The Spy Who Loved Me (1962)

Villains: A couple of thugs

Girl: Vivienne Michel

Villain's Plot: Burning a motel for insurance money and being "bad" to Miss Michel

Main locations: New York state.

An interesting little experiment that Fleming ultimately disowned. Bond does not appear until the last third of the book. The first parts of the story describe the life of Vivienne Michel and explain how she came to be looking after a motel alone during a storm.  Two nasty thugs arrive with orders to torch the place. Then Bond turns up in the nick of time thanks to a flat tire. He kills the baddies and gets the girl. Along the way he describes a mission he just had in Canada.

I quite like the book, but Fleming didn't. He only allowed the title to be used for any future film, which is why you won't find any submarines or trips to Egypt in this book.