JENNIFER CRUSIE

|| Tell Me Lies || Charlie All Night || Getting Rid of Bradley || Manhunting || Anyone But You ||

Last review(s) added 9/21/98

Contemporary

It is my understanding that “Tell Me Lies” is the first hard cover book for romance author Jennifer Crusie. I enjoyed the story of a small town where everyone’s nose is in everyone else’s business. Fast paced and quirky is what I’d call this romance.

Maddie Faraday discovers women’s underwear under the seat of her husband's car and thinks, “not again.” This time she’s leaving him. As one thing turns into another, her husband, Brent ends up missing. Then her old boyfriend C.L. Sturgis is back in town and happens to be looking for Brent.

Maddie and her best friend Treva try to spy in Brent’s office looking for incriminating information on him and all they can come up with is a locked metal box.

Maddie is trying to keep her daughter, Emily, from worrying and ends up telling her lies. Those lies turn into others and before long Maddie doesn’t know what’s happening to herself. She’s been lied to, she’s told lies, and the worst thing of all is that Brent ends up murdered and everyone thinks she did it because he'd been cheating on her.

Take a few hours and enjoy this mystery/romance. It’s a hit and a job well done by Jennifer Crusie.

Rated 4.5
ISBN# 0-373-25563-2
Copyright 1993
Reviewed 9/8/97 by Kathy

Kate Svenson had been engaged three times to three different men in three years. They were all stuffy, boring suits and she dumped them all. She wanted to find a tall, handsome, successful man who had the same career goals she had.

Her best friend, Jessie, finally talks her into going to a singles resort. They come up with a supposedly foolproof plan for Kate to find Mr. Right. The only problem is when she gets there, her plan seriously backfires in her face. Nothing seems to go right.

Then she meets Jake. He's tall and handsome all right but he does not have a successful bone in his body. He's content to laze the days around sleeping in his rowboat on the lake. He and Kate get along great and have a lot of fun together but he's not at all what Kate wants or is he?

This is the first book I've read by Jennifer Crusie and I thought it was wonderful. Her characters are very realistic and get into and out of the funniest situations. I am definitely a new fan of hers.

Rated 5.0
ISBN# 0-373-25580-2
Copyright 1994
Reviewed 9/8/97 by Kathy

Lucy Savage is having a very bad day. She is divorcing her husband BradleyPorter because she caught him with another woman in her house. Then shedecides to become a new woman. She dyed her brown hair blonde. That was a big mistake.

Her sister Tina goes with her to court to finalize her divorce and then takes her to lunch. They go to a dump called Harveys because Bradley writes her a note and tells her to meet him there so he can explain about the woman. Of course, Bradley never shows up but Lucy notices two men in the restaurant and is mildly attracted to one of the men.

The men are cops and are there because they are looking for a man named John Bradley who has embezzled some government bonds. They overhear Lucy and Tina talking about Bradley and mistakenly think they are talking about their Bradley.

It is a comedy of errors. There's Bradley Porter, Lucy's ex-husband and there's John Bradley. Is there a connection? Zack, one of the cops doesn't know but he intends to find out. Then Lucy gets shot at, her car gets blown up and her bed gets blown up. Zack decides to move into her house to make sure she stays safe and to try to get to the bottom of this.

In the meantime, Lucy dyes her hair yet again. This time she dyes it black but when she washes it for the first time, it turns green. Finally, she goes to the beauty shop and has her hair all cut off and dyed red.

She also has three dogs who steal all the scenes they are in. They are so lovable and so funny. Zack doesn't want to get involved but he does. Then he finds a fourth dog and brings him home to Lucy. That's all it takes for Lucy to fall head over heals in love with Zack. No one has ever brought her a dog before.

This was one of the funniest and most touching books I've ever read. Jennifer Crusie has done it yet again. Lucy, Zack and the dogs are great characters. I enjoyed this book so much I didn't want it to end.

Rated 5.0
ISBN#0-373-25670-1
Copyright 1996
Reviewed 9/8/97 by Kathy

Allie McGuffey was not only dumped by her boyfriend but she was taken off his prime-time radio show as producer. She was told she's going to be producing the new nighttime DJ. She had to leave before she blew her top. She went to the bar across the street from the radio station, but when she turned around, her ex-boyfriend, Mark, was following her to the bar.

She looked around the bar to see if she could pick someone up before Markcame in to see that she was alone. She spotted a guy at the bar who looked like a thug but all the other guys were businessmen and he was the only likely candidate. She walked up to him, dumped her large purse on the bar and asked him if he was meeting someone. He was very surprised and just looked at her but she was busy checking out where Mark was and didn't notice how surprised he was.

She was surprised when Mark came up and asked if she and the new DJ were having a meeting already. She looked at the guy she was trying to pick up. She looked so surprised and distressed that he decided to help her out and introduced himself as Charlie to Mark.

Allie invites Charlie to dinner and he accepts. She introduces him to her roommate, Joe and they invite Charlie to crash at their place until he becomes familiar with the town. Charlie accepts their invitation because actually he has an ulterior motive for being there in the first place. He's come to check out a threatening letter that the owner of the radio station got in the mail.

Allie decides that she's going to make Charlie a household name in the radio business but that's not what Charlie wants. He wants to do what he came to do and then leave. He doesn't want any attachments but he doesn't know Allie.

I'm glad I discovered Jennifer Crusie's books. She tells interesting stories about interesting people. I look forward to reading more of her books.

Rated 4.5
ISBN# 0-373-44004-9
Copyright 1996
Reviews 6/30/97 by Pam T.

Charming, witty, and captivating is the tale of Nina and Alex in "Anyone But You" by Jennifer Crusie. I've heard many good things about this author and the discovery that they are indeed true, is wonderful.

Nina Askew is divorced, 40, and has sagging boobs. At least she thinks they're sagging. Ending a long and lonely marriage, Norma has her own apartment and has decided to get that dog she's always wanted, but her ex wouldn't allow her to have. Fred, part basset and part beagle, becomes the new addition to her household.

Alex Moore is 30 and a doctor in ER. He receives constant pressure from his family members to go into some sort of speciality. Make more money, Alex. Being a family of doctors, they each have their own suggestions and they drive him crazy trying to persuade him to go into their different fields -- cardiology, oncology, dermatology, etc.

Fred is the link between Nina and Alex. When Alex finds Fred, after he climbed through his window into his apartment, the fun begins.

Alex and Nina first become friends. I really like it when that happens. Neither can decide just how to turn their friendship into something more. Nina is afraid of the differences in their ages and Alex is just plain afraid of being turned down.

ANYONE BUT YOU will make you laugh, the characters are displayed in a believable fashion and you will adore them by the time you close the book. The secondary characters are as equally enjoyable. Frankly, I can't wait to do some research to find out of Crusie has written a story about Max, Alex's brother, yet.

An enriching tale by Crusie.