I had heard great things about Jennifer Crusie, but she’s not known in Ireland. Thankfully, a number of things came together to allow me to discover her – a trip to the States where I got one of her books, and a Kindle, so when I got addicted, I could read more.
Bet Me is the tale of two people who didn’t realise how perfect they were for each other until a bet brought them together. Cal reluctantly takes a bet to ask out Min, she accepts having overheard the bet being made and wanting to make him pay. A banterfilled meal follows, and they’re off.
I loved a number of things about this book – the side characters, the theories about love, the fact that [slight spoiler] Crusie resisted the common romance trope of making everyone pair up at the end, but most of all her writing style. I marked a number of bits for this review (I am that dedicated to my Cannonball!) but they are too numerous.
“Taking risks. Like having lunch with a wolf.”
“I’m a wolf?” Cal said.
“Oh please.” Min said. “You picked me up on Friday with ‘Hello, little girl.’ Who did you think you were channelling, the prince?”
There are cute throw-away fairy tale references that are enjoyable, but not so plentiful to be annoying (and actually easy to ignore or miss – I only realised some writing this review.)
Definitely a recommendation, but just a four and a half – I will say, that there were a few unrealistic elements – the “bad guy” was unrealistically awful, making me doubt the hero and heroine would ever even talk to that kind of person.