First recorded read was August 14, 2009.First in the Stephanie Plum Between the Numbers/Holiday Novels and falling in at 8.5 in the Stephanie Plum romantic suspense series revolving around a bounty hunter in Trenton, New Jersey. If you're interested, there is a chronological listing of the Stephanie Plum books on my website.My TakeI remember the first time I read Visions of Sugar Plums. And it was disconcerting. Very little Joe. No Ranger. But a lot of Diesel. Enigmatic, mysterious, and very cheeky with a good heart. "'Diesel is an alien or something,' I said to Morelli. 'He appeared in my kitchen this morning.' 'As long as he didn't spend the night,' Morelli said. He reached around me to a cookie tin, removed the lid, and selected a cookie."Diesel is a new character (he now has his own series: Lizzy & Diesel) who will catch your interest if only for his forward sense of humor. He's definitely an alpha male, although more laid back than Ranger or Joe. He also has his own set of special powers. And he likes Stephanie's family!Visions of Sugar Plums is, obviously, set during the holiday season. A time of stress and lots of family togetherness. It makes for a good peek in at Stephanie's totally disorganized background, lol. "How great is this?' Grandma said. 'If you marry Valerie we can celebrate some of those Jewish holidays. … Wait until I tell the girls at the beauty parlor that we might get a Jew in our family. Everyone's going to be jealous.' (This is followed by Stephanie's assessment of what her dad's thinking…) Not that he had anything against Jewish guys. It was that chances were slim to nonexistent that Kloughn was Italian." Which of course leads to Mom's reaction: 'Maybe I need to put more cookies on the plate,' my mother said, pushing back from the table. One more cookie run and my mother was going to be passed out on the kitchen floor."One review I read of this story bemoaned the lack of forward progress for the characters, that it all stayed the same. It does. This is a series that is good for laughs and its lighthearted approach. I adore how Stephanie's lower middle class life is celebrated — she's real as is her family. And Evanovich makes it too, too funny as well even as she hands out nuggets for thought. "'But she wants one. She'll hate me if I don't get her a pony. It'll ruin her Christmas.' Boy, I was really glad I had a hamster. I was planning on giving Rex a raisin for Christmas."The StoryIt's a different FTA than Stephanie is used to hunting down. This one causes electrical storms and melts plastic Santas.The CharactersStephanie Plum is a bumbling, well-meaning bounty hunter. Rex is her pet hamster. Dad tries to ignore everything around him — especially Grandma Mazur! Ellen is the perfect Burg mom and housewife: meals on the table at 6pm, complete to dessert, always a brownbag (Mom-packed, of course) to go home with her helpless daughter, and a vigilant eye out for Steph's father lunging for Grandma.Valerie is her "perfect" sister who had to return home after her hubby absconded with the baby sitter and all their money (see Seven Up, 7). Mary Alice and Angie are her daughters, well, technically anyway. Mary Alice thinks she's a horse. Albert Kloughn is an ambulance-chasing lawyer for whom Valerie works (and dates).Diesel is a laidback hunk with "powers" including that of popping in and out and popping locks. We first met the midget, er, I mean, the little person, Randy Briggs, in High Five, 5, when he was an FTA.Lula is her plus-size sometimes-partner with a big mouth and a blustering approach to life. She will crack you up. Connie Rosolli is the big-busted, mustachioed office manager for Vincent Plum Bail Bonds and the very efficient descendant of a Mob family. Mrs. Bestler is very retired and likes to play elevator operator in Stephanie's apartment building. Lorraine, Mr. Feinstein, and Mo Kleinschmidt are more elderly neighbors.Detective Joe Morelli is Stephanie's on-again boyfriend with brief cameos — he's on a case. Carl Costanza and Big Dog are two cops Stephanie knows.Sandy Claws, a.k.a., Sandor Clausen, has retired — hey, he lost his powers, so he might as well quit the game. Now he's making toys. Elaine Gluck is his cookie-making sister. Lester is Sandy's production manager. John Ring is also retired and is Sandy's nemesis. Seems he hasn't lost all his powers.The Cover and TitleThe cover of my book is bright green with raised gold lettering outlined in red for the author's name and the title with a tiny, hog-ridin' Santa ornament in leather jacket and Santa hat dangling from the "o" in Evanovich.The title is what Stephanie has every Christmas, Visions of Sugar PlumsNow if only she could fulfill those visions…
