Rating: 
Summary: Crusie Never Disappoints
Review: In Welcome To Temptation, we met the Dempsey family. At the end of that book, Davy, a con man who was only a minor character, swindled $1 million dollars from porno queen Clea Lewis. Prior to the start of Faking It, Clea seduces Davy's financial manager into helping her steal it back along with the $2 million Davy made investing it. Determined to find Clea's bank codes so he can get his money back, Davy breaks into Clea's room to access her lap top computer.Tilda Goodnight is a semi-famous mural artist who comes from a long line of art forgers. During her youth, Tilda painted six pictures she signed Scarlet, short for Scarlet Hodge. The only trouble is Scarlet Hodge is supposed to be the daughter of famous folk artist Homer Hodge but Scarlet only existed in the imagination of Tilda's father. While watching the Goodnight family art gallery one day, Tilda's niece sells a Scarlet that the rest of the family didn't know still exists to Clea Lewis. Tilda is afraid that if anyone gets to close a look at this Scarlet, they will discover it is a fraud because it's content is not consistent with the rest of the Scarlets and then people will start looking into the other art work they purchased from Goodnight Gallery. To save her family's reputation and livelihood, Tilda breaks into Clea Lewis's room to steal back the Scarlet. The minute Tilda and Davy meet up in Clea's closet and share a passionate kiss, we are treated to a great story as Tilda and Davy set out to retrieve all six Scarlets. Jennifer Crusie wrote some delightfully quirky characters into this book. There's Tilda's sister Eve who is a straight-laced schoolteacher by day who has a second personality, slutty Louise that only comes out on Wednesday thru Sunday nights. The love of Eve's life is her ex-husband Andrew who came out of the closet a couple of years back. Eve and Andrew's daughter Nadine dates boys based on what career they can help her try on for size. Tilda's mother Gwen spends her days doing crossword puzzles and dreaming of running away to someplace sunny while listening to golden oldies on the jukebox. Oh, I almost forgot, there's also a sexy hit man, an FBI agent, a lovesick accountant, a master thief, an albino artist and we meet Davy's father Michael who taught Davy everything he knows about the con game. I highly recommend you read Faking It. You won't be disappointed.
Rating: 
Summary: Crusie control...
Review: I'm a first time Jennifer Crusie reader - I picked up "Faking It" in a drugstore to have something to read. One hearty recommendation from this reader to you - don't start this one late at night. Not unless you want to be furiously turning pages as the sun comes up, as I did. It's a clever, self-aware tale that doesn't make the mistake of taking itself too seriously, and is clearly a wild work of fiction deeply rooted in the principles of reality. I loved that there were so many characters. In life, everyone around you has their own story, and a big part of THIS one was the many people around Matilda who drove her to the brink of insanity. I loved that the characters were flawed. Eve/Louise with both of her personalities, Andrew's conflict over new men in the lives of the ladies, even though he ultimately had no say, Nadine being completely her own person no matter what the cost, which is something rare and beautiful in a 16-year-old. I loved that Davy looked past Eve's perfect face to get to know Tilda, the woman that intrigued him. I loved that Tilda didn't look like a Playboy bunny. Most of all, I admired Crusie's ability to tell a story of love that was clearly meant to be, but not easy to obtain. She's made a reader for life.
Rating:
Summary: Rocking good Ride
Review: The real thing! Rarely am I ever surprised about a writer. You can tell dead on if they have a gift or not. Jennifer Crusie has it in spades. Fabulous continuity and character development. Where does she get this stuff from? Tilda, a wannabe "legitimate mural artist" finds herself unerringly drawn back into the larcenous past she has tried to bury-but it keeps sprouting up! Trying to keep her wacko family in check, and the family gallery solvent, Tilda scrambles to eliminate any evidence of her forger past. Enter Davy Dempsey, retired con artist and FBI consultant who thrives on the thrill. And he finds Tilda thrilling as he drawn in by his love of larceny as well as his desire for the Betty Boop wannabe she is. Extremely fertile ground being sown here with Tilda and Davy. The support characters of Gwen/Gwennie and Eve/Louise and Simon and Alex rock! There is rarely a dull moment in this book and despite most romances, its nice that Crusie draws the denouement out in a lengthy appealing thread. Readers are taken on a fun, rollercoaster ride in the art/performance world habituated with con-artists, swindles and more quirky twists than a hot pretzel! Bravo!
Rating:
Summary: Is your man a muffin or donut?
Review: This book is fun, fast paced, engaging, and twisted with an
intermingled plot line, sex, romance, family loyalty, and intergenerational wisdom. Let three generations of women in this family teach you to tell if your man is a muffin or a donut!
The first twenty or so pages turned me off and I almost closed this book, but the rest turned me on so I couldn't put it down. The conclusion is like a great rollercoaster that picks up speed as the characters careen in unexpected ways. A well-written, frentic and witty read. (and for the best results, read it after Welcome to Temptation---ah-hah factor!)
