Fast Women by Jennifer Crusie

Fast Women.
They don't break for anybody.

Nell's been discarded. Suze's been repressed. Margie's been put on hold. But now they're hitting the ground running, kicking up dust, and moving at the speed of rage.

The Story:
Nell Dysart is living a too small life in a too small apartment with no visible evidence of a reason to get up in the morning. Weighed down by an inexplicable divorce and a loss of appetite for everything, Nell is frozen in place, and she's not alone: Her two closest friends and sisters-in-law are as stuck as she is. Suze is married to a controlling lawyer who keeps her housebound while she perfects an almost zen-like denial, and Margie has been stuck in foggy limbo since her husband disappeared seven years before with a lot of money that didn't belong to him. Good thing Nell's new job is with a down-and-out detective agency that has huge potential and a boss who looks easy to manage.

Gabe McKenna isn't doing too well, either. His detective agency is wasting time on a blackmail case, his partner Riley has decided he hates watching cheating spouses for money, and his ex-wife has just dumped him . . . again. Good thing his new secretary looks efficient, boring, and biddable.

But soon Nell and Gabe are squaring off over embezzlement, business cards, bribery, interior decoration, vandalism, dachshund-napping, blackmail, and unprofessional sex, all of which turn out to be the least of their problems. Because shortly after that, somebody starts killing people. And shortly after that, they start falling in love...

I wasn't all too anxious to read this one by JC, but surprisingly it turned to be a good read. A very good read. Once I got past the first few chapters and familiarised myself with the range of characters, I became very antsy and wanted to get to the end of the book already.

Both Nell and Gabe are control freaks, or should I say "Kissers"..so you can only imagine what the consquences are for putting these two together. But some how, they made it work. Well, eventually, they made it work.

I liked Nell very much, at least compared to my last JC hero (Maddie Faraday) and I enjoyed reading about her own journey of self. Gabe McKenna on the other hand, wow. I LOVED him. I absolutely ate up the fact that he was so darn..whats the word I'm looking for. Hmm..Decent. And kind..and just, so much more. His protective nature won me over in a heart beat.

And Riley McKenna (Gabe's partner) was such a treat too. He sounds like such a charmer, I think it'd be so freakin' dangerous to come across him in a bar..*sigh* I should be so lucky.

The secondary romance between Nell's son, Jase Dysart and Gabe's daughter, Lu is something I was rooting for too. Gosh, Jase sounds like a lady's man. He stole a little piece of my heart too.

Overall, JC climbed back up a few notches for me, after her crash and burn in Tell Me Lies. The only complaint I have for this one, is the ending..I felt like it fell a little flat and short. I'm not sure what exactly I was expecting, but maybe just a little more oomph or perhaps an epilogue..or something! But otherwise, Fast Women was a treat. :)

3.5/5