Bet Me
The romantic comedy as perfected art form. Min and Cal's relationship begins with a bet and becomes a genuine, funny, moving love story. Crusie writes banter with the precision of a watchmaker; every scene advances both plot and character. Literary readers who don't read romance consistently cite this as the exception they made.
This novel leans on one dish so hard, Chicken Marsala turns up at restaurant after restaurant and then again at home, that one reader groans “I don't think I'll eat Chicken Marsala ever again.” Min's weight gets raised so constantly it risks becoming her single defining trait, and Cal is criticized for the opposite problem: he's so patient and agreeable that one reviewer jokes “ACTUALLY HE WAS A ROBOT ALL ALONG.” Secondary characters lean on statistics and pop-psychology theorizing until, by one count, it's “almost every conversation with a mention of percentages,” dialogue that reads stilted rather than clever to several readers. The rival subplot involving Min's ex David and Cal's colleague Cynthie is thin enough that even an admiring critic admits to skimming “the David and Cynthie parts.” Min's family dysfunction, especially the wedding pressure, gets raised and then never confronted.
The case for it and the rest of the canon open with Pro.
