Rating: Summary: Very Funny and Entertaining Review: Hilarious from beginning to end. For long time fans of the series, Diesel is a nice addition-hope to see more of him in future installments. If you're looking for a humorous entertaining quick paced read, I highly recommend 'Visions of Sugar Plums,' as well as 'Murder Doesn't Figure'.
Rating: Summary: Plum Fluff Review: Stephanie must have had some good eggnog this Christmas. She awakens one morning to find Diesel sitting at her kitchen table. He is even more knockdown gorgeous than Ranger and Joe put in one body. It seems his job is to help her find her Christmas spirit and her job is to bring in Sandy Claws. He is the person who stole paint and power tools to run his elf shop. As Stephanie tries to haul him, she is confronted with dysfunctional family having one crises after another. Since I am a fan of Stephanie, I am used to the usual antics of herself and her cohorts. I even expect certain things to happen or it is a Stephanie book. So if you choose to read this novel take it with a tad of mistletoe and eggnog. There is no depth to this book or even a purpose for it. Stephanie gives you some much need laughter and might even help relieve the stress of the season.
Rating: Summary: Visions of getting back to better writing.......... Review: This was a very sad effort from Janet. A wee bit too much egg nog while writing this one? The whole Diesel fantasy character was a bit over the top. There was no good mystery to solve, no Ranger (whaah!) and precious little of Morelli or Lula. Hard Eight wasn't quite up to par either. Please Janet, get back to how the books used to be. You aren't tapped out yet are you?
Rating: Summary: Thank goodness this wasn't the 9th book! Review: I know, I know, this was a novella pumped out for some holiday time entertainment, so don't be too critical. It just wasn't laugh out loud funny like the others. Obviously rushed!! But still love and admire Janet and her "Joisey" girl Stephanie Plum! I would suggest reading if you are an avid fan just to keep up with Plum gang, but if you are a first timer, just go for the 1-8 books, they are most definitely worth it!
Rating: Summary: Too much time touring Review: I love the Plume series #1-6. #7 and 8 were repeditive, but this one was too much! Should stay away from Super Natural-leave that to Stephen King. Will give one last chance but can wait for #9 in paperback.
Rating: Summary: Not worth the money... Review: Having never read a book by Evanovich before, perhaps I am judging hastily. My first thought is that perhaps every author shouldn't try to hop onto the "Christmas book wagon." - Overall, as a pretty keen mystery reader, I DID find it creative. But I also found it lacking plot, logic and basically a silly read. The only reason that I slogged all the way through it is that I paid full price.
Rating: Summary: Don't waste your money Review: I have been hearing a lot about Janet Evanovich and since I like female detective books I thought I would give this one a read...but I must tell you, do not waste your money. This book is excruciatingly predictable and rather flatly written. Her main characters bored me. I have never in my life taken so long to finish such a short book, but I had to force myself to read it. I hope that not all of her books are this flat and I will try another one...but I think this one is a stinker.
Rating: Summary: Glad I didn't pay for it. Review: I checked this one out of the library, because there is no way I'd ever buy a book in the Plum series that didn't have Ranger in it. Thank goodness I lost no money on this one, because it was horrible. I forced myself to finish it in case it redeemed itself at any point, but it did not. I could not get into the new character, the plot was ridiculous, and Ranger's absence took away all the glorious tension that holds the other novels in this series together. I can only hope JE reads these reviews and realizes that she needs to go back to her successful formula for the next novel.
Rating: Summary: Like a Christmas Cookie... Review: ...this book is short, sweet, and not nearly filling enough. I don't think I've ever complained before that a book is too short. However, the ending here is so short and abrupt that it feels like it was written as the UPS guy was strolling up the driveway to take it off to the publisher. An additional 20 pages or so to expand on the ending would have been most welcome. I'm a big fan of Ms. Evanovich's books, finding them fun, enjoyable reads. However, I think she makes a mistake by doing a wacky, "X-Men/X-Files" type of story. A lot of the charm of the Stephanie Plum novels comes from the character's working class, regular gal background and all of the spectacularly weird things that happen to her in her average day. It detracts from that when supernatural beings are brought in to play. Her life is interesting enough already! Case in point: My favourite parts of the book involve the dysfunction of the extended Plum family and their Christmas disasters. If the entire book had been set in Mama Plum's kitchen and under the Plum family tree - and ditched the weak Diesel/Sandy Claws plot - I would have loved it. As it is, this is probably the weakest book in the series.
Rating: Summary: Visions of Sugar Pums Review: I love Plum mysteries, but this one had me laughing out loud. It was a real treat. Thanks Janet for doing it again.
|