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Maybe This Time
When Andie Miller goes to see her ex-husband, North Archer, to return ten years of uncashed alimony checks, he asks for one final favor: A distant cousin has died and left him guardian of two orphans who have driven out three nannies already; will she take the job? Bribed with money and a need for closure, Andie says yes, packs her bags, and heads for Southern Ohio.
But when she meets the two children she realizes things are much worse than she feared. The children aren’t any run-of-the-mill delinquents, the creepy old house where they live is being run by the worst housekeeper since Mrs. Danvers, and something strange is happening at night. Plus, Andie’s fiance thinks it’s a plan by North to get Andie back, and since Andie’s been dreaming about North since she arrived at the house, she’s not sure he isn’t right.
Then her ex-brother-in-law arrives with a duplicitous journalist and a self-doubting parapsychologist, closely followed by an annoyed medium, Andie’s tarot card–reading mother, her avenging ex-mother-in-law, and her jealous fiancé. Just when Andie’s sure things couldn’t get more complicated, North arrives to make her wonder if maybe this time things could be different….
11 pages, Audible Audio
First published August 31, 2010
252 people are currently reading
6094 people want to read
About the author
Jennifer Crusie
80 books7,799 followersJennifer Crusie is the New York Times, USA Today, and Publisher's Weekly bestselling author of twenty-three novels, one book of literary criticism, miscellaneous articles, essays, novellas, and short stories, and the editor of three essay anthologies.
She was born in Wapakoneta, a small town in Ohio, and then went on to live in a succession of other small towns in Ohio and New Jersey until her last move to a small town in Pennsylvania. This may have had an impact on her work.
She has a BS in Art Education, an MA in literature, an MFA in fiction, and was ABD on her PhD when she started reading romances as part of her research into the differences between the ways men and women tell stories. Writing a romance sounded like more fun than writing a dissertation, so she switched to fiction and never looked back. Her collaborations with Bob Mayer have pretty much proved everything she was going to say in her dissertation anyway, so really, no need to finish that.
For more information, see JenniferCrusie.com and her blog, Argh Ink.
She was born in Wapakoneta, a small town in Ohio, and then went on to live in a succession of other small towns in Ohio and New Jersey until her last move to a small town in Pennsylvania. This may have had an impact on her work.
She has a BS in Art Education, an MA in literature, an MFA in fiction, and was ABD on her PhD when she started reading romances as part of her research into the differences between the ways men and women tell stories. Writing a romance sounded like more fun than writing a dissertation, so she switched to fiction and never looked back. Her collaborations with Bob Mayer have pretty much proved everything she was going to say in her dissertation anyway, so really, no need to finish that.
For more information, see JenniferCrusie.com and her blog, Argh Ink.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,721 reviews
September 20, 2018
4.5/5
I went into this book completely blind and had no idea what to expect. I didn't read the synopsis, didn’t even read any reviews before diving into the story. Why bother? The author’s name alone is promising enough for me to give it a go, and of course, she didn’t fail me. Maybe This Time surprised me in many ways and every revelation literally stunned me for a moment. Furthermore, when everything fell into place, I was totally blown away.
My first surprise: The second chance romance between the hero and heroine. Well, I'm a sucker for second chance love stories so this one had me hooked as soon as I knew that North and Andie were once married. Ten years later they met again and the love between them was still alive. Ooh, that was exactly what I wanted!
My second surprise: Ghosts. There were ghosts in the story. Damn, they were creepy, scary, and dangerous! There was a scene . OMG, this made me silently scream in horror! Oh please, I'm not a horror fan!
My third surprise: The ending. There was the twist at the very end of the story and it left me with my mouth hanging open. You have to read it yourself! It was one hell of a surprise. Such an ingenious plot twist and shocking ending! I didn’t even see it coming!
Right from the very start, I was immediately pulled into the story and couldn’t put it down. However, it dragged a bit in the middle but before I got bored, around the 60% mark, it picked up its pace and everything seemed more intense. I almost couldn’t contain my excitement to see what would happen next. There was so much happening that had me turning page after page nonstop. Moreover, there were many plot twists that surprised me over and over again.
North Archer and Andie Miller fell for each other the moment their eyes first met. Then they danced and ended up in bed. They got married the next day and had a very happy marriage. But as the days went by, Andie felt more and more lonely because North had worked almost around the clock and he seemed to forget that she existed. So she left him.
Ten years later, she was going to get married to the writer, so she came to North’s office to give him back the alimony checks he had sent her all these years, ever since the divorce. Instead of ending the final connection between them, he surprised her with the offer she couldn’t resist—ten thousand a month for taking care of his wards, Carter and Alice, who were living in an isolated house in a remote area. She accepted the job and went there the next morning. The more time she spent around the kids, the more certain she was of her decision—to stay with them until they willingly left the place. While she was living there, some strange things happened to her. She started having weird dreams and seeing ghosts. The situation was far more dangerous than she knew she could handle alone. How could she find the way to make the ghosts leave this house? And how could she save the children from danger?
On the whole, this was a very good and fun read. Jennifer Crusie did a great job of mixing romance, humor, mystery, and a bit of horror all together.
I went into this book completely blind and had no idea what to expect. I didn't read the synopsis, didn’t even read any reviews before diving into the story. Why bother? The author’s name alone is promising enough for me to give it a go, and of course, she didn’t fail me. Maybe This Time surprised me in many ways and every revelation literally stunned me for a moment. Furthermore, when everything fell into place, I was totally blown away.
My first surprise: The second chance romance between the hero and heroine. Well, I'm a sucker for second chance love stories so this one had me hooked as soon as I knew that North and Andie were once married. Ten years later they met again and the love between them was still alive. Ooh, that was exactly what I wanted!
My second surprise: Ghosts. There were ghosts in the story. Damn, they were creepy, scary, and dangerous! There was a scene . OMG, this made me silently scream in horror! Oh please, I'm not a horror fan!
My third surprise: The ending. There was the twist at the very end of the story and it left me with my mouth hanging open. You have to read it yourself! It was one hell of a surprise. Such an ingenious plot twist and shocking ending! I didn’t even see it coming!
Right from the very start, I was immediately pulled into the story and couldn’t put it down. However, it dragged a bit in the middle but before I got bored, around the 60% mark, it picked up its pace and everything seemed more intense. I almost couldn’t contain my excitement to see what would happen next. There was so much happening that had me turning page after page nonstop. Moreover, there were many plot twists that surprised me over and over again.
North Archer and Andie Miller fell for each other the moment their eyes first met. Then they danced and ended up in bed. They got married the next day and had a very happy marriage. But as the days went by, Andie felt more and more lonely because North had worked almost around the clock and he seemed to forget that she existed. So she left him.
Ten years later, she was going to get married to the writer, so she came to North’s office to give him back the alimony checks he had sent her all these years, ever since the divorce. Instead of ending the final connection between them, he surprised her with the offer she couldn’t resist—ten thousand a month for taking care of his wards, Carter and Alice, who were living in an isolated house in a remote area. She accepted the job and went there the next morning. The more time she spent around the kids, the more certain she was of her decision—to stay with them until they willingly left the place. While she was living there, some strange things happened to her. She started having weird dreams and seeing ghosts. The situation was far more dangerous than she knew she could handle alone. How could she find the way to make the ghosts leave this house? And how could she save the children from danger?
On the whole, this was a very good and fun read. Jennifer Crusie did a great job of mixing romance, humor, mystery, and a bit of horror all together.
December 7, 2015
5 Creepy But Cute Stars!
I loved this one! I was up all night laughing reading this one. It was different. I'd say the love story was on the back burner during this one. Well...the love between North and Andie anyway. lol The love between Andie and the kids Carter and Alice was strong.
North and Andie are divorced but Andie is still getting alimony checks from North and it's been ten years. Andie hasn't cashed any of them and she wants North to stop sending them to her. She's ready to move on from North and can't because every month that damn check comes and makes her think about him.
North is very closed off. His work is more important than anything else it seems. But two years ago a distant cousin dies and makes North the legal guardian of his two kids. The kids refuse to leave their house so North has hired a nanny. The nanny's keep quitting and North doesn't know what to do until he sees Andie come in his office. He asks her to go stay with the kids and see if she can get them straightened out so they can come home. Andie is a teacher and she has a strong personality. She would be the perfect person to fix these kids. And deep down North doesn't want Andie to move on.
