Joint Review: Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie

Posted May 19, 2008 by Holly in Reviews | 7 Comments

Joint Review: Bet Me by Jennifer CrusieReviewer: Holly and Rowena
Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie
Publisher: Macmillan
Publication Date: December 30th 2008
Genres: Fiction
Pages: 432
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five-stars

Minerva Dobbs knows that happily-ever-after is a fairy tale, especially with a man who asked her to dinner to win a bet. Even if he is gorgeous and successful Calvin Morrisey. Cal knows commitment is impossible, especially with a woman as cranky as Min Dobbs. Even if she does wear great shoes, and keep him on his toes. When they say good-bye at the end of their evening, they cut their losses and agree never to see each other again.
But Fate has other plans, and it's not long before Min and Cal meet again. Soon, they're dealing with a jealous ex-boyfriend, Krispy Kreme donuts, a determined psychologist, chaos theory, a freakishly intelligent cat, Chicken Marsala, and more risky propositions than either of them ever dreamed of. Including the biggest gamble of all-true love. Bet Me is the winner of a 2005 RITA Award.

Holly: For years Ween and I have argued over books (among other things), because our reading taste often differ dramatically. But one book we’ve always agreed on (besides Heart of Fire by Linda Howard that is) is Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie. The novel is extremely well written, hilarious and sweet, with witty dialogue and fabulous characters. But don’t take our word for it, go forth and read it yourself!

Wena: Seriously.

This book will forever be that book that made me want to try Chicken Marsala or try the chocolate glazed donuts from Krispy Kreme again because after a while they got to be too sweet. But after reading this book? I wanted to eat all of it. I swear this book made me want to find a hot guy and try out that picnic scene on my own.

For me, characters are extremely important and in this book we have lots of rich, full characters that by the end of the book you’ve already adopted into your fictional family. The hero and the heroine were just hilariously right for each other and it was just a party for my eyes to read about their journey.

Holly: Yep, this book is the sole reason I learned how to make Chicken Marsala.

The cast of secondary characters are amazing, I completely agree. And Min and Cal were so perfect for each other. I love the way they banter back and forth with each other, right from the beginning.

A cell phone rang behind her, and she started. When she turned, it was Calvin Morrisey, back again. He reached in his jacket and took out his phone, the kind that had more bells and whistles than any human being needed, and it confirmed her decision: There was no way in hell she was going to spend three weeks with a soulless yuppie just to get a date to Diana’s wedding. She’d go Dutch on dinner and then say goodbye forever; that was a plan.
She crossed her arms and waited for him to impress her with a business call, but he turned the phone off.
Min raised her eyebrows. “What if it’s important?”
“The only person I want to talk to is here,” he said, smiling that GQ smile at her.
“Oh, for crying out loud,” Min said. “Can you turn that off, too?”
“Excuse me?” he said, his smile fading.
“The constant line.” Min began to walk again. “You’ve got me for dinner. You can relax now.”

I also love the relationship between the friends. Especially the way they look out for each other. Reminds me of us. 🙂

Min tapped her fingers on the bar, trying to vent some tension. “I should have known David was a
mistake when I couldn’t bring myself to sleep with him. We were on our third date, and the waiter
brought the dessert menu, and David said, ‘No, thank you, we’re on a diet,’ and of course, he isn’t
because there’s not an ounce of fat on him, and I thought, ‘I’m not taking off my clothes with you’ and I paid my half of the check and went home early. And after that, whenever he made his move, I thought of the waiter and crossed my legs.”
“He wasn’t the one,” Bonnie said with conviction.
“You think?” Min said, and Bonnie looked wounded. Min closed her eyes. “Sorry. Sorry.Really sorry. It’s just not a good time for that stuff, Bon. I’m mad. I want to savage somebody, not look to the horizon for the next jerk who’s coming my way.”
“Sure,” Bonnie said. “I understand.”
Liza shook her head at Min. “Look, you didn’t care about David, so you haven’t lost anything except a date to Di’s wedding. And I vote we skip the wedding. It has ‘disaster’ written all over it, even without the fact that she’s marrying her best friend’s boyfriend.”

sigh

So what are you waiting for? Rush out and get this book! You won’t regret it and seriously Cal is a to die for hero (as the last JC hero standing is showing us). This book is the reason why I love Jennifer Crusie so much…it is this book that set the bar for my love of Jennifer Crusie books.

Give it a try, won’t ya?

Not only is Cal to die for, but so is Min, their respective families and the secondary characters.

5 out of 5

Wena: Ditto to what Holly said…

5 out of 5

for me too.

This book is available from St. Martin’s Press. You can buy it here or here in e-format.

five-stars


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7 responses to “Joint Review: Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie

  1. *Everyone* I know has loved this book, but I couldn’t bring myself to finish it.. there was just so much emphasis on the heroine’s weight. I don’t know, but I’m definitely in the minority. Maybe I’ll try to read it again..

  2. Rowena

    Awww Alice, say it aint so! Well, it’s okay if you don’t love it like us, we’ll still be your friend! hehe, =)

  3. Alice I agree with you…when I red this book the weight was such an important essue…and not in the good way… is was like the slim people was the evil reincarnated… like eating in a healthy way was a crime…and there was a little of hipocresy, because we have the not so perfect heroine (one the hero must accept just the way she is), but we do have the perfect hero…so, the book was good, but there were some emphassis in some things that shouldn’t have been there. (sorry for any ortografic error : / )

  4. Anonymous

    I think the minority is growing. I, too could finish the book. I love the beginning and Min’s friends. But halfway through the book, I just couldn’t take it anymore. Min started out so strong then her insecurity just took over the pages. Everyone has their insecurities but I just couldn’t read it over and over again. I love Cal, too but as I see how supportive and encouraging he is with Min – well, he just slowly slid into best friend/girlfriend category and I lost the hots for him.

    3/4 through the book, I skipped to the end and closed the book, completely unfulfilled.

    mph

  5. Anonymous

    Oh. And to top it off, I had a hankering for a bratwurst but couldn’t because it was 2am in the morning!

    mph

  6. mph,

    I think the issues Min faced as a heavier person are ones a lot of women deal with, so it was more real than not. And with the way her mom was, I don’t blame her for becoming obsessive about her weight. Especially considering she was trying to fit into a bridesmaid dress that was purposely ordered too small and had to listen to things like ,”Black is slimming” and “We don’t want her to get too big for the dress”.

    But I have to say, I am SO with you on the Brats. LOL

  7. Anonymous

    Oh Holly, I totally understand Min has reasons for her obsessing about her insecurity under the circumstances but I couldn’t keep read about it much longer. ( I tend to read my books straight through in one sitting- stopping this book 3/4 ways just about killed me). It didn’t help that JC held out the sex scene until the END. Throw a girl(me) a bone!

    MPH

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