Rating: 
Summary: Hysteria
Review: One of the funniest books I have read. Plum, a barely successful (at least financially) bounty hunter is looking for Sandy Claws who jumped bail. It's four days before Christmas and no tree and no gifts and then a sexy man named Diesel literally appears in her kitchen. He's some kind of superhuman--sort of. Her family is hysterically funny, especially her 70+ old grandmother who is constantly meeting stud muffins at funeral visitations, as an example. Crazy things happen at a rapid rate--the whole thing is just plain fun.
Rating: 
Summary: Funny fantasy--lighten up, folks!
Review: This is a funny fantasy, a good Christmas offering with a tongue-in-cheek style that's breezy and fun. After reading the other reviews, I got a copy from the library, unwilling to shell out big bucks for such a short book I might not like, but found it to be right up there with other Evanovich offerings. It's obviously meant to be a fantasy, a confection of unlikely events worthy of Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny, and all our other holiday creations. While there's no sexy Ranger, it's got all the other elements Plum-fantatics enjoy. Lighten up, folks. This is meant to be fun and it succeeds.
Rating: 
Summary: Visions of money wasted
Review: An incredibly sexy man has simply materialized in Stephanie Plum's kitchen. Plum, you must understand, is an inept New Jersey bounty hunter quite used to having people appear uninvited in her kitchen, but never before has one simply materialized. But in good Plum fashion she doesn't see fit to call the cops, even though her boyfriend is one, and the mysterious man identifies himself as Diesel and insists on helping her snag her latest bail jumper, a toy maker named Sandy Claws. Well, snagging Sandy just ain't that easy, not when he's got an assaultive bunch of little people calling themselves elves working for him, and not when Mr. Claws himself is really Somebody Special just like Diesel -- who, it turns out, has a special assignment here in Jersey, tracking down yet another Special person. Throw into this mix the obligatory car bombing, some Christmas trees that don't make it home, a wild shopping trip, a lot of cookie making and throwing, a good old fashioned pregnancy panic, and some of Grandma Mazur's famous conversation -- this time concerning a studmuffin she's just gotta bring home for Christmas -- and you have Janet Evanovich's latest gift to fans of the Plum world.Seldom does a book cry out to me for only one star, but VISIONS OF SUGAR PLUMS was in full voice. I cannot imagine what Evanovich was thinking about when she created this horrific little 149 page Christmas rip-off. Money? Her face in bookstores? She certainly wasn't thinking about plot, characters, or dialogue, although her setting came out reasonably all right. Maybe her computer failed halfway through and she was forced to make do with her first draft. Whatever the reason, this pint sized joke starts out improbable (men materializing in her kitchen??) and ends up impossible (people with supernatural powers??) I read it in an hour and a half, dropped it much the same way you drop the dead mouse your cat has brought home to you, and got on with my life. If you simply must read every new installment about Stephanie Plum, don't let let me scare you away from VISIONS OF SUGAR PLUMS -- unless you also like to read about Joe and Ranger. Because in the middle of all this mysterious mayhem Joe makes only a couple obligatory appearances and Ranger doesn't appear at all. And without them ... sugar plums are only dreams, not visions.
Rating:
Summary: Say it ain't so, Stephanie
Review: I listen to BOTs while walking, and the Plum series has motiviated me to walk more than any other. As you can probably surmise based on what other reviewers have said, I didn't get much walking done this holiday season, because the story line didn't keep my interest. I also REALLY MISS the Jersey accent of the earlier readers...this one's voice was as bland as the plot. However, every other book in the series has been terrific, so I will not give up and am looking forward to "nine" and hopefully Ranger and LuLu will be back and Joe won't be out on a job.
Rating:
Summary: I expect more from Janet E.
Review: Now I know Janet's books are fiction, but at least she made you feel like you knew the characters. However this Diesel guy was not believable at all! Janet was rather vague about who he was and from where he came, so there wasn't any character development.
The story was too short and too far-fetched. I hope she won't do this to us again because I really like the Stephanie Plum books.
Rating: 
Summary: Ho-ho hum
Review: Let me first state, I love Evanovich. I haunted my public library every day for WEEKS waiting to get my hands on Hard Eight. I stay up till 4am curled in the blankets devouring the pages. Broker than broke, I chose to purchase Evanovich over groceries for the week. And so when Visions came out, I was ready to love it. Really. And it was okay... Yah know... Okay... Better than Full House. But that might just be because I am in love with Stephanie's hamster. But there was no sizzle. No heat. Only a few laugh out loud moments, okay, so evil elves crashing through plate glass in cookie enduced rage was funny, but I am usually heartily gafawing through any Stephanie Plum book... I REALLY REALLY wanted to like this one, but Sandy Claws? People popping in and out? Warm fuzzies about the meaning of Christmas? I dunno... I'm going back to the Numbers... And Janet? Ditch the chick you are co-writing the Full books with and get back to your brilliance. She's bringing you down, man.
Rating:
Summary: Visions of Sugar Plums
Review: Not the usual Evanovich quality. Too much fantasy. No enough of Granny. Too, too, too short.
Rating:
Summary: At Least the Title was Appropriate
Review: I was SO disappointed with this novella. I found it to have loose ends (...I found it to be somewhat boring....the whole Claws story line didn't make sense, and I felt that Ms. Evanovich couldn't develope the story line in her mind, thus, she wrote willy nilly and figured that people would purchase the book because it was written by her. I found myself reading the unbearable book, just trying to get done. I've lent the book to a few massive fans, just like myself, and no one was happy with the book. I can only recall two laughs, Grandma's teeth, and Valerie's doughy comments, those were the only one's. ...
Rating:
Summary: Visions of Sugar Plums
Review: I can't believe Janet wrote this story with a right mind!
I love all her other Plum novels, but this was too weird and I regret asking for this book as a Christmas present. Can I really tell the gift giver I didn't like it and not make them feel bad? What a waste of money.
Rating:
Summary: A Very Jersey Christmas!!!!!
Review: Janet Evanovich delivers yet another fun tale of the life of Stephanie Plum,a fugitive apprehension agent for her Uncle. This time it is a very Jersey Christmas in the Burg with the entire Plum family. Christmas is fast approaching and Stephanie is nowhere near ready for the Holiday. No gifts, no tree, not even a card has been bought (or sent!). Meanwhile, Stephanie is trying to apprehend a fugitive named Sandy Claws but her efforts are being thwarted by a bunch of elves...ooops..read little people. On the positive side, she is being assisted by a very attractive, mysterious, blonde, stranger who keeps showing up in her apartment. Grandma Mazur is dating a new man and the sparks are flying!! The perfect sister, Valerie is in a perfect mess and Valerie's daughter, Mary Alice, is intent on living life as a horse. Will the Holidays go up in smoke or will the day be saved by the mystery man? This is a fun ride through the Burg at Christmas!!
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