So Andie agrees to move into this house with the kids and a housekeeper for a month.
This is when things started getting a little creepy.
This was not a house. It was a huge ass mansion that they brought over from England and the damn thing came with furniture and ghosts. I didn't know if the ghosts were real or not but I knew something wasn't right. The housekeeper was a creepy drunk. The kids were both quiet and very distant. I felt really sorry for the kids. Their mom died giving birth to Alice. Then their dad died not long after that. Then their aunt died and then North wouldn't leave his work behind so they got a Nanny, a drunk housekeeper and the haunted mansion.
I loved Andie! She went in there and got right to work with these kids. She was awesome. Getting them to open up and eventually love her.
Carter loved to read and draw. Carter also was very protective of Alice. I loved how close these two were. Alice stole the book though. She had to be bribed to do anything. She loved her music and bling. She had a wicked temper and we got to see it often. I loved how Andie took to these kids and pretty much said they were hers and fought for them. Then eventually got North there to see what a dumb ass he had been for not being there all along.
Is there really ghosts in the house that are hurting who ever tries to take these kids away from the house? Or is it the creepy drunk housekeeper playing tricks? Maybe it's the dead aunt May coming back. You will have to read to find out.
If you love a good ghost story this is a book you should read. I couldn't put it down. It made me laugh many times. I loved it. Once again JC you had this girl up all night reading.
I loved this one! I was up all night laughing reading this one. It was different. I'd say the love story was on the back burner during this one. Well...the love between North and Andie anyway. lol The love between Andie and the kids Carter and Alice was strong.
North and Andie are divorced but Andie is still getting alimony checks from North and it's been ten years. Andie hasn't cashed any of them and she wants North to stop sending them to her. She's ready to move on from North and can't because every month that damn check comes and makes her think about him.
North is very closed off. His work is more important than anything else it seems. But two years ago a distant cousin dies and makes North the legal guardian of his two kids. The kids refuse to leave their house so North has hired a nanny. The nanny's keep quitting and North doesn't know what to do until he sees Andie come in his office. He asks her to go stay with the kids and see if she can get them straightened out so they can come home. Andie is a teacher and she has a strong personality. She would be the perfect person to fix these kids. And deep down North doesn't want Andie to move on.
So Andie agrees to move into this house with the kids and a housekeeper for a month.
This is when things started getting a little creepy.
This was not a house. It was a huge ass mansion that they brought over from England and the damn thing came with furniture and ghosts. I didn't know if the ghosts were real or not but I knew something wasn't right. The housekeeper was a creepy drunk. The kids were both quiet and very distant. I felt really sorry for the kids. Their mom died giving birth to Alice. Then their dad died not long after that. Then their aunt died and then North wouldn't leave his work behind so they got a Nanny, a drunk housekeeper and the haunted mansion.
I loved Andie! She went in there and got right to work with these kids. She was awesome. Getting them to open up and eventually love her.
Carter loved to read and draw. Carter also was very protective of Alice. I loved how close these two were. Alice stole the book though. She had to be bribed to do anything. She loved her music and bling. She had a wicked temper and we got to see it often. I loved how Andie took to these kids and pretty much said they were hers and fought for them. Then eventually got North there to see what a dumb ass he had been for not being there all along.
Is there really ghosts in the house that are hurting who ever tries to take these kids away from the house? Or is it the creepy drunk housekeeper playing tricks? Maybe it's the dead aunt May coming back. You will have to read to find out.
If you love a good ghost story this is a book you should read. I couldn't put it down. It made me laugh many times. I loved it. Once again JC you had this girl up all night reading.
May 14, 2013
3.5 Stars!
MY BLURB
Andromeda (Andie) and North were married way too quickly at way too young an age. When North's uncle dies and leaves the family law firm in North's hands, he changes. No longer the fun and attentive husband, he becomes a workaholic and leaves Andie for nights on end, only coming home for sex and sleep. Andie doesn't want to be alone for the rest of her life, left waiting on a husband that barely remembers that she's alive. So she leaves.
It's now ten years later and Andie is considering an engagement to another man. But first, she wants to close the chapter of her life that she left open and finally let go of the man she never stopped loving. But her visit to North goes in a different direction when he asks her for a favor...two orphaned children were left in his care, and they live in a secluded old house, being taken care of by the crotchety housekeeper and a string of nannies. The nannies won't stay because they think the house is haunted.
When North offers Andie enough money to pay off her debts before her impending marriage, she somewhat reluctantly agrees to help the kids for a month.
But Andie doesn't expect to fall in love with the kids, nor does she expect to start believing in ghosts. And she certainly doesn't expect to rekindle the love and passion that she once felt for North.
MY THOUGHTS
I love Jennifer Crusie...she writes with such lighthearted humor and yet manages to instill passion and reality into her plots. This book, however, fell a little flat for me. Her trademark smart yet silly heroine felt a lot more serious than normal, and the romance was most definitely a secondary plotline. The story of Andie and how she falls in love with the children was heartwarming, though. These kids lost their parents and then their aunt in a very short time period, so they are understandably a bit out of whack and bratty, but Crusie didn't overdo it. She made it apparent that the kids are confused, hurt, and lonely...and the slow progression of trust that grows between them and Andie is touching.
The paranormal aspect was just....weird. I didn't expect it to be such a huge part of the story, and it wasn't for the first half. Then, it sort of jumped up and smacked me in the face. Surprising, to say the least. And just awkward once you realized that it's being written as reality instead of whimsical possibility.
This ended up being a cute story, a good one if you're a die hard Crusie fan and want something a bit different. It was more paranormal chick lit than romance, which just isn't my cuppa. What romance there was, however, was just as great as the relationship that built between the kids and Andie. I tend to love rekindled old flame stories, and Andie and North truly love each other SO MUCH...there was passion and anger and resentment...all of which got in the way of what really mattered, which was love. They just needed to learn to stick it out through the hard times and always put each other first. And isn't that a great life lesson?
MY BLURB
Andromeda (Andie) and North were married way too quickly at way too young an age. When North's uncle dies and leaves the family law firm in North's hands, he changes. No longer the fun and attentive husband, he becomes a workaholic and leaves Andie for nights on end, only coming home for sex and sleep. Andie doesn't want to be alone for the rest of her life, left waiting on a husband that barely remembers that she's alive. So she leaves.
It's now ten years later and Andie is considering an engagement to another man. But first, she wants to close the chapter of her life that she left open and finally let go of the man she never stopped loving. But her visit to North goes in a different direction when he asks her for a favor...two orphaned children were left in his care, and they live in a secluded old house, being taken care of by the crotchety housekeeper and a string of nannies. The nannies won't stay because they think the house is haunted.
When North offers Andie enough money to pay off her debts before her impending marriage, she somewhat reluctantly agrees to help the kids for a month.
But Andie doesn't expect to fall in love with the kids, nor does she expect to start believing in ghosts. And she certainly doesn't expect to rekindle the love and passion that she once felt for North.
MY THOUGHTS
I love Jennifer Crusie...she writes with such lighthearted humor and yet manages to instill passion and reality into her plots. This book, however, fell a little flat for me. Her trademark smart yet silly heroine felt a lot more serious than normal, and the romance was most definitely a secondary plotline. The story of Andie and how she falls in love with the children was heartwarming, though. These kids lost their parents and then their aunt in a very short time period, so they are understandably a bit out of whack and bratty, but Crusie didn't overdo it. She made it apparent that the kids are confused, hurt, and lonely...and the slow progression of trust that grows between them and Andie is touching.
The paranormal aspect was just....weird. I didn't expect it to be such a huge part of the story, and it wasn't for the first half. Then, it sort of jumped up and smacked me in the face. Surprising, to say the least. And just awkward once you realized that it's being written as reality instead of whimsical possibility.
This ended up being a cute story, a good one if you're a die hard Crusie fan and want something a bit different. It was more paranormal chick lit than romance, which just isn't my cuppa. What romance there was, however, was just as great as the relationship that built between the kids and Andie. I tend to love rekindled old flame stories, and Andie and North truly love each other SO MUCH...there was passion and anger and resentment...all of which got in the way of what really mattered, which was love. They just needed to learn to stick it out through the hard times and always put each other first. And isn't that a great life lesson?
