Scan barcode
christiana's review against another edition
4.0
The friendships, food descriptions, shoe descriptions, and sister relationships really made this book sing for me. It was my first Jennifer Crusie book but probably won't be my last!
cardinalgirl75's review against another edition
4.0
I'm not going to lie. This is probably a book I shouldn't like anymore as much as I do. I can see the flaws in the plot--why do Cal and Min fall in love in the first place, when they don't seem to spend much time together and she remains convinced for much of it that he's made a bet to get her into bed within a month? (A bet he made with her ex-boyfriend, mind you.) Even back when I first read it, Liza continually hitting Cal whenever she caught him kissing Min was NOT COOL. And the entire "Cal is a jerk because he breaks up with women after a couple of months when they're expecting him to marry them" is...come on, really? That's a little extreme. The only woman who should have had any expectation of marriage was, at best, his most recent ex-girlfriend, because of the length of their relationship (nine months), but even that was a bit of a stretch when it was clear that he wasn't in love with her.
I told myself as I listened to the story again that I shouldn't like it as much as I do. I went and looked up negative reviews on Goodreads and...rolled my eyes so hard at some of them. And finally told myself that I was allowed to like what I liked, regardless of how silly it was. I like BET ME. It isn't my favorite Jennifer Crusie book, but it's pretty darned good.
I told myself as I listened to the story again that I shouldn't like it as much as I do. I went and looked up negative reviews on Goodreads and...rolled my eyes so hard at some of them. And finally told myself that I was allowed to like what I liked, regardless of how silly it was. I like BET ME. It isn't my favorite Jennifer Crusie book, but it's pretty darned good.
steph01924's review against another edition
I heard many a good thing about this book over the last few years. I've read one previous full-length book by Crusie, which was fine, and then her horrible short Christmas story about an insane woman and a GI Joe-like toy. After that I was really debating on leaving her on my "Do Not Read" list, but like I said, the amount of people who said that Bet Me was a great story had me reconsidering.
Well...people, ya failed me. This wasn't the worst book I've ever read, but it also is not deserving of multiple accolades.
What I really don't like about Crusie's writing is that it's confusing. It meanders. Point A to Point B logic doesn't always quite apply. And it's not glaring enough to be unreadable...it's just annoying enough that I got halfway through the book and I'm going, what is even going on with this "bet" anymore? Who knows what? Who cares about it? Your entire premise is lost!
Calvin was bet by David that he couldn't sleep with Min, but Calvin supposedly said no? Or just said yes to betting he couldn't take her to dinner, and just hand-waved the other bet away, hoping David would simply forget about it? And so Min overhears the first bet and thinks Calvin is gung-ho for it, but she doesn't really care, even though she cares? She's gonna string him along without sex (so he can't win the bet) so she can take a hot guy to her sister's wedding in a month, but then gives up halfway through, but then (I imagine) the bet will come back again right near the end and she will be upset again? WHAT?
I gave up halfway through the story because this is not the book that I was sold from the synopsis. It started off sounding like a "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days" situation, except Min gave up pretending to string Cal along after ONE night, and the rest of the book is just how they can't keep away from each other even though they "hate" each other and their brains keep shouting "THIS ONE" at them. Way too much insta-love going on.
And let's talk chicken Marsala. This dish is mentioned no less than a dozen times and I didn't even get halfway through the book, guys. I saw one reviewer bring this up and thought, eh, how bad could it be?--but to that reviewer: I'm sorry I doubted you, because WTF is up with chicken Marsala? Do these people know there are other chicken dishes in the world? If I had to read one more description of Calvin watching Min's orgasmic expressions while she eats food...ew. It gets kinda weirdly food-fetishy after the first time, Crusie. Please stop, please stop.
So...read with major reservations, even if you've only heard great things from many, many others.
Well...people, ya failed me. This wasn't the worst book I've ever read, but it also is not deserving of multiple accolades.
What I really don't like about Crusie's writing is that it's confusing. It meanders. Point A to Point B logic doesn't always quite apply. And it's not glaring enough to be unreadable...it's just annoying enough that I got halfway through the book and I'm going, what is even going on with this "bet" anymore? Who knows what? Who cares about it? Your entire premise is lost!
