The Cinderella Deal
Grade : B+

If you've heard of Jennifer Crusie in the past, it's likely you've heard how funny she writes. While there's plenty of her trademark humor in The Cinderella Deal, there's also quite a bit of poignancy, so much so that I got weepy during the last fourth of the book (and, no, I was not having a PMS day or a bad hair day). As the title indicates, it is a fairy tale, so you'll have to suspend reality for the couple of hours you'll spend reading The Cinderella Deal, but by then, Crusie will have woven a spell around your heart.

This is a modern marriage of convenience tale, with artist/story-teller Daisy Flattery becoming involved with college professor Linc Blaise for his benefit - the dean of the college he wants to work at will only hire him if he's married. The uptight, intellectual, and tight-assed Linc is into cool little blondes. Daisy is the bohemian type, collector of lost animals, earth-mother, rounded, with a killer smile.

Their "deal" collides Linc's world; circumstances and secondary characters, including a one-eyed dog, mothers-in-law, friends, students, and Linc himself, fall under Daisy's spell. Not that she's this happy-go-lucky creature. Take a peak into one of her whimsical paintings and you'll get a gander of Lilly Borden with her ax.

When Linc's martinet of a mother comes for a visit and brings with her a virulent strain of the flu, the tone of the story changes. The humor is still there, but, underneath it, underneath Daisy and Linc's convenient marriage, true feelings are beginning to burst through.

The fears of those in love who have yet to admit to their emotions drives the remainder of the book, and this reader was thoroughly engrossed. The author infuses this fear with another - the fear of losing one's true self as the accomodation process of being a couple seeps in.

Among my favorite type of romance is the stuffed-shirt hero who accepts the craziness the heroine brings to his life. There's always that time when the heroine tries to tampen down her true self. It's to the hero's credit that he accepts her for herself and gives in to his own quirkiness, celebrates it, and celebrates his heroine. Linc did that just fine; both Daisy and Linc ended up with a hell of a deal.

Buy it at Amazon/iBooks/Barnes and Noble/Kobo

Reviewed by Laurie Likes Books
Grade : B+

Sensuality: Subtle

Review Date : January 23, 1998

Publication Date: 1996/09

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