February 29, 2012
Trigger warning for discussion of rape.
Romance. Andie Miller's ex-husband is desperate; his two young wards refuse to leave their giant English manor, and all the nannies he's sent to take care of them keep leaving, or dying. Andie agrees to look after the kids for a month, packs up her car, says goodbye to her almost fiancé, and moves to southern Ohio.
This has a lot in common with The Turn of the Screw: creepy house (complete with creepy pond), creepy orphans, creepy nannies. Except this makes sense.
The good: The old ghosts are satisfyingly creepy. The atmosphere is great. I liked Andie, her relationship with the kids, and I loved the haunted couch.
The meh: North is underdeveloped. Andie wanted him, but I never felt it.
The bad: It's Not Rape If She's Slutty. Late in the book Crusie really fucks up when she introduces non-consensual sexual activity and then blames the victim by having the characters explicitly reject the idea that it's rape:
Without the rape apology this would have gotten three stars, with it -- it gets knocked down to two. It's a better ghost story than a romance.
Romance. Andie Miller's ex-husband is desperate; his two young wards refuse to leave their giant English manor, and all the nannies he's sent to take care of them keep leaving, or dying. Andie agrees to look after the kids for a month, packs up her car, says goodbye to her almost fiancé, and moves to southern Ohio.
This has a lot in common with The Turn of the Screw: creepy house (complete with creepy pond), creepy orphans, creepy nannies. Except this makes sense.
The good: The old ghosts are satisfyingly creepy. The atmosphere is great. I liked Andie, her relationship with the kids, and I loved the haunted couch.
The meh: North is underdeveloped. Andie wanted him, but I never felt it.
The bad: It's Not Rape If She's Slutty. Late in the book Crusie really fucks up when she introduces non-consensual sexual activity and then blames the victim by having the characters explicitly reject the idea that it's rape:
"It's not rape," Andie snapped. "Because May says you would have slept with all of them anyway. And since you were already doing two of them, I think she's right." She looked into the camera. "That's right, Columbus, your reporter here nailed three guys in one night, sixty percent of the adult male population of this house. Let's give the little lady a hand."I suspect Crusie wanted the drama but didn't want to deal with the consequences, which among other things would have made us feel sympathy for an unsympathetic character. So not only is Crusie pretending it's not rape, she's using rape as punishment.
Without the rape apology this would have gotten three stars, with it -- it gets knocked down to two. It's a better ghost story than a romance.
May 6, 2017
It was very funny this was my third buddy read with my friend Catherine. The last book we read was inspired by Pride and Prejudice and the first book we read was the classic The Turn of the Screw which this book was obviously inspired by.
I have never not loved a Jennifer Crusie book. This one starts slow and isn't as laugh out loud funny as some of her earlier books, but it is great fun and well put together.
Unlike the original, this take on Turn of the Screw is not as claustrophobic (and has a happy ending!) The housekeeper is untrustworthy and unlikeable and the uncle actually cares and comes to help. There are many more differences but I won't ruin it for other readers. Ms Crusie does a wonderful job of using the original book as a skeleton and creating a lovely romantic ghost story.
I have never not loved a Jennifer Crusie book. This one starts slow and isn't as laugh out loud funny as some of her earlier books, but it is great fun and well put together.
Unlike the original, this take on Turn of the Screw is not as claustrophobic (and has a happy ending!) The housekeeper is untrustworthy and unlikeable and the uncle actually cares and comes to help. There are many more differences but I won't ruin it for other readers. Ms Crusie does a wonderful job of using the original book as a skeleton and creating a lovely romantic ghost story.
January 5, 2017
4.5 Stars. Wish I hadn't taken so long to pick this one up. I thought it was a charming read and the séances were so funny, I laughed through this entire book. I have really missed reading JC's writing.
October 22, 2019
The story of a divorced couple getting a second chance, with a far stronger supernatural element than I was expecting.
Andie wants to cut all ties with her ex husband North before she accepts her boyfriend's marriage proposal, and visits his office to return his alimony checks and ask him to stop sending them. Instead, she somehow ends up agreeing to help him with his two new wards for a month.
She ends up in a creepy castle of a house, caring for two very hurt, very wary children that .
Andie is slowly making progress with the children and is even dealing with some of her own issues, many of them relating to North, when she is forced to face the fact that the house is indeed haunted. Determined to get rid of the ghosts that have been keeping the children from leaving the house, Andie starts doing research and reaches out to "experts" in the field, leading to a chaotic exorcism that everyone and their mother ends up attending.
North was my favorite character in the book despite being in the background for a big part of it, and gave me all the feels!
An engaging story with a satisfying happy ending, that the heroes earn after dealing with ghosts, as well as their own past issues and fears.
Andie wants to cut all ties with her ex husband North before she accepts her boyfriend's marriage proposal, and visits his office to return his alimony checks and ask him to stop sending them. Instead, she somehow ends up agreeing to help him with his two new wards for a month.
She ends up in a creepy castle of a house, caring for two very hurt, very wary children that .
Andie is slowly making progress with the children and is even dealing with some of her own issues, many of them relating to North, when she is forced to face the fact that the house is indeed haunted. Determined to get rid of the ghosts that have been keeping the children from leaving the house, Andie starts doing research and reaches out to "experts" in the field, leading to a chaotic exorcism that everyone and their mother ends up attending.
North was my favorite character in the book despite being in the background for a big part of it, and gave me all the feels!
An engaging story with a satisfying happy ending, that the heroes earn after dealing with ghosts, as well as their own past issues and fears.
January 26, 2015
Originally published here.
In the mood for a cozy, post-holiday read? I suggest you give MAYBE THIS TIME a try. I first discovered Jennifer Crusie through the insanely entertaining Bet Me. I then immediately went on a Crusie binge. And though I enjoyed several of them, none quite matched up to that first one. So I'd been kind of avoiding another Crusie read, even after hearing very positive reviews of her newest. The fact that it was categorized as a mystery/romantic suspense piqued my interest, but when I received it as a gift awhile back, I placed it on my nightstand and promptly forgot about it. Sometimes you have to wait until the right time for a certain book rolls around, you know? I've made my mistakes trying to force a book at the wrong time, and it never accomplishes anything but driving a rift between us. So I waited on this one. And the right time rolled around (as it almost always does) a few nights back. I'd been bouncing around from book to book for awhile, searching for the one I needed. What a relief and a surprise to find it was the unassuming little ghost story that had been patiently sitting on my nightstand lo these many months.
Andie Miller is trying to do the right thing. Walking into her ex-husband North Archer's law office to sever all remaining ties seems to be, by all accounts, the right thing to do. Even if it is almost impossibly hard. After all, they have been divorced for ten years. And the single torrential year they were married ended so spectacularly badly it almost crushed Andie. They've both moved on since, and it's time for some closure. But when she sits down with North, the man who never asked anything of her while they were married now has a favor to ask. Will she travel down to one of the family estates where his two young wards are living? Their aunt died not long after their parents did, and it seems there's some trouble keeping a reliable caregiver in the house. Could she possibly go down and check on them, see if she can get them ready to attend school? Then in just a few weeks' time they'll be done with each other for good. She can go off and marry her fiance and start that calm and peaceful life she's been looking for. In the face of the hefty wad of cash North is offering her in exchange for her efforts, Andie agrees, overrules her own doubts as well as her fiance Will's objections, and packs her bags. Of course, circumstances at the old house are far grimmer than North suspected. Twelve-year-old Carter and six-year-old Alice are unusual, to say the least. And desperately unhappy. Creepy old Mrs. Crumb, the housekeeper, seems to encourage Alice's tantrums and Carter's increasing isolation. And the longer Andie stays there, the more convinced she becomes that the whole place is haunted. She tries to convey the extent of the weird in her sporadic calls to North, but it's clear that saving these children from whatever dark force is lurking will be up to her and her alone.
