Smart Bitches Trashy Books | All of the romance, none of the bullshit.

I actually just read my very first Jennifer Crusie this weekend: Bet Me, and I really enjoyed it - finished it in 2 days - so I’ll be checking out her other stuff. Don’t know who Mayer is - but it sounds like they have collaborated before?

Pssst - havin’ a bit of fun with the anthology naughtiness, huh? I feel like you’re Lisa Simpson with a little poking finger and a certain blogger/writer associated with produce is Bart saying, “Ow, quit it.”

I’ll have to try Jennifer Cruise out - this sounds great!

And you deserve to have such a good book to flush that other crap out of your system :)

Oooh, this sounds lovely. Going to the library today to drop off some books; I’ll have to see if they have a Jennifer Crusie or two. Hitmen + frying pans = damn good fun.

I’m guessing this was an advance copy in which case I’m massively jealous because I’m looking forward to this book a lot.

Everyone else who hasn’t checked out Crusie be sure to read Fast Women and, if you can get a hold of her earlier stuff, Charlie All Night and Manhunting are fabulous. I love Welcome to Temptation because I love Phin and Bet Me is pretty much required Crusie reading, I think.

I love all of Crusies stuff (oddly, Bet Me was my least favorite.....hated the female lead I think) Oh well.  Tell Me Lies, Fast Women etc are all great.  Getting Rid of Bradley is just Wonderful!

Welcome to Temptation was my first read, and it made her an auto-buy for me.

I’ve been looking forward to reading this since Don’t Look Down, and when I saw your review here I was all “Hot damn, it’s finally out! Must call library!” only it seems from the other Bitches that it’s not out yet? Sigh, what an emotional roller coaster so early in the morning.

I was at the bookstore yesterday looking for the “anthology,” and had no idea Crusie and Mayer had teamed up again.  Of course, if I looked at actual release dates, I wouldn’t have these kinds of problems! 

Sounds like a must-read, like most of Crusie’s work.  She never fails to make me laugh, though I admit Don’t Look Down just didn’t hit the spot like her solo stuff does.  Welcome to Temptation pulled me in (I grew up in a southwestern Ohio town with a water tower), but Faking It is my favorite.

Side note:  They’ve reissued a bunch of Cassie Edwards’ stuff and I was torn between weeping and looking for the nearest “flute of love” to play.

I loved this book (another lucky receiver of an ARC!  Heehee!).  So much more betterer than Don’t Look Down.  It’s like DLD was the “worst” of Crusie and Mayer individually, completely unintegrated.  This one that integrated perfectly and it’s totally the best of both worlds.  Brilliant characters, brilliant plot that’s stunningly plotted to actually make sense (unlike DLD, IMO).  I adored it and hope that they’ll be able to produce more like it.  I think Sarah’s totally right about the themes and character growth and the inhaling of the book.  Totally worth a few sleepless nights and it makes for a fabulous reread once you understand the plot twists!

I loved this book… So much more betterer than Don’t Look Down.  It’s like DLD was the “worst” of Crusie and Mayer individually, completely unintegrated.

I’m so thrilled to hear you loved Agnes!  I found DLD lacking: so much so that I didn’t plan to read Agnes.  (Among other issues, there wasn’t a single interesting female character in DLD: that’s a real WTF, in a Crusie novel.) So hearing this comparison cheers me right up!

Uh, the not-an-anthology is in the stores on June 26th. That would be:
The Unfortunate Miss Fortunes
Jennifer Crusie, Eileen Dreyer, and Anne Stuart writing/collaborating on a [single] novel.

http://www.unfortunatemissfortunes.com/homepage.php

Also, should you want to see a collaborative book in the making, go to:
http://dogsandgoddesses.com/

Jenny, Anne and Lani Diane Rich!!!!!

Suggest that since the Rest of the Free World won’t be able to read this book until August, you sell--uh, lend--your ARC to some worthy SB.

In fact, why not make it a contest prize?

That would be the decent thing.

“It’s always tease, tease, tease.”

