With only four days until Christmas, Stephanie awakes to find a man in her kitchen. Finding a man in her house is not new to Stephanie, she has had all kinds of crazy and this is just a drop in the bucket. His name is Diesel and Stephanie is not sure how he got in, apparently he just "popped" in. He is tall, sexy and very mysterious and accordingly, has "superpowers". Stephanie tries to get him out of her apartment as she needs to apprehend Sandor Clausen aka, Sandy Claws, an older man who makes toys.

Stephanie attempts to thwart Diesel, but he has his mind set on his task at hand. Both of them are looking for Sandy Claws, but for totally different reasons.

Stephanie's mother is asking her if she mailed her christmas cards, purchased her Christmas gifts, Christmas tree, etc., because what would people think if they did not get a card from Stephanie.

Stephanie goes in search of Sandy Claws and through Randy Briggs, tracks him down at a toy factory where Sandy's employees are "little people" with elf ears on them.

It is just another day in the life of Stephanie, who has cookies thrown at her by the little people, cars get blown up and she and Diesel try to track down Sandy Claws and a man named Ring, who is an enemy of Sandy as well as Grandma Mazur's newest boy toy/fling.

Stephanie does, in fact, end up with a Christmas tree with decorations and lights.

What happens to her parent's tree is another mater entirely.

This was a fun book filled with lots of holiday cheer. Very different from her numbered books and more concise, but still the crazy, zany Stephanie.

Not good but an entertaining distraction.

n  Review originally published December 2006n

Many of Janet Evanovich’s novels feature a main character who manages to superbly mess up every aspect of her life. Stephanie Plum works for her cousin Vinnie as a bounty hunter, but rarely manages to bring anyone in, and usually feels sorry for the ones she does catch.

Her cars are frequently stolen, firebombed, or accidentally burned. She is strongly attracted to not one but two men, and in this episode finds another good-looking man in her kitchen one morning four days before Christmas.

Visions of Sugar Plums has Stephanie and Diesel tracking down Sandy Claws for jumping bond and find his sister Elaine baking enormous amounts of cookies. An ad in the local paper looking for “elves with toy-making skills” leads the bounty hunters to a toy factory where they are trapped when the villain, Ring, makes the ceiling fall in.

Although on Christmas Eve Stephanie has no Christmas tree, no presents bought or wrapped, and Grandma Masur’s teeth have disappeared just when she has a Christmas Eve date with her latest studmuffin, Sandy Claws comes to the rescue and everyone has a merry Christmas after all.

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I borrowed this Christmas "between-the-numbers" book around the holidays, thinking that Evanovich could do no wrong, especially not with Stephanie Plum. What a mistake.

This book is an uncomfortable mix of the typical Plum fare (sex, silliness, sass and explosions) and a VERY bizarre alternate fantasy world. I finished feeling like I could've done less damage by just taking the book and hitting myself over the head with it. If I could, I would give this zero stars.

Have you ever read a character from one of your favourite series and thought hmmm, I wonder how they came up with that character. Well , as I was reading the Christmas Novella of the Stephanie Plum adventures and to my surprise the author Janet Evanovich had introduced a supernatural character named Diesel and I was like OMG thats Diesel from her latest series Wicked Appetite and Wicked Business.
As we are also used to strange men popping up in Stephanie Plum's novel , at first she doesn't blink but soon she will realise that there is something not out of this world right with her newfound guest Diesel. He has somehow been transported into Stephanie's apartment building as it seems that two supernatural characters have gone walkabouts . As the novel goes along we read as the characters Diesel is looking for matches her bail FTA and the pair of them join forces. Will Joe and Ranger be supportive of a new hunky male encroaching on their Stephanie time ? Can Diesel help Stephanie to embrace the cheerfulness of Christmas Spirit ? One of my favourite parts as always was Grandma Mazur's reference to wrestlers like Kurt Angle and Lance Storm as I was like - I know those names haha. The downside was I would have preferred a couple of scenes of Ranger and Diesel sizing each other up and Lula and Connie comparing the duo.
Another fun loving and quick easy to read book in the Stephanie Plum Series and when I say quick it only took me 1hr to read on my lunchbreak at work.

Fun holiday read with a bit of magic in Stephanie's life. Enjoyed it in the spirit it was written and did not expect it have a plot that was just like the others in the series.

It's very hard for me to dislike a Stephanie Plum book. Evanovich would have to do something pretty drastic to make me hate it. This book was no different.
This is Stephanie's first run-in with Diesel (from the Lizzy & Diesel series) and it proves to be an exciting and electrifying meeting from beginning to end.

Stephanie is out looking for Sandy Claws as he has jumped bail and she needs to bring him in so that she has some money to buy Christmas presents and pay the rent. A guy called Diesel suddenly turns up in her apartment and he is also looking for Sandy, who it turns out runs a toy factory full of short people. Add in a grandmother that has a new "stud muffin" and we have a book full of lots of laughs, holiday cheer, and just general good fun.

n  n    Book Reviewn  n
3+ out of 5 stars to Visions of Sugar Plums, the first cross-over book between Stephanie Plum and Diesel, written in 2002 by Janet Evanovich. As part of a marketing approach to launching a new series, this book places Stephanie in a most unusual place right around Christmastime. As she's trying to get her life on track, a man materializes in her apartment. She can't figure out how he got in and starts wondering if he's a vision or a ghost. It's Diesel... a very hot man... just what she needs, a third one in her life... and he desperately needs her help. Convinced she's losing her mind, Stephanie tries to ignore him but ultimately realizes the only way to lose him, is to help him find the toy maker who has disappeared right before Christmas. Suddenly, she freaks out when she thinks he means Santa Claus! A very cute story, full of the normal charm in Evanovich's books... it's a good laugh. Don't take it too seriously and enjoy these in between books for exactly what they are - humor, romance and a bit of mystery!

n  n    About Men  n
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Fun holiday romp with Stephanie

Don't waste your money because it's not worth it. This should be compressed into five pages in a numbered book instead of its own hardcover book. BIG DISAPPOINTMENT. Even the mystery was lame. 1/5 stars.