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Rating: 
Summary: I tried to like it, I did.
Review: After reading the excerpt from this in the last book I realized that this was going to be a fantasy, so when I picked up the book I kept in mind that this was not set in the real Stephanie Plum universe, but in an alternate. Perhaps it would even turn out to be a dream. A Christmas yarn starring Stephanie Plum and her crazy family and friends could be pretty darned hilarious.Stephanie's supporting cast are all here doing their crazy supporting cast thing, and there's even a progression (if you can call it that) on one front (is there anyone as stupid as Stephanie's formerly perfect sister?). This book would have been a short story if it hadn't been for Janet's army of characters, each (except Ranger) trotted out on cue. But they aren't enough to hold the book together. This is indeed a fantasy, but someone should have told both Janet and her editor that fantasies in particular need to be set in a world with certain rules. It must conform to its own interior logic, otherwise you lose the reader's suspension of disbelief. When you set up some kind of wishy-washy-not-sure-what's-going-on and get a character like Deisel who can do anything when it's needed, it becomes deus ex machina, one of the lowest tricks a writer can pull. My biggest disappointment was that once again, Stephanie doesn't live up to her role as hero and complete the case. Janet, please stop falling in love with your male romantic leads and let Stephanie once again be the star! By now she should also have progressed in her abilities. She should not still be starving (yet able to bribe people? and buy loads of presents?) and clueless.
Rating: 
Summary: BIG LAUGHS!!!
Review: I did not find this book as a disappointment I thought it was funny, yes a bit Christmas-y but good to read around the holidays. Some parts in this book I found my self lol. I really enjoyed this story, it a was fun to read around xmas. Stephanie is still as fun as ever & her crazy family. And Lula was hilarious when they went xmas shopping. This is a remunerable book. I love it & I did not found it a waste of money. I thought through the whole book it was exiting right anyway if you like the Stephanie Plum series you'll most likely enjoy this book. I remember no wanting to put it down like most Stephanie Plum novels.
Rating: 
Summary: Have you nothing else to read?
Review: Not even a cereal box? Then you might want to read this. It might take you longer to read than your average nutrition information. That's what I found the most disappointing. Then there was fact that Stephanie hasn't changed a bit since book one. I asked myself why I read this and the only reason I came up with was that I was bored. So, if you're bored, go ahead. Otherwise, there are a lot of good books out there with great characters begging to be read!
Rating:
Summary: Started as a 2star book, finished as a 4 - Nice but yet...
Review: Ok, so as a die-hard Evanovich fan I had to go out and buy this, and read it immediately, and I found it a bit disappointing. It has most of the features of a traditional Evanovich bounty hunt, but for some reason the charm was not quite the same. I think I found the first bit off-putting which didn't help. Stephanie is kind of transported into a fairy tale when a guy called Diesel drops into her kitchen one morning - literally - pouf he is there. And she realises that something is wrong, and that this doesn't usually happen - and we all get to suspend belief (or is it disbelief) - but I still find it hard to fathom myself. Stephanie hasn't done any of her Christmas shopping, and there are only a few shopping days to go before Christmas - to get money she has to track down Bail skip, Sandy Claws who is making toys somewhere. She has to resort to using short person (from 5 or 6) Randy Briggs - who has a penchant for attacking people with Kitchen implements. Somehow, Diesel has been landed with her because he is on some kind of Cosmic equivalent of bounty hunter. Anyway - we are taken along for a ride with it all, and it does get better and better as things go on. Grandma Mazur has found herself a new studmuffin at Stiva's funeral parlour and he's a great kisser, but she's lost her teeth. Valerie is falling further and further into despair. Morelli is also there, but Ranger is out of town - somewhere. However with Diesel on the scene you wouldn't know it - in fact in the physical sense he is a pretty good Ranger substitute. A shortish story - 150 pages - which makes it a nice quick read and some genuinely laugh out loud moments in here too however not really well developed. It just seemed to be a bit of quick marketing thing for Christmas. A bit of fun, but if there are extra Plum books put out in future I can wait to get them second hand next time.
Rating: 
Summary: -A quirky holiday with Stephanie & the Spirit of Christmas-
Review: One morning in December, Stephanie Plum walks into her kitchen and a great looking guy is standing there. She thinks she might be hallucinating since she had mushrooms on her pizza the night before. However, he tells her his name is Diesel and he's the spirit of Christmas. For some very strange reason she's not afraid of him, but knows that she should be terrified to be alone with a stranger. Locks and doors seem to be no problem for Diesel, but he does condescend to wait outside her apartment while she showers. As usual Stephanie is broke, no money for a Christmas tree, presents or decorations, but she still has her job as a bounty hunter. Well, well, who else would Stephanie Plum be looking for at Christmas time in Trenton, but Sandy Claws? He turns out to be in his 80's and a bail jumper. He also happens to be a toy maker. Since she can't get rid of Diesel, she decides to let him help her in her pursuit of Sandy. This story is absolutely hilarious; I laughed through the entire book. Don't wait until the holidays to read this one. .
Rating:
Summary: Too pricey
Review: This book was not of the same caliber as One for the Money. Janet can write better than this. The stoy line is thin, of course the characters are zany as always and thats the one good thing about this novella. However the characters can't always carry the book you need a good strong story line as well. Stephanie is after an FTA named Sandy Claws. One morning she wakes up and finds a man in her apartment. It started off well, the idea was interesting and it could have worked. But in the end, the plot was rushed and I didn't feel like all my answers about the character Diesel were answered. Diesel would have been interesting but in the middle of the book he turned out to be a copy of Ranger. I don't recommend you buy this in hardcover. You will feel cheated. I paid for this in Canadian dollars and it was close to 30$. If readers are going to spend this much money the publusher, writer and editor better make damn sure its the best novella ever written. I think the publisher should stop rushing Janet to produce books because the quality of the writing and the story telling is declining as the series progresses. I rather wait for 2 years for an awesome book than 1 year for a book.
Rating:
Summary: It was ok
Review: This book was ok, kinda Christmacy for the holidays, but it's not the best, and doesn't fit in with the series.
Rating:
Summary: Not Your Usual Stephanie
Review: Visions of Sugar Plums finds Stephanie in search of Sandy Claws, an elderly man who runs a toy shop. Sounds simple enough, right? Enter Diesel, a mysterious man who "pops" into Stephanie's kitchen. With his help Stephanie is on the case to find Sandy. Oh, did I mention Sandy has workers in his toy shop? And they're elves??? This book was a major disappointment. A big fan of the Stephanie Plum series I found this book to be boring. It didn't have all the usual characters and the ones that did make an appearance were in the book such a short time. This book seemed to be written in a hurry and not well created. I was in a hurry for it to be over so I could read something else. I kept hoping that it would get better but that just didn't happen. I would recommend skipping this Stephanie novel. It is a waste of time. Not worth buying or spending the time reading.
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