Customer Reviews

Bet Me

5 star:		(211)
4 star:		(66)
3 star:		(20)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(24)

 

 

Let me just say that it is 6 a.m. in the morning. I have a LOT of work to do at our business today, which will be rather difficult as I HAVEN'T BEEN TO BED BECAUSE I STAYED UP ALL NIGHT reading, "Bet Me" by Jennifer Crusie. For the first time in a LONG time, I could not put the book down!

I think that it is a crime to have the Spotlight Review rating this only 2 stars!! It is one of the BEST books that I have read all year. I guess that everyone is different, but I can't believe that we were reading the same book.

Jennifer Crusie's books ALL have great dialogue, but sometimes her previous books seemed just a little too "dysfunctional" in a witty kind of way. Even though "Bet Me" has its strange moments, it is a captivating book.

The dialogue completely submerged me into the characters. The entire time I was reading it, I thought, "My God - that is exactly what people would say." It wasn't canned or stilted- it was funny, but more believable than any dialogue I think that I have ever read.

I hope that Jennifer Crusie will write more books like this. What is truly a shame though is that the first reviewer's views are far from the majority opinion of this book. Sadly, that is what too many people will look at. This really is a book worth buying. I loved the characters and especially liked the addition of the last chapter.

Excellent, excellent book.

I just read Jennifer Crusie's new book, Bet Me, in one sitting. I discovered her last year and have read almost every book she's written -- and have been delighted with each and every one. She writes romantic comedies ... really good, funny, heart-warming, witty, intelligient romantic comedies.

This one is about a normal girl ... I say normal because she isn't a size two with gorgeous blond hair that catches the light just so & has the perfect job and is the envy of all around her. That's the typical romantic comedy heroine. Not in this book. In Bet Me, we have Minerva Dobbs: a slightly overweight, under-confident, intelligient, hilarious, witty heroine. I laughed throughout this book ... Crusie has a writing style that I haven't seen before. All of her books are romantic comedys, they all have unlikely heroines, and they all have animals. Usually its dogs - but in this one it's a mangy looking cat. Her books have lovable characters -- REAL characters. People you can see yourself actually knowing .... People you can see YOURSELF in. This book struck a chord with me in many ways .... but I loved a scene towards the very end. Minerva is standing in front of a mirror after putting on a dress that our hero has chosen for her and he's trying to make her see what he sees ... a beautiful and sexy woman.

If you're looking for a light, warm-hearted read .... Bet Me is a good bet!

Jennifer Crusie goes for it and tells a love story the way it should be told - with total, reckless abandon. In this modern-age fairy tale, actuary Min Dobbs knows handsome Cal Morrissey is a bad risk. He's a habitual lover-and-leaver, and too charming to be up to any good. Cal Morrissey knows that love's a long shot and the best you can hope for is a good time in the mean time - and uptight Min doesn't even look like a good time in the first place. But when Fate steps in to put them together, everyone knows resistance is futile.

From delightful main characters to an engaging supporting cast, Crusie hits another one out of the park with "Bet Me." Crusie's signature tight storytelling and graceful humor are as present here as ever, but she's added a layer of mythology without apology which creates a thoroughly charming set of characters in a lovely world where fairy tales can come true. It's a good bet that you won't find a better warm fuzzy this year; "Bet Me" is worth every penny of the hardcover price.

Minn lacks self esteem to go with her curvy body. Her favorite feature is her odd taste in footwear, and the belief that a girl can never have too many shoes. She just broke up with her boyfriend David (though never making the plunge and sleeping with him). The only thing that depresses her about her breakup with David is that she won't have a date to his sisters wedding.

While at a bar, her friends goad her into walking up to a cute guy - Cal Morrissey, a serial dater afraid of commitment who just broke up with his therapist girlfriend. As she makes her way to Cal, she inadvertently overhears David making a bet with him that he cannot bed the girl in the grey suit within a month. Being the gal in the grey suit, she's shocked at first, but decides two can play that game, and sets out to make Cal's life miserable for that month (and heck, he'll make a cute date for the wedding). What she doesn't realize is that he didn't take the bet, but rather just bet that he could leave with her (for $10). Though their dinner date is a bust, circumstances keep throwing the two together, and Cal and Minn slowly start to develop feelings for each other - but Minn is still hurt because of the bet. Cal is mystified that his regular charm doesn't work on her - she seems immune. The big question is whether the two can weather the storm and discover their true feelings.

