner. As the search begins chaos ensuses and quirky situations that are quickly resolved follow. Its a very Janet Evanovich book but in this story I felt that the comedy and fun lovable charcters were missing. The charcters were OK in this story but they really did make me feel one way or another. One of Stephanie Plum's novels biggest strengths is the crazy over the top charcters and great humor it just really felt like it was missing in this story making it a little boring and forgetable. I will say though this is just my opinion I could see others really enjoying this book but I went into this with such high expectations that I was a little disappointed. That being said I will still pick up pretty miuch anything from this author. I would like to thank net galley and the publishers for a chance to read this book for an honest review.

Fans of Stephanie Plum will love this book! It has all the humor of the plum novels, but with an added dose of action and adventure in the jungle! I can't wait for the next book to come out!

3.5 Stars

The Recovery Agent is a typical Janet Evanovich story. This is a new series that piques the interest for more. You will find great characters on an exciting adventure.

I am looking forward to reading more in this series.

I love Janet Evanovich, but I do not finish this book. I couldn't get into the story. Maybe I'll try again some day. Thank you NetGalley for the early copy.

I really enjoyed some of the back and forth with the characters. I love the Stephanie Plum series and the Fox and O'Hare series. This one was a little slow in places, but it is the first one with this cast. This story was full of treasure hunting, spirit led pirates, and adventure. All in all, it was a fun read. I am interested in seeing how Janet Evanovich decides to shape this new cast of characters.

The Recovery Agent by Janet Evanovich is an entertaining adventure romance in the vein of Romancing the Stone and Indiana Jones. To help rebuild her hometown after the devastating hurricane, Gabriela Rose, a recovery agent, embarks on the quest to find an ancient artifact, the Ring of Solomon, believed to be hidden in the jungles of Peru. She has to team up with her ex-husband, Rafer. Rafer is the one who has access to the map that would lead to the treasure. What follows is a treasure hunt wrought with danger, a psychopathic villain, car chases, and venomous snakes.

The Recovery Agent is captivating, fast-paced, and very enjoyable. It's the type of book you could read in one day. I look forward to the next installment and more adventures for Gabriela and Rafer. The Recovery Agent would make a great movie. I recommend it to fans of adventure romance and romcoms.

In Janet Evanovich's The Recovery Agent, Gabriela Rose finds lost items, uncovers insurance fraud and simply isn't afraid of much. She is strong, well-traveled and can handle herself in dangerous situations. She puts her skills to use for her family when her hometown is devastated by a hurricane. A family ghost and a family legend convince Gabriela to search for a family map to seek hidden treasure and a ring of untold power to help her family rebuild. The only problem with access to the map is that it may be in the house that she gave up in her divorce settlement to handsome Rafer. Rafer joins the treasure hunt, and the two make quite a strong pair. It was enjoyable to see how they still had a connection. Their playful repartee, action scenes and characters such as Pepe made this a great read. It has everything: a ghost, a madman, treasure and chocolate and churros. I will be recommending this book.
Thanks to Atria Books, Janet Evanovich and NetGalley for this ARC.

Wonderful book. Absolutely loved it. Evanovich has done it again! Will definitely read any and all followup books in this series.

Eeeesh.......Stephanie Plum-like character.... in a jungle..... with an ex-husband. Instead of collecting bodies as a bounty hunter, this one recovers missing, list or stolen items for clients. Not hoping for 20+ more in series!

A super new series! Action-packed, adventurous, witty, and fabulous characters.

A long-time massive fan of the bestselling author Janet Evanovich, the queen of humor, women sleuths, and crime fiction, is back with a dynamic wild adventure roller coaster ride with the introduction of her new hit series, Gabriela Rose #1 —THE RECOVERY AGENT!

If you read Game On: Tempting Twenty-Eight you were introduced to the new Gabriela Rose, which left fans anxiously awaiting this new series. It exceeds all expectations and then some. Wow, is this fun!

In addition, included in THE RECOVERY AGENT, you get a sneak preview of Going Rogue: Rise and Shine Twenty Nine Nov 1st. It is yummy - it looks like Connie, the office manager, is missing. I love the Plum series and have read all of them. You will love Gabriela too!

OK, let's talk about this WILD ADVENTURE! Gabriela Rose is nothing like Stephanie Plum. She is a highly skilled recovery agent. Don't feel disloyal. You can like both.

She is a sophisticated, intelligent, chic, accomplished recovery agent. She is not a bounty hunter like Stephanie for a bail bondsman. She is a highly skilled Insurance Fraud Investigator with an international reputation for excellence in the field. As an independent contractor, she has the luxury of accepting worldwide jobs not related to insurance depending on pay and fun. She chooses.

