Rating: 
Summary: Why the rewrite?
Review: The original 1989 Full House (by Steffie Hall) was a ho-hum romance, 179 pages, in which boy met girl, boy lost -- no, he didn't. It was just boy met girl, boy got girl. There was no conflict but there were some interesting characters: Eugene (in this new book renamed Max), Deedee, and Billie herself, as well as some good comic turns.This new book adds an ex-fiancee, increases a one-mention character to secondary status, and throws in a darker plot complication VERY late in the book. Yet still the book lacks any kind of real conflict to hold it together and set it above the mainstream. Pages have been expanded, the late complication has been added, and the occasional insubstantial scene that makes you go, "huh?" pops up (the dress shop owner??) (these seem to be there just to increase page count). A co-author has also been added -- but her name doesn't appear anywhere on the cover. I feel sorry for her and a little irritated at Janet for taking the credit (though this could well be an editorial decision). Like the last Stephanie Plum book, this one falls completely apart at the 3/4 mark. The world suddenly shifts into a dimension where rational people act in utterly irrational ways. (Take the bachelor party scene, which in the first version had Billie jumping out of the cake fully clothed and merrily waving a rolling pin at Nick, whom she knew wasn't interested in the party. Compare it to this unfunny and out-of-character version.) (Or take the busload of people and carload of wrestlers and see where they go at the end of this book -- it made absolutely no sense.) Marion Zimmer Bradley is one of my favorite fantasy authors, but when her name became big enough the quality of her books plummeted. Perhaps (as another reviewer has suggested) editors just don't bother once they've got The Big Name on the cover. If this book could get a rewrite, it deserved a true rewrite, a tearing apart and restructuring. The save-the-wilderness plot could have served as a basis of conflict, complicated by the existing darker subplot. Billie and Nick could have had a real conflict between themselves instead of smooth sailing. Janet enjoys wrestling (or at least wrestlers); couldn't we have gotten into them some more for a lot of fun? If this is a rewrite, shouldn't it be better than the first version? If it's not, why not just re-release the original?
Rating: 
Summary: Janet Sinks Ship
Review: Ms. Evanovich seems to have lost her grip. The intricate plots, loveable cast of characters, and genuinely humorous dialogue present in the Stephanie Plum series are not to be found in Full House. The book is said to have been written before the Plum series and to have be rewritten for this publication. While Echos, or perhaps precursors, of Plum's character can be found in F. H., this effort is best described as "A predictable plot, forgettable characters, hackneyed dialogue." Don't bother!
Rating: 
Summary: Some readers are a little harsh....
Review: I read ALOT of books, different types of writing, and I guess for
some people this wasnt the best thing Evanovich has done but I read the reviews before I read the book and I think people were a little harsh in their reviews. It was like Plum with the crazy characters, and I LOVE Stephanie, but sometimes I think the Plum series is a little too "clipped"- this had more detail, so it was just different but not necessarily bad. I enjoyed the quirky characters and it made me laugh. Sometimes thats all I need from a book. I noticed mistakes in the book too, and I agree the editing
could be done a little better, but that is nothing new, ive come across that with other books too. Anyway, I had to say, give the book a try, you might find that you enjoy it. Ill definitely read the next book, while waiting anxiously for the new Plum book!
Rating:
Summary: Don't waste your time or money . . .
Review: Having been a long-time fan of the author's Stephanie Plum series, I started this book with the expectation of a good read. Wrong! It was so bad that I didn't bother finishing it, but merely skimmed the last 50+ pages. Here are just a few of its faults: It had none of the charm and witty repartee of Stephanie Plum and company; the author tried hard to make the characters looney-but-lovable, but they ended up just being unlikeable; and the identity of the "bad guy" was telegraphed early on. The book reads more like a bad romance novel than a mystery. Luckily, I wasn't out any money, since the book was loaned to me. The author should be ashamed of herself for letting her publisher talk her into reprinting it. Her fans deserve better than being [taken] like this. Though I've already pre-ordered the next Stephanie Plum book, I doubt that I'll ever buy any of the author's previously published books . . . not unless they've received glowing praise by all who've reviewed them.
Rating:
Summary: Don't Bother
Review: This is the most trite and unconvincing writing I have read since -- well, now that I think of it, maybe ever. It is extremely disappointing that Janet Evanovich was willing to have this published after her very engaging, funny and convincing Stephanie Plum books -- as wild as they are, they have a ring of truth. There is no such ring in Full House -- it is straight out of Ladies Home Journal -- handsome, rich, sensitive guy who happens to be still single at 35 falls for cute divorced housewife who smells like chocolate chip cookies and has a good attitude. There is an undeveloped villian who pops up at the end; some almost funny side-characters -- but everything is too sterotypied to even be worth reading. This book makes me worried about the next Stephanie -- is Janet grasping at straws?
Rating:
Summary: Not the usual Evanovich...
Review: I couldn't wait for Full House to arrive at the bookstore. I thought it would be a fast read, and a fun new series to fill in the gaps between reading the Stephanie Plum books by Evanovich that are so enjoyed by her fans (myslef included). I bought the book and took it on vacation, only to realize that after forcing myself to read half of the book, I could not continue. The characters are not fun or entertaining, especially in comparison with the Plum characters. I hope that Janet Evanovich will shelve this book and any to follow in a series, and if not, develop the characters to be if not believable, at least fun.
Rating: 
Summary: Full House
Review: A great escape from the realities of the world. some call this "beach" reading. I call it bed reading. It gives me a calm spirit at night which helps me fall fast asleep
Rating:
Summary: Amateurish, Amusing, Ultimately unpleasant
Review: ... The characters, divorced cute spunky Billie, and rich, handsome, witty, earthy Nick, along with the usual assortment of Evanovich weirdoes, are quite likable. The pace is quick and enjoyable.... the writing.. It's bad. The point of view switches back and forth between characters with a clumsiness that would be sneered at in amateur fiction. And what the characters are thinking is worse: 'Nick looked into her eyes and knew he'd never felt so at peace' sort of stuff. ... Second: the plot. It doesn't have one. There's a troubled teen who blows things up but is just misunderstood. There's a ditzy redhead and her wrestler boyfriend who want Billie to get married. There's a lot of back and forth about whether the main characters really are or really aren't engaged. ...Throw in some dogs and some horses and that's about it. But all of that would have been forgivable, except for the end, which is one of the worst, trumped up, bits of unpleasantness I've waded through in a long time. Apparently a simple, unassuming bit of fluff was not enough and it became necessary to tack on something menacing and totally unbelievable. This book had potential to be a fun read. It's a pity Evanovich has become famous enough that nobody cared that it wasn't.
Rating:
Summary: What a disappointment
Review: My husband and I have read every Stephanie Plum book and loved them. I was intrigued by this new series "in the Plum tradition." Instead of laughing out loud, as I often do with Stephanie Plum, I grimaced repeatedly. All Evanovich characters are caricatures but these are amazingly one-dimensional. I have never read in the Romance genre and if this is an example, I never will again.
Rating:
Summary: "Full House" is every bit as good...
Review:
as the old TV show by the same name. You know, the one that featured John Stamos' hair, and introduced the Olsen twins? Well, this book is just as probable as the show.
Evanovich starts with an interesting heroine and premise, and things go well up until the wrestler, Frankie is introduced. From that point on, the woman who's slapstick humor fuels her Stephanie Plum series gets carried away into the improbable zone.
I finished the book and didn't hate it. Hope Evanovich continues to publish now that she's increased her skill and doesn't succumb to going back to her old work, which wasn't published widely, for a reason.
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