Calvin was bet by David that he couldn't sleep with Min, but Calvin supposedly said no? Or just said yes to betting he couldn't take her to dinner, and just hand-waved the other bet away, hoping David would simply forget about it? And so Min overhears the first bet and thinks Calvin is gung-ho for it, but she doesn't really care, even though she cares? She's gonna string him along without sex (so he can't win the bet) so she can take a hot guy to her sister's wedding in a month, but then gives up halfway through, but then (I imagine) the bet will come back again right near the end and she will be upset again? WHAT?
I gave up halfway through the story because this is not the book that I was sold from the synopsis. It started off sounding like a "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days" situation, except Min gave up pretending to string Cal along after ONE night, and the rest of the book is just how they can't keep away from each other even though they "hate" each other and their brains keep shouting "THIS ONE" at them. Way too much insta-love going on.
And let's talk chicken Marsala. This dish is mentioned no less than a dozen times and I didn't even get halfway through the book, guys. I saw one reviewer bring this up and thought, eh, how bad could it be?--but to that reviewer: I'm sorry I doubted you, because WTF is up with chicken Marsala? Do these people know there are other chicken dishes in the world? If I had to read one more description of Calvin watching Min's orgasmic expressions while she eats food...ew. It gets kinda weirdly food-fetishy after the first time, Crusie. Please stop, please stop.
So...read with major reservations, even if you've only heard great things from many, many others.
jjyee's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this book sooo much, it was super charming!! Min and Cal had such great chemistry that really flew off the charts. The supporting characters were so vivid and lovable too, excluding David, but we were meant to dislike him. I think one of my favorite parts of the book though was when Min and Bonnie were talking about their fairy tale endings and just something about that was so emotionally moving and made me tear up? The friendships between and within Min's group and Cal's group made me enjoy the book all the more. I love it, 10/10 recommend and would read again.
janewhitehurst's review against another edition
3.0
Where to begin with this one.....
Let me start with the bad, then end on a good note. Bet Me was full of so many problematic elements, both for women and especially for fat women. Let's address that issue... The main character, Min is described as a big girl, and she never lets the reader forget it. She is fat-shamed by her mother excessively and arguably to the point that it's almost abuse. When she meets Cal, an extremely handsome charmer who asks her out on a bet, Min is first horrified by her body, but then learns to love it as cal Cal falls for her and tells her how much he loves her curves. I wish she didn't need a man to validate her beauty. And let's talk about Cal's weird fetishizing of Min's size. He is constantly talking about her "roundness", which was actually awesome, but then, he seemed to get off on watching her eat. Each time she took a bite of ANY food, (chicken marsala and donuts because each food is mentioned every 4th page, as it seems to be all that Min eats) Min is near orgasmic with the taste. Cal loves this, wishing she would have the reaction to him that she has to food. So, he feeds her. He forces her to eat bread when she's on a diet, feeds her donuts in a very sexual way, and basically is a feeder. It's a bit fetishy, if you ask me. Which is cool, but I'm not sure it was intended that way.
Then there was the issue of her repeatedly calling Cal "beast" "wolf" "devil" etc...it was kind of weird. I know Cruise was writing this to be a "fairy tale" of sorts, but I wish she left that whole element out. It felt forced, the constant talk of happy endings, fate, etc. If you cut that part out, the book would not only be shorter and more readable, but it would make more sense.
There is then the issue of the "evil villains" in Min and Cal's exes, who band together to break up the two, also seems to be overkill. Their plotting and scamming really add nothing to the narrative and take up too many pages.
The supporting characters were all right, if a little sexist/stereotypical, but that was minor.
I have to wonder if E.L. James read this book before writing 50 Shades of Grey...because I see lots of similar elements. Cal barks out one-word orders to Min similar to Christian, he has a spotty past, and is sexually promiscuous, he ties Min up, and he has this rich guy turned good guy persona. A woman changes him. Etc....Part of this is just the fantasy- a female writer making a book about a man who loves your curves, feeds you donuts, buys you shoes/dresses, is hot as hell, rich, and coaches a t-ball team...it goes on and on. Pure fantasy.