She is quite the globe-trotter, has a posh So Ho New York condo with designer furnishings and clothes, a beauty, and a gourmet cook. Single and happy. Plus, she can roll up her sleeves in the jungles of South America with her mad skills and a wonderful personality.

A possible descendant of the infamous Blackbeard, she is fascinated by the 17th and 18th-century pirates and the lost city. It is her 30th birthday, and now she has a chance to pursue this adventure when her mother calls about the cat 4-storm which blew over Scoon, SC, with severe damage —a little coastal town where Gabriela grew up.

Most of the residents were not insured as her parents, and the town needed dire assistance. The federal funding did not come through as anticipated. Her father's fishing charter is gone, where Gabriela worked as a mate on the boat through college until she moved to New York. The town has no income.

When she flies into the small town near Charleston, her Grandma Fanny has the answer. They need $15 Million to clean up the town and the wharf and she says the ghost, Annie says she knows where Gabriela can find it.

Her Great Auntie Margareet's house on St Vincent Island has a secret room and there was supposed to be a chest with maps and a diary/journals to lead her to the treasure. Her aunt moved from the Caribbean to S.C. and passed the tiny house to her when she died. Evidently, Gabriela was a descendant of Blackbeard and Annie.

Big Problem: She gave her ex-husband Rafer the house in the divorce settlement, who owns a dive shop. She has not seen him in seven years. He is laid back and she is intense. They divorced before their second anniversary.

She grew up with him from kindergarten. Sexy and hot (a mix of Joe Morelli and Ranger from the Plum series), but Rafer was a slob and lacked ambition, plus he drank too much and called her Gabs.

When she goes to the cottage, thinking she can find everything under one of the floorboards without him knowing, of course, Rafer walks in and wants part of the action since this legally is his house, and these are his journals.

She finds lost treasures and people. She deals with insurance fraud and high-end theft but has a little time between cases, so she decides to go for it. There is Sir Drake's journal and the Treasure of Lima. Particularly the Seal of Solomon. She can find the ring on her own, but Rafer wants to help since his family lives in Scoon as well.

Needless to say, she is not happy that he insists on going with her on this adventure. She does not need him holding her back. Her office is called G.R. McDuck in NY, her comic book hero, and her personal office assistant and sole employee—Marcella Lott, who also gets caught up in the crossfire.

Let the FUN and GAMES begin!

At first, I thought Rafer would be deadweight, but surprisingly he has travel guide connections and lets Gabriela take the lead. They are hilarious together. He is all talk, sexy and charming wherever they go, and offers assistance. Gabriela does not want to go there again with him on the personal side even though it was fun. Plus he is tempting but they have a job to do. Their banter is too good!

Soon they are in South America and meet their guide Pepe among other characters. It is non-stop action, thrills, danger, and a wild adventure. Of course, others want the ring and the treasure. Who will win the treasure?

The two of them find themselves from the Caribbean, Peru, Ecuador, Costa Rica, New York City, and California wine country, chasing a ring said to have magical properties while pursuing a crazed cult leader who's on their trail.

No one can spin a wild tale like Janet Evanovich! Rip-roaring fun! A huge fan, she is my hero. This is going to be a fabulous series, and cannot wait for the next adventure! I like her parents being from the South so we get a different take than the Plum New Jersey, but we still have the parents, the granny, the office assistant, and the sexy ex. As always, excellent character development and non-stop action. Evanovich and Plum fans will devour, as well as new fans. I love Gabs and Rafer.

I love Lorelei King, the narrator for the Plum series, and was delighted she was narrating THE RECOVERY AGENT. As always, an award-winning and highly entertaining performance. She is an auto pre-order with every book she narrates.

Fans of Indiana Jones and the new movie The Lost City will delight! Highly recommend. We all could use some laughs.

Thank you to Atria Books for a print and e-book ARC and Simon & Schuster Audio and NetGalley for an audio ARC.

Blog Review Posted: @ www.JudithDCollins.com
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
My Rating: 5 Stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Pub Date: Mar 22, 2022

Check out my fun #AuthorElevatorSeries Interview with Janet, Plum trivia, and FORTUNE AND GLORY (2019).

Romancing The Stone, anyone? A departure from her usual Stephanie Plum books, The Recovery Agent is a fun ride through the jungle for anyone looking for a light, quick thriller. Evanovich uses her characteristic wit to charm readers into hitching a ride with her latest strong, female protagonist and going on an adventure. I've always loved classic adventure stories and this modern, updated version does not disappoint. If this book doesn't become a series, it'll break my heart. I need the second one now!

