Product Description

This is New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Jennifer Crusie's novel about long shots, risk management, true love, and great shoes. . . .

Minerva Dobbs knows how to work the odds. Calvin Morrisey always plays to win. But when they face off, neither one is prepared. Because when real life meets true love, all bets are off.

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 keep 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 doughnuts, 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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #52771 in Books
• Published on: 2004-10-01
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Thirty-three-year-old Minerva Dobbs, the subject of the bet in Bet Me, is annoyed when her current boyfriend dumps her three weeks before her sister's wedding. But she's downright furious a few moments later when she overhears her now "ex" boyfriend bet hunky Calvin Morrisey that he can't take her home and bed her. In fact, she's so angry at them both that she lets Cal take her to dinner and decides to string him along until after her sister's wedding. Minerva pegs Cal as a handsome "used car salesman of seducers". Cal thinks Minerva is a "cranky, starving, risk-averse statistician". But Minerva's hormones keep whispering "this one", although she knows the gorgeous Cal isn't the man for her practical, white-cotton-bra, several-pounds-over-thin, self. And Cal is blinded by the lust he feels for the voluptuous, sensual woman he glimpses behind Min's actuary exterior. While Cal and Min struggle to deal with their mutual distrust and attraction, their friends and families try their best to interfere and direct the progression of the unlikely romantic connection.

Bet Me is unabashedly, irrepressibly romantic. In the wacky, wonderful world of Min and Cal, author Jennifer Crusie leaves no humorous situation unexplored; no potential comedic cauldron left unstirred; no hysterically funny complication left undeveloped. The reader is treated to a seemingly mismatched hero and heroine who fling caution to the winds to explore their unexpected attraction. The sexual tension is hot, the dialogue witty and wickedly sarcastic, and the supporting cast of secondary characters hilarious. Like Min's favourite Krispy Kreme doughnuts, this novel is rich and sinfully delicious. --Lois Faye Dyer, Amazon.com

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. 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.

Customer Reviews

top of the list
I tend to re-read Crusie's books, I read them over and over again. Bet Me is one I've read more than most and immediately went to the top of my JC list - pipping Welcome to Temptation to the post.

When I picked up Bet Me I didn't think that Tempation could be beat. I expected a good romantic comedy, fast-paced, multi-dimensional characters with excellent dialogue - all the things that Crusie does best. She never disappoints.

Bet Me is a stunning read, un-put-downable even. Min Dobbs is the heroine, a slightly overweight actuary with great taste in shoes, Cal Morrisey the handsome hero with a string of broken hearts behind him. They dislike each other immediately but can't help the verbal sparring. Min mistakenly believes that Cal has a bet that he can get her to sleep with him. She has no intentions of going quite this far but she does need a date for her sister's wedding; she decides to see how far Cal will go and whether she can drag a relationship out of him for a month.

The reason why Bet Me is special is that, unlike her other books, there's no farfetched crime to be solved. The characters carry this novel. It was refreshing to see a book about relationships that's so well written it needed nothing else. I adore these charcaters, Crusie writes dialogue so well that you can hear the way they speak. She paints their actions so realistically that you can see them move. In addition to that it's not just about Cal and Min - there's Tony, Liza, Roger, Bonnie, David, Cindy.

If you like reading about people and love read Bet Me.

Brilliant
Even Jennifer Crusie's own website describes this book as the 'Crusie-est' book that she has written. I loved it and gobbled it up in one sitting (from 10pm to 3.30am much to my regret the next day!!). It was funny and sweet and the heroine had a big bum!! As much as I love a good love scene one of the things I enjoyed about this was that the story wasn't fleshed out with pages and pages of the characters in bed together (not that they didn't eventually get around to it). It was much more focused on their relationship and the two of them learning to trust each other.

If you like funny, sexy romance books, with lots of witty conversations you will enjoy this book. I recommend it.

not bad for a romance novel
This is a romance/chicklit cross and not my 'thing' usually, but it was a book group book and I was persuaded to read it. It was quite enjoyable even for me (who hasnt a romance bone in her body) With romance you get formula, you have to have formula, the readers are disappointed if they dont get what they pay for, if the book doesn follow the formula. This is fair enough and it does exactly what it says on the tin. There is romance, it follows the formula, it has the romancy stuff, the language, the cliches, the chiselled and sculpted bits but it also has Elvis Costello, donuts, a large female lead, a sense of humour, and fun.