All of this being said, I blew through this book. I found it funny at times and engaging and I couldn't wait for the characters to just get together. When all is said and done, I do love chicklit. I love the tension and the misunderstandings, and the will they/won't theys. I zipped through this and did enjoy myself. If I didn't think about it too hard, it was extremely enjoyable. So enjoy it for what it is, mediocre chick lit, but with likeable characters.
Let me start with the bad, then end on a good note. Bet Me was full of so many problematic elements, both for women and especially for fat women. Let's address that issue... The main character, Min is described as a big girl, and she never lets the reader forget it. She is fat-shamed by her mother excessively and arguably to the point that it's almost abuse. When she meets Cal, an extremely handsome charmer who asks her out on a bet, Min is first horrified by her body, but then learns to love it as cal Cal falls for her and tells her how much he loves her curves. I wish she didn't need a man to validate her beauty. And let's talk about Cal's weird fetishizing of Min's size. He is constantly talking about her "roundness", which was actually awesome, but then, he seemed to get off on watching her eat. Each time she took a bite of ANY food, (chicken marsala and donuts because each food is mentioned every 4th page, as it seems to be all that Min eats) Min is near orgasmic with the taste. Cal loves this, wishing she would have the reaction to him that she has to food. So, he feeds her. He forces her to eat bread when she's on a diet, feeds her donuts in a very sexual way, and basically is a feeder. It's a bit fetishy, if you ask me. Which is cool, but I'm not sure it was intended that way.
Then there was the issue of her repeatedly calling Cal "beast" "wolf" "devil" etc...it was kind of weird. I know Cruise was writing this to be a "fairy tale" of sorts, but I wish she left that whole element out. It felt forced, the constant talk of happy endings, fate, etc. If you cut that part out, the book would not only be shorter and more readable, but it would make more sense.
There is then the issue of the "evil villains" in Min and Cal's exes, who band together to break up the two, also seems to be overkill. Their plotting and scamming really add nothing to the narrative and take up too many pages.
The supporting characters were all right, if a little sexist/stereotypical, but that was minor.
I have to wonder if E.L. James read this book before writing 50 Shades of Grey...because I see lots of similar elements. Cal barks out one-word orders to Min similar to Christian, he has a spotty past, and is sexually promiscuous, he ties Min up, and he has this rich guy turned good guy persona. A woman changes him. Etc....Part of this is just the fantasy- a female writer making a book about a man who loves your curves, feeds you donuts, buys you shoes/dresses, is hot as hell, rich, and coaches a t-ball team...it goes on and on. Pure fantasy.
All of this being said, I blew through this book. I found it funny at times and engaging and I couldn't wait for the characters to just get together. When all is said and done, I do love chicklit. I love the tension and the misunderstandings, and the will they/won't theys. I zipped through this and did enjoy myself. If I didn't think about it too hard, it was extremely enjoyable. So enjoy it for what it is, mediocre chick lit, but with likeable characters.
jgintrovertedreader's review against another edition
4.0
Minerva Dobbs is a sensible girl. She's an actuary, the man she's dating is a sensible choice, and her clothes are sensible and "slimming." But then there are her shoes. Her shoes hint at the real Min. Her shoes are fun, frivolous concoctions.
One night, Min meets Calvin Morrissey in a bar. As she's heading over to introduce herself to him, she hears her just-minutes-ago-turned-ex-boyfriend make a bet with him that Cal can't get her into bed within a month. Ouch. >_< That one stings a little. But Min isn't going to take this lying down, so to speak. She decides that she can play this game as well. She'll go out with Cal, string him along and make him and the barely-ex look like fools. At least that's the plan. Cal's charm is almost impossible to resist, as are his amazing good looks.
I did love this, but worst thing first. I listened to this book, and while I loved Deanna Hurst's narration, I picked up on a serious fault in the writing that I probably would have overlooked in print. I swear, every other sentence, and sometimes every sentence, ended with said. I obviously don't have anything in front of me to give a real example but it was literally this bad:
"Those are great shoes," Cal said.