MamaNice - “Bet Me” was my first Crusie, too - in fact, my first romance, actually. Loved it. LOVED IT. Want to go to film school so that I can develop a screenplay version and make a MOVIE of it.

And I just finished “Getting Rid of Bradley” - loved the concept of a dog that tells jokes!

Sarah - huh, this must be a delightful palate cleanser after Cassie Edwards, eh? That’s part of the reason I’m liking Lisa Kleypas - her books revived me after the dullness that was Jane Lindskold.

Crusie fans should also get “Anyone But You” in addition to the books already mentioned here.  Fred is my favorite supporting character of all time thanks to his fascination with a certain item of lingerie.  :) It’s out in hardback and paperback, so go buy it!

try #2…
ooh, Anyone but You is my unfavorite. I thought the main character was a total ditz, and it didn’t have the great group of friends her best books do.

We all have our favs and least favs I guess…

I guess one woman’s witty smart chick is another’s vapid dingbat. ;)

Melissa, I have Anyone But You, but heck if I could remember the name (no, no, let’s not discuss that I could have looked on my bookshelf). I always call it Fred’s book. I read a library copy and when I noticed HQN had it out in paperback, I snatched it up. I think everyone I recommend it to adores Fred. *laugh* Primarily because most of us have had dogs like him. And he’s a good motivator for the female lead, since you can’t ignore a dog that loves lingerie. He won’t let her. *laugh*

Crusie and Mayer are no Cassie Edwards and for that we can all be grateful.

Wouldn’t it be fun if someone tried to write a romance novel ABOUT Cassie Edwards?

“Sassie Sedwards’ love life is the pits - all her boyfriends in the past have all ended up leaving her by coming down with a rare disease known as ‘brain puking’. Could it possibly be caused by her own novels that she makes them read? And can she ever find that man who makes her heart thud the way her books do when reviewers chuck them out of windows?

Then one day, an unkempt high school janitor manages to page through her novel without any cerebual fluid leaking from his ears! Could he be the one?

Cletus Bonester’s enchanted by this Sassie girl and her delusional, rambling talk about savage orbital satellites and politically incorrect American Indian depictions. But he’s hiding a dark secret - he can’t read.

CAN THEIR LOVE SURVIVE????”

Welcome to Temptation is my absolute fave, with Bet Me right behind.  I also really enjoyed Crazy for you, but I was not a big fan of Anyone But You.  I love Crusie though--she is the best.

I’ve been looking for a copy of Sizzle....Anyone read it?  =)

Also, AnimeJune--you are brilliant.  I would read that in a heartbeat.

Sizzle!  Yes, I loved it.  Jenny hates it. 

My favorite is Getting Rid of Bradley.  I love the protags, especially the guy.  When he says, “That woman is damn near feral” about the heroine, it just tickles me.  Probably because it sounds like something several of my exBFs might say about me.  After that it’s WTT and FI, although I do love Cal from Bet Me.

Crusie rocks.  And her collaboration with Mayer is the best thing since peanut butter and chocolate.  (Hmm...peanut...butter...chocolate--I’m projecting Cassie Edwards, even though I haven’t actually read any of her books.)

I am DYING to get my hands on a copy of this book.  And I know that instead of savouring it, it’ll be done in one much-too-brief sitting.

Can anyone tell me if Shane does something stupid in the end like yell “I love you” at a wholly inappropriate moment and throw off the stride of the book?  That was the only thing that bothered me about Don’t Look Down.

Thanks, distraction!

Actually, a novel about a bad romance author who winds up in a good romance herself is not a bad idea.

D’oh! I mean, thanks DISTRACTED.

I love them all, and I am so jealous you guys got the arc!  Is it being released in paperback or hardcover?  If it’s hardcover, sad as it’ll make me, I will have to wait to own it till its in paperback- I just never buy hardcovers of novels.

I am so excited for this book to come out. I read He Wrote She Wrote the online writing class Crusie/Mayer does and they are always using Agnes as an example.

I have been a big Crusie fan since Welcome to Temptation. Reading all the comments I agree with how wonderful Bet Me is, (although it switches between the two) right now I think my favorite Crusie book is Faking it.