The Trouble with Mary

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Summary: The Trouble with Mary is... you don't want it to end!!
Review: "The Trouble with Mary" is spicy and hot, sprinkled with a lot of laughter, a cup of romance, and topped off with a wonderful quirky Italian family. You are guaranteed to fall in love with Mary and her loveable family the Russos. I couldn't put the book down. Millie Criswell's vivid description and her characters who were full of life made me laugh out loud more than once or twice. If you love romance and humor in your books, you will love "The Trouble with Mary"

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Summary: MARY is outrageously fun!
Review: Although I'm not much of a cook, I do know a winning recipe when I read one, and THE TROUBLE WITH MARY is simply delightful. When Mary gets a bad review for her new Italian restaurant, she pays a little visit to sportswriter Dan, who is filling in as food critic. He's no Oscar, though, and is immediately attracted to Mary, even when he believes her food has poisoned his son. Though accusations fly initially, Mary and Dan begin to date, and Mary's hopes for finally getting zinged look promising. If only her nosey and noisy family didn't interfere in her life so much. If only Dan weren't so opposed to women working - it's what broke up his marriage. If only Mary weren't so opposed to settling down, which is what Dan determines he wants.

Millie Criswell's first single title contemporary romance is lots of fun - Mary's thoughts are often out-and-out hysterical, and the personalities of her mother and klepto grandmother are rendered wonderfully. Dan's son is not the traditional cardboard-cutout-kid so often filling the pages of romance novels. And, the love scenes will tingle down to your toes.

While THE TROUBLE WITH MARY is a good read, it's not a great one. Dan's old-fashioned attitude toward women working seems somewhat archaic, and even though he gets past it, it was definitely there. It's hard to pin-point other problems with the book, so I guess it just comes down to this: some books are fun to read, and that's all. For me, fun to read is good enough. If it's good enough for you too, give this one a try. If you do, I think you'll enjoy it, and will look forward to the sequel, featuring Mary's brother, who's a Catholic Father and her best friend, ... Annie.

TTFN, Laurie Likes Books Publisher, All About Romance

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Summary: Attenzione!
Review: Attenzione! (Italian to English translation): Look out!

There's a humorous book available on Amazon with lots of multi-faceted characters who pop off pages you can't keep turning fast enough. It's called THE TROUBLE WITH MARY. When you buy MARY, click on "special instructions" and advise them that you want Grandma Flora shipped with your order. She comes with modern wit, old Italian customs, and a police record.

This one is laugh-out-loud from start to finish. And with an added bonus at the end--a teaser of what's to follow with Joe and Annie in Criswell's next book: WHAT TO DO ABOUT ANNIE.

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Summary: The Trouble with Mary is She's Hysterical
Review: For a first time novelist, Mille Criswell's is definitely off to a excellent start. Mary Russo who at the age of 33 has finally come into her own independence, moved of her parents home, bought a restaurant and found a man who likes her for what she is. This novel is just downright funny. The Russo clad is a riot. Can't wait for Ms. Criswell's next release. If you don't want to find yourself laughing out loud in the most inappropriate places, this isn't the novel for you. But if you're like me and don't care you'll love The Trouble with Mary.

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Summary: Unfortunately for her trouble starts at home
Review: For Mary Russo, home is not where the heart always is. Though she does love her wildly eccentric and well-meaning Italian family, she finds herself suffocating under the pressure of their good intentions and familial expectations. So she decides to break free of the bonds that hold her back and open up a restaurant. It's a chancy endeavor and could conceivably fail, but it is a risk Mary is willing to take.

Dan Gallagher finds himself in the temporary role of food editor for the Baltimore Sun newspaper. The sportswriter, resentful about what he sees as a setback in his career is also prejudiced against Italian food. His caustic and sneering criticism of Mary's restaurant leads to a confrontation that only precipitates a flame of attraction that stirs up a tantalizing trouble for Mary that is in a class all its own.

