Author: Jennifer Crusie
# of Pages: 391 (paperback)
Genre: Fiction, Contemporary Romance, Chick Lit
Rating: ★★☆☆☆
Synopsis: Minerva Dobbs knows that happily-ever-after is a fairy tale, especially with a man who asked her to dinner to win a bet. Even if he is gorgeous and successful Calvin Morrisey. Cal knows commitment is impossible, especially with a woman as cranky as Min Dobbs. Even if she does wear great shoes and keeps him on his toes. When they say good-bye at the end of their evening, they cut their losses and agree never to see each other again. But Fate has other plans, and it's not long before Min and Cal meet again. Soon, they're dealing with a jealous ex-boyfriend, Krispy Kreme donuts, a determined psychologist, chaos theory, a freakishly intelligent cat, Chicken Marsala, and more risky propositions than either of them ever dreamed of. Including the biggest gamble of all—true love.
Review: I intentionally looked for a chick lit to read.
From my understanding, chick lits are not meant to be great literary works. They are written for the masses, primarily aimed at female audience (dare I say housewives?). I wanted something cheap, easy, and dirty, and I thought a chick lit would satisfy this craving.
My mistake was assuming all chick lits would have an emphasis on the physical aspect of a romantic relationship. Although I'm sure a fair amount do, this one did have nearly as much as I expected. The book concentrates more on the conflicts she has when interacting with Cal, her love interesting in the story who has a not so secret bet to get her into bed within a month of asking her out. Because him getting her into bed is the end goal, there's significantly less romantic action between the two of them than what I was hoping for.
This might be fine for some readers. Personally, if I wanted to read about a complicated romantic relationship, I would choose a book that does not fall under the chick lit genre. Like I said before, these types of books are not amazing pieces of literature. The relationships between friends/family/lovers are quite ridiculous and unrealistic. All the conflicts are petty, and the Min was annoyingly obsessed with Krispy Kreme donuts and chicken marsala.
There was also third person POV switching, and to make matters worse, the narrations were not very distinct. Although humor is not high up on this book's list of genres, I would classify it more as a romantic comedy, except that it's not even that funny.
I had pretty low expectations and was searching for a cheap, romantic read. This didn't quite meet that expectation which is why I am giving it two stars. I would recommend skipping this book for something else if you are searching for a romance novel or a good read.
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