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2014 Book Review #35: What the Lady Wants
Title: What the Lady Wants
Author: Jennifer Crusie
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Thingummies: 3.5
Synopsis: He's a hardboiled detective who's really a stockbroker on a bet. She's a penniless heiress looking for someone to investigate a murder she knows didn't actually happen. They're detectives! ...wait, I said that already.
Thoughts: Dizzy good fun that doesn't quite hold together when the dizziness wears off. This is a mishmash of lovely little details that are way too much fun and puzzling little details that don't actually quite make sense. But it's fast and lightweight enough that it doesn't really seem to matter all that much.
The characterization feels a little thin for our two leads. She insists no one ever gives her what she wants, just what they think she wants; he insists that marriage is for idiots. They both kind of abandon these motivations without a lot of cause. And there's backstory that never quite makes it to the fore, including her ex-husband who's clearly a cad but we're never sure why she married him in the first place.
But there are a lot of snappy dialogue and great details. Stuff like the three uncles (the cold fish financial mastermind, the mafia godfather, and the deceased all-around-asshole) whose familial relationship is baffling but who are lots of fun to deal with. There's the best friend who secretly longs to be the detective. There's the concussed dog and the unwanted Mercedes. There's an airhead mistress and a ruthless girlfriend. And shenanigans. Lots of shenanigans.
Just don't think too hard about it all.
Author: Jennifer Crusie
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Thingummies: 3.5
Synopsis: He's a hardboiled detective who's really a stockbroker on a bet. She's a penniless heiress looking for someone to investigate a murder she knows didn't actually happen. They're detectives! ...wait, I said that already.
Thoughts: Dizzy good fun that doesn't quite hold together when the dizziness wears off. This is a mishmash of lovely little details that are way too much fun and puzzling little details that don't actually quite make sense. But it's fast and lightweight enough that it doesn't really seem to matter all that much.
The characterization feels a little thin for our two leads. She insists no one ever gives her what she wants, just what they think she wants; he insists that marriage is for idiots. They both kind of abandon these motivations without a lot of cause. And there's backstory that never quite makes it to the fore, including her ex-husband who's clearly a cad but we're never sure why she married him in the first place.
But there are a lot of snappy dialogue and great details. Stuff like the three uncles (the cold fish financial mastermind, the mafia godfather, and the deceased all-around-asshole) whose familial relationship is baffling but who are lots of fun to deal with. There's the best friend who secretly longs to be the detective. There's the concussed dog and the unwanted Mercedes. There's an airhead mistress and a ruthless girlfriend. And shenanigans. Lots of shenanigans.
Just don't think too hard about it all.