Maybe This Time - Hardcover

Crusie, Jennifer

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0312303785 ISBN 13: 9780312303785

Publisher: St. Martin's Press, 2010

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Product Description
The New York Times bestselling author of Bet Me, Tell Me Lies and Welcome to Temptation delivers her long-awaited new novel--Maybe This Time.

Andie Miller is ready to move on in life. She wants to marry her fiancé and leave behind everything in her past, especially her ex-husband, North Archer. But when Andie tries to gain closure with him, he asks one final favor of her before they go their separate ways forever. A very distant cousin of his has died and left North as the guardian of two orphans who have driven out three nannies already, and things are getting worse. He needs a very special person to take care of the situation and he knows Andie can handle anything.

When Andie meets the two children she quickly realizes things are much worse than she feared. The place is a mess, the children, Carter and Alice, aren’t your average delinquents, and the creepy old house where they live is being run by the worst housekeeper since Mrs. Danvers. What’s worse, Andie’s fiancé thinks this is all a plan by North to get Andie back, and he may be right. Andie’s dreams have been haunted by North since she arrived at the old house. And that’s not the only haunting.

What follows is a hilarious adventure in exorcism, including a self-doubting parapsychologist, an annoyed medium, her Tarot-card reading mother, an avenging ex-mother-inlaw, and, of course, her jealous fiancé. And just when she thinks things couldn’t get more complicated, North shows up on the doorstep making her wonder if maybe this time things could be different between them.

If Andie can just get rid of all the guests and ghosts, she’s pretty sure she can save the kids, and herself, from the past. But fate might just have another thing in mind...

Amazon Exclusive: Susan Elizabeth Phillips Interviews Jennifer Crusie

Susan Elizabeth Phillips is the bestselling author of Nobody’s Baby But Mine, What I Did for Love, and many others. She is the only four-time recipient of the Romance Writers of America’s prestigious “Favorite Book of the Year” Award and was also honored with their “Lifetime Achievement” Award. Read on for Susan Elizabeth’s hilarious and entertaining conversation with Jennifer Crusie:

Susan Elizabeth Phillips: Exactly why is Susan Elizabeth Phillips your dear friend?

Jennifer Crusie: Susan Elizabeth Phillips is everything I aspire to be in a writer, a Comic Genius with Incredible Insight into the Human Condition, so I stay close so I can be just like her. I remember the first time we met. It was in an elevator in Dallas. It was magic. She got off at the next floor.

SEP: What do you like most about Susan Elizabeth Phillips?

JC: I think it's her modesty, her willingness to give to others. And her shoes.

SEP: Which Susan Elizabeth Phillips book is your favorite, or do you love them all too much to choose?

JC: Heaven, Texas because I love a Cinderella story.

Also her last one, whatever it is when whoever is reading this is reading this. The one that's on sale now. That one. It's amazing and you should buy it. There's probably a button for it on here somewhere. Hit that button.

SEP: Oh, wait! This is supposed to be about YOU? Sheesh... For those who haven’t read it and are waiting breathlessly, share a little something about your new book Maybe This Time?

JC: Maybe This Time is my version of The Turn of the Screw. It's about a woman who goes back to tell her ex-husband that she's marrying somebody else and takes a job caring for two orphans he's inherited who are living in southern Ohio. When she gets to southern Ohio, she finds out the kids are delinquents and the house is haunted. Also, the ex-husband? Still very hot.

SEP: What is special about this book?

JC: It's a ghost story! And a love story! With kids! It's a Romantic Comedy Ghost Story With Kids. By me!

(You don' t have a copy because it's not out yet. We'll send you one as soon as we get them. Pretend you've read it and it's the most amazing book EVER. I did for you.)

SEP: What gave you the most difficulty writing Maybe This Time and what gave you the most joy?

JC: Difficult--Ghosts. Ghosts are not easy to write without getting cheesy. Also, I generally do not write horror so the I-wants-to-make-your-skin-creep parts were a real departure for me.

Joy--The kids. I'm living with two little girls right now, ages eight and 11, and I stole from them to write Alice. Alice was so much fun to write. Not so much fun to live with in the book, but to write? Alice rocks.

SEP: How do the stories you want to tell now differ from the ones you wanted to tell when you started writing? How are they the same?

JC: Such good questions. Are you a writer, too? Oh, wait. Never mind.

I had no idea how difficult writing fiction was when I started so I just wrote stories. Then I Learned My Craft. Now I spend a lot of time staring into space, thinking about how much I don't know and panicking. So it's harder. But the books are better, more complex, better structured, better written. Also I'm kind of over that Oh-My-God-They-Have-To-Have-Sex-Right-Now-Let-Me-Describe-It-In-Graphic-Detail. I figure anybody reading my books has either had sex or seen it on cable so maybe there's something more interesting in the characters' lives to describe in depth. Like, oh, GHOSTS!

SEP: You're an amazingly entertaining writer. Are you funny in real life? (I know the answer to this, but I'm thinking all of your readers might not.)

JC: Well, not as funny as Susan Elizabeth Phillips, who is a Comic Genius, but I have inspired a few chuckles here and there. Mostly, no.

SEP: Once I start a Jennifer Crusie book, I can't put it down. I know your loyal readers feel the same. What's your secret? (Please reply in 10 words or less because I hate making things too easy on you.)

JC: I do everything Susan Elisabeth Phillips does, except backwards in high heels. (That's twelve words. We can cut the "Elizabeth Phillips" part if you want.)

SEP: Did you finally get your messy office cleaned up so it looks as good as mine? (Oops... This is about you. I keep forgetting.)

JC: Yes. And then it got messy again. Because I'm a creative person and we creative people cannot be bound by the shackles of conventionality that stifle the expression of those who feel compelled to clean their offices. How's your office look?

From the Back Cover:

Andromeda "Andie" Miller is ready to move on with her life. After ten years of wavering, she plans to marry her fiance and forget her ex-husband, North Archer, forever. But when Andie goes to his office and dumps ten years' worth of uncashed alimony checks on his desk -- her idea of closure -- he asks for one favor. A cousin has died and left North the guardian of two orphans who have already driven out three nannies. North needs her help. How can she refuse -- especially when he's offered her $10,000 per month!

Andie packs up and off she goes to middle-of-nowhere, Ohio. When she arrives at the monstrous house that has been carted from England to southern Ohio, she realizes that things are much worse than North anticipated. The place is a mess, the children, Carter and Alice, aren't your average delinquents, the house may be haunted, and the housekeeper is crazy, dangerous -- or both!

About this edition

• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0312303785
• ISBN 13: 9780312303785
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 352