Visions of Sugar Plums (A Stephanie Plum Holiday Novel)

I love this book. Re-read it every Christmas. Some years I'm in the Christmas mood, some years not; some years I have a tree and decorate, some years not. But every year I re-read Ms. Plum's Christmas whacko adventure and every year it makes me laugh out loud and helps me remember to lighten up, enjoy the season and to keep an eye open for miracles.

One of the funniest books in the Stephanie Plum series. A great Holiday edition with all the characters and laughter we expect. Stephanie is looking for Sandy Claws who jumped bail. It's four days before Christmas and she does not have a tree and her Christmas shopping has yet to begin. Then a sexy man named Diesel literally appears in her kitchen. He's some kind of superhuman, superficial, supernatural, kind of sort of. Her family is hysterically funny, her grandmother is still picking up "stud muffins " from the funeral home. Her sister thinks she may be pregnent ....again, from non other the " clown " himself. Snagging Sandy is not at all easy, not when he's got an assaultive bunch of little people calling themselves elves working for him. 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. You have here the obligatory car bombing, some Christmas trees that don't make it home, some wild Christmas shopping , a lot of cookie making and throwing, and some of Grandma Mazur's famous humor and you have Janet Evanovich's latest gift to the fans of Stephanie Plum.Don't miss this one, Christmas time or not!!!

This is not the usual Evanovich mystery novel but is still fun reading. The idea of Diesel being anything other than a "Dream" man is not what I believe Ms. Evanovich was trying to portray. Stephanie's extended family (sister and nieces) are given more "air-time" which works out great. Lulu, Connie, and Morino stop by but the real fun is with her skip and her niece the pony. Isn't Christmas meant for children anyway? There is still the regular Plum mishaps, another car bites the dust, with Stephanie taking the hit with more grace and patience.If you are looking for some light hearted fun while your significant other is watching football games this is the book for you! This book should be taken as it is meant to be - a fairy tale with a New Jersey twist.

I normally would not write a review when there are so many on this book already, but seeing how many were poorly rated I felt an overwhelming desire to have my say. If you love Janet Evanovich books, if you are a fan of Stephanie Plum, if you adore her family with all their quirks and are willing to let yourself move in a world of fun and "fantasy", your going to LOVE this book. Don't try to pull it apart and analyze it, just go with it and enjoy. This book deals primarily with her family and what's not to love about them?!!! Who cares who Ring really is and what Diesel is, in the grand scheme of things it doesn't really matter. This is not a Tolstoy classic with symbolism and scholarly views, this is Evanovich lightening your day and making you smile. I dare you to read this book and not laugh! If you are looking for a romance with sexual tension mixed with some lighthearted laughs than this is not the book for you, try reading Evanovich's "Full House", and if you looking for the same old style of a Stephanie Plum book than try rereading her first eight. So the book is short, so are "The Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales" and they are always great reading. If you are willing to break out of the old mold and can't get enough of Stephanie's family and need to escape into a fun book you couldn't ask for anything better.

I laughed so hard throughout the book ~ loved it. The story was light and very entertaining. The cast was a hoot and it is a fun holiday read for an evening.