Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie Review

This is my first audiobook review for the blog. I do listen to audiobooks as an attempt to get myself up and walking, yet still reading. Well, I just ended up listening in the car. That’s why Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie really hit home for me. Also, when I was putting together my list of Top Funny Happy Romance books, my research put this at the top of so many lists, so I had to check it out.

The main character had some weight struggles, especially with a mother that doesn’t stop reminding her! (I TOTALLY relate to this). Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie was a total hit for me. It combined a fun chick-lit romance and contemporary romance in one great book.

Min (Minerva Dobbs) has a plain name to go with her plain appearance. Dowdy and self-conscious, Min dresses to hide herself, except for her cute shoes. Her mother is all over her about her weight, and despite the fact that she hasn’t eaten carbs or fat in forever, she still can’t fit into the Maid of Honor dress for her perfect sister’s wedding. On top of that, her asshole boyfriend, David (and date to the wedding), just ended things because she didn’t sleep with him yet…and yeah, because of her weight.

Min has some great friends though. And they all go to a bar to hang out.

“Rum and Coke, please,” she told the bartender.
Maybe that was why Liza and Bonnie never had guy trouble: great hair.  She looked at Liza, racehorse-thin in purple zippered leather…Okay it wasn’t just the hair. If she jammed herself into Liza’s dress, she’d look like Barney’s slut cousin.
“Diet Coke,” she told the bartender.”

Cal Morrissey is a handsome womanizer who is known to break women’s hearts after getting them to fall in love with him. His relationships all seem to end at the two month point.  He is out with his friends at the same bar, when David (Min’s ex, and a business acquaintance of Cal’s) bets Cal that he can’t get the plain and dowdy Min to bed in a month.

Min knows (or thinks she knows) about the bet, but decides, why not? She needs a date for the wedding, so she might as well go for it. After a fairly disastrous first date, Cal and Min decide not to see each other again. But they keep running into one another. And Min’s friends and Cal’s friends start coupling off. Time after time they are thrown together, and as much as they try to fight it and just remain friends, the spark between them is strong. Despite them feeling “mine” in their head, they remained platonic friends.

But the flirtation between them is strong, plus, Cal can’t stop himself from looking down her shirt every chance he could get.

“You wanna be sexy, be sexy…You have assets that skinny women will never have and you should be enjoying them and dressing like you enjoy them…or at least dressing so that others can enjoy them.”

“You dress like you hate your body, sexy is in your head, and you don’t feel sexy, so you don’t look it.”

Well as a girl who spent her life with a mother who constantly harps on her weight (I can TOTALLY relate) how can she ever feel good about herself? But as the friendship continues, and the flirtation grows, so does Min’s confidence.

“The truth is, most guys would rather go to bed with you than with a clothes hangar, you’re a lot more fun to touch. But most women don’t believe that, you keep trying to lose weight for each other.”

But despite others’ trying to break them up, this almost-couple had a pretty strong connection.

“The rush became a whisper – THIS one – and he breathed deeper, and before she could open her eyes, he leaned in and kissed her, tasting the chocolate and the heat of her mouth, and she froze for a moment and then kissed him back, sweet and insistent, blanking out all coherent thought.”

Likes:

• The characters were so much fun and so relatable. I loved them all, I even loved hating the ones I’m supposed to hate!
• I TOTALLY get the whole perfect mom and sister thing (only I have two!).
• I totally fell for Cal too.
• Harry was an awesome kid character.
• I laughed many times throughout the story.
• It had a totally awesome epilogue.

Dislikes:

• Not enough sex. It was a bit of a tease.
• How much Chicken Marsala can people eat? Was there any other food besides Chicken Marsala, Krispy Kreme (yum) or Brats?
• I’m a visual person. There was so much talk about Min’s weight, I would have liked to know…is she a size 12? An 18? How big is big?

Audio feedback:

• This was nice and long. There was over 12 hours of listening.
• I loved the acting and voices. It was clear who was speaking at all times, you can even tell when it was over the phone.
• Because it was audio, I really noticed how many times the author used “said”. “Min said, Cal said….” it was overkill in an audio book.

Rating: 4.75 Stars, 2.5 Heat (Would have been 5 if there was more sex)

 

I know using quarter stars feels silly. But I have changed this rating back and forth from 4.5-5, so I settled.

Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie was a fun, relatable story. It was very refreshing to have a heroine that wasn’t the most beautiful person the hero has ever known. I don’t think you have to be overweight to love this story, but I do think that if you do suffer from some weight related, or any self esteem issues, you would totally love this story, and the message that beauty comes from the inside.

“She slid out from under his arm, and picked up his shirt from the floor. When she put it on, it failed to meet in the middle over her chest. that always worked in the movies, she thought, disgusted, and dropped it on the floor.”

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