More Jennifer Crusie Love: Review of Faking It

A blog post by Kelly about a fluffy chick lit? Shocker, I know! But that is the book kick I've been on and I am riding that wave until I get bored. Anyway, I read Faking It by Jennifer Crusie. And it was awesome! Let me set the stage...

Welcome to Temptation by Jennifer Crusie (which I also read, but I don't think I wrote about) is the story of Sophie Dempsey, but has some fun side characters, like her brother Davy and a crazy actress/gold digger Clea. Faking It is the story of Tilda Goodnight and her romance with Davy Dempsey, and has the fun side character of actress/gold digger Clea! Fun times! It took me a chapter or two to figure out that I already knew Davy and Clea. I didn't really recognize their names until they mentioned the one big movie Clea did...Coming Clean, a carwash set porn. Strangely enough, that stuck in my head. Clea is a gold digger and just wants to marry a rich old guy who will then die and leave her all his money. Her story kind of drives the plot, though the fun stuff is with Davy and Tilda.
Davy Dempsey is a con man, trying to be reformed. Tilda Goodnight was an art forger, now a muralist. Tilda's family owns an art gallery that is not doing very well, but her main problem is that she painted 6 pieces for her father to sell but under a false name/story, which is haunting her. She discovers that Clea has one of the paintings and she goes to steal it back, ending up in Clea's closet with Davy, who is trying to steal money from Clea, which she stole from him, that he stole from her to begin with (yeah...that part only really makes sense and makes Davy the good guy if you read Temptation). After meeting in the closet, Davy follows Tilda and ends up renting an apartment in the gallery.

The plot of Faking It was super fun. That is one thing that has been consistent through all of Jennifer Crusie's books...the plots are not your standard chick lit/romance...they are always part romance, part mystery, part farce. I kept laughing out loud at the situations and reactions and jumping into closets. So much fun! I also loved all the characters...they are all a little bit crazy and quirky and flawed, but completely relatable and seem very real. The dialogue always flowed so well and seemed like things people might actually say. Also, everything is peppered with movie quotes and song lyrics...just like how my family talks! I can so relate.

The last thing I want to mention about Jennifer Crusie books that I love so much is that she always has some sort of neurotic, adopted animal. Bet Me has a cat that follows the main character home; Fast Women has a dog that is stolen from someone; Faking It has a dog that is adopted. It is something that really doesn't add much to the plot, but adds so much to the story and the characters. I love it so much!