Though "The Trouble With Mary" centers around a loud and boisterous Italian family, Criswell somehow manages to transcend what could be perceived as a narrow slice of the cultural pie. I think the author has written a story that allows readers to look beyond the ethnic background of the Russos and realize that this incredibly dynamic and dysfunctional family is a symptom of what many people have endured and enjoyed though they would never admit it aloud. What Mary's family and her own personal struggle represents is at the core of everyone who has come face to face with the simultaneous resentment and unconditional love that comes from those whom you care about and those who care for you. While Mary's relationship with Dan, and his son, is fairly well written, it is actually Mary and Dan's relationships with the Russo family that provides a strong backbone for this remarkable story. For every person who has tried to understand the concerned criticisms of a mother, the support of a best friend, or the envious love among siblings, this is a story which will move and even disturb you with how accurate a depiction of family life Millie Criswell has given through the evolving relationship between Dan and Mary.

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Summary: Just the Thing for the Winter doldrums
Review: Have post-holiday letdown? Grab yourself a copy of Millie Criswell's THE TROUBLE WITH MARY, and you won't be down for long.

I'd only read a chapter or two before I realized *this* was *my* kind of book. It reads fast, has lots of dialogue, humor, and lovable, quirky and sympathetic characters. I'm sure many of us know people like Mary Russo: approaching the 40 mark, not married, a virgin, and still living with their family [in this case, a large extended Italian family]. Armed with courage and a fledgling spirit of independence, Mary decides to move out of the family home and open her own restaurant. This does not amuse her mother, a staunch matriarch who loves nothing better than to cook and plot out her children's lives.

Enter Dan Gallagher: Irish, single dad, sports writer and fill-in food/restaurant critic with a vocal aversion to Italian food. His 'review' of Mary's restaurant, "Mama Sophia's," throws the two together for the first time as Mary decides to pay the tastebud-less critic a visit to set him straight. What it does is set off a chain of events the formidable Sophia and the whole Russo family are powerless to stop. I'm from a very small family and just the thought of getting involved with a family as large, vocal and nosy as Mary's gives me hives. Dan not only perseveres, but he and his son, Matt, thrive in an atmosphere painted with compassion and [by the author's admission] accuracy.

It's so darn gratifying to read a contemporary novel with slightly older hero and heroine in which the couple can have spirited banter without the woman coming off as an airhead and the guy as one step above a fruit fly in IQ. I simply refuse to read about Neanderthal heroes with testosterone overload, who think it's jolly good fun to rattle off obscenities, treat the heroine like dirt, and indulge in endless tasteless humor. Those of us who prefer a sophisticated brand of humor will appreciate THE TROUBLE WITH MARY, a blue-ribbon winner for Millie Criswell.

I'm already anticipating Annie's book in August 2001.

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Summary: want a romance that's really funny?
Review: Hilarious and very entertaining. Laugh out loud reading. I'm buying everything she has ever written.

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Summary: Millie Criswells Newest Fan
Review: Hilarious and very entertaining. Laugh out loud reading. I'm buying everything she has ever written.

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Summary: NO "Trouble With Mary"
Review: I found Millie's debut into contemporary genre just as enjoyable to read as all her historicals. The characters and story line is very realistic, very humorous, and easy to read in one sitting. Mary and Dan's love is wonderfully endearing.

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Summary: What IS the trouble with Mary?
Review: I found this book to be a waste of time. The book is saved but for 2 single interesting things: 1. The relationship between Mary's best friend, Annie, and Mary's brother, Brother Joe. Bt that's for another book.....What to do about Annie?. 2. The Italian recipes included in every chapter. As for the rest of the book.... Mary's mother comes across as mean and critical (not the average, pushy mother the author wants to portray); Mary comes across a bit weak and insecure. And, I didn't find the romance between her and Dan all that believable. Or rather, it seemed to have happened somewhere outside the book, since I kept asking myself, When did this happen??