I started making a list of my favorite things about MAYBE THIS TIME on page one, and I quickly lost count. A retelling of Henry James' The Turn of the Screw complete with all my favorite Gothic trappings and a leading lady and man with a history with a capital H? I was instantly in heaven. From the first page, which has just two lines on it:
And you know the slightly odd, not-so-very-far in the past setting is perfectly suited to this wacky, atmospheric, romantic tale. I was charmed by the sartorial, cultural, and musical references throughout. In fact, the song "Somebody's Baby" plays a significant role in the book, and I could not get it out of my head (in a good way) the entire time I was reading it. I love it when that happens, when an author successfully accesses a specific cultural artifact that I as the reader have experience with. And so we both bring a set of emotions to the table, creating a wholly new, vibrant experience through the act of reading. I hadn't thought of or heard that song in years. But suddenly I'm singing it in the shower and humming it while I'm driving. And from now on I will associate it with this story and these characters. Speaking of these characters, here's a representative phone conversation between Andie and North which shows a hint of why I keyed into this thing going on between them so quickly:
There's a lot going on behind those words, and one of the highlights of this book was tracking down those hidden histories, following the progress of this relationship that ignited, flared out, and is trying to find its way back to normal. Another highlight was far and away Andie's relationship with the two kids. Alice and Carter are just barely hanging on. I loved them immediately, and if North did nothing else admirable in this book, I would love him for sending them Andie. She's strong and mouthy, and without blinking an eye she sets herself up as their protector, promising she won't leave until she sets things right. I lapped it up right along with them. Truthfully, I was glad she was there, because this book effectively creeped me out. The roaming spirits and the eerie, bloody history of the house's inhabitants slipped their icy fingers under my skin. And, while the last third of the story got a little too crazy, and I started wishing it had gone back to the restrained tension it mastered in the first two-thirds, I thoroughly enjoyed it for taking me away from it all, giving me characters I could root for, and sending chills down my spine.
In the mood for a cozy, post-holiday read? I suggest you give MAYBE THIS TIME a try. I first discovered Jennifer Crusie through the insanely entertaining Bet Me. I then immediately went on a Crusie binge. And though I enjoyed several of them, none quite matched up to that first one. So I'd been kind of avoiding another Crusie read, even after hearing very positive reviews of her newest. The fact that it was categorized as a mystery/romantic suspense piqued my interest, but when I received it as a gift awhile back, I placed it on my nightstand and promptly forgot about it. Sometimes you have to wait until the right time for a certain book rolls around, you know? I've made my mistakes trying to force a book at the wrong time, and it never accomplishes anything but driving a rift between us. So I waited on this one. And the right time rolled around (as it almost always does) a few nights back. I'd been bouncing around from book to book for awhile, searching for the one I needed. What a relief and a surprise to find it was the unassuming little ghost story that had been patiently sitting on my nightstand lo these many months.
Andie Miller is trying to do the right thing. Walking into her ex-husband North Archer's law office to sever all remaining ties seems to be, by all accounts, the right thing to do. Even if it is almost impossibly hard. After all, they have been divorced for ten years. And the single torrential year they were married ended so spectacularly badly it almost crushed Andie. They've both moved on since, and it's time for some closure. But when she sits down with North, the man who never asked anything of her while they were married now has a favor to ask. Will she travel down to one of the family estates where his two young wards are living? Their aunt died not long after their parents did, and it seems there's some trouble keeping a reliable caregiver in the house. Could she possibly go down and check on them, see if she can get them ready to attend school? Then in just a few weeks' time they'll be done with each other for good. She can go off and marry her fiance and start that calm and peaceful life she's been looking for. In the face of the hefty wad of cash North is offering her in exchange for her efforts, Andie agrees, overrules her own doubts as well as her fiance Will's objections, and packs her bags. Of course, circumstances at the old house are far grimmer than North suspected. Twelve-year-old Carter and six-year-old Alice are unusual, to say the least. And desperately unhappy. Creepy old Mrs. Crumb, the housekeeper, seems to encourage Alice's tantrums and Carter's increasing isolation. And the longer Andie stays there, the more convinced she becomes that the whole place is haunted. She tries to convey the extent of the weird in her sporadic calls to North, but it's clear that saving these children from whatever dark force is lurking will be up to her and her alone.
I started making a list of my favorite things about MAYBE THIS TIME on page one, and I quickly lost count. A retelling of Henry James' The Turn of the Screw complete with all my favorite Gothic trappings and a leading lady and man with a history with a capital H? I was instantly in heaven. From the first page, which has just two lines on it:
This book takes place in 1992.
Because.
And you know the slightly odd, not-so-very-far in the past setting is perfectly suited to this wacky, atmospheric, romantic tale. I was charmed by the sartorial, cultural, and musical references throughout. In fact, the song "Somebody's Baby" plays a significant role in the book, and I could not get it out of my head (in a good way) the entire time I was reading it. I love it when that happens, when an author successfully accesses a specific cultural artifact that I as the reader have experience with. And so we both bring a set of emotions to the table, creating a wholly new, vibrant experience through the act of reading. I hadn't thought of or heard that song in years. But suddenly I'm singing it in the shower and humming it while I'm driving. And from now on I will associate it with this story and these characters. Speaking of these characters, here's a representative phone conversation between Andie and North which shows a hint of why I keyed into this thing going on between them so quickly:
She sounded worried, and North tried to think of a way to make her feel better and then realized that was ridiculous. She was doing a job for him, she hadn't called for comfort, they weren't married anymore no matter what lies she was telling down there, he had Mrs. Nash waiting, and there was nothing he could do anyway . . . "Do you need me to come down there?"
"No, I can handle this," she said, her voice as confident as ever. "It's the kids I'm worried about. I don't know if I can make things normal for them. I think I can make things better."
"You always make things better."
The silence stretched out at the other end of the phone as he thought, Dumb thing to say, and then she said, "Thank you." Her voice was softer than it had been, and it brought the past rushing back again.
"You're welcome," he said, thinking, Get off the damn phone. "I'll get you your cable and your contractor and somebody to fix the phones."
"I know you will. You always come through."
Jesus. "Call me if there's anything else," he said briskly, trying to find his way back to normal.
"I thought we weren't supposed to talk to each other."
"I was going through an independent phase," North said, and then closed his eyes as her laugh bubbled through the phone.
"That was a helluva long phase. I'll call if there's anything else. You have a good day."
She hung up, and he sat there with the phone in his hand for a minute, trying to find his way back to normal.
There's a lot going on behind those words, and one of the highlights of this book was tracking down those hidden histories, following the progress of this relationship that ignited, flared out, and is trying to find its way back to normal. Another highlight was far and away Andie's relationship with the two kids. Alice and Carter are just barely hanging on. I loved them immediately, and if North did nothing else admirable in this book, I would love him for sending them Andie. She's strong and mouthy, and without blinking an eye she sets herself up as their protector, promising she won't leave until she sets things right. I lapped it up right along with them. Truthfully, I was glad she was there, because this book effectively creeped me out. The roaming spirits and the eerie, bloody history of the house's inhabitants slipped their icy fingers under my skin. And, while the last third of the story got a little too crazy, and I started wishing it had gone back to the restrained tension it mastered in the first two-thirds, I thoroughly enjoyed it for taking me away from it all, giving me characters I could root for, and sending chills down my spine.
June 29, 2018
4/4/18 - Oddly enough, after the improbable start, this book kept me coming back to see What Happened Next, until I reached The End. Our Heroine is a most-likeable character, nothing like the ditz I thought she was. She did competent things, effective things. And there's one extended scene that is totally a farce, as people just keep coming to the house, disrupting what's going on.
4/3/18 - After TEN years?!? She kept all the alimony checks, uncashed, for TEN years? And has brought them back to her ex, so she can move on and marry someone else? But then accepts his offer of $10K to go deal with two of his cousin's kids for a month, because it will pay off her bills?
This is the improbable beginning to this book. It was highly recommended to me, in a review by Jo Walton, whose prose and reviews I admire. But srsly?
4/3/18 - After TEN years?!? She kept all the alimony checks, uncashed, for TEN years? And has brought them back to her ex, so she can move on and marry someone else? But then accepts his offer of $10K to go deal with two of his cousin's kids for a month, because it will pay off her bills?
This is the improbable beginning to this book. It was highly recommended to me, in a review by Jo Walton, whose prose and reviews I admire. But srsly?
August 23, 2011
Finally, a solo title from Ms. Crusie! I've read some of her co-authored works, the only one I liked was Agnes and the Hitman which was excellent but I was glad to see Crusie doing her own thing again.
