Sakura of DOOM

Allie McGuffey has been dumped by her boyfriend, who also happens to be the radio personality she helped make into a star. Enter Charlie Tenniel, who is in the radio business only as a favor to his father, a bad pickup line at a bar, and really good sex, and voila!

I, er, don't actually remember too much of this book, and I'm not sure if it's because I've read too many Crusies and this one doesn't particularly stand out, or because I read it while feeling desperately homesick and missing my sister, as well as being extremely short on sleep. I actually skimmed thorugh all the sex sections because I was too tired to read them. From what I remember, it's not bad sex writing (as opposed to bad sex, which it also isn't, but which can also be extremely amusing to read), and there were some bits on the heroine liking the top and enjoying the control that stood out.

I felt like Crusie could have lightened up a bit on the battle of the sexes on the air section, but luckily even then she doesn't hammer the point too hard.

Other than that, I'm not quite sure what to say. It's Jennifer Crusie, and as such, it is worth reading. I didn't like it as much as I've liked some of her other books, but then again, Crusie is in a class by herself in the romance genre.

And I have just started glomming Jennifer Crusie again! (just sneaked to Borders to get another book... they only had Manhunting, was looking for Cinderella Deal. Oh well, will take anything).

This feels like an earlier book (probably since it is). It's funny, because I can get glimpses of Crazy for You in this book, especially in the Lucy-Bradley/Quinn-Bill relationship. Lucy, recently divorced, manages to get her life in danger thanks to some sort of mixed up scheme involving her ex, Bradley. Luckily, Zack the policeman is there to save the day. He ends up in her house as protection and learns how to cook (and enjoy it) and in general gets a bit domesticated.

It's got some very Crusie themes -- getting what you need, not what you think you need, and having Zack give Lucy the perfect present (ala Calvin and Min in Bet Me).

I'm rather fond of Lucy, particularly her blinking habit, because I suspect I do something like that too.

A particular favorite bit is Zack's proposal.

Romance books are hard to review, because so much of it depends on the characters instead of a clever plot or good world-building.

Anyway, warm, fuzzy, plus a really bad dye job, crazy exes, bombs, and three dogs.

Links:
- rachelmanija's review

Older woman romance! Not only, but older woman and man ten years younger than her. I'd probably rec this book because of that factor alone, but luckily, it's also a pretty good book.

However, I didn't like it quite as much as the other Crusie's. While I did enjoy the fact that Nina was forty, recently divorced, inspired interest and was interested by a thirty year old guy, the book got a little repetitive at times dealing with that issue, which is pretty remarkable, considering how short the book is! It's one of Crusie's older category romances, this one for the Harlequin Love & Laughter title. The good is that it's funny and the atypical heroine and hero, both of whom I like. The bad is how Nina simply cannot get her mind around dating/having sex with a guy ten years younger than her. I appreciate that this is something she is concerned about, but I guess what got to me was that she kept using the exact same reason every time. She sounded a bit like a taped recording after a while. And there was a rather odd plot twist in the end concerning Alex doing something incredibly stupid for money.

So, good in general, but not really Crusie's best effort, IMHO.

ETA: I forgot to mention great dialogue, and some very funny moments. Best advice to guys: "Never wear Daffy Duck shorts to seduce a woman. You want her gasping in awe when she looks down there, not wondering how old you are." It also continues the tradition of making me really love her secondary characters, this case being Max, Alex's half-brother. Max is kind of washed out, not sure what he's doing with his life, but smart, and I kind of wanted him to get his own happy ever after.

I did a great deal of Jennifer Crusie reading this week and as such, am now feeling the urge to run to a bookstore to get Fast Women. She makes me happy.

The spree started with Faking It. I could tell it was a good book before I even started because of the dedication: "For Pat Gaffney: for her magnificent novels, limitless patience, and unconditional friendship, and because she totally gets the Buffy the Vampire Slayer thing." ;) I actually think I may have liked Fast Women better than Welcome to Temptation because I like Davy Dempsey so much... Phin Tucker's a wee bit on the alpha male side. Besides, I loved the sex scenes -- awkwardness, good sex, bad emotional connections, and plus, they sounded like actual people having sex instead of some sort of glorified romance novel sex. I also grew quite fond of the Goodnight family and of how Crusie is good at painting quirky characters without seeming like she's doing it by the numbers, giving them silly traits just to make them quirky. Does that make sense? Too often I feel like romance authors will just throw in some random trait (i.e. heroine disregards social conventions) while not really concentrating on how it would affect the heroine's life. Although sometimes, some things were a little on the "cute" side (muffins vs. doughnuts). Plus, I really liked Tilda, described as bug-eyed and strange, not at all gorgeous, or even pretty by anyone's standards, until Davy starts to fall for her. I also liked Eve and Louise, Gwen, and especially Nadine. I really want to see what Nadine is like when she grows up. And I liked Gwen's love life and the little umbrellas. The book is also absolutely insane, with hit men and forgeries and identity disorders, and yet, it all works out for me, with enough emotional weight so even while I laugh, I still like the characters. And I'm particularly fond of the sex scene where Davy and Tilda try to top each other with whose family is worse.

Then I went on to Crazy for You, a reread. I didn't like it as much the first time round, I think because I was more expecting a typical romance. Also, I can kind of see in this book how Crusie may have been moving from more standard romances to the more quirky ones she writes now. Quinn is just a little too sweet and pretty for me in the beginning, and I perpetually want to hit Nick over the head because he's really stupid. Really. I get annoyed when characters just sit around in romances and tell themselves how they can't get together with so-and-so because of such-and-such. This goes on for a great deal of the book. But I liked watching Quinn kind of explode out of her old life and how it influences everyone around her. I like that she's older, I like that she has a friend who's been married seventeen years and is bored, and I like that her mother does things too. People from all stages of life/romantic relationships getting around deciding to do something different, to take chances. In the end, I think my favorite storyline was Darla and Max, who've been married seventeen years when Darla realizes that it's boring. They don't do anything. It's all taken for granted by now. I've always liked the romances where the couple gets married in the beginning and then has to work things out, because I've always wanted to know what happens happily ever after (one thing that can annoy me about some fairy tales). Along other lines, Bill is really, really creepy. Ick.

Then I read Tell Me Lies, which I started a while before and never got around to finishing -- tone of this book is very different, much more serious, just as Crazy for You is a little bit more serious than Faking It. CL and Maddie don't actually stick in my mind that much, or Maddie's decision to go for him. What really does is Em and her mother and grief, as well as Maddie's role in the town, how she thinks of herself, buried secrets and hurts, etc. I think I'm going to have to reread it again at some point so that there's a more coherent plotline in my head, as opposed to fifteen pages every other day, forget I was reading the book for a few months, hundred pages to the end in one night. It's still kind of resonating with me, which is always good.

Apparently there's going to be a new book by her soon too! Described as cheesily romantic... can't wait ^_^. It's hard finding romance authors I like without qualms, and so far the three books of Crusie's that I've read are all pretty good -- most authors are a little bit more up and down with me. I also love that her characters feel like actual people, not the slightly glossified people of most contemporaries.

Links:
- tenemet's review of Crazy for You
- tenemet's review of Faking It