Bet Me

Okay so a lot of the fat phobia - internalized and external - didn't age well BUT this really had some great writing and some really smart observations. Crusie amazes me. Also, in case you can't tell THIS IS A SEX BET BOOK. So fair warning because I Hate Bet Books. They hurt my heart and make me cry but I was already committed to this book prior to figuring that out (I know it's called Bet Me but I am not smart). So, for me, the bet-trope worked so fucking well in this book than in any other bet book I've read.

There was SO MUCH DIALOGUE and that was really difficult to get into at first. Like, so many people are talking to one another constantly - which was kind of genius - but was a big shift for my brain. There is a large cast of show more characters that I did have some problems remembering well. BUT I actually think this would have made an amazing movie (or audioplay). Like is Jennifer Crusie a secret-screenwriter? Because it felt like I was reading a film - in a good way! I loved the epilogue - a tie for favorite epilogues with Kristen Callihan's The Hot Shot.

ps. is that chair scene an homage to Judith Ivory's Untie My Heart? Because I know Crusie loves Ivory! Also, am I going to make Judith Ivory connections appear whenever convenient? Yes. I am. show less

Bet Me
5 Stars

After her boyfriend criticizes her weight and dumps her for not sleeping with him, Minerva Dodd swears off men. Likewise, Cal Morrisey is taking a hiatus from women after his former girlfriend gives him an ultimatum - marriage or nothing. Unfortunately for Min and Cal, fate has other plans and before they know it, all bets are off and they find themselves falling for one another despite their best-laid plans . . .

This book had me smiling from beginning to end.

Min and Cal's opposites attract romance is simply delightful. Their sizzling chemistry and witty banter light up the pages. Crusie also manages to avoid the irritating keeping secrets trope as Min is aware of the infamous bet from the start and it even becomes a show more running gag in the story.

The secondary characters are just as wonderful from Min's posse, Bonnie and Liza, to Cal's best buds, Roger and Tony. Each and everyone is fleshed out well and contributes to the overall charm of the story. Even the annoying Cynthy and obnoxious David have a role to play in this engaging tale.

Deanna Hurst's narration of the audiobook is first-rate although deeper voices for the male characters would not have been amiss.

All in all, this one is a definite re-read in the making. show less

I read this book shortly after it came out in 2004 and loved it, as did my best friend. I decided to re-visit it (on audio this time), and after a slow start, I found I still enjoyed it. It's a rom-com about two very different people who find themselves continually thrown together, sometimes by chance and sometimes on purpose. The body positivity theme may be a bit over-done, but there is a scene at a family dinner that is worth the entire read - so funny and happy-sigh-inducing. A fun, breezy read that reminded me why I came to love Jennifer Crusie's books.

3.5 stars

I don't really consume 'romance' books as a regular part of my book diet, but we all need something sweet every now and again, right? I read this book in one sitting, staying up until 3AM to finish, so that definitely says something about it. I think it is a well written, modern romance and the witty repartee is excellent. As a 'healthy' girl myself, I enjoyed the thought of a man romancing a woman with food, especially chocolate-iced doughnuts (which are a particular weakness of mine). I *bet* you will enjoy it to.

This is probably my favorite Cruise. As always with her books, the characters are so real they pop off the page. I don't know how Cruise managers to take stale characters (the grasping society mother, the bombshell friend, the bitchy ex-girlfriend.) and make them real people who you can (almost) sympathize with. I think it's all in the details, and this book has a lot of them.

The plot plays second fiddle to the characters, but there's still the usual Cruise climax, a jumble of people and confusion that somehow works out in the end. I know some people don't like the epilog, but I love that feeling of completion from knowing how everything works out.

Yes, this book is pink. (Okay, yours might be blue. But mine is pink.) Yes, it has shoes on the cover. Pink and shoes.

You know it and I know it. This means chick lit.

But this is the apogee of chick lit. This is chick lit for people who do not read chick lit. This is a great, multi-layered, character-driven story packed with humour and style that just happens to be centred around a boy-meets-girl story and to mention, on occasion, shoes.

Min Dobbs is 33, fairly sensible, a conservative dresser, risk averse but mostly comfortable in her own skin. Being sensible, she knows she'll never be skinny, but she also knows her appearance will never break mirrors, and once her sister's wedding is over and her mother gets off her back about being show more able to fit into her bridesmaid dress she'll be going back to eating butter and doughnuts with a (nearly) clear conscience. She has wit, intelligence, a good (if slightly dull) job and and very good friends. She is, moreover, a nice person.

She also has a horrible ex, David. What Min really hates about David is not the fact that he dumped her because she wouldn't sleep with him (although she's not precisely pleased about that), but the fact he did it three weeks before her sister's wedding: now, her mother is nagging her about being dateless as well as being too big for the bridesmaid dress. David was a toad, but he was a toad that was keeping her mother happy. Even toads have some redeeming features.

In a fit of drunken amphibian pique, David bets his business acquaintance Cal a serious chunk of money that Cal cannot seduce Min within a month. Cal tries very hard to tactfully decline the bet, being willing only to bet a pittance on being able to take Min to dinner. He's so tactful, though, that his friends don't notice he's declined the bet.

Cal also has a horrible ex. No, that's possibly unfair. Cal has a deluded ex, who thinks he's still in love with her. Like Min, Cal has wit, intelligence, a good job and very good friends. He is also a nice person. Yes, he takes Min to dinner on a bet, but he soon sees past her boring suit. Cal likes Min. A lot.

Min also likes Cal. But Min doesn't want to like Cal, because she overheard David making the bet and she doesn't realise Cal refused to join in. And this is where things start to get complicated, because Min refuses to take the situation lying down (pun totally intended).

And so Min and Cal's story unfolds, interwoven with several excellent and well-developed plots involving the families, friends and exes of Cal and Min, plus an insane cat named Elvis.

Altogether excellent. Intelligent and fun. And ignore the pink and the shoes: just because this isn't serious and depressing literary fiction doesn't mean it's superficial, inane or irredeemably girly. show less

Minerva Dobbs has self-image issues, which is not shocking considering the grief her mother gives her over every carb she puts in her mouth. Min's a sensible girl with cheeky taste in shoes, and she's met her match in Cal Morrisey, who's hot enough to melt the cherries on her shoes.

After being dumped, Min's in a man-hating state of mind the night she overhears her ex bet Cal that Cal won't be able to get "frigid" chubby Min into bed within a month, and is too furious to hang around and listen to the outcome. So when Cal approaches her a few minutes later, she can only assume the worst.

Horrible families, ten-dollar bets, and over-protective friends aren't enough to fight the fates that seem to want Cal and Min together. Bet Me is a show more wonderfully light and enjoyable read. If I had a rating system, this one would get top marks! show less