Rating: 
Summary: Funny and witty, but a lot of characters to track
Review: One of the (regular-speed) women in our book club selected an author new to us, Jennifer Crusie. We picked up "Fast Women" out of amusement with the title, although we're not really sure the book is aptly named. Early on, we almost confused leading lady Nell Dysart with Evanovich's Stephanie Plum - on a job interview, Nell breaks just about everything she touches in the prospective boss's office. But detective Gabe McKenna hires her anyway, and we're off and running as Nell tries to put aside her divorce after 22 years of marriage. Girlfriends Suze (HOT!) and Margie (NOT!) add a lot of interesting dialogue and opinions to the early tale as they discuss all their men troubles and the outlook for Nell at the agency. Nell turns out to be super efficient as an office manager, which tends to upset Gabe's applecart as he likes things the old way. This tension delays what turns out to be a torrid romance between the two, but one that causes near the novel's end a fair degree of deliberation over just what a relationship and/or marriage needs as a true foundation.Along the way, a murder mystery helps move along a somewhat contrived plot, but funny situations are more the point than solving the old crime. Even a dog-napping adds interest to the story line. The numerous characters and marital status changes sometimes get confusing. Nell is pretty obsessive at times as well. But before it's over, things change for all the girlfriends and give us readers a lot to chew on. A light read for sure, but Crusie manages to squeeze in a lot of humor, just the right amount of romance and sex (some casual), and a thought-provoking ending that by and large will please.
Rating:
Summary: Humorous, sexy, and entertaining...
Review: It's a fun read with humor, sexy scenes and overall entertaining. I agree with others that there are sooo many characters that it tends to be confusing at times. There were a couple of scenes that I felt uncomfortable with but I overlooked them and kept going. I have met a couple that was similar to Nell and Gabe so their relationship was not that unrealistic to me- Nell aggravated me alot of the times and I felt for Gabe. It was silly at times but, overall, it was a fun book to read.
Rating: 
Summary: entertaining, however......
Review: I found it hard at times to keep up with all the characters. Several times I had to flip back a few chapters to remember who was who. But all in all I did enjoy the book and the humor.
Rating:
Summary: Complex and Funny
Review: Two overwhelming impressions after reading the first few chapters. First. This is amazingly funny. Not in any sort of slapstick or sitcom terms - it is the way the story is written and the way the characters interact with each other. Nell literally pours sunlight into the fossilised office of an old private investigation agency, breaking all the rules. Second. This story is fairly complex. The characters are all linked to each other, and it might help if you make your own scorecard to work out who is or was married to whom and who their relatives are. Then there's a murder story bound in which adds to the twists. And don't forget the dog. It's also a mutliple love story and extremely sexy in parts. There. I think I've covered the highlights. The characters are well-drawn and it's going to be a long time before I forget the epic relationship between Nell and Gabe. The plot, as I've said, is complex and multi-layered, but it moves smartly along. And this book has inspired me to read more by Jennifer Crusie. Highly recommended for those wanting a romance story with guts and good humour.
Rating:
Summary: A Hilarious Read!
Review: I am EXTREMELY picky when it comes to Romance...especially with SO many "immaturally" written books making the best sellers lists. I usually stick to the greats i.e. Nora Roberts, Linda Howard, Christine Feehan, Robin Schone & Stephanie Laurens. But! When you read 3 or more books a week, you hit a dry spell. It was during this dry spell that I discovered Jennifer Crusie and Fast Women. With great trepidation, I opened the book and took my chances like I so often do when I venture out of my safety zone. I was pleasantly surprised. This is a smart, sexy and fantastically witty book. The characters are real and aren't virginal morons who don't know their own minds. The women are strong, the men are jerks and you're going to love it! Fast Women will keep holding your sides and wiping the tears of laughter from your eyes. I highly recommend it!
Rating: 
Summary: Crusie did it again
Review: I read this book in three days. I couldn't put it down. Full of romance and mystery. I disagree 100% with the "Not my cup of tea" review.Crusie is one of the best!!
Rating:
Summary: Another hit for Cruise
Review: I've read almost all of Cruise's books and this is my second favorite; definitely great vacation/beach type books, I recommend the whole collection. Keep a cool drink and warm guy close by!
