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Plain Jane #1

A Plain Jane

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What if you had lived your whole life thinking you were normal? No, worse than normal – plain? What would happen if one of the most highly-trained and vicious assassins in the galaxy attacked you one warm summer's night? What would happen if you were thrust into an adventure with the galaxy's greatest heroic heart-throb? What would happen if a mysterious and ancient race appeared with one desire – to kill you? What would you do?

Jane grew up knowing one thing: she's nothing but normal. But then one little run-in with an assassin robot threatens to destroy everything she thought she knew about herself. Soon she finds herself with none other than Lucas Stone, the galaxy's number one pin up and hero. And together the two of them have to find out exactly who Jane is and what's after her before the galaxy is plunged into war.

242 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 10, 2012

74 people are currently reading
279 people want to read

About the author

Odette C. Bell

634 books231 followers
Odette C. Bell has authored over 50 books, in genres ranging from sci-fi adventure to urban fantasy.
Odette started off on FictionPress many moons ago. Her original name was Muscularkevin. Her first work was Gladys the Guard. She later became Scrabblecat before finally publishing in 2011/2012.

previous pen names include J.C. Luck, Monica Shepherd, Sarah Good, and Jilly McQueen

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Community Reviews

5 stars
76 (21%)
4 stars
134 (37%)
3 stars
108 (30%)
2 stars
24 (6%)
1 star
12 (3%)
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
Profile Image for Mandy Walkden-Brown.
645 reviews31 followers
August 13, 2017
Don't bother, unless you enjoy tediously described, paper-thin characters and a totally lacklustre plot! A total waste of time! It's not a space opera, it's an incomplete, tedious soap opera.

This author also has a lip fetish. Every single one of her darn characters is always doing something quite peculiar with their lips. None of which are actually anatomically possible. Just plain irritating. Counting the number of times lips were doing bizarre things (50) was actually more interesting than the story itself. Yes, it's that bad.
The characters are one-dimensional, rather unlikeable and I really don't care what happens to any of them.
Not going to bother even looking at this author's books or new releases, nothing has changed over the last few years, except perhaps my lack of tolerance for her rather poor writing skills. Too many talented authors appearing almost daily to bother with those that don't progress, don't appear to bother with a basic copy edit much less utilise a professional editor.
Profile Image for Sandra.
3,366 reviews12 followers
April 11, 2019
2.5 star rounded down because the story ends on major cliffhanger with nothing resolved. Started well. Interesting to the mid to 3 quarter way thru, at which point I lost interest because it then became just a repeat of what had already happened - Jane is in danger, Jane is controlled for her safety, Jane & Lucas flee with no idea what happening, Jane & Lucas arrive somewhere - then the whole process starts over again. It made for an interesting story at first but by the 3rd time this happened and we are not given any answers it went from a story where I was keen to know what was happening to a chore to get thru (to know what was happening). And to add insult to injury, I persevered after I lost interest in order to find out what was going only to get a stupid cliffhanger and no resolution.
Profile Image for Avid.
1,086 reviews5 followers
November 2, 2024
It was an absolute waste of time!

I can't imagine who the targeted reader was intended for this book. I started thinking perhaps a teenager because of how sappy and shallow it was, but then there's all the technical scientific jargon that is thrown in. Instead of spicing it up, it made it even more utterly unbearable.

I love this author. My last book was from her, and I rated it 5 stars, which is a very rare occurrence from me. I also rarely give out a 1 star rating. These are both on the extreme ends on the scale. A book needs to really be either exceptional or so poor that I feel I lost valuable and wasted it by reading the book to receive one of these ratings.

NOT recommended 👎
📚
59 reviews
February 19, 2018
Amazing!

I love the story so much! The story just flows and truly engaging. It’s about Jane who is ordinary in looks as well in life. Everyone including herself thinks she is boring and actually Jane does not mind that at all. She is just happy to go to work then go home and gaze at the stars. She does not realize she is special and then we have a hero - handsome, a high ranking decorated officer who has his sight on Jane. There’s a lot of action and I have yet to uncover Jane’s secret and why a certain group of people wants to kill her. I guess I’m on to the next book!
4 reviews
April 22, 2020
It’s a good story but there was so many spelling mistakes/typos in the iBooks version that it made me so annoyed. Also it’s very repetitive! This makes it feel very rushed and not well thought out... the reader doesn’t need to be told the same things over and over again... a hint or suggestion is all that’s needed and we can piece the rest together... this feels like it’s written for teens...
58 reviews
August 21, 2018
Excellent Read.