Maybe This Time is Crusie's re-telling of The Turn of the Screw by Henry James. I don't know this because I've read The Turn of the Screw, or because I was an English major, or a librarian. I know this only because Jenny told me. Well, not me specifically but the group of us that were at her book signing last night. It was pretty cool to hear how James had inspired Crusie but there were things about the story that she could not relate to (twenty year old virgin!) so she decided to write her own version and wha-la! We have Maybe This Time.
Jenny also said that Maybe This Time was a ghost story and not a romance. Wait! Romance folks, don't stop reading! While this is an excellent ghost story, it is also "classic Crusie." Long-time fans, you'll know what that means; newcomers, it means quirky heroines, hilarious hijinx, and a sexy hero. The only thing missing from this Crusie was a furry four legged character. This time around she's replaced (wo)man's best friend with....kids?!
Confession: I'm not a kid person. Sure I like some kids, usually a friend's kid. But I don't really enjoy kids. No offense to my lovely readers with little ones...I love seeing pictures of your cutiepies but am glad I don't have any or have to deal with kids on a regular basis. Wow, guess it's a good thing I didn't become a teacher eh?! So, when I see romance novels with kids in them I usually groan. But this was a Crusie so I didn't even think twice and Crusie, fantabulous writer that she is, totally sold me on the book's two kids, Alice and Carter. Although Carter is quite and withdrawn. I kept expecting to learn more about him. Especially after Andie, our heroine, had a discussion with her ex-mother-in-law about him. But nothing ever came of it. That was one of the only things the irked me about this book. Alice definitely gets the most attention. And, according to Ms. Crusie herself, we're going to get to see Alice star in her own book in the future!
Anyway, as far as the romance goes Andie and North are obviously still not over each other despite the ten years since their divorce. There's not as much interaction between Andie and North as I might have liked. The focus seemed more on Andie's relationship with the kids and trying to deal with those pesky ghosts. However, there's enough romance to keep those of us, who NEED romance, going!
Lastly, I have to say Crusie did a great job of building suspense where the ghosts and supernatural aspects were concerned. As I was reading I was thinking, "Wow, this is actually a little creepy." Which was something I wasn't expecting from a Crusie novel. But it's not nightmare worthy so those of you who don't care for scary stuff, it's not THAT scary!
Overall an excellent addition to my keeper shelf. Crusie, left to her own devices, never fails. If you haven't read any Crusie before, what the heck are you waiting for?!
Maybe This Time is Crusie's re-telling of The Turn of the Screw by Henry James. I don't know this because I've read The Turn of the Screw, or because I was an English major, or a librarian. I know this only because Jenny told me. Well, not me specifically but the group of us that were at her book signing last night. It was pretty cool to hear how James had inspired Crusie but there were things about the story that she could not relate to (twenty year old virgin!) so she decided to write her own version and wha-la! We have Maybe This Time.
Jenny also said that Maybe This Time was a ghost story and not a romance. Wait! Romance folks, don't stop reading! While this is an excellent ghost story, it is also "classic Crusie." Long-time fans, you'll know what that means; newcomers, it means quirky heroines, hilarious hijinx, and a sexy hero. The only thing missing from this Crusie was a furry four legged character. This time around she's replaced (wo)man's best friend with....kids?!
Confession: I'm not a kid person. Sure I like some kids, usually a friend's kid. But I don't really enjoy kids. No offense to my lovely readers with little ones...I love seeing pictures of your cutiepies but am glad I don't have any or have to deal with kids on a regular basis. Wow, guess it's a good thing I didn't become a teacher eh?! So, when I see romance novels with kids in them I usually groan. But this was a Crusie so I didn't even think twice and Crusie, fantabulous writer that she is, totally sold me on the book's two kids, Alice and Carter. Although Carter is quite and withdrawn. I kept expecting to learn more about him. Especially after Andie, our heroine, had a discussion with her ex-mother-in-law about him. But nothing ever came of it. That was one of the only things the irked me about this book. Alice definitely gets the most attention. And, according to Ms. Crusie herself, we're going to get to see Alice star in her own book in the future!
Anyway, as far as the romance goes Andie and North are obviously still not over each other despite the ten years since their divorce. There's not as much interaction between Andie and North as I might have liked. The focus seemed more on Andie's relationship with the kids and trying to deal with those pesky ghosts. However, there's enough romance to keep those of us, who NEED romance, going!
Lastly, I have to say Crusie did a great job of building suspense where the ghosts and supernatural aspects were concerned. As I was reading I was thinking, "Wow, this is actually a little creepy." Which was something I wasn't expecting from a Crusie novel. But it's not nightmare worthy so those of you who don't care for scary stuff, it's not THAT scary!
Overall an excellent addition to my keeper shelf. Crusie, left to her own devices, never fails. If you haven't read any Crusie before, what the heck are you waiting for?!
September 8, 2010
This book reminded me why I love Jennifer Crusie!! What a great story, it made me laugh right out loud and it made my chest ache at times! If you love a fun book with a everything from ghosts, a creepy mansion, a crazy medium, kids that need love and a HEA of a love lost that was found again!!
I love the fast paced, witty dialog that JC brings to her books and this one is no exception. I loved Andie from the beginning but you grow to love the rest of these characters, they are amazing. I am rambling, but I just can't say enough about Crusie's ability to tell a phenomenal story!! LOVED IT!
I love the fast paced, witty dialog that JC brings to her books and this one is no exception. I loved Andie from the beginning but you grow to love the rest of these characters, they are amazing. I am rambling, but I just can't say enough about Crusie's ability to tell a phenomenal story!! LOVED IT!
September 6, 2017
**Audiobook Review**
First of all, let me just put this out there: This is not the book I thought I was going to hear. I thought I was in for a run-of-the-mill romance with a little prepared family ending (since there were kids involved). I did not expect... well, let's just say there were ghosts. Mean ones.
There was also a tarot card-reading mother, a story-hungry journalist, a parapsychologist with an affinity for tweed and couches, and - since there are ghosts - of course, a medium. Throw in a jilted ex-fiance, a moody cameraman, and let's not forget the star-crossed lovers and two behaviorally-challenged children, and you've got a recipe for a story that sounds too kooky for its own good.
In truth, however, it ends up being rather endearing with enough false endings to rival Lord of the Rings' Return of the King.
First of all, let me just put this out there: This is not the book I thought I was going to hear. I thought I was in for a run-of-the-mill romance with a little prepared family ending (since there were kids involved). I did not expect... well, let's just say there were ghosts. Mean ones.
There was also a tarot card-reading mother, a story-hungry journalist, a parapsychologist with an affinity for tweed and couches, and - since there are ghosts - of course, a medium. Throw in a jilted ex-fiance, a moody cameraman, and let's not forget the star-crossed lovers and two behaviorally-challenged children, and you've got a recipe for a story that sounds too kooky for its own good.
In truth, however, it ends up being rather endearing with enough false endings to rival Lord of the Rings' Return of the King.
November 16, 2010
In January 2006 I was introduced to Jennifer Crusie by a friend who lent me Bet Me. I read it in 1 sitting and have read it numerous times since. I have pretty much read everything by Jennifer Crusie with Bet Me and Welcome to Temptation at the top of my favourites. I have been disappointed in the last 2.5 books by her that I’ve read and didn’t have very high expectations going into this book. Maybe This Time has joined Bet Me and WTT as my Crusie favourites.
This is what I call classic Crusie, funny, quirky over-the-top offbeat characters, friction between the heroine and hero, hot sex and music references of songs I haven’t heard in years, and good comfort food. I actually ended up making Banana Bread while listening to this. (And yes I used brown bananas. :-)) I borrowed this book via Overdrive and listened to this book, the reader was excellent.
Andie Miller has gone to see her ex-husband North Archer to give him back 10 years of Alimony cheques to get closure before she marries her new fiancé. North has been give guardianship of a distance deceased cousin’s children who have gone through 3 Nannies and needs someone to go and look after them. When Andie arrives she discovers that the house is haunted, the children are messed up, there’s a housekeeper that serves hot toddies laced with peppermint schnapps. Add in a couple of séances, a trio of ghosts, a parapsychologist, a shallow reporter, and North & Andie’s quirky family members you get a totally fun book.
I loved the opening line from JC in the acknowledgements. The book starts off with “This book takes place in 1992 because.”
This is a keeper book for me and the next time I make book purchases this should be on my “must buy” listit was a solid 4 stars for me.
This is what I call classic Crusie, funny, quirky over-the-top offbeat characters, friction between the heroine and hero, hot sex and music references of songs I haven’t heard in years, and good comfort food. I actually ended up making Banana Bread while listening to this. (And yes I used brown bananas. :-)) I borrowed this book via Overdrive and listened to this book, the reader was excellent.
Andie Miller has gone to see her ex-husband North Archer to give him back 10 years of Alimony cheques to get closure before she marries her new fiancé. North has been give guardianship of a distance deceased cousin’s children who have gone through 3 Nannies and needs someone to go and look after them. When Andie arrives she discovers that the house is haunted, the children are messed up, there’s a housekeeper that serves hot toddies laced with peppermint schnapps. Add in a couple of séances, a trio of ghosts, a parapsychologist, a shallow reporter, and North & Andie’s quirky family members you get a totally fun book.
I loved the opening line from JC in the acknowledgements. The book starts off with “This book takes place in 1992 because.”
This is a keeper book for me and the next time I make book purchases this should be on my “must buy” listit was a solid 4 stars for me.
April 29, 2011
Like several of Crusie's recent collaborations, this wobbles away from the romance genre but doesn't quite make it all the way to thriller or action. However, it does flow more evenly and the relationships, while certainly not her best, are more convincing than those in Wild Ride, Dogs and Goddesses, or The Unfortunate Miss Fortunes, which failed to show any connection, affection or compatibility between her romantic pairs. Here the relationship-building we see is more between the heroine and the kids she is taking care of than with the hero, but since we know from the outset that they were once married we have this prior connection to make their feelings more plausible.
Only after finishing the book did I see Crusie's explanation that it was inspired by The Turn of the Screw and her wondering how the story would have gone had the governess been more sensible. I think it helps to know this going in.
Only after finishing the book did I see Crusie's explanation that it was inspired by The Turn of the Screw and her wondering how the story would have gone had the governess been more sensible. I think it helps to know this going in.
July 16, 2022
One of my favorite books, I come back to it often.
July 5, 2016
2.5 stars This book was really all over the place for me. Here's the basic setup: Andie Miller and North Archer have been divorced for 10 years. Andie plans to marry again and so she marches into North's office, determined to break the very last of ties between them by throwing his alimony checks right back at him.
Of course, that plan doesn't work and instead Andie ends up agreeing to go to rural southern Ohio to care for North's 2 young wards in an old English castle that some eccentric relative apparently had moved from England to Ohio. As one does, I suppose.
What ensues is mostly a story of Andie figuring out her life and building relationships with two traumatized and very difficult children. Though Crusie mixes some humor into the story, we never lose sight of the fact that the children Andie is working with have lost just about everyone close to them and have spent the past months secluded in a tumbledown old house with a hostile, half-drunk housekeeper and a succession of nannies. Oh, and the ghosts.
Yes, this is definitely something of a ghost story. And for most of the first half, I liked it. Andie is over-the-top wacky, but something about her, the kids and the ghosts just works. The relationship portion of the story doesn't really get cooking until the second half when North finally reappears on the scene. He's pretty uptight, but something about him and Andie just works, too.
So, why the 2.5 stars? Well, for starters, the ending of the book just dragged on and on. It felt like the author kept throwing in plot twist after plot twist just to keep the blasted thing going. And it really didn't need to keep running on like that.
And then there's one huge issue that pretty much yanked me out of the story near the end. I'm putting it in spoiler tags because (1) it is from the last quarter or so of the book, (2) it's triggery and (3) it just sounded plain awful when I read it. So, while I liked a lot of things about this book, I just couldn't get past that. And what made it even worse is that the book could have flowed along just fine without that particular plot point.
I like Crusie's writing, but I think I'll stick to some of her other books. This one has its moments, but just doesn't do it for me.
Of course, that plan doesn't work and instead Andie ends up agreeing to go to rural southern Ohio to care for North's 2 young wards in an old English castle that some eccentric relative apparently had moved from England to Ohio. As one does, I suppose.
What ensues is mostly a story of Andie figuring out her life and building relationships with two traumatized and very difficult children. Though Crusie mixes some humor into the story, we never lose sight of the fact that the children Andie is working with have lost just about everyone close to them and have spent the past months secluded in a tumbledown old house with a hostile, half-drunk housekeeper and a succession of nannies. Oh, and the ghosts.
Yes, this is definitely something of a ghost story. And for most of the first half, I liked it. Andie is over-the-top wacky, but something about her, the kids and the ghosts just works. The relationship portion of the story doesn't really get cooking until the second half when North finally reappears on the scene. He's pretty uptight, but something about him and Andie just works, too.
So, why the 2.5 stars? Well, for starters, the ending of the book just dragged on and on. It felt like the author kept throwing in plot twist after plot twist just to keep the blasted thing going. And it really didn't need to keep running on like that.
And then there's one huge issue that pretty much yanked me out of the story near the end. I'm putting it in spoiler tags because (1) it is from the last quarter or so of the book, (2) it's triggery and (3) it just sounded plain awful when I read it. So, while I liked a lot of things about this book, I just couldn't get past that. And what made it even worse is that the book could have flowed along just fine without that particular plot point.
I like Crusie's writing, but I think I'll stick to some of her other books. This one has its moments, but just doesn't do it for me.
August 28, 2010
4 stars
POV: 3rd person: Andie, North
Sensuality: Warm
Mystery/Suspense: Average
Andie Miller is finally moving on with her life. Ten years after her divorce from North Archer she is in a content, adult relationship with Will Spenser and she plans on accepting his marriage proposal. First she has to return the ten years of alimony checks from North.
Seeing him again still makes her heart flutter, but she's over him. When he asks for her help taking care of his wards--children he "inherited" when his second cousin died--she agrees, but only because she needs the money.
When Andie arrives at the so-called haunted house where the children live, things start to get a little wacky. She's having strange dreams and thinks about North way too much. The kids really need her and she loves them almost instantly. She will do what she can to get them away from the haunted house, but it ends up taking a whole mass of less than sane people to help her.
Jennifer Crusie has infused her usual wit and charm into the story bringing all of the characters to life. Andie and North were obviously meant for each other and had to find a way back together. The build up to their reunion was well done and had me turning the pages and staying up late.
The first half of the book was a little slow for me. It dragged on a bit with Andie dealing with the house and its inhabitants. There was little mention of North (and his brother and mother) for quite a while. It was well into the second half of the book before things started to fall into place and everyone arrived together in the story.
Overall, I really enjoyed the book. It was typical Crusie-style and I'm glad to see her writing independently again. I look forward to more from her in the future.
*I received this book from LibraryThing's FirstReads program*
POV: 3rd person: Andie, North
Sensuality: Warm
Mystery/Suspense: Average
Andie Miller is finally moving on with her life. Ten years after her divorce from North Archer she is in a content, adult relationship with Will Spenser and she plans on accepting his marriage proposal. First she has to return the ten years of alimony checks from North.
Seeing him again still makes her heart flutter, but she's over him. When he asks for her help taking care of his wards--children he "inherited" when his second cousin died--she agrees, but only because she needs the money.
When Andie arrives at the so-called haunted house where the children live, things start to get a little wacky. She's having strange dreams and thinks about North way too much. The kids really need her and she loves them almost instantly. She will do what she can to get them away from the haunted house, but it ends up taking a whole mass of less than sane people to help her.
Jennifer Crusie has infused her usual wit and charm into the story bringing all of the characters to life. Andie and North were obviously meant for each other and had to find a way back together. The build up to their reunion was well done and had me turning the pages and staying up late.
The first half of the book was a little slow for me. It dragged on a bit with Andie dealing with the house and its inhabitants. There was little mention of North (and his brother and mother) for quite a while. It was well into the second half of the book before things started to fall into place and everyone arrived together in the story.
Overall, I really enjoyed the book. It was typical Crusie-style and I'm glad to see her writing independently again. I look forward to more from her in the future.
*I received this book from LibraryThing's FirstReads program*
September 26, 2010
This is the newest book by Crusie and it was it's normal quirky self with some added extras in the paranormal department. The main character Andie is happy to finally be moving on from her ex-husband and marrying a new man. So to celebrate she is bringing her ex-husband North all of the alimony checks he sent her in the last 10 years. When she sees North again, she expects him to be the same man. When North sees Andie (Andromeda) again, he finds himself surprised that he's actually happy about seeing her. He also needs a favor from Andie, two children that he is distantly related to are in an old house with no guardian. Their closest relatives have all died and their nannies keep quitting. North's solution is to send Andie down to help them. When Andie gets there she discovers the children are having problems that are a little less than normal and questions arise about whether or not ghosts are real.
All in all, it was a good story because the mystery of the house was interesting to me and the romance between North and Andie was great to watch. On one hand, I was rooting for Andie to stick it to North.. just because. Then on the other hand I wanted them to kiss and make up. The humor in the book was classic Crusie, the characters were quirky and slightly off-kilter. It's definitely on the light side of chic-lit, and I hope that her style of writing never changes. Sometimes you just need one of these books.
All in all, it was a good story because the mystery of the house was interesting to me and the romance between North and Andie was great to watch. On one hand, I was rooting for Andie to stick it to North.. just because. Then on the other hand I wanted them to kiss and make up. The humor in the book was classic Crusie, the characters were quirky and slightly off-kilter. It's definitely on the light side of chic-lit, and I hope that her style of writing never changes. Sometimes you just need one of these books.
September 19, 2010
This book was to predictable. From page one the reader knows what is going to happen. A love/hate relationship between an ex-couple.The reader knows before the last page of the book this couple will be together again because the sex is so hot.So boring! So already been done a million times!
The kids and ghost in the book were fun. More should have been focus on them. The corny Harlequin-romance relationship should have been edited out completely.
The kids and ghost in the book were fun. More should have been focus on them. The corny Harlequin-romance relationship should have been edited out completely.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 13, 2023
Entertaining fluff read. Like the ghost story element.
August 21, 2015
I think there is a rule - let's call it Georgie's rule - that states that if you come across a brilliant DIK of a book, the second book you read by the same author will be a let-down. Think of The Proposition (brilliant) and Black Silk (ho-hum), The Rules Of Seduction (sexy as hell) and Lessons of Desire (let me out), Neanderthal Seeks Human (stop strangers in the street and quote bits) and Neanderthal Marries Human (you see what I mean). So - I am sorry to say - it is with Maybe This Time in the wake of Welcome to Temptation.
Don't think this is a bad book - it isn't. Crusie has a witty, tough writing style that is engaging, but still leaves space for some real emotions. The plot is straightforward (Andie's divorced husband persuades her to look after two children he has "inherited", along with their haunted house) - and you just bet Andie will rout the ghosts, win over the children and end up with her ex. She does.
The ghost story is handled well, and there's a cast of well-fleshed out secondary characters, particularly Andie's mother Flo. Andie's relationship with one of the children, Alice, was very deftly drawn.
It's just that the H/h relationship is very much down-played. There's a few pages together in Chapter 1, then no real interaction till half-way through the book. Both H & h are pleasant enough, but given their back-story (which, incidentally, isn't fleshed out nearly enough) I need something more to persuade me that the TEN YEAR separation can be overcome so quickly.
The balance between plot and relationship was skewed a bit too much for me - I either wanted much more of Andie & North, or to go back and reread Welcome to Temptation.
Don't think this is a bad book - it isn't. Crusie has a witty, tough writing style that is engaging, but still leaves space for some real emotions. The plot is straightforward (Andie's divorced husband persuades her to look after two children he has "inherited", along with their haunted house) - and you just bet Andie will rout the ghosts, win over the children and end up with her ex. She does.
The ghost story is handled well, and there's a cast of well-fleshed out secondary characters, particularly Andie's mother Flo. Andie's relationship with one of the children, Alice, was very deftly drawn.
It's just that the H/h relationship is very much down-played. There's a few pages together in Chapter 1, then no real interaction till half-way through the book. Both H & h are pleasant enough, but given their back-story (which, incidentally, isn't fleshed out nearly enough) I need something more to persuade me that the TEN YEAR separation can be overcome so quickly.
The balance between plot and relationship was skewed a bit too much for me - I either wanted much more of Andie & North, or to go back and reread Welcome to Temptation.
dnf
October 24, 2010This began with a scene straight out of “His Girl Friday” and I might have loved it if it had continued in that vein, because the ex-husband/ex-wife relationship was great -- witty, sexy, heart-wrenching, everything you want from Jennifer Crusie. Instead it went to a weird, discombobulating place with creepy kids, ghosts and possessions and I just could not maintain interest, no matter how much I loved the couple. (It didn't help that they spend very little time together for at least the first third of the book, which is how much I read.)
February 21, 2019
Christ on a cracker, how in the world did this get published?! Ridiculous character names, saccharine writing, and then a ghost is added. I made it through three chapters and pulled the bookmark in a Michael Scott no god, no fit of yelling.
January 19, 2016
Recommended to fans of the faux or comic Gothic.
Library copy
Library copy
October 24, 2015
A very cute ghost romp that doesn't take itself seriously and is lots of fun. A great palate cleanser between more difficult reads, light, witty and romantic.
May 22, 2025
As usual, not a perfect book, but it remains one of my favorites
June 24, 2024
Ghosts!!!! Give me a break
Two children stuck in an old house that was transported bit by bit to America from England and the two ghosts came with it, the third one was killed by a ghost and she became a ghost too. Of course we don’t believe in such things but the book makes it funny and interesting.
The ex wife of the uncle saves them all and then they all move back to the family home.
I liked the way she was teaching the children (except for math of course) and the way she cooks for them too. I didn’t realize that children can adapt so quickly.
It’s a quick read if you want a change from the heavy philosophical books. (Almost 200 pages less than Villette which took me almost two weeks to finish but I must say I learnt more from that book)
Thus if you want a relaxed quick read, this one is for you. (Mind you there is a lot of sex in it. So not for the faint heart)
Excerpts:
You don't think there's a hell.
"I don't see how a hell makes sense. What's the point of tormenting souls forever? Where's the poetry in that, what use is it? If there is a guiding intelligence that created this world, which is amazing, why would it design eternal pain and torment for the next one? It's just a stupid concept."
To punish the bad people.
"Forever?" Andie said, getting impatient. "What good is that? That's just vengeance, it doesn't accomplish anything. The whole hell thing annoys me, it's such a power play."
Two children stuck in an old house that was transported bit by bit to America from England and the two ghosts came with it, the third one was killed by a ghost and she became a ghost too. Of course we don’t believe in such things but the book makes it funny and interesting.
The ex wife of the uncle saves them all and then they all move back to the family home.
I liked the way she was teaching the children (except for math of course) and the way she cooks for them too. I didn’t realize that children can adapt so quickly.
It’s a quick read if you want a change from the heavy philosophical books. (Almost 200 pages less than Villette which took me almost two weeks to finish but I must say I learnt more from that book)
Thus if you want a relaxed quick read, this one is for you. (Mind you there is a lot of sex in it. So not for the faint heart)
Excerpts:
You don't think there's a hell.
"I don't see how a hell makes sense. What's the point of tormenting souls forever? Where's the poetry in that, what use is it? If there is a guiding intelligence that created this world, which is amazing, why would it design eternal pain and torment for the next one? It's just a stupid concept."
To punish the bad people.
"Forever?" Andie said, getting impatient. "What good is that? That's just vengeance, it doesn't accomplish anything. The whole hell thing annoys me, it's such a power play."
July 6, 2017
Very different from what I'm used to reading by JC. I glad she traveled out of her element to write this very enjoyable book. it still has her dosage of quirkiness and fantastic humor with a side of the supernatural :)
June 26, 2015
For a good long while now friends (and perfect strangers for that matter) have been pointing me toward Jennifer Crusie when I’ve bemoaned my inability to find a contemporary romance author I enjoy. While readers resoundingly recommend Bet Me, which I very much still intend to read, I was happy to stumble across Crusie’s off-beat retelling of the classic Gothic, The Turn of the Screw, when searching for the perfect Ohio read to whet my appetite. Admittedly, not having read the original I can’t much comment on Maybe This Time‘s success as a retelling, but from what I know of the tale, I’m going to say she did a bang up job!
Maybe This Time, like almost every romance, is a story you begin knowing the ending. Obviously the previously married Andie and North will find a way back to each other despite ten years separation with no communication. But as with almost every romance, it’s not about where it’s going, it’s about how much fun you have getting there. Cue a more impertinent and ghostly version of The Parent Trap. How else can you get that emotionally unavailable workaholic and that practical free-spirit together?