"They're my favorites," Min said.
"They might be mine too," Cal said.
"Watch it, charm boy," Min said.
"I'm being honest. They're great shoes," Cal said.
Again, NOT a direct quote, but it might as well be. I wasn't sure I was going to be able to continue for a while there. It was driving me crazy! But it didn't take me long to get caught up enough in Cal and Min's almost-romance that I was able to overlook it. It definitely continued, it just didn't matter as much anymore. But it does matter enough to knock back a book that would have been 4.5 or possibly even 5 stars to a plain old 4.
That aside, this was fabulous. I just had to love Min. I don't know how she's as well-adjusted as she is with a mother like hers. Some girls really are just big-boned and no amount of carb-cutting will help, but Mrs. Dobbs doesn't buy it. Min has turned out strong and funny and she somehow has a good grasp on what's important in life. She has a sharp tongue on her and I even winced sometimes when she knocked Cal down a peg or two! When it's time to come to Cal's defense though, she more than rises to the occasion, and I found myself gasping in shock as she dealt with his awful family. Cal's nephew adores her, she has a great group of friends, and I was firmly in her corner throughout the book.
Cal was something else entirely. At first, he was a little too smooth. You know how guys are when every woman they meet immediately starts fantasizing first about taking him to bed and then about having his children. They start to take it for granted and they get a little sleazy. Well, sleazy is too strong a word, but you just want to wipe the faux charm off your skin. That's how Cal's gotten. But then he meets Min and he doesn't know what's hit him. He picks up on the shoe thing right away. Then Min is so mean to him that he writes her off. But somehow he can't get away from her. He keeps running into her and he can't stop thinking about her. Her direct approach catches his attention. And when he decides to seriously go after her, he pulls out all the stops. He's sexy and funny and caring, and he even tells Mrs. Dobbs to back off about the carbs. I cheered out loud when he did that! It's about time someone stood up to the old bat! Cal for one, enjoys Min's curves and convinces her that she's sexy and needs to show them off. You just have to love a man who loves a woman for the way she is, curves and all.
Min's and Cal's friends were mostly a lot of fun in their own right. Bonnie and Roger firmly believe in the "fairy tale" and they're going after it together. Tony is an outward jerk with an inner heart of gold. Liza--eh. Liza didn't quite win me over. It might have been Deanna Hurst's voice for her. It was very snooty and drawling. It might have been the way that she kept whacking Cal on the head while saying a line that I came to hate. I just felt like Liza felt she knew better than everyone else. Her heart was in the right place though.
The "bad guys" were a lot of fun to hate. Mrs. Dobbs got me rolling my eyes a lot with her constant comments about butter and carbs and Min's weight. Mrs. Morrissey was awful with her Ice Queen jabs at Cal's choice of career. Min's ex was a real slimeball. I wanted to reach through the speakers on him a few times. Cal's ex wasn't quite as bad, but she had her moments too. At least I knew she was coming from heartbreak rather than just trying to win a bet though.
I laughed, I cheered, I gasped, I smiled, I fantasized about chicken marsala and chocolate-covered Krispy Kreme doughnuts. I was fully invested in this and I enjoyed the heck out of it. I was desperate to know how it ended while at the same time, dreading the final words because I didn't want it to end. I highly recommend this one for a light summertime read, and even recommend it on audio if you can overlook that one glaring thing I mentioned. Ithink know you'll have a lot of fun with it.
One night, Min meets Calvin Morrissey in a bar. As she's heading over to introduce herself to him, she hears her just-minutes-ago-turned-ex-boyfriend make a bet with him that Cal can't get her into bed within a month. Ouch. >_< That one stings a little. But Min isn't going to take this lying down, so to speak. She decides that she can play this game as well. She'll go out with Cal, string him along and make him and the barely-ex look like fools. At least that's the plan. Cal's charm is almost impossible to resist, as are his amazing good looks.