Hilarious Plum entree, but very short novella, loose ends...We really wondered what a Plum / Evanovich Christmas story would be like. Somewhat to our surprise, it picks up where #8 left off, with Kloughn, revealed herein to be Jewish, still chasing sister Valerie, who turns up ever so pregnant. Stephanie is as usual chasing an FTA she can't find, despite the help of a somewhat other worldly stud named Diesel. Morelli looks him over hard a few times, but nothing much happens; Ranger is totally on leave in this one. Plum is desperate to get her Christmas presents -- she forgot about cards, she buys a tree which gets burned up (typical!); and during the final shopping hours, she uses Lulu's shopping method (buy whatever's close to the registers) ere heading to the homestead on Christmas Eve. Funny scenes are the norm throughout, including several involving midgets dressed to look like elves, working (where else) in a toy factory.So let's see: it's an awfully quick read, barely a one hour novella; and we never really do find out where Diesel came from or is going to and how he got the supernatural powers that he has. The writing’s funny, but the story’s not particularly warm and fuzzy for Christmas. Most all the regular characters put in an appearance, with maybe the closest looks yet at Steph's parents, and Grandma entertaining a new "studmuffin". In sum – a short but funny Christmastyme yarn, but a fairly weak plot detracts from what could have been a charming little tale. "3" for average, but JE's fans will gobble it up. Readers new to the series and all these characters will probably not "get it".
What do You think about Visions Of Sugar Plums (2003)?
Visions of Sugar Plums is a short Christmas instalment to the Stephanie Plum series. This holiday novella is a step-off the beaten path from the usual Stephanie Plum books though with a little bit of fantasy thrown in just for good measure, I guess. In this novella, we find Stephanie trying to hunt down Santy Claws for being FTA three days before Christmas, a bunch of crazed psychotic elves who have a grudge against Steph, throw in a drop-dead gorgeous man named Diesel who just "appears" in Stephanie's kitchen one morning and you have a definite recipe for hilarity! Three stars!
—Aoibhínn
I know Christmas is long gone. This past Christmas I had no time to read holiday books. So, I thought why not read one in January. After all, there is a Christmas in July. Actually, I've read two in January, 2012. Only JANET EVANOVICH could make me want to deck the halls with holly in January. Stephanie Plum meets a new guy who appears out of nowhere. His name is Diesel. Diesel helps Stephanie look for a guy named Ring and another guy named Santy Claws. Santy Claws missed his court appearance. He needed to appear because his sister had used her house as collateral for his bond. He's in dept. Santy Claws is a little person who hangs around with elves. He's very hard to locate. Once he's found I almost liked him. You have to like a guy who carves wooden toy horses for Christmas. Along with Stephanie's usual bounty shenanigans there are burning Christmas trees. Grandma Mazur loses her teeth. She really needs those teeth because she has a date with a "studmuffin." Also, Stephanie's sister is pregnant. One of her two little girls has decided there is not a Santa Claus.With all of this happening is it any wonder Stephanie does not start Christmas shopping until the afternoon of Christmas Eve? I'm sure she had sugar plums in her pocket to zazz up her Christmas energy. I especially love this little ditty."It was Lorraine in her nightie and Mo in his cap. They'd just settled their brains for a long winter's nap in front of the television. When out in the lot there arose such a clatter, they sprang from their recliners to see what was the matter. Away to the window they flew like a flash, tore open the blinds and threw up the sash. And what to their wondering eyes should appear, but Stephanie Plum and yet another of her cars burning front to rear." evanovich
—Hattie
This story was just ok to me. I enjoy the Stephanie Plum series but as soon as I started to read this I knew I wasn't going to enjoy it as much as the others. Bad ass bounty hunter Stephanie Plum is always sarcastic and always getting into trouble. The usual characters made an appearance and were funny as usual but the mysterious appearance of a Christmas Spirit or alien or angel of some sort was just not floating my boat. It was a fantasy that I was hoping would end up as a dream of some sort but it didn't. The genre was forced on my real world view of Stephanie Plum and I didn't take to it. It was a good quick short story but I didn't like mixing the fantasy with reality when it's not a normal story line for this series.
—Regina Martinez
