Maybe This Time

July 5, 2010
Crusie (Bet Me) is back on her own—after a couple of books written with Bob Mayer—with a sweet, offbeat romantic tale of second chances. Thirty-four-year-old Andie, hoping to cut the ties that still bind her to rich ex-hubby North, winds up instead getting drafted to "fix" the troubled orphaned children of North's cousin, who live with a grouchy housekeeper and a crew of ghosts that have an interest in the kids and their gothic mansion home. But there's no ordinary fix for this unruly bunch of living and undead as Andie tries to cajole them all—troubled and lonely kids Alice and Carter, dead aunt May aiming for a do-over, newly dead Dennis, and ancient spooks Miss J and Peter—into moving on. Crusie's created a sharp cast of lonely souls, wacky weirdos, ghosts both good and bad, and unlikely heroes who are brave enough to give life and love one more try. You don't have to believe in the afterlife to relish this fun, bright romp.

July 1, 2010

Crusie (Agnes and the Hitman, 2007, etc.) returns with a romantic comedy cum ghost story with facetious nods to Henry James and Daphne du Maurier.                

Ten years ago Andie met, married and divorced love of her life North because he put his Columbus, Ohio, law career ahead of their marriage. Now that she's engaged to a nice writer, she drops by North's office to return the years of alimony checks she never cashed. North immediately offers a proposition she convinces herself she can't refuse: $10,000 if she will spend a month in the wilds of southern Ohio caring for two orphaned children, distant relatives for whom he's had responsibility since their Aunt May's death two years earlier. North has only met them once, leaving them in the care of a string of nannies in their creepy Victorian mansion imported from England by the children's ancestor. As soon as Andie meets the housekeeper, Mrs. Crumb, with her "reptile smile," she knows she's in for a challenge. Blonde, waiflike Alice has a violent temper when crossed. Her older brother Carter barely speaks. Immediately, Andie begins to succeed with them where the nannies failed. But then there are ghosts that Andie and the kids see. Two came with the house a century ago and are clearly sinister. They killed Aunt May, whose spirit remains and chats up Andie about North, inadvertently reminding Andie how much she still loves him and not poor Will. Then North's brother, Southie, arrives with his TV newswoman, who has sniffed out the ghost story and wants to conduct a séance. Actually she wants to expose North for mistreating his wards. Soon North, his mother, Andie's mother, Andie's purported fiancé, a medium and a professional ghost skeptic have assembled as storm clouds gather. Now throw a little Agatha Christie into the mix. Why Andie gets to see the ghosts is never clear; nor frankly, why North shouldn't be charged with neglect.

A charmless romance, neither funny nor scary. 

(COPYRIGHT (2010) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

July 1, 2010
Andromeda Miller is finally ready to get over her ex-husband, North Archer, and marry again, when he asks her for one last favor. He's been appointed guardian to two children and can't seem to keep a nanny—the house the children inherited is supposedly haunted, and the children are, well, odd, causing nannies to flee. Andie agrees to live with the children and tutor them for one month to get them back on track to move in with North and return to school. She discovers that the children aren't really all that strange, but the house may indeed be inhabited by several ghosts. There are other complications—a crazy, hostile housekeeper; a ghost-hunting TV reporter; and North's still strong feelings for Andie. VERDICTFans waiting for Crusie to return to her original style of sassy, witty romances after her collaborations with action writer Bob Mayer ("Wild Ride" might be a little disappointed with this foray into the paranormal, but her sense of humor and knack for fun characters are all here. [150,000-copy first printing.]—Rebecca Vnuk, Forest Park, IL

Copyright 2010 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from July 1, 2010
The plan did not include ghosts, or working, even temporarily, for her ex-husband, North Archer. The plan was for Andromeda Andie Miller to march into Norths law office, return a decades worth of uncashed alimony checks, and depart to begin her bright new romantic future with writer Will Spenser. But somehow Andie ends up taking care of Norths two young wards. The kids have already gone through three nannies, one of whom claimed Archer House is haunted, but Andie figures she can manage for a month. Until she starts seeing ghosts herself. Six years after her last solo effort, Bet Me (2004), RITA Award-winning Crusie triumphantly returns with a bewitching tale. Graced with deliciously original characters (including a housekeeper who could give Mrs. Danvers a run for her money), imbued with addictively acerbic wit, driven by a wildly inventive, paranormal-flavored plot that offers a subtle literary nod to Henry James, and featuring two protagonists who just might get their romance right the second time around, Maybe This Time is Crusie at her very best.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)