Andie sold me on herself not only because she was practical, caring, and a damn fine baker of banana bread (one of my favorites), but because she is really resistant to the whole ghost concept. In fact, she’s more willing to admit that her current relationship is more about safety than love and that she never got over her ex-husband than she is that the house she’s living in is haunted. As Maybe This Time moves forward, it becomes clear that the kids Andie has been sent to ‘fix’ have more going on in their lives than a serious case of angst. Still, Andie’s resistance to the paranormal is so realistic–probably more so than any other book I can currently think of. Sometimes seeing is not believing. It takes seeing repeatedly, full conversations, research, and some serious evaluation to believe.
North was a fine hero, and though I don’t believe we get an overwhelming feel for him through his limited point of view, I did love the impression we received of him through Andie’s eyes. I loved that he really got her for who she was, and never tried to adapt her to his own world. Plus, I loved the rest of the cast. Carter who always looked out for his little sister, Alice, Southy who really just wanted to get laid, the mediums, the scientists, the crazy ghosts, the mothers, heck, even the reporter was entertaining…
And then, Maybe This Time becomes an absolute farcical tale with clashing personalities, scandals, exploitation, a few good laughs, and a few good chills. I loved that it was so much more than a romance. More than anything, this story was about the kids and Andie bonding with them, bringing them out of their shells and giving them someone to lean on. It was about hearts finding one another and fitting together in ways that make one whole–make you a family.
In one relatively quick listen, Jennifer Crusie managed to impart some serious chills, swoons, and laughs, and that adds up to a pretty impressive start to our author-reader relationship. The narrator, Angela Dawe, took some getting used to for me, but she did win me over in the end and I would recommend this one on audio. My one complaint is that the character of Alice seemed significantly younger than she was actually supposed to be (5-6 rather than around 9), but I suppose one could argue that her social development was lacking enough to explain away her actions. While there wasn’t an overwhelming sense of ‘Ohio’ in the setting, I do think that those familiar with Columbus might find some familiarity, and Crusie did manage to breath some life into the Gothic house that became the setting for the crux of our tale.
Also, this book takes place in 1992, because…and that makes me happy.
Original review posted at Bunbury in the Stacks.
Maybe This Time, like almost every romance, is a story you begin knowing the ending. Obviously the previously married Andie and North will find a way back to each other despite ten years separation with no communication. But as with almost every romance, it’s not about where it’s going, it’s about how much fun you have getting there. Cue a more impertinent and ghostly version of The Parent Trap. How else can you get that emotionally unavailable workaholic and that practical free-spirit together?
Andie sold me on herself not only because she was practical, caring, and a damn fine baker of banana bread (one of my favorites), but because she is really resistant to the whole ghost concept. In fact, she’s more willing to admit that her current relationship is more about safety than love and that she never got over her ex-husband than she is that the house she’s living in is haunted. As Maybe This Time moves forward, it becomes clear that the kids Andie has been sent to ‘fix’ have more going on in their lives than a serious case of angst. Still, Andie’s resistance to the paranormal is so realistic–probably more so than any other book I can currently think of. Sometimes seeing is not believing. It takes seeing repeatedly, full conversations, research, and some serious evaluation to believe.
North was a fine hero, and though I don’t believe we get an overwhelming feel for him through his limited point of view, I did love the impression we received of him through Andie’s eyes. I loved that he really got her for who she was, and never tried to adapt her to his own world. Plus, I loved the rest of the cast. Carter who always looked out for his little sister, Alice, Southy who really just wanted to get laid, the mediums, the scientists, the crazy ghosts, the mothers, heck, even the reporter was entertaining…
And then, Maybe This Time becomes an absolute farcical tale with clashing personalities, scandals, exploitation, a few good laughs, and a few good chills. I loved that it was so much more than a romance. More than anything, this story was about the kids and Andie bonding with them, bringing them out of their shells and giving them someone to lean on. It was about hearts finding one another and fitting together in ways that make one whole–make you a family.
In one relatively quick listen, Jennifer Crusie managed to impart some serious chills, swoons, and laughs, and that adds up to a pretty impressive start to our author-reader relationship. The narrator, Angela Dawe, took some getting used to for me, but she did win me over in the end and I would recommend this one on audio. My one complaint is that the character of Alice seemed significantly younger than she was actually supposed to be (5-6 rather than around 9), but I suppose one could argue that her social development was lacking enough to explain away her actions. While there wasn’t an overwhelming sense of ‘Ohio’ in the setting, I do think that those familiar with Columbus might find some familiarity, and Crusie did manage to breath some life into the Gothic house that became the setting for the crux of our tale.
Also, this book takes place in 1992, because…and that makes me happy.
Original review posted at Bunbury in the Stacks.
February 22, 2023
All Andie (Andromeda) Miller wants is closure from her ex-husband of ten years, North Archer, so she can marry her new love Will. But on the day Andie goes to return her un-cashed alimony checks to North he has an unusual proposition for her.
North has become the guardian of a distant cousin's two children, Carter and Alice. So far the kids have gotten rid of three nannies who all claim the children are incorrigible and that the house is haunted. So North is willing to pay Andie $10,000 a month to go to the house in Southern Ohio, fix things, and bring the children back up to Columbus.
When Andie arrives at the house she finds a crumbling mansion similar to the House of Usher and Hill House combined and the worst housekeeper since Mrs. Danvers.
As she tries to bond with Alice and Carter she finds herself haunted with steamy dreams of her ex-husband and nearly-nightly midnight visits from a mysterious girl who makes her think that maybe there really are ghosts. Especially when she sees another woman dressed in 19th century garb across the pond in the backyard and a similarly dressed man peering at her from the turret's balcony.
Things spiral out of control when Andie's ex-brother-in-law Southie shows up with a child-bullying tv reporter and a parapsycologist who doesn't believe in ghosts; followed by her crazy tarot card reading mother, her ex-mother-in-law Lydia, Isolde Hammersmith the supposed best psychic in Ohio, her fiance Will, and finally North Archer himself, the one that everyone has been waiting for. Andie knows she must figure out how to put the ghosts to rest once and for all before somebody else gets killed. And then maybe she will realize that all everyone's been wanting is a second chance; and that MAYBE THIS TIME she and North can work things out.
This book rings true to Miss Crusie's usual witty banter and charm. There is never a dull page to be found and it makes you feel good reading it!
Update April 7, 2015: Yes, I've read this book again. And I still love it. But this time I find myself wishing the author would write a sequel, maybe when Alice and Carter are adults where they return to Archer House. That would be awesome!
North has become the guardian of a distant cousin's two children, Carter and Alice. So far the kids have gotten rid of three nannies who all claim the children are incorrigible and that the house is haunted. So North is willing to pay Andie $10,000 a month to go to the house in Southern Ohio, fix things, and bring the children back up to Columbus.
When Andie arrives at the house she finds a crumbling mansion similar to the House of Usher and Hill House combined and the worst housekeeper since Mrs. Danvers.
As she tries to bond with Alice and Carter she finds herself haunted with steamy dreams of her ex-husband and nearly-nightly midnight visits from a mysterious girl who makes her think that maybe there really are ghosts. Especially when she sees another woman dressed in 19th century garb across the pond in the backyard and a similarly dressed man peering at her from the turret's balcony.
Things spiral out of control when Andie's ex-brother-in-law Southie shows up with a child-bullying tv reporter and a parapsycologist who doesn't believe in ghosts; followed by her crazy tarot card reading mother, her ex-mother-in-law Lydia, Isolde Hammersmith the supposed best psychic in Ohio, her fiance Will, and finally North Archer himself, the one that everyone has been waiting for. Andie knows she must figure out how to put the ghosts to rest once and for all before somebody else gets killed. And then maybe she will realize that all everyone's been wanting is a second chance; and that MAYBE THIS TIME she and North can work things out.
This book rings true to Miss Crusie's usual witty banter and charm. There is never a dull page to be found and it makes you feel good reading it!
Update April 7, 2015: Yes, I've read this book again. And I still love it. But this time I find myself wishing the author would write a sequel, maybe when Alice and Carter are adults where they return to Archer House. That would be awesome!
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