Jennifer Crusie

Jennifer Crusie's career as a romance author began when she read over 100 titles as part of a class project. Since then, she has contributed to the growing body of academic work studing romance fiction. She is known throughout the industry as a generous mentor, while her readers are attracted to her smart, funny style. Crusie began her career as an author for Harlequin. After leaving Harlequin, she moved to St. Martin's Press where she has been wildly successful.

Crusie recently teamed with author Bob Mayer to co-author a series of books.

On the Web

• Jennifer Crusie
• argh ink - Jenny's blog

Books

Fiction

• Anyone But You - Originally released as part of Harlequin's short-lived "Love and Laughter" line, Anyone But You was re-released in January 2006 in hardcover by HQN.
• Bet Me - Jennifer Crusie won the 2005 RITA® in the Best Contemporary Single Title category; St. Martin's Press.
• Charlie All Night
• Cinderella Deal, The - 1996; Loveswept; Out-of-Print
• Crazy For You - Crazy For You marked Crusie's entrance into the world of single title romance. 2000; St. Martin's Press
• Don't Look Down - 2006; Co-written with Bob Mayer; St. Martin's Press
• Faking It - 2004; St. Martin's Press
• Fast Women
• Getting Rid of Bradley - Jennifer Crusie won the 1995 RITA® in the Short Contemporary category.
• Manhunting - 1993; Mira
• Strange Bedpersons - 1994
• Tell Me Lies
• Trust Me On This - Loveswept
• What The Lady Wants
• Welcome To Temptation

Non-Fiction

• Anne Rice: A Critical Companion - 1996; Greenwood Press; Published under Jennifer Smith
• Flirting with Pride and Prejudice : Fresh Perspectives on the Original Chick-Lit Masterpiece - 2005; Benbella Books; Jennifer Crusie, Editor
• Totally Charmed : Demons, Whitelighters and the Power of Three - 2005; Benbella Books; Jennifer Crusie, Editor

Honors

• 1995 RRA Awards Winner - Best Series/Category Author
• 1994 RRA Awards Nominee - Best Series/Category Author

Story Elements

Like many authors, Jennifer Crusie taps certain elements and themes from story-to-story. She recombines these in new and different ways while continuing to explore her signature themes.

Dogs

Jennifer Crusie novels often feature dogs as characters. Her ability to make canines come alive on the page has often lead to readers to refer to Anyone But You as "Fred's book". The depressed half-basset hound, half-beagle steals every scene he's in.

A stray dog also plays a key role in Crusie's breakout classic Welcome To Temptation. Other Crusie books featuring dogs in major roles include Charlie All Night, Crazy For You -- the dog leads to a break-up.

Her depiction of dogs draws on her experiences with her own dogs. Cats also feature in a number of her books, in Strange Bedpersons, The Cinderella Deal and Bet Me, and again she acknowledges that she's been influenced by her pets.

Family

A key aspect of Jennifer Crusie's work is family ties. Her heroines tend to come from slightly eccentric yet strongly bonded families. The concept of family extends to close friendships.

Friends

Crusie's heroines tend to have strong friendships with other women. These friendships are integral to the story.