Throwback Thursday - Strange Bedpersons by Jennifer Crusie

Author: Jennifer Crusie

First published in 1994 by Harlequin

Tess Newhart knows her ex-boyfriend Nick Jamieson isn’t the right guy for her. He’s caviar and champagne; she’s take-out Chinese pot stickers. He’s an uptight Republican lawyer; she was raised in a commune. He wants to get ahead in business; she just wants…him. But there’s no way Tess will play second fiddle to his job.

Yet somehow she finds herself agreeing to play his fiancée on a weekend business trip that could make or break Nick’s career. And while he’s trying to convince Tess that he needs her in his respectable world, Tess is doing her best to keep her opinions to herself and her hands off Nick.

 I have read a lot of books by Ms. Crusie and for the most part I have really enjoyed them.  They are filled with a lot of humor and sweet romance.  When it came to this book, I didn't love it.  The main problem that I had with the book was Tess.  She was kind of a bitch.  She had to argue and lecture about everything. It got tiring after a while. Often she made people feel so badly about themselves with her opinions.  While I'm sure she meant well, she really needed to learn how to shut up.  While I am all for fun and games, I thought that her need to have sex in public all the time was a little much. 

Nick was a nice guy.  He really bends over backwards for Tess.  She took way too long to see how he really cared for her. I wasn't really sure what he saw in her.  The thing that saved the book for me was the peripheral characters.  I thought they added a lot to the book and made Tess more tolerable.  There were also some laugh out loud moments and the HEA in the end was somewhat satisfying.  If you are a Crusie fan and missed this earlier work, try it out.  You might like it more than me.