Crazy For You, by Jennifer Crusie

I don't know what's with me lately, but I've been rereading and rereading like a fiend. My TBR is huge and there are piles and piles of books there that I can't wait to read, and yet books already on my "read" shelves keep catching my eye. The latest was Crazy For You (excerpt, etc), by Jennifer Crusie.

On Wednesday, Quinn McKenzie adopted a dog and changed her life.
On Thursday, she tried to get somebody to notice.
On Thursday night, somebody did

Quinn McKenzie has always lived what she calls a “beige” life. She’s dating the world’s nicest guy, she had a good job as a high school art teacher, she’s surrounded by family and friends who rely on her, and she’s bored to the point of insanity. But when Quinn decides to changes her life by adopting a stray dog over everyone’s objections, everything begins to spiral out of control. Now she’s coping with dog-napping, breaking and entering, seduction, sabotage, stalking, more secrets than she really wants to know, and two men who are suddenly crazy...for her.

Ooohh, I so adore Crusie! Each time I read or reread one of hers I remember why I love them so much. Even those which aren't her absolute best, like this one, are great. A B+.

Like Tell Me Lies, this is a book about stopping living according to how others think you should live and changing your life into what you want it to be, and about how others who have no say on your life can get pissed off when they realize you don't want what they think you should want. That, especially the second half, really speaks to me, and I was cheering Quinn all the way.

I think I even liked this one a bit better than Tell Me Lies because here Quinn starts changing right from the beginning. Unlike Maddie, who we see trying to fulfill everyone's expectations for a while, before deciding to send them all to hell, the story here starts as Quinn begins her change. I was cheering for her all the way.

And I did enjoy the romance quite a bit. I know many people are icked off by the fact that Nick was married to Quinn's sister before, but it's not something I mind... in fact, I kind of enjoy the sort of forbidden vibe it adds to the relationship ::blushing::. I know, I know. It's weird because considering how close I am to my sister in real life, and how completely icked out I am by the mere thought of having something with my brother-in-law, I would have guessed I would hate this type of plot. Anyway, BTW, I really enjoyed Zoe, Quinn's sister, their relationship, and especially Zoe's relationship with her husband, as came through in all those phone conversations.

But I thought the most brilliant thing about this book wass how it flipped a romance-novel staple on its head. Quinn's spurned live-in boyfriend, Bill, does many of the crazy-stalker things I've seen romance novel heroes do, things we're supposed to think oh-so-romantic because we know he's supposed to be the hero. Well, Bill is very definitely not the hero, and I thought the progression of his craziness was really well done. It rang very true, how even Quinn didn't realize how serious the situation was until long after it became serious.

Heh, as long as I'm in a rereading kick, I think I'm going to pull out my Jennifer Crusie categories next...