With dialogue so witty and fresh that you can really imagine the conversations actually taking place, it'll have you craving chicken Marsala and Krispy Kremes. Despite their flaws, there is great chemistry between Minn and Cal. "Bet Me" was the first book I read by Jennifer Crusie. After this one, I was hooked on her writing style and sought out the rest of her books. Her writing is so fresh, her characters so quirky and believable, and her novels just cannot be beat.

I couldn't put this book down - after I read it I had to go right back to some good parts. It's standing up excellently to re-reading: it was just as funny the third time as it was the first two.

Jenny herself described this as a "cheesy romance". There is no suspense element, and the plot is not only straightforward, but extensively foreshadowed. These are not flaws, because the writing is wonderful, the dialogue is hilarious, and the characters are interesting, as usual. I particularly liked how true everything was; there are at least six different theories of love and relationships among the various characters, all of which turn out to apply to the protagonists. In recent books by Ms. Crusie there is usually some element a bit over the top; in "Bet Me" it's the fairy tale themes. How many actuaries get to play Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel, Cinderella, Snow White, a girl who cries wolf, and the Beast in the course of a single story?

Crusie writes contemporary romances in much the way Dorothy L. Sayers wrote mysteries, or Lois McMaster Bujold writes science fiction, or Georgette Heyer wrote Regencies. Which is to say excellently well, but with no two books quite alike. In particular, they don't tend to repeat themes. If you like the writers voice, and enjoy watching her grow and change, this is wonderful. It does lead to different readers having different favorite books. This week my own favorite Crusie is probably "Faking It", but tastes vary. Fortunately it doesn't matter much; they're all very good.

If you insist on suspense with your romance, try Jayne Ann Krentz or Nora Roberts instead. If you want a story more focused on a serial heartbreaker hero, try Catherine Asaro's SF novel "The Last Hawk". If you want a recent fairy tale romance as fantasy rather than as a contemporary, try "The Fairy Godmother" by Mercedes Lackey. If you love "Bet Me" and want more straight contemporary romance, try Susan Elizabeth Phillips. If you really need the same theme over and over, stick to authors like Stephanie Laurens instead.

Jenny went on to suggest "... the world needs more cheese". I'm from Wisconsin, where we heartily agree with that sentiment. Especially when it produces books as wonderful as "Bet Me".

Okay -- wow, this was good! I have never read Crusie before, so I was expecting just another semi-generic chick lit novel. I've never been so glad to be disappointed!

I think this is the most perfect chick lit book I have ever read. It was hilarious, for one -- the one-liners just kept coming the whole novel through. And they were *good* one-liners, funny, smart, sexy, and witty. The characters were fabulous -- well-drawn, quirky, likeable (the good guys), deliciously unlikeable (the bad guys), intelligent, and fully fleshed-out. These were people I wanted to get to know and hang out with, the kind of people I could see myself being friends with. And the plot was utterly absorbing. Once I started, I couldn't put the book down. Literally. I stayed up until 9:00 in the morning finishing this thing; by the end, I was so tired I could barely keep my eyes open, but I kept on reading instead of doing the sensible thing and, y'know, sleeping, because I just *had* to know what happened next. It's been a while since I've been that caught up in a book. I'm going to have to check out Jennifer Crusie's other novels, because that was really a lot of fun!

Oh! I forgot to mention the best part! The overweight heroine doesn't lose weight to win the heart of the hero! Not only is she as fat for the happily-ever-after ending as she was for the beginning, but the hero kept feeding her all the way through the novel because he liked the look on her face when she ate something yummy. I was starving when I finished _Bet Me_ -- people kept eating pasta, chicken marsala, and Krispy Kreme donuts! I've been waiting a long time for a book that said you don't have to be thin to be happy, and actually *meant* it. Thanks, Ms. Crusie!

If you liked Tracy and Hepburn, Bogart and Becall, Gable and Lombard just to name a few then I think it's safe to say that you will like Cal and Min. Like the preceding couples, they click in a memorable way. And like the archetypes above, they are sexy and fun to read about. Once I picked up Bet Me, I had a hard time putting it down. Not because I was worried about the ending or that it kept me in suspense. Nope, it was just so much fun to read that I enjoyed almost every minute of it.

Crusie has matured in her writing and it shows in this offering. Her characters are sophisticated, smart and likable. They are movie material. I always thought WTT was movie material but more in a Farrelly Brothers type of movie. Bet me is akin to Mike Nichol's material. Either is lots of fun and true entertainment but Nichol's films have that touch of something that makes them classics. And Bet Me is like that. It has that certain something where the characters are bigger than the pages and they come right off and on to the stage. All the characters in this book are well written and indispensable. Each shines their little bit of flashlight on the fun and development of the romance between the leads. Whether it's the lesbian neighbor bartender or the ex-psycho- analyst girlfriend who is an almost stalker.
Bet Me was an exercise in written foreplay. Badinage type foreplay, where the characters delve into every aspect of each other before giving in to the inevitable. The sexual banter and development of the relationship between Cal and Min is really good stuff and like I said hard to put down. JC really puts a lot into the cultivation of her characters in this book especially the heroine. She is a woman that you can relate to in some ways if not all ways. We all have our physical drawbacks and a person in our lives that makes us feel inadequate. So, Min is a sympathetic character like Brigid Jones was. Min is never going to be model thin and her mother is never going to be happy about that. She has an overprotective dad as well as in appearance, a perfect sister and Min isn't exactly the sweetest person in the world. Min has attitude and she doesn't want to settle. She's not expecting Prince Charming like her friend Bonnie but in a relationship she expects a little endurance and respect. Her ex provided neither.
Cal appears to be the consummate playboy type. Gorgeous, well off, buff and intelligent with a reputation as a heartbreaker. A love `em and leave `em womanizing male creature with no feelings. Appears is the operative word here. Cal like Min has layers and depths and is not as shallow as he seems to be. He has had to contend with dyslexia his whole life as well as overbearing parents. And though it seems like he can't maintain a long term relationship, it's obvious he has never fallen in love before.
The secondaries are great in this book and very memorable. Even the per se villains the exes are well drawn and add just the right dimensions to this book. I was trying to think of my favourite scene in this book and I was running them all through my brain. It was nearly impossible to pick one but if I had to, I would have to pick the post coital scene near the end where everyone and his mother literally show up. Great plotting and excellent dialogue in this book. Bet Me gets an A from me and I really hope it does get made into a movie. There are rumors that there may be one. Wouldn't that be fun.

I have not laughed so hard for a long time. This was my first book that I've read by Jennifer Crusie, but it certainly won't be my last. Crusie makes believable characters with more attitude, and more issues then the National Geographic. I could certainly relate to Min's overbearing mother, and her lousy luck with outfits.. well except shoes. We both have excellent taste in those! LOL.. This book was well written, and it was refreshing to have a main character who wasn't the stereotypical female romantic lead. Min is 33, curvy, and very individualistic. The book was not predictable in any way, and it didn't get bogged down in melodramatics. This is definitely going on my favorite books list!

This book is simply a gem. Wonderful book! I admit to being one of the many who did not sleep for an entire night becoz i absolutely couldn't put this book down! Jennifer Crusie's dialogue is sharp, incredibly witty, well-paced, and juz too funny! Characters are also brilliant in that they're developed well and very convincingly. Heroine Min Dobbs is a smart and lovable person with very realistic insecurities abt her weight, while Cal Morrisey is a charming and kind fella with very good romantic instincts. Crusie's writing is juz fantastic, the humorous scenes are laugh out loud funny, and the sad scenes are heartbreaking enough to jerk tears (well, for me anyway, i guess becoz i can relate).

Not being a writer myself, I am kinda running out of words to describe how good this book is. But let me put it this way, right after i read the last page of BET ME, i immediately went back to the front cover and started reading it all over again. Juz coz i wasn't ready to leave Min and Cal yet. It is THAT good.

The plot here is Minerva overhears her ex-boyfriend bet a good-looking stranger in a bar ($10K) that he can't get her in bed within a month's time. Right from the description you know where this is going. Of course Minerva accepts a dinner invitation from the stranger with the idea of using him as well, but they become attracted to each other, and so forth. Nothing surprising.

So why read it? Because it's hilarious. There are tons of great one-liners and sarcastic conversations to make it worth while. There are a lot of similarities here to the How To Lose a Guy In 10 Days, even some of the banter is the same, but well worth reading. And at almost 400 pages, it's full of wonderful vignettes and sub-stories that highly entertain.