I was captivated by both the story and the characters. This book has everything I hope for in action, beautiful locations and unexpected twists and turns. A very enjoyable Read.
Profile Image for Thomas.
2,749 reviews
February 10, 2018
Billed as space opera “with a dash of romance” this is a young adult novel in spirit. The characters are engaging but the author beats us over the head with their limited range of traits.
Profile Image for Lorraine Pabilona.
1 review
February 12, 2020
DNF. She always repeats and emphasize herself as plain, it kinds of annoy me that she whines about being plain and things that’s happening to her. I lost interest.
29 reviews
May 29, 2024
Surprisingly Good

The title is awful, I started reading with zero expectations & was pleasantly surprised.
I hope in book 2 the male character undergoes some development so far he's just meehh.
Profile Image for Jayda.
1,196 reviews1 follower
March 20, 2026
This was slow in the first half and ended on a cliffhanger. I did find it interesting enough to read the next one.
Profile Image for Sandi Faulconbridge.
191 reviews5 followers
November 30, 2014
It's been years since I read any Sci-fi, and this book has reminded my of why I enjoy it so much.

The plot, although futuristic, was entirely believable. It is set in a futuristic earth inhabited by many different species from around the Galaxy. Jane is so normal she is plain - or so she believes. Nothing ever happens to her, although her one oddity is that she never sleeps. Lucas Stone is the Galactic's poster boy and in charge of a mission to the outer rim. One night Jane is attacked by an assassin robot and saved by Lucas. Lucas believes that Jane just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. However Jane is not all that she believes herself to be! Lucas also has his own struggles of being accepted for who he really is and not what everyone else is trying to make him out to be.

The story is told in the first person by both characters. Even though it jumps between characters it is easy to follow and gives the story more depth as you have the point of view of both character, rather than a one dimensional story.

A great read.
Profile Image for C. Erani Kole.
1,712 reviews51 followers
June 17, 2014
The technology and plot behind this book was amazing. The two contrasting characters were adorable when they're forced to really talk to each other, and it was a pretty good adventure with an interesting background.

However, I thought a lot of things were repeated one too many times to tell the readers what was already established to them. This appeared even more as things became a little muddled towards the end, and the ending itself seemed so sudden. I understand cliff-hangers, but when it ended, I thought, "That's it? But nothing much even happened." There wasn't even story to satisfy me with the ending.

Otherwise, it was a pretty good read and free when I downloaded it. I'd recommend it to those for a fun read.
Profile Image for Misty.
30 reviews
March 30, 2014
This is a sci-fi book. It is very good. It is very futuristic. The descriptions of the different aliens was very detailed, as was the world building. There is miniscule romance, and no sex in this book, but it was still a very interesting read. The author has a great imagination. I would recommend this book, especially if you are a sci-fi junkie. I am off to read the second book, in this three book series.
Profile Image for Ilona Fenton.
1,066 reviews33 followers
November 5, 2012
I'm a huge Science Fiction fan and thought that I would give this book a try as the write up sounded intriguing. I am so thankful I did as it was a wonderfully written story. The characters and the world building were excellent and I can't wait until I get hold of book two to continue the saga.
Profile Image for *TheWrittenWord*Mo.
442 reviews
May 7, 2017
I LOVE THIS BOOK!!!

the story is awesome, jane is awesome, the sci-fi aspect of it is awesome, the back story is awesome, Lucas is pretty awesome too.
So basically this book is awesome and I cant wait to get my hands on books 2 and 3 and devour them as well!! :D
461 reviews14 followers
December 5, 2012
3.5 Stars.

I love the concept but it starts of slow and gets very repetitive at times which bogs it down. About a third of the way through it picks up and I couldn't put it down.
127 reviews1 follower
May 4, 2015
Really liked this book,, A sy-fy break from the Paranormal... Good cliff hanger... I will continue the series
Profile Image for Tamara.
226 reviews
June 25, 2015
If it had not ended with such a huge cliff hanger, I would have given it 4 stars. It was slow in the beginning but have halfway through it became really good.
Profile Image for Nicole.
2,900 reviews10 followers
April 19, 2019
A good space opera with a slightly immature writing style. However, I am assuming it is written for teens and that would work. The first in three books, it ends on a cliffhanger. While there was some resolution, there was a lot still unanswered. It lost a star because of that.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews