Customer Reviews

Crazy For You

5 star:		(73)
4 star:		(39)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

This was my first Jennifer Cruise book I have ever read. It was a pleasant surprise to read that she is an Ohio State University professor and it was even nicer to read that this book is set in Ohio too! I thoroughly enjoyed this book ~~ light, funny and sexy. Who ever says small towns are boring need to read this book!

It all starts with a dog. Quinn McKenzie rescues a small dog and falls in love with her. She decided to keep her in spite of her boyfriend's objections. Then her "beige" life (where she's dating the nicest guy, has a good job, surrounded by friends and family ~~ only to realize that she was bored to tears) suddenly changed into a life of color (there's even a huge red couch in her new life). Between dog-nappings, breaking and entering, seduction, sabotage, stalking, secrets and suddenly two men who were crazy for her ~~ it's enough to keep you interested in the book.

It is a quick read and funny as heck. There are some scenes in there that reminded me too much of my experiences with a stalker ~~ Cruise writes that vividly! I would wait till the last minute to go to work because I was so caught up in the book. Then the first chance I would take, I would grab it and start reading it again!

Even if you don't need a reason to buy this book, I recommend it anyways. It's fun, sexy, terrifying all rolled into one ball. Since I have read two of Cruise's books, I will be keeping an eye out for the rest of her collection. Once you start reading this one, you're hooked. And it's a ride that you won't easily forget.

I absolutely loved this book. I read "Tell Me Lies" last year and did not purchase this book until it came out in paperback. What a suprise! After reading this I will not even wait for her next book to come out in pb. I am running to the store for "Welcome To Temptation" in March!The reason I loved this book were the characters and Ms. Crusie's wonderful writing style. Funny and sexy go well together! Also I love the fact that Quinn and Nick seem like normal people. Not perfect, yet still attractive to each other. They are not super rich or super thin or super models! A nice change from all those other romances where the hero and heroine have perfect looks/bodies/money, blah, blah, blah.And Quinn's family and friends are as intersting as she is. Not to mention hard headed. I loved them all! I only wish it didn't have to end! Bravo Ms. Crusie. You are a terriffic writer and my favorite new author!

Jennifer Crusie is at the top of her game in this charming and hysterical contemporary romance. All of her trademark elements are here - witty dialogue, amuzing secondary characters, a hot romance. This is the story of a small town art teacher, Quinn McKenzie, who adopts a stray dog and decides to finally take control of her life. She breaks up with the steady but dull school coach, gets her own place and tries to initiate a romance with her ex-brother-in-law and close friend, Nick. The problem is that the rest of the town thinks she lost her mind. The coach refuses to accept their break-up and her boss blames her for the team's loosing streak and threatens to fire her. Inspired by Quinn's new attitude, her Mom comes out of the closet and her best friend leaves her happy but unexciting 20 year marriage. As if things are bad enough, Nick refuses to sleep with her! There's one amusing plot twist after the other, and the dialogue is priceless. One of the things I love best about Crusie's novels is the way she makes the lives of ordinary people - Quinn is a teacher and Nick is an automechanic - funny, exciting, sexy and romantic. This is a great novel that you will read again and again, laughing all the while.

Crusie really succeeds here with the tale of a young teacher who gets tired of her mundane life in a small town and tosses it over, only to find the excitement she craved at her doorstep.

There are all manners of plot devices represented here; the notable theme being long-term relationships and can two people ever stay together for a long time without growing in different directions. Great insight into the teaching profession and "office politics" in public school academia, as well!

Crusie is lighthearted and unafraid to have her books fall into the "beach trash" category, and, in the manner of Evanovich, (without the mystery) goes way over the top with some of the plot twists. This book, like her others, just cannot be put down!

One caution for new readers - Crusie makes the sex scenes in her books hot enough to need a small firefighting device close to the place you choose to read. She has an incredible touch in describing how both men and women feel in their most passionate moments.

Look for Crusie to score big with her big with her next new novel...she has really developed a following!

I only wish Quinn could have been tougher. This sort of spoils the book. Besides that, I would have given it a 5. I know, it's a book, it's not real. Still a wonderful read. Enjoy.

P.S. I hate the changes that Amazon has made. Searches are not as easy and not as accurate as they were before. And, the book ratings are not shown unless you click to see them. Looks like I'll be spending more time selecting books.

High School art teacher Quinn is leading a predicable and boring life. She is engaged to the school's baseball coach, Bill, and he's crazy for her. Maybe a little too much. Forever picking up strays and finding them new homes, she's suddenly drawn to the ugliest and scrawniest dog she's ever seen. When Bill insists that she take it to the pound, she refuses. Bill takes the dog to the pound himself since he's used to taking control in their relationship, and Quinn promptly sees this a catalyst of their future and calls off the wedding, moves out, and tries life on her own.

