Faking It [Paperback]

Jennifer Crusie (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 21, 2003

A new masterpiece from the queen of smart, sexy female fiction Mural artist Tilda Goodnight is struggling to pay off the mortgage on the family art gallery to keep the lid on her family secrets. Her life was complicated enough when all she had to deal with were her daydreaming mother, her split-personality sister and her cross-dressing brother-in-law but when con-man, charmer and sex-on-legs Davy Dempsey enters her life things, begin to get really out of control. Suddenly everyone is faking something. What will happen when all the secrets are out?

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Setting: Columbus, Ohio

Sensuality: 7

Mural artist Tilda Goodnight is struggling to pay off the mortgage on the family business and keep the Goodnight secrets safely hidden. Juggling her life gets even more complicated when she hides in Clea Lewis's closet and collides with sexy Davy Dempsey. Tilda is in Clea's bedroom to steal back a forged painting; Davy's there to steal Clea's account codes and retrieve the $3 million the larcenous blonde stole from him. Somehow, Tilda finds herself exchanging a mind-blowing kiss with her fellow burglar, and when Davy follows her home and rents a room from her mother, she's forced to deal with the charming con man. Everyone in Tilda's world is pretending to be someone else, including her daydreaming mother, her split-personality sister, and her cross-dressing ex-brother-in-law. All of them, including Tilda and Davy, are Faking It. What will happen when all the secrets are out and everyone knows the truth about everyone else? Will Davy recover his 3 million? Will Tilda recover all the forged paintings and find her true artistic calling? Will Tilda's mother run off to Aruba with a hit man named Ford? And exactly what is the difference between a man labeled a "doughnut" and one who deserves the title "muffin"?

Faking It is a hilarious, warm novel with a cast of quirky and wonderful characters that endear while they charm. Readers who met the Dempsey siblings in Crusie's Welcome To Temptation will be delighted to revisit the family and discover what happens to Davy Dempsey when he meets his romantic nemesis, Tilda Goodnight. --Lois Faye Dyer --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Bestseller Crusie (Fast Women, etc.) takes readers on another smooth ride in her latest romantic caper. At the wheel this time is fab art forger Matilda Goodnight, whose chance encounter in a closet with cute con man/thief Davy Dempsey leads to madcap mayhem and breathless romance. He's trying to steal back the money he filched from Clea Lewis, ex-girlfriend (and possible husband killer), who had taken it right back. Tilda just wants her last "Scarlet" painting, which Clea has bought to impress Mason Phipps, her rich art-obsessed beau. It's the last of six forgeries Tilda did for Tony, her now deceased gallery-owner dad, and Tilda is determined to preserve her newly squeaky-clean reputation. Confused yet? It gets wackier, because the whole Goodnight clan and supporting cast are as enormously engaging as the loopy plot. There's Tilda's mother, Gwen; her sister, Eve/Louise, a split-personality teacher/diva; her gay ex-brother-in-law, Andrew; and her precocious teenage niece, Nadine. Add a host of shady characters and would-be hitmen, and the breezy plot thickens and puffs up like the light airy doughnuts all Goodnight women are attracted to but eventually forsake for muffins: "Muffins are for the long haul and they always taste good. They don't have that oh-my-God-I-have-to-have-that thing that the doughnuts have going for them, but you still want them the next morning." Finally, defying all odds, Crusie answers the burning questions she poses can liars and thieves fall in love, live happily ever after and stay out of jail? while confirming the dangers of dating doughnuts.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Macmillan (March 21, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 033390737X
• ISBN-13: 978-0333907375
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (165 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,327,835 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jennifer Crusie was researching her dissertation on the differences in the way men and women tell stories when she got sidetracked into writing romance novels.

Her first book was published in 1993 (which pretty much finished off any hope of her getting that PhD) and her twenty-second book, Maybe This Time, came out in August of 2010, all of which she considers a minor miracle, especially since she is also a New York Times, USA Today and Publisher's Weekly bestseller and a two-time Rita award winner.

Jenny is currently working on her new Liz Danger mystery series. She is a very happy woman.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars What a zesty read!, May 2, 2003

By 

Busy Mom (Ohio) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Faking It (Mass Market Paperback)

I am a fan of Jennifer Crusie's books ~~ she is definitely an entertaining writer and this book is no exception! I was able to kick back and watch the sparks fly between Tilda, the main character and Davy, her romantic interest, fly like crazy. Both are con artists ~~ Tilda forges art for a living ~~ keeping up the Goodnight tradition and Davy's a con artist ~~ and they kept the pace up throughout the whole book.

They met up in Clea's closet ~~ Davy's there to recover the money she had stolen from him and Tilda's there to recover one of her Scarlet paintings and the book takes off from there. There is Nadine, the granddaughter, who is trying to figure out what her career interest is. There is Gwennie, the matriach of the family who longs to escape the art gallery and soak up the sun at a distant beach, drinking fruity alcoholic drinks. There is Eve who has a distinct second personality ~~ Louise, who performs at her ex-husband's club four nights a week. There is Clea, the amoral beauty queen whose husbands have died under mysterious circumstances and left her broke. On her third victim, she tries to snare him. Mason, the third husband-to-be, is also chasing after Gwennie ~~ and on and on. This book is a wonderful read ~~ light and funny and entertaining! I wouldn't have missed this book for the world!

Crusie is a fun writer that knows how to keep the reader's attention. This book is a sure bet!

5-2-03

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's the Real Thing, September 29, 2002

By 

Virginia Lore "rumtussle" (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Faking It (Hardcover)

Faking It is the story of Tilda, who is gradually sinking under the weight of her family's darkest secrets. When she meets con artist Davy in someone else's closet in the middle of the night, neither one of them is in a position to take the moral upper hand. From this is born one of the most entertaining relationships in contemporary fiction.

Faking It is the best of Jennifer Crusie's books so far. It has all the stuff Crusie fans love--lots humor, good sex, food, art, snappy dialogue, likable characters & good friendships. But it also has something that we've seen Crusie move toward in her latest two novels--a strong plot. This book would make an excellent movie. There are so many twists and turns in the plot that I was constantly engaged and could never get a step ahead of the story. Loved it!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Faking It, September 27, 2005

By 

Lmntry. Librarian (Mesa, AZ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Faking It (Mass Market Paperback)

Jennifer Crusie is a new author for me to explore. This was the second of her books I read (Bet Me, being first). In this story I was amazed at the world of Art Masterpiece and intrigue which I never really considered before. I enjoyed the dialogue and steamy sex scenes. There are many "laugh-out-loud" moments. The book took a few chapters to get into, but then I was hooked. Those of you just beginning to discover Jennifer Crusie, I suggest you read Welcome to Temptation first. It is not necessary though.