Rating: 
Summary: my friends waited impatiently for me to finish
Review: I love Janet Evanovich! Yes the characters in Stephanie Plums life are getting a little too familiar, yep, I can't believe she is still so inept, yep to all those negatives. BUT if you want a book you can enjoy from cover to cover while sitting on the beach, go for Hard Eight. Assuming you have read the other 7! I laughed out loud more than once, my friends around me urging me on to finish so they could read it! Very entertaining, a good read.
Rating: 
Summary: Not one of her best
Review: After the way Seven Up ended with Ranger in Stephanie's bedroom,I was certain Hard Eight would open with a bang (pun intended). Instead there was barely a wimper. I couldn't believe how the author glossed over the scene where Ranger finally collected his debt. On the positive side, I did like the darker tone of this book. Lula is always a hoot. I missed Grandma Mazur and her visits to Stiva's. The addition of the lawyer was a nice touch and the scene in the laundromat was hilarious! On the other hand, I thought Valerie was boring, self-centered and nonessential to this story. Her whiny "I need a husband to take care of me" was embarrasing in this day and age. When I turned the last page and read the ending my first thought was "is that it". I couldn't figure out if the author had cut the ending short for some reason or simply ran out of steam.
Rating:
Summary: Lost, One Stephanie Plum.
Review: When Evelyn Soder disappears with her daughter, it means big trouble for her mother, Mabel Markowitz. The judge in Evelyn's divorce insisted on a child custody bond and Evelyn's ex-husband is intent on collecting it. Mabel co-signed for the bond, and now she may lose her home. Stephanie Plum, unlucky in love and fugitive apprehension, becomes involved because Mabel is her parents' neighbor. Mabel bakes when she is upset, and the Plums are drowning in bread loaves and coffee cakes. And so, begins yet another comic adventure in the strange world of 'The Burg,' Trenton's own twilight zone. Soon she finds herself in conflict with Eddie Abruzzi, who is a sociopathic crime lord when he isn't being a sociopathic war gamer. Eddie wants Stephanie out of the Soder investigation, and is perfectly willing to make her crazy before he finally kills her. In addition, Stephanie must deal with Andy Bender, a bond-skipping drunk with a talent for getting Plum to trip over her own feed. Nor should I fail to mention a lawyer whose name is not spelled c-l-o-w-n, a female apprehension agent who is almost as good as Ranger (and who doesn't keep losing cars, purses and handcuffs), and that usual mad gang of crooks, cohorts and lovers. Yes, Stephanie's love life becomes even more complicated while everything else is going on. Without TastyCakes and pizza, Plum would be well on the way to a nervous breakdown. This all is typical Evanovich. In fact, it is a bit too typical. Very few writers are able to avoid formula writing when a series begins to stretch out into extra innings, and 'Hard Eight' has started to show the inevitable signs of strain. As a plot, it is very reminiscent of 'High Five.' But while that was fun and original, this time the sight gags and sarcasm are beginning to wear thin. Evanovich's solution seems to be to have the same things happen, but even more often. This time Stephanie loses enough cars and handcuffs to stock a small police department. The single thing that bother's me most is the degeneration of Stephanie's character. Not all that long ago, she was a feisty woman who was down on her luck but determined to make things come out right. The humor was clever and she often gave as good as she got. Now she is a near incompetent who spends to much time being a victim of her own poor choices. The humor has shifted to slapstick and too often Stephanie is the joke. And she has started to rely on anyone but herself when problems occur. Often this is funny, but I keep finding myself wincing rather than laughing. I want the old Stephanie back.
Rating: 
Summary: Cliffhanger or Huge Disappointment?
Review: I know writing this review will yield a lot of negative responses but I can't let my feelings go unheard. I have previously read and enjoyed the Stephanie Plum mysteries (1 through 7) and in my opinion (which I never dreamed I'd say), "it's time for Stephanie to get a new job". I waited an entire year to find out what would happen with Stephanie and Ranger/Stephanie and Morelli and what did I get -- disappointed. You would figure after 8 outings Stephanie would at least have become more competent in her line of business but the character remains clueless. Why does every novel have to explain how Stephanie met each person, i.e. Morelli, Ranger, Lula, etc.? Those entries take up a good 20 pages explaining what we already know. Why keep rehashing events from the previous novel, i.e. the funeral home getting burned down, someone getting murdered on the fire escape. The moments were funny the first time around but it becomes a little stale repeating it over and over again. Nothing new really happens in Hard Eight, it's the same old thing: Ranger/Morelli comes to the rescue, Stephanie loses another car, dead bodies end up in her apartment, Stephanie can't find the bullets to her gun, etc. Hard Eight adds up to thing: It's time to MOVE ON Janet, this series has run out of steam.