But Bill has a really hard time realizing that it's over, as he campaigns to reclaim the affections of the woman he loves, to the point of stalking. The normally staid Bill descends into a man over the edge. All this plays out in the gossipy small town in which they live. The school board wants her to get back with Bill so the baseball team can have a championship season. Meanwhile, Quinn's newfound independence is contagious to other members of the community.

Quinn turns to best pal Darla, who's having trouble igniting passion in her own marriage, as well as hunky ex-brother-in-law Nick. As Quinn tries to encourage Nick to take a chance with her, Bill is not far behind trying to stake his claim. Nick is the reticent love 'em and leave 'em type - not used to sharing his life since his divorce nearly 20 years early.

At times scary, tender, and downright hilarious, this is a great and fast read from cover to cover! Crusie is still the best romance writer at capturing the essence of relationships particularly the dialogue - even in the oddest situations, her crisp dialogue always rings true rather than cliched and dated like many of her contemporaries.

I don't read a lot of romance novels because the cliched plots, bad dialogue and over-the-top prose usually all drive me nuts. But Jennifer Cruise writes romantic novels that are funny without being too cute; romantic without being completely improbable; sweet without being cloying. _Crazy For You_ has a classic plot-line (lifelong best friends suddenly find themselves in major lust with each other) but the story still kept me guessing and very interested throughout. I liked the main characters and rooted for them to get together. The kissing/sex scenes were also steamy and fun.

The supporting charaters and storylines entertain (and that's a rarity in this genre) while taking away nothing from the central love story. All the characters, in fact, are appealing and believeable, with only one exception: Bill, the heroine's ex-boyfriend. We know he's doomed to be dumped from the start, but his increasingly erratic behavior doesn't fit with what we know of him early in the book (he's sensible, dependable, and deadly dull) and his downward spiral into scary stalker territory didn't ring true to me.

But that's only a very minor criticism of a book that is a joy to read. Jennifer Cruise is a talented writer who knows how to create engaging love stories and this is the book that made me want to read everything she has written. I recommend _Crazy For You_ to anyone who enjoys love stories but may sometimes turn their noses up at romance novels. It's perfect for beach reading or as something to relax with in the tub.

This book is such a fun, playful read! I could not put this book down once I got passed the halfway mark. Jennifer Cruise is a great author and I am her new biggest fan. Keep them coming Ms. Cruise! Your time will not be wasted on this book, it will keep you interested and laughing!

I thought this book was fabulous and nearly perfect. I thought ALL the elements worked. The humor and romance were perfection itself and Bill's descent into near madness was one of the most compelling and logical I've ever read because it made so much sense to him. Every character in Tibbett rang true with genuine depth and charm. I didn't want to put the book down and when I did, I couldn't find anything else nearly as wonderful to read. This is my favorite Jennifer Crusie book to date! She's earned a lifelong fan with this marvelous novel.

This summer I'm re-reading as many favorite romance writer stories as I can find in the library. I love Jennifer Crusie, so I grabbed a bunch including Crazy for You, which I couldn't remember reading before though eventually the story came back to me. There are funny parts and sweet parts in CFY, though I am not totally convinced of the main love story between Quinn/Nick; however, the Max & Darla love story was excellent and hilarious.

Unfortunately, Quinn's ex-boyfriend is creepy and as I continuted to read, his creepiness started to poison the entire story. It stopped being light summer reading, it stopped being fun, it stopped being a romance. The ex not only stalks the heroine, he abuses her, terrifies her and tries repeatedly to kill her dog - and this storyline is probably more detailed and dominant in the book than the one between Nick and Quinn. The ex progressively gets worse, so that as the climax draws near, I wasn't wondering how Nick and Quinn would finally "get together," but wondering if the boyfriend would have to be shot by police in order to finally stop him (seriously.) The stalking/abuse/animal abuse was so real and detailed (we get to see into the stalker's mind, which is supposed to show how screwed up he is in a "ha-ha" way, but instead reinforces how chillingly sick in the head he is) that it began to feel obscene to be putting that kind of story line in a "funny" romance. There are woman who undergo this kind of terror and humiliation everyday, and animals too -- its not funny and its not fluff. I worry that there are going to be people who've been victimized that pick this up to bring to the beach for a fun read and will instead be dragged down to a dark place. Honestly, I think this book should come with a warning label. And it isn't that great a romance even without this disturbing story line that permeates the book starting a third of the way in and going until practically the very last pages. There are plenty of great JC stories out there - I recommend a pass on this one.

BTW, I also re-read Welcome to Temptation, one of the best JC books ever, an outstanding, fun romance and very clever story. In WTT, besides lots of funny parts and romantic parts, etc., one of the characters dies in what appears to be a gruesome manner, someone repeatedly tries to kill off the female lead, and there are some other unsavvory elements. But I would recommend the story in a nano-second --- it worked and wasn't creepy, not like CFY. Other good ones: Bet Me, Fast Women.