Great new series from one of my favorite authors!

I know what everyone wants to know - "How does it compare to Stephanie Plum?" I won't keep you waiting.

Gabriela Rose is Stephanie Plum's younger, hotter, more capable counterpart. I know what you're thinking. This is Stephanie Plum minus all the things we love about her. You would be correct. These two series are not at all comparable. To enjoy this new series, you must set aside all of your preconceived notions of what a Janet Evanovich novel should be. It is still funny! It is still action-packed! It is still not politically correct!

If you let Stephanie Plum live in her series and open yourself up to a new adventure, you will really enjoy this new series. If you like Evanovich's Fox and O'Hare series, you will find a lot to like about this one. Give it a try!

Although, written in a very different tone than typical Evanovich novels, this exploration into third person writing was a fun departure. Rose was a heroine less bumbling and more complex than her normal rom-com's, which took me a bit to slide into--but once I passed a couple chapters, I was hooked. The adventure aspect was super fun and it still had it's humor typical of the author.

I love the Stephanie Plum series so I was anxious to read this and not really sure what to expect. Janet Evanovich did not disappoint! This was a fun read with plenty of adventure, some romance and the humor I've come to expect from Janet Evanovich's books. I would definitely recommend this fun little adventure and I'm looking forward to the next book in the series.

Gabriela Rose is a Recovery Agent. If you have something lost or missing, then Gabriela is your go-to person to recover it for you. In her first adventure, by popular author Janet Evanovich, Gabriela is working on behalf of her own family. She’s in need of money to prevent her family from having their home wiped off the map. And big money means high risk and Gabriela is always willing to take that risk. For this adventure she’s in search of the Ring of Solomon.

Gabriela has tracked legends and rumors regarding the Ring and she’s confident that with the help of a rare map leading to a different archeological site that she believes holds the key to the final resting place of the Ring, she’ll be successful. But that map is currently in the hands of her ex-husband, Rafer.

Gabriela and Rafer couldn’t be more different – where she is driven, he is relaxed – and he insists on traveling with her in her search. But being together only serves to remind Gabriela just why he’s her ex. And if personal conflict isn’t enough to put the search in danger, the fact that a vicious drug lord wants that ring, and he isn’t afraid to leave a trail of bodies to get it, might prove to put an end to this series before it even begins.

This book is just begging for comparisons to Indiana Jones and/or Lara Croft. Seriously – given the strength of the two iconic series’, is his simply a jumping on the bandwagon, trying to capitalize on their success? There is VERY little difference between Gabriela Rose and the aforementioned characters with one exception … the others are actually quite exciting while Gabriela Rose is quite vanilla.

The Recovery Agent reads like one of Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum novels in the jungles of Peru. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, except that this isn’t a Stephanie Plum novel. This is billed as an adventure series, but the focus is not on the adventure, it’s on Gabriela Rose (which normally I’d really appreciate since I like character-driven stories) and Ms. Rose, for being a ‘recovery agent’ is pretty tamed and dull.

Although I’m far from a Stephanie Plum expert, I’ve been reading the most recent volumes in that series and I’m not seeing much difference between the characters. I had presumed that this new series was intended to be different, more adventurous than Plum, but it’s got the same silliness and fun, similar supporting characters, and other than a tropical location, the same general feel. In the Plum novels I’ve read, I’ve never truly felt any danger for Stephanie and friends, and while this has the potential for greater danger, even the cruel drug lord would fit in a cozy mystery without any trouble.

Still … it is written in Evanovich’s easy style, making this a breeze to read, and sometimes that’s just the ticket. I would read another volume with the hopes of the excitement level to be increased, but if it reads the same, it would be my last.

Looking for a good book? The Recovery Agent by Janet Evanovich is a new series that combines the general appeal of Stephanie Plum with the concept Lara Croft and Indiana Jones, but the similarity to Evanovich’s Plum character is all too obvious making this series not particularly new.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

Janet Evanovich is back with a BANG.

I love love love this new series. The treasure hunting is everything. I'm not sure if Rafer will bypass my love for Morelli...but I'm willing to give him a chance. Beyond ready for book two!

This was a very action packed story but somewhat unrealistic. I know this series is likely to continue. I hope they become more realistic.

I very much enjoy Janet Evanovich's writing and her newest title, THE RECOVERY AGENT, is no exception. The story is compelling, there is a wonderful sense of adventure and it definitely left me wanting to read more. I hope that this is a continuing series and that we get to read more of Gabriela's story!