I did love this, but worst thing first. I listened to this book, and while I loved Deanna Hurst's narration, I picked up on a serious fault in the writing that I probably would have overlooked in print. I swear, every other sentence, and sometimes every sentence, ended with said. I obviously don't have anything in front of me to give a real example but it was literally this bad:
"Those are great shoes," Cal said.
"They're my favorites," Min said.
"They might be mine too," Cal said.
"Watch it, charm boy," Min said.
"I'm being honest. They're great shoes," Cal said.
Again, NOT a direct quote, but it might as well be. I wasn't sure I was going to be able to continue for a while there. It was driving me crazy! But it didn't take me long to get caught up enough in Cal and Min's almost-romance that I was able to overlook it. It definitely continued, it just didn't matter as much anymore. But it does matter enough to knock back a book that would have been 4.5 or possibly even 5 stars to a plain old 4.
That aside, this was fabulous. I just had to love Min. I don't know how she's as well-adjusted as she is with a mother like hers. Some girls really are just big-boned and no amount of carb-cutting will help, but Mrs. Dobbs doesn't buy it. Min has turned out strong and funny and she somehow has a good grasp on what's important in life. She has a sharp tongue on her and I even winced sometimes when she knocked Cal down a peg or two! When it's time to come to Cal's defense though, she more than rises to the occasion, and I found myself gasping in shock as she dealt with his awful family. Cal's nephew adores her, she has a great group of friends, and I was firmly in her corner throughout the book.
Cal was something else entirely. At first, he was a little too smooth. You know how guys are when every woman they meet immediately starts fantasizing first about taking him to bed and then about having his children. They start to take it for granted and they get a little sleazy. Well, sleazy is too strong a word, but you just want to wipe the faux charm off your skin. That's how Cal's gotten. But then he meets Min and he doesn't know what's hit him. He picks up on the shoe thing right away. Then Min is so mean to him that he writes her off. But somehow he can't get away from her. He keeps running into her and he can't stop thinking about her. Her direct approach catches his attention. And when he decides to seriously go after her, he pulls out all the stops. He's sexy and funny and caring, and he even tells Mrs. Dobbs to back off about the carbs. I cheered out loud when he did that! It's about time someone stood up to the old bat! Cal for one, enjoys Min's curves and convinces her that she's sexy and needs to show them off. You just have to love a man who loves a woman for the way she is, curves and all.
Min's and Cal's friends were mostly a lot of fun in their own right. Bonnie and Roger firmly believe in the "fairy tale" and they're going after it together. Tony is an outward jerk with an inner heart of gold. Liza--eh. Liza didn't quite win me over. It might have been Deanna Hurst's voice for her. It was very snooty and drawling. It might have been the way that she kept whacking Cal on the head while saying a line that I came to hate. I just felt like Liza felt she knew better than everyone else. Her heart was in the right place though.
The "bad guys" were a lot of fun to hate. Mrs. Dobbs got me rolling my eyes a lot with her constant comments about butter and carbs and Min's weight. Mrs. Morrissey was awful with her Ice Queen jabs at Cal's choice of career. Min's ex was a real slimeball. I wanted to reach through the speakers on him a few times. Cal's ex wasn't quite as bad, but she had her moments too. At least I knew she was coming from heartbreak rather than just trying to win a bet though.
I laughed, I cheered, I gasped, I smiled, I fantasized about chicken marsala and chocolate-covered Krispy Kreme doughnuts. I was fully invested in this and I enjoyed the heck out of it. I was desperate to know how it ended while at the same time, dreading the final words because I didn't want it to end. I highly recommend this one for a light summertime read, and even recommend it on audio if you can overlook that one glaring thing I mentioned. I
eleeeeleelee's review against another edition
1.0
First of all the title should have been “you bet”. I really disliked this book- everything from the plot to the characters. There was only one bit that I thought was good so that’s why it scored at least a 1.
yuniesan's review against another edition
Good Shoes, Fabulous Food, and romance, what's not to love? This is the kind of romance most would wish for because if you and your significant other can stand up to each others parents, deal with Saturday morning baseball games, and have crazy friends it would be the most perfect romance you could ever wish for.