Crusie, Jennifer: Bet Me
Bet Me
Writer: Jennifer Crusie
Genre: Romance
Pages: 391
While I enjoy romantic sub-plots (or even plots) in my fiction, I don't think I've ever gone out to read an actual romance. But in keeping with SHU tradition, the coming January read is in fact a romance novel, and the romance novel chosen was this one.
I know, I'm reading it early. It's because that I know I'm going to be in a complete wacky state of mind come January residency, and I probably wouldn't have had the time to give this a whirl. And it deserved a whirl, because I need to know how romance writers handle their craft if my own work contains romantic sub-plots.
I'm glad I did. The book surprised me on more than one occasion.
First, the flaws/nit-picks. I'm always amused to find that main characters have cool, unusual names, whereas the supporting cast often gets the normal, day-to-day, aka boring ones. Main characters in question: Minerva (Min for short) and Calvin (Cal for short). Not that impressive, until one looks at the supporting cast: Lexy, Bonnie, Roger, Tony, Diane, David, etc. Oh, there were a few others in there that weren't boring: Nanette, Emilio, and if you wanted to push it, Cynthie, but the latter was more annoying that it was cute. Really? A self respecting psychologist would go around as Cynthie instead of Cynthia? Bah!
And while we're on nitpicks, there were a few instances where the author introduced something and let it drop: Bonnie's cousin was a Cynthia who got dumped by Cal recently, so clearly, Cynthie is Bonnie's cousin, but Cynthie didn't know who the blonde friend of Min's was?***
I also had some trouble with the dialogue, of following who was speaking when. Crusie has a habit of a speaker saying something, then there's a paragraph break, and the same speaker speaks again. This instead of keeping it in the same paragraph? We're not talking speeches here, just short snatches of dialogue. I got tripped up on more than one occasion.
But all that aside, it was a fun book. I was a little worried when I started, because of the whole bar-scene, which for some reason smacked of cliche, but the whole bit about betting on any and everything was great. And I liked everyone's various beliefs of true love: the fairy tale, the chaos, the clinical. The characters felt real and vivid, and I was thoroughly amused that the two protagonists did not just fall head over heels for each other. They made it tough, and still kept seeking the other out, again and again.
Min's conflict about weight was also fantastic. I like how it's never specified how "big" she is, because it allows any woman who's above a size 6 to relate. I found it fantastic and believable that Cal stood up for her, encourage her to eat, because like most men, Cal wants curves. Not that curves are everything, but it's not something bigger women hear amongst all the THIN THIN THIN that society keeps shoving down their throats. And in Min's case, her mother. God, what a piece of work, that mother.
And while I found myself a little annoyed at Cynthie's and David's schemes to keep Min and Cal apart (especially David's last-ditch effort), I enjoyed all the hurdles the characters had to leap through (and I knew I'd have a happy ending, because it's a romance and also because I read the last paragraph of the book, ha!). They didn't have it easy, though I was surprised that, like all soap-operas, this romance novel had other people scheming to keep the main couple apart. That still doesn't sit quite well with me, only because I like the main characters doing it on their own (and Min and Cal really were trying to stay away from each other). But in the end, I didn't mind because this wasn't a soap opera, and we did get the wrap-up of how all the character's lives turned out. Quite cute.
This was, obviously, a fast read for me, and a lot of fun. Good thing I picked this up for the weekend, or I would've been screwed during the week. It's not an easy book to put down, because you want to know how things are going to end up. A fair choice for residency read, though it'll be interesting to hear how those SHU-ers who are NOT inclined to romantic tales will respond to this one. Me, I'll be happy to read Jennifer Crusie novels in the future, especially if I just want to unwind.
The humor was fun though, and I liked the real issues the book explored. It's one of those things that not many non-romance readers realize, that romance novels actually deal with a helluva lot of real-world issues: it's not all about how hot the main characters are and how they'll get into bed. For anyone who doesn't read romance, but wouldn't mind checking the genre out, I'd easily recommend this book.
Edit: *** = I have been corrected on this matter in comments. :) Thanks!
Next up: Reading Like a Writer by Francine Prose