This is a Christmas Stephanie Plum book that introduces the character of Diesel. Diesel pops into Stephanie's kitchen one morning 4 days before Christmas. Stephanie has no clue who he is, where he came from, or why he is there. Diesel dosen't know where he is or why. Diesel decides to go with the flow and starts to follow Stephanie around as she tries to find FTA, Sandy Claws. Needless to say Stephanie looses another car and finds the Spirit of Christmas. It was a fun, fast, holiday book.

Oh my, the last third of the book was hillarious. I was laughing out so loud, I was afraid the guests in the next room would think I've gone nuts. Luckily I was listening the audio book from my laptop and not on my headphones how I usually listen to them.

This is my first encounter with Janet Evanovich work and this series. I kind of jumped in the middle, but I chose this book because it was the shortest, a bit less than 200 pages and 3 hours of audio book.

I have no idea if all of her books are so funny but if they are, I'm definitely in! Especially since I have the audio books and I plan on listening to them. Nothing can replace the great narrator who read the book and imitated all those voices. Boy, was that funny.

I liked the scene best when  Stephanie's granny lost her teeth and the way she talked and she had a date! Wanted to call police if they didn't show up...finally they were found in a stuffed toy dinosaur where the grandkid put the teeth so it couold 'eat' better...but she also painted the all teeth with flowers, rainbows and stuff-of course with permanent marker...the granny just put them back inside happy to finally talk again normally and ready for her date LOL she wasn't worried because all those old people can't see a thing anyway :))) I can't describe it too sound funny as it was fun listening to it, but if you want a good laugh, then this is a book for you!

This is the first story in the series where we are introduced to Diesel. It's another laugh out loud adventure and I loved it!

It was cute and entertaining. I liked it. I enjoyed some of the ironic choices in the details.

A quick read in the Stephanie Plum series. I didn't like Diesel at first but he grew on me as the book went on.

If you like a a funny, fluffy Christmas mystery sprinkled with magical realism then this may well be for you. Nothing brilliant, but at times laugh out loud funny (so there's that--it is no mean feat to make me laugh in almost every single book I've read by an author, even if some of the jokes have grown stale).

A new character, Diesel, is introduced in this in-between book--I already "met" him when I read a different holiday one, and it's Diesel plus a couple of other characters that bring this magic stuff into the picture. Personally, it was a bit of a stretch for me to see this in the Stephanie Plum books, but then I'm not much on magical realism.

That said, it's a bit silly, I think, but fun if you go for this stuff. Ignore the fantasy shelving--this isn't actual fantasy genre, but I'm using it for that somewhere and more than three score people have shelved it that way (it is technically fantasy, but not what I call fantasy stuff.)

I've kind of given up on this series, but this one was a book challenge read. This Christmas edition to the series was a short novella. Overall, I liked the characters, but that is never my problem with this series. I like Stephanie Plum and the others. They are funny and personable. I just struggle with their constant stagnation. No one grows. No one progresses. Every new book is filled with the same antics. Some funny. Some not. To me, it feels formulaic. So 3 stars.

Visions of Sugar Plums by Janet Evanovich is the first Stephanie Plum Between the Numbers book and follows book 8. It is nearly Christmas and bounty hunter, Stephanie Plum is after a toymaker Sandy Claws. This book introduces us to a mysterious character Diesel who has certain special abilities including being able to open all locks. A fun, quick read with a few supernatural elements, although not up to the standard of the usual Stephanie Plum novels.

I just could not get into this one. I have issues with a "guy"? named Diesel who just appears "poof" and disappears "poof" whenever he wants!

Needless to say, I will just stick with the numbered books in this series and stay away from the Plum Lucky, Plum Spooky, etc.

Cute, fun, short. Also, angry elves.

n  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.n

So cute!

Reread April 2018—I am a huge fan of Stephanie and all their zany antics. This is the story that introduces Diesel and the magical world of people with special talents. In this book we have Steph searching for Sandy Claws. He’s a toy maker and is hiring little people to work in his factory. Is he really Santa? Hmm.

This was soo cute and Omg this is how Diesel was introduced to the series. Yay