Rating: 
Summary: Not my cup of tea...
Review: There were just too many things bothering me about this book to allow me to finish it.
One, most of all having been the heroine returning her girlfriend's kiss just for the heck of it. I was very uncomfortable with that. I understand that we're reading romance novels, but I think there are still lines that I don't enjoy being forced to cross. (Unless of course that's what the readers into, and those books should have big flashing warnings for the rest of us). Two, both main characters having intimate relations with secondary characters before they get together. It was weird. I had to refer to the back of the book to remind myself just who the main characters were. Three, Like another revewier, I didn't like the main characters much. I would have rather read about the secondaries, Riley and Suze. Four, the writing is way too choppy! It just does not flow. I'm a fast reader and with her books i feel like I'm constantly being tripped. And five, the Mystery/Story stunk. I didn't care at all about it, which is why I stopped reading on page 253! All in all I would say don't waste your time. I found "Welcome to Temptation" interesting by this author, but that's the most complimentary thing I can say about her. Her writing style is just to frustrating. If you enjoy Romance/Suspence read everything by Linda Howard, Cherry Adair, Lauren Bach, and Susan Anderson. Karen Robards tend to be strange but my favorite by her was "To Trust a Stranger".
Rating:
Summary: Not your typical romance novel
Review: I like Jennifer Cruisie because she always creates characters who are not the typical romance novel type. Her heroines aren't virgins but are usually women who are just getting out of a long-term relationship. They aren't 20 either, but are usually in the 30-40 year-old range. This is a refreshing change. In this novel, the heroine is 42 and is trying to get on with her life after a divorce. I found the novel interesting, but if you like traditional romance novels, you might not like this one. For one thing, the heroine sleeps with someone other than the hero early in the novel (in fact, it's the hero's partner with whom she sleeps). This didn't bother me as much as I thought it would since it happens before she starts a romance with the hero. I think the reason I only gave this novel 3 stars is because I really didn't warm up to the main characters. Gabe (the hero) just wasn't as sexy or exciting as his partner (Riley). I kept wishing the story was about Riley and Suze (a friend of Nell's). I had the same lukewarm reaction to Nell (the heroine). In fact, she got on my nerves at times because of her presumptuousness (she is hired as a secretary by Gabe and then proceeds to change everything in the office even though he doesn't want her to). Another problem with it was simply Jennifer Crusie's style of writing. She has a very clipped style of writing and, unlike some romance novels, doesn't devote a lot of space to characters' thoughts. This technique is good up to a point, but I found that it eventually got on my nerves. Finally, I really didn't like her sex scenes all that much. I mean, her books don't pull any punches when it comes to language or when it comes to people bed hopping, but I didn't find the sex scenes in this novel very detailed or erotic. She did a much better job in Crazy for You (her best novel, in my opinion). I mean, I hate romance novels that are simply sex scenes strung together with no romance (e.g., anything by Nicole Jordan, Susan Johnson, etc.), but I do like a romance novel that has erotic, beautiful sex scenes to complement the love story (Galen Foley's is the best for this). All in all, it wasn't a great book; it was just okay. I'd recommend getting it from the library rather than buying it.
Rating:
Summary: Jennifer Crusie is a pleasant surprise
Review: This is the first Jennifer Crusie novel I've read, and I can't wait to get my hands on another. This book was witty, sexy, and full of thoroughly engaging characters. It's just the type of mystery I like, not too involved, not to plodding. The pace of this story moves along nicely, you never get bored waiting for something to happen ... something is ALWAYS happening to someone in this book. Granted, the entire storyline is far-fetched, but this isn't the type of book that I think is intended to be taken too seriously. It's pure escapism. It's a fast read, so you never get a chance to lose interest. The only thing that troubled me was trying to keep the members of the family tree straight. The three female friends, around whom the story centers, are sisters-in-law, married to brothers working for each other's fathers (and so on and so on). I might suggest taking a few notes early on so that you can refer to them later if you lose track of who is related to whom and how. Other than that, sit back and prepare yourself for a very delightful book!
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