The Cinderella Deal - Jennifer Crusie
I usually love everything written by Jennifer Crusie but this one just fell short of... well. Everything.
The Cinderella Deal has that classic plot where the hero needs someone to play the part of his girlfriend/fiancée/wife and obviously they fall in love before the end of the book. I don't mind this trope. I've read some fantastic romance novels with that trope.
The heroin is called Daisy. She is a hippie. She is a story teller. A jeweler. An artist. I was bored reading about her "original art". The only moment I really like in the book was when they chose the ring and she played the teenage bride. That was funny, and prove she had some kind of a backbone. Which she lost rather quickly.
Then she fly away with Linc and plays his fiancée and she become some kind of a doormat and I was mad at her. Mad at her asshole of fake husband. But mostly at her. The hero was blah, a snob and a bore (she is so weird, she shouldn't be talking to the neighbors... I still don't know why he didn't just lock her up in the attic). She was frustrating. The drama was... non-existent. She just learned to change and be a wife. And then he understood it was ridiculous to feel ashamed she was wearing bright colors and wanted to serve stew and not coq-au-vin. And Crusie tries to sell us that that woman can change everybody around her, even sober up alcoholics ! Come on !
Linc makes her feel safe. She wanted to be his wife so she would feel safe and wouldn't have to worry about paying the bills. Plus he is hot. Linc pets the one-eyed dog so he must be good. *roll eyes*. They have meaningful, intelligent conversations at dinner where they share their passions and details about their lives. But it's only told. What Crusie shows us is only insipid talks about shopping list and interior decoration. Oh and then it's flu season. She takes care of his mother, of him and then he takes care of her. ah ah ah.
At least it was only 200 pages long.