The Cinderella Deal

Her story line and characters were very interesting and quirky. I literally could not put this book down to see how it was working with this couple. Kept me hooked to the end. Very entertaining read. I give this a solid thumbs up and is "Keeper" worthy! Enjoy!

I love Crusie’s unconventional characters and offbeat heroines. Her humor and her writing style are just delightful! I can always read her books several times and this is no exception. This is one of my favorites.

This is a really funny romance, and fun to read. Crusie always writes a good story. Daisy Flattery had quit teaching and is living on her savings while she painted, and told stories. Lincoln Blaise is a history professor and lives above her in the apartment house and doesn't approve of her life style or her clothes. He goes to an interview at Prescott College, where he really wants to teach, and to live in a small town so he can finish his book. He lies and says he has a fiance when asked if he is married! He never lies and can't believe that he did. He hires Daisy to pretend to be his fiance and go with him to a reception at the college. She's behind on rent and says she will. Every one is taken with her and all are eager for him to finish the semester where he is now and move there. Linc has assumed he can get away with just saying that they broke up, but it doesn't work. He is told to go get her and bring her back! He goes back and asks her to marry him. He has bought a house she had seen when she was sight-seeing with the dean's wife, Chickie, and the very sneaky Chickie had suggested he buy the house and how it should be painted and restored. Linc told Daisy it was a big house and she would have a room of her own, and a studio for her painting and that Chickie wants them to get married in her back yard. They can get a divorce after the year. She agrees, calls her mother, he calls his mother, she calls her friend Julia. They get married and each begin to lust after the other, of course. She makes friends with neighbors, moves his black and white and chrome furniture upstairs which makes a study for him to finish his book in. When she moves her furniture in he is aghast at the raggedy and faded and chipped furnishings. She tells him she can fix it, makes slipcovers, paints the walls, hangs paintings, patches and paints the chipped and cracked tables and chairs, and makes the house very welcoming and comfortable. They have a reception and people are enchanted by the house, and by Daisy. His students begin to come over to work and study, (and bake if Daisy hasn't made cookies for everyone). A gallery in town wants to show her paintings, which are a great success. He gets his book finished and a publisher is interested. It ends as expected; they love each other and intend to stay that way. The book was originally published in 1996, but is still fresh and entertaining.

One of the best romances Ive ever read. A story of a real (and unorthodox) woman who meets a real (and orthodox man). A wicked stepfather, a pretend marriage and a procession of animals keeps the story out of the minds of the characters and in the imagination of the reader. Funny and touching with no incidences of rape, undue influence, physical abuse and victorian morality poipular in traditional romances. A good read for real women.

"The Cinderella Deal" is a beautifully tender and moving romance. It may be one of Crusie's earlier works, but her inexperience isn't obvious. Crusie manages to inject both funny and touching moments into a wonderfully developed romance.Linc and Daisy are two very different people, and at first they aren't sure whether they really like one another. But gradually, Linc begins to appreciate Daisy's warmth and compassion, and Daisy notices Linc's steadfastness and deep-rooted passion. Gradually, they come to truly know and love one another in a very special, moving way. This is -not- your typical genre romance.Both main characters are well-developed, as are the secondary characters. The earnestness of the characters, and Crusie's incredible gift for conveying emotional depth, make this truly a wonderful romance."The Cinderella Deal" is a prize, not just for Crusie fans, but also for those who love a good romance. It's also a hoot! I truly hope that the publishers realize what a possible audience they have for earlier Crusie titles ... and gives us some reprints. Personally, I am thankful for interlibrary loan!

I can't believe I haven't reviewed this book yet! This is my favorite contemporary romance of all time! Smart, sexy, funny, human....My HIGHEST 5-star rating. I can't rave about the quality of writing in this book enough. Great setting, characters, story-- A small, perfect, pleasing gem. Eccentric Daisy Flattery collects thrift-store furniture, stray cats, and wishes her life were as interesting as the stories she tells. When her upstairs, uptight, but incredibly gorgeous neighbor Linc Blaise needs a fiancee to clench a position as a history professor in a small-town college, he, against his better judgment, can't think of anyone who could lie better than Daisy Flattery, professional storyteller (and starving artist). Linc, a workaholic, with his chrome-and-glass furniture and black Porshe has his life just the way he wants it. He finds himself maddened but attracted-against-his-will to Daisy, with her stray cats, cracked Tiffany lamps, and compulsion to embellish her life at faculty gatherings. When Linc and Daisy conveniently break up after Linc is hired for the position at the college, the chair of Linc's department makes it clear that a fiancee/wife was part of the bargain. Linc is sufficently compelled to make a temporary "Cinderella Deal" with Daisy that will change them both. This book is so good the above synopsis doesn't do it justice. Jennifer Crusie's other novels provide the best example of her unique, sharp dialogue. Daisy Flattery-Blaise is a frizzy-haired, granny-dress-wearing romantic and also a feminist. She won't change who she is to please Linc or anybody else. The melding of these two characters is riotous, clever, and pleasing. FYI: Published in 1996 by Loveswept, this romance is now out-of-print, but well-worth finding. It is the length of a serial romance.

Like all of Crusie's books, The Cinderella Deal is hilarious and original. Lincoln Blaise is a stuffy professor who needs a wife to get a job at Prescott College. Daisy Flattery needs a break to get a jumpstart on her artwork and to keep the wolves at the door. They make an arringment to stay married for a year and then they will divorce. Like all Crusie novels, trouble ensues. This is a really great book. I definitly recomend it.