Rating: 
Summary: Sorry, But I like Her Earlier Works!
Review: I read the first 50-60 pages and gave up. I am glad that I got this book from the library. I found it to be too convoluted, and could not find a character that I enjoyed enough to try and get through the rest of this book. I am still not clear on the cross dresser double personality thing. I love Jennifer Cruise, and have read all of her books, but I really like her earlier ones. It seems like the last couple I have read just don't quite measure up to those. She seems to be trying to top herself, and to my mind, getting so far out there that her books are no longer quite so enjoyable. I generally consider this genre to be "lighter" reading. Something to enjoy while I relax after work. In this book I could not even keep track of the characters. I just could not get into it. If you are a fan of Welcom to Temptation, Tell Me Lies, and Crazy for You, I do not think that you will enjoy this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Waste of Money & Time
Review: This book is a tribute (ironic title) to all the people who enjoy really bad writing- silly plot, unbelievable sexual chemistry, and incredibly awful descriptions (ie., first the dog is picked up, then dropped, then on her lap....on & on) YUK!
Rating:
Summary: I guess it's hard to read an intelligent romance novel...
Review: I usually write these things by stating how I disagree with other reviewers, so here goes: First of all, yes, there were quite a few characters in Faking It. Personally, I didn't find it all that hard to keep up. They were all quirky and funny enough to stick out in my mind. However, I have read Welcome to Tempation, so I was already familiar with a few characters. If you are going for some light reading where boy meats girl, fall in love, etc, skip this one. However, if you are willing to put a little bit of thought into it, then this novel is definitely worth it. Second of all, I didn't think any of her character were flat, except for maybe Clea. (Clea- the beautiful blonde sociopath that ties everyone together) Cruisie's intentions for Clea weren't always clear. Was I supposed to hate her? Feel sorry for her? Maybe she was striving for complexity. The inconsistencies worked for her other characters- they were crazy enough to pull it off. My favorite part of the novel would have to be the fact that every scene was hilarious, or at least memorable. I loved the final confrontation, and several scenes had me laughing out loud. I loved watching Tilda and Davy con together. In fact, I loved Davy and Tilda- they were one of the most perfect imperfect couples I have ever read. However, being a teenager myself, I really liked Nadine. My only complaint would be the fact that poor Ethan never got his girl. I would really love to see how Nadine ends up- perhaps in a future novel? I think the only people who didn't enjoy this novel were perhaps the type who like their romance novel's a little less realistic and a little less complicated. However, that's what I think makes Crusie great. Her characters are so completely human in their quirks- it's nice to know that us crazy people get our fairy-tale endings too.
Rating:
Summary: funny
Review: I agree with the other reviews. There were alot of characters, they were all very funny and explained why the main character was the way she was. I enjoyed this book and would recomend it, if you enjoy books full of humor and romance.
Rating: 
Summary: Faking It
Review: A new reader to Jennifer Crusie, I was eager to read my next book. I liked the story. But I found myself going back and re-reading the first chapter or two several times (which I hate doing) before I could get into the rest of the book. It was hard following who was who and how did they tie into the story. Tilde was not impressive. I found myself skipping lightly over her story line. Like one of the other reviewers I was more interested in the secondary characters - especially Clea. Now, a book about her advertures after leaving the gallery might be interesting. If I were doing it again, I would read "Welcome to Temptation" before this book.
Rating:
Summary: "She Lived With Her Mother ..."
Review: Meet Tilda Goodnight, Columbus, Ohio's famous painter. Except that it is her forgeries that are famous. Tilda's been working like mad to keep her life afloat, along with the gallery that her family is running. The Goodnights have an even longer family history as forgers, but, after her brief stint in that wing of the business, Tilda would much rather go the legitimate route. Even if she's not exactly living with the torments of Christ, Tilda is living with her mother, her sister, and a few other off-kilter sorts. A mix-up threatens to expose her past, and when she mixes it up with con-man Davey Dempsey, well, you get more mix-ups. Crusie plays this out like a classic farce. Juggling an insane amount of oddball characters (and a dog with a romance-hero name), author Crusie manages to hold it all together, only letting the whole thing slip a few times. Still, the confusion is worth it as Crusie continues her crusade to subvert the romance genre from within. Her target this time: the fabulous sex that protagonists often within minutes after they first set eyes on each other. Davey and Tilda are both wary individuals well-practiced in arts of deception. "Faking It" maybe be the obvious meta-metaphor for the emotional problems of the characters in this book, but if Crusie hits you over the head with an idea, at least she uses a pillow instead of Jayne Anne Krentz' aluminum baseball bat. Crusie makes this all work with little dreams of donuts, muffins, drinks with little umbrellas, Aruba, and Poor Babies. These little bits give the sprawling cast enough to flesh out the farce. The only thing missing is German Village, an apparently interesting community that is, here, reduced to just another urban neighborhood.
| 
