Rating: 
Summary: JE Just Gets Better and Better
Review: The characters in this book are the same familiar ones we have learned to love ( or hate ) but the writing is a little crisper and the movement from scene to improbable scene just a little less jerky than in the first few. I will look for Book Nine at the library....
Rating: 
Summary: Don't waste your time on this one.
Review: This is my first Stephanie Plum book, although, not my first Janet Evanovich book. It will be my last Stephanie Plum book, that is for sure. The 5-star reviews I read talk about this book being funny. All I felt was insulted that a woman could write another woman being so incredibly stupid. Bumbling was too generous a word to use to describe Stephanie and her assistants. Stephanie was written as stoooooopid. When somebody who is supposed to be an experienced "bond enforcer" just stands there and lets herself be shot with her own stun gun, how can you call it anything but stupid? I am listening to a Recorded Books recording of the book, and maybe part of the problem is the narrator's rendition. Maybe the humor is lost when it is read aloud. Maybe part of the problem is I did not start with the first Stephanie Plum book. I don't know. All I can say is that taking time out from one's life to read it would be a serious waste of time. Unfortunately, we were treated to 8 inches of snow today and the library is closed, so I am stuck with this book on tape until tomorrow. Even as bad as it is, it offers some entertainment while doing chores where a television is not handy. I am only 60% of the way through it, but it is so bad, I had to express my opinion...especially after seeing those 5-star reviews. I recommend spending your time on something else...The Loop by Nicholas Evans was superb.
Rating:
Summary: Good Book, bad reading on the audio
Review: We have listened to all seven of the previous Stephanie Plum books on audio cassette as we traveled to and from work. This Lorelei person is by far the worst reader. She does an okay job on the characters like Grandma Mazur, but Stephanie's voice is awful. She doesn't sound like a Trenton girl at all. We love the stories, but the previous readers made Stephanie so real to us, that this woman seems like a sick impostor.
Rating: 
Summary: What did she do to Ranger?
Review: Boy, was I disappointed in this book! It has a great plot and lots of action, as do all of the books in this series, so I have to give JE stars for that, but none for characterization. I know, they are JE's characters and she can write them however she wants, but I think she wrote Ranger too differently here from the other books. In the other books he comes off as really caring for Stephanie in his own mysterious way, but in Hard Eight JE has him acting like a jerk to her. I'm wondering if JE has been overwhelmed by the amount of support Ranger has gotten from many fans, so now she's trying to get out of having to keep him in the forefront by trying to make us dislike him. Sorry, JE, but I'm not buying Ranger as merely an "opportunist", and I'm also not buying any future books in this series until you bring back the Ranger you originally created - the one who has real feelings for Stephanie.
Rating: 
Summary: Stephanie will continue to make you laugh!
Review: I love all of the Stephanie Plum stories. My husband is from the Trenton area and I have even visited a few of the places mentioned in the books which makes it even funnier.In this story Stephanie is looking for a neighbor's granddaughter and ends up getting mixed up with a mean dude. Abruzzi who ends up sicking a bunny and a bear on Stephanie. As usual Stephanie looses a few vehicles, as well as a few handcuffs. Does she pay off her debt to Ranger? What part does her mom play in stopping the rabbit? Who is the clown? You have to read it to find out. As usual the antics of the characters will make you laugh out loud. A winner if you want to read a light and extremely funny mystery story. This is not a series that you have to read from book one. Though I recommend it, you can skim over the parts that you have heard before and not loose anything of the story.
Rating:
Summary: When does #9 come out? I can't wait!
Review: As a long time Janet Evanovich/Stephanie Plum avid fan/reader I was eagerly awaiting this eighth book in the series. I literally started reading and didn't stop until I was finished with the whole book. What I find enthralling about J. Evanovich's writing is that after 8 books I still want more and found this particular book to be even more entertaining than the last few in the series (and the last few books were GOOD!) All our favorite characters are here from Lula, Ranger, Morelli and Bob the dog to Grandma Mazur. There's further development in this book that enhanced several of the characters (remember, I never spoil a plot) along with a few new colorful characters in Ms. Evanovich's creative literary style.
