Jennifer Crusie

Linc Blaise persuades Daisy Flattery to pose as his fiancee in order to win a dream job, but his plan backfires and he must marry her or expose his ruse

The Cinderella Deal

Cindy McKee

Ahhh, finally a true rom com. Albeit one I’ve read a few times. I’ve just been so disappointed lately in the ones I’ve read, I needed a nice reminder of how it can be done well. This is one of Crusie’s early works, so it’s not as polished as say, Bet Me, or Faking It, my two all time favorites, but you can see the shine all the same. Lincoln & Daisy are as different as can be, but true love is sometimes as sneaky as a simple deal that gets way too complicated, and two fools who are brilliant together. ❤️

A quick, mindless read I found in a box of thrift-store-bought books, and now I know why it was left there. I have no problem suspending disbelief for the joyride that is the "fake relationship" trope, but I have several problems with the book overall. 

The characters are freaking wallpaper. Perhaps eye-catching or intriguing at first, but thin, one-dimensional, and easy to peel away. Daisy Flattery (GROAN) is our Southern Belle in self-insert clothing who just wants to paint and collect ugly furniture and rescue strays. Truly, she is a saint, for everyone--even the mean old academics she's meant to struggle fitting in with--just flock to her side, singing her praises. Really her only flaw is that she's not mature enough to impress her fake-husband, Linc. So she slowly matures (read:fixes herself) thoughout the novel, which Linc approves of while making no change in himself. In the climax, Daisy goes too far and is too reserved and not nearly sexy enough for Linc. After deciding he wants the "Real Daisy" back, Linc rips off her dowdy black dress and throws it out the window so they can have passionate, red-hot, censored sex before returning to the public function filled with all their friends and family. No, I'm not kidding. And of course, by "Real Daisy", Linc means the matured, sexy, housewife she's become in her quest to please him. smh. 

Linc. Oh my god, Linc. He's meant to be this talented writer/professor who's passionate about feminism and picking yourself up by your bootstraps and is so good in bed guys, like *trust* that even though he barely paid attention to her during their one explicit sex scene, he is a god between the sheets. After all, the author and 3 characters said so! Besides being an absolute deity of orgasm, Linc is constantly jealous and makes both mental and physical threats at any man who so much as looks at Daisy(both before and during their relationship), even while he belittles and infantilizes her. What every human wants in a partner! Not to mention the absolutely heart-warming gesture he makes at the end, the compromise of his old ways, the absolute pinnacle of true love : he buys a sweater !! Please excuse me while I swoon~~

Yeah, so I thought I was just gonna chuck this away with a "not good, but harmless" rating, but the second half's sheer dumpster fire of white heteronormative bullshit sent my teeth grinding. 

0.5 stars

Kate

4.5. This book was the absolute sweetest.

Linc Blaise persuades Daisy Flattery to pose as his fiancâee in order to win a dream job, but his plan backfires and he must marry her or expose his ruse.

The Cinderella Deal

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