Strange Bedpersons by Jennifer Crusie

Hero: Nick Jamieson
Heroine: Tess Newhart
Category: Contemporary Romance
Page Count: 249 pages
Grade: C-

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 and thinks Cinderella is politically incorrect. He wants to get ahead in business, she just wants . . . him — only not the social-climbing Nick, but the sweet, caring, unbuttoned-down Nick.

And Nick wants her, too, but there's no way Tess is about to play second fiddle to his obsession to make partner. Yet somehow she finds herself agreeing to play his fiancée for a weekend business trip that could make or break Nick's career. And while he's wrapped up in convincing Tess that he needs her in his respectable world, Tess is doing her best to keep her left-wing opinions to herself and her hands off Nick.

It took me almost two weeks to read this 249 page book.

It wasn't because the book wasn't good, because I guess it kind of was. For me, I'm really into character development and just related and connecting with the characters. If you give me some great, fantabulous characters, I'll be one happy camper and more willing to overlook subtle gaps in the storyline or horrible spelling errors, I'll even forgive you for confusing me with the color of the heroes eyes (can anyone tell me what color eyes JG's Alec Kincaid has? hehe). If I like the characters, if I love the characters, I'll let you off easy on the other stuff.

In this story, I could not stand Tess Newhart. I'll probably be in the minority here but Tess got on my hot damn nerves. There was nothing about her that I liked. Her ideas and just her way of life was not something that I could relate to. I spent most of the book irritated as all get out at her because she was just so in your face with everything, she made an FBI case out of every little thing mentionable and after a while it just started getting on my nerves. By the end of the book, however I was able to overlook a lot of the things she did but it took me forever to get to a place where I actually wanted to finish the book.

Now moving on to the hero, Nick Jamieson. I liked him well enough I guess, he was a lawyer but he's nowhere near the best hero that I've read about but he was a likeable sort. He was trying to climb the success ladder by making partner in his law firm, only problem was, it was a family firm he was working for and he was not family. How the hell is that going to work you ask? His friend, Park, who he went to college with IS family and soon Park's father who is running the company will retire and Park will make Nick partner then, until then, they have to land the Welch account in order for the old man to retire.

Nick has to keep his reputation squeaky clean in order for him to climb the ladder of success, and Tess Newhart is as squeaky clean as a dirty sock. She's vintage shops and second hand furniture and he's Gucci penny loafers and three piece suits, they are so different that it's painstakingly obvious that they would not suit.

But Nick needs this account and Tess has a way of helping him get it, so against his better judgement he goes after her again and charms the socks off of her. He realizes that he missed her more than a little bit and he gets her to agree to go to a dinner with Welch and stand in as his fiance'.

As the story progresses, Nick and Tess fall into a relationship they both don't want to walk away from, but what I can't understand about myself is that the things I hated about Tess, I hated even more than Nick was trying to change her against her will, without her permission, just sort of steam rolling over her and for some reason, it irritated the ever living crap out of me.

Another thing that I couldn't stand abotu the book is Tess' stupid reason for being pissed off at Nick in the beginning, she was mad at him because he didn't want to have sex with her in his car, because he wanted to have sex with her in his bed. So because he preferred to make love in a bed, she just thought he was the most unsuitable person in the world? Umm, hello? Yeah, okay so sometimes that's probably a good idea, but if the wrong stick shift is getting in the way, why NOT take your activities somewhere, where he can better enjoy your body and you his? I just thought it was the most retarded thing for her to be pissed about and then the whole piano thing?

I'm just not seeing how it was so very important for them to do that? I don't know, I didn't hate this book enough to give it a D or an F, because I did enjoy the story but the characters got on my hot damn nerves.

Would I recommend this book? Meh, not really...read it if you're broke and you've got absolutely nothing else to read but if you want something to sweep you up in the story then keep this at the bottom of your TBR pile, there's other JC books that are better than this one.