Rating:
Summary: Formula Feeling to this addition of the series...
Review: Let me state I love this series of books and own all of them. So I'm predisposed with positive feeling before I start reading. However, this book felt like a formula book for the 1st time in this series.
* Re-run psycho guy after Stephanie (villian retread was disappointing).
* Where were the two guys vying for Stephanie? They had minor bits of support or saving, seemed uninterested in Stephanie, and especially uninterested they were both elements in her life. Where was the tension, the big build up, when she finally hooked up?
* The lawyer guy was not as amusing as Grandma or Lulu, why was he hanging out with Stephanie? I hope this series isn't running out of steam. Stephanie seems backed into a corner romance-wise: can't have a relationship with Joe without ditching her job, can't have a relationship with Ranger because you don't have relationships with him.
Support characters I have grown to love were not developed further. I hope book nine reverses this dip in the series.
Rating: 
Summary: Really disappointed
Review: I LOVED the first seven books (rated each one a 5) and couldn't wait for this one. I was disappointed from the first. The author used identical plot lines and humor (the stun gun for instance) from previous books. While I was glad Stephanie finally got together with Ranger, there could have been more details. The ending was interesting esp when you put some thought to it and does give one thought about how the next one will develop. However, the rest of the story line needs to be more original - Stephanie needs to grow as a character and bounty hunter, maybe give Grandma a boyfriend (she's still doing the same things at Stiva's as previous books), etc. ...
Rating: 
Summary: Something to enjoy
Review: Eight is a knock out. Stephanie Plum will bring you to all walks of life as a bounty hunter. She brings excitement to the story and will keep you guessing. This is my first book of Janet Evanovich and she brought excitement to the book. Check it out. And who's that Rabbit?
Rating:
Summary: Oh Janet, I guess Eight was Hard. . .
Review: After devouring the first seven in the series, I tore open the eighth and sat down for what I just knew would be a laugh out loud but exciting read. I was so disappointed in this one. I only laughed out loud once, the ending was predictable and the bad guy was "been there, done that." So, Janet fans - - you'll like it because we all like Stephanie; but, when you're done you'll feel just a bit guilty that you want your money back.
Rating:
Summary: too clutzy
Review: The great appeal of this series is the character of Stephanie and the humor that comes out of the interplay between characters.
A lot of the humor is due to stephanie's ineptness, but in this book it was taken too far and was not as funny.
I always love grandma's comments but in this book they were trite.
On the plus side her relationships with Morelli and Ranger get developed. Ranger has a larger role in this book, which is a good thing.
On the whole, not as good as the earlier ones, but still readable.
Rating:
Summary: What can I say? I love Stephanie Plum
Review: I know that this series is not where near "great literature," but if you want a good laugh, a little mystery, and a dash of romance, then this series is right for you. In Book 8, bumbling bounty hunter Stephanie Plum is back. She's faking her way through a new case, while trying to lose weight and forget Joe Morelli at the same time. Some people have said this book has a darker theme than the previous seven -- I thought all of those were equally dark (Ramirez stalking Stephanie, Kenny stabbing Grandma Mauzer in the bakery, etc.). This time, Stephanie is searching for a missing mother and daughter -- a case that at first seemed like they were trying to get away from an ex-husband, but then the body count starts rising and Stephanie knows she's in over her head ... again. All of the great characters are back -- Morelli, Ranger, Lula, Grandma Mauzer, Vinnie, Connie, Stephanie's parents, sister and neices, even Bob the dog and Rex the hamster. A few favorites are missing -- Joyce Barnhardt and Mooner, but Janet Evanovich has said she'll be writing them in future novels. I guess Stephanie was too busy "fighting off" Ranger's advances to deal with arch-enemy Joyce. If there was one complaint I had about this book was the fact that when Ranger and Stephanie finally got together, it was too short. My second complaint? We have to wait a year until book 9.
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