Rating:
Summary: I love the Plum series, but this isn't my favorite
Review: I'd really give this three and a half stars, because I did enjoy this book. The darker edge was different and interesting, although I was a bit disappointed in the lack of Morelli in this one. Ranger is tasty, but he doesn't really have the depth that Morelli does, and Stephanie is a bit too confused between the two for my taste. Sure, Ranger's sexy... but I thought she loved Morelli? And Morelli's no slouch on sexiness, either. What really made me give this novel the lower rating was the ending. I won't tell you what it is, but it's not the usual Plum pluck that got Stephanie out of her trouble. It was a bit too "deus ex machina" for me, like Janet just needed to end the book for a publishing date, so she stopped the story and rescued Stephanie from her troubles. I preferred Stephanie using her own luck and resourcefulness to get herself out of scrapes, instead of the damsel in distress routine. She's certainly needed rescue before, but managed to save herself, instead of waiting for the men to save her! All in all, I very much liked this bookm but it could have been better. It made me go back and reread One for the Money, still my ultimate favorite in this series. It was the first book that actually made me laugh out loud while reading, and I'll continue to read this series, no matter what, because of that. Kudos Janet, but just make sure that Stephanie doesn't become wishy-washy!
Rating:
Summary: Stephanie's great again!!
Review: I am a fan of all the Stephanie Plum books and I certainly enjoyed "Hard Eight"! Several colleagues at work and I read this series faithfully and discuss and laugh about the books on a regular basis. Grandma Mazur was her same witty self and Mom got into the action more this time by running over "the rabbit".
I definitely recommend this book to all who enjoy fun and an easy read!!
Rating:
Summary: Stephanie Plum needs a change...me thinks
Review: I love Janet Evanovich's writing. I was thrilled beyond words when I read, "One For The Money" and still a happy camper with "Two For The Dough". But after reading High Five, I suppose I should have stopped there, because I jumped to Hard Eight. This means I still haven't read 3,4, 6 and 7. It may be a while before I got back and read these novels, although I own 3 & 4. Maybe I'm thinking the characters and the storyline is beginning to get too repetitious for me. She's still having her on-again/off-again fling with Morelli; she's still chasing the FTAs and depending on Ranger to bail her out of trouble. And just how many cars is she going to destroy and he will keep replacing? The only thing different in this book is Stephanie paying her debt to Ranger for his help with her body and that wasn't some of Janet's greatest writing either. I would have thought she would take more time with this scene and she didn't. The ending of the book was just cut off like she was tired of writing about it and ended it there. I think Janet's humor and wit are the greatest and I do enjoy her writing. But this book didn't do it for me like some of her others and in all fairness, I'm not sure if it's her or me. I'll read more of her work later on, but after Hard Eight (and I couldn't connect the title with anything in this book either), I'm due for something different.
Rating: 
Summary: The series is suffering....
Review: This is definitely not the best. It is like Evanovich is running out of steam and has to some degree written herself into a corner. First has anyone else noticed that she is guilty of some "formula" writing here? You have your basic always there characters and then you have the extras. Unfortunately the "extras" are the same characters in every book. She just changes the names, gender, profession, etc. Okay, and what is the deal with the romance element? Weak, weak, weak. It is as if Evanovich can't decide where to go with this and is afraid to commit one way or the other. I mean really, would both of these men just hang around this long? And would they really be so civil to each other? No bitterness by anybody? I am not saying I want to see a big blow up, but this is just too far from reality. Because I have basically read this same book eight times now (just under different names, "One for the Money", etc.) I only got a couple of real chuckles/smiles. Evanovich needs to spend more time breaking out of her comfortable mold on the next one, or she may loose big portions of her book buying audience.
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