Andie and North have been divorced for ten years. Andie wants to cut North out of her life completely before marrying her new fiance, Will, but North has one last job for her: taking care of his wards, Alice and Carter. The catch? The house they're staying in is said to be haunted, all the nannies they've had have left screaming. And the last nanny? She died. Welcome to Maybe This Time.

The book is pleasantly creepy, incredibly funny, and deeply infused with the best of Crusie's style. A fun retelling of The Turn of the Screw, this book comes off as more literary than the other Crusie books I've read; it's less chick-lit, and has a far deeper plot than simply 'getting back the man.'

I really look forward to reading more of her stories, this one had me grinning and laughing. Not such a fluffy light read, but not at all a bad or serious one. ( )

I really liked this book. The characters were well written as well as the story. It made me want to know more about the characters and read more from this writer. ( )

Maybe This Time is a book about Andie and North ex's who haven't seen each other in 10 years. Andie's planning on getting married again and would like some closure first. North asks her to one little favor for him first. A Gothic house complete with ghosts, 2 self-sufficient kids, a Mrs. Danversish, housekeeper, along with a host of other characters makes for a fun, thriller of a read. Crusie writes characters who are quirky and vulnerable. I loved the story this is Cruisie's best book yet. ( )

From Amazon:

Andie Miller is ready to move on with her 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, North asks one last favor: Since the death of a distant cousin, he's become the guardian of two orphans who have already driven away three nannies. North needs someone to take care of the situation--and he knows Andie can handle anything. 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. Complicating matters is Andie's fiance's suspicion that this is all a plan by North to get Andie back. He may be right because Andie's dreams have been haunted by North since she arrived at the old house, and that's not the only haunting. As Andie copes with the ghosts of her past and present, she begins to see that what she wants is the same thing that everyone in the house wants--a second chance--and that maybe this time she'll get it.

My Thoughts:

Writing a ghost story must be very hard....writing a ghost romance that isn't cliche must be extremely difficult...but Jennifer Crusie has seemed to pull it off.. She manages to create believable the ghosts...if there is such a thing...while explaining the different types of ghosts and not coming across as corny. The setup at the house is quite Gothic. In fact, one feels as if one has stepped right into a prototypical Gothic historical romance, except for the very modern characters and the snappy, humorous dialogue. You have everything a good ghost story needs... ghosts, murders, a creepy housekeeper, fading children...the whole deal. That should all work well, but the light and witty writing style, and the addition of the kooky characters of Andie's mother, the extraneous medium, just don't quite pull it together. Overall not a bad book...just not a 4 or 5 star one either. ( )

Maybe This Time is 4 1/2 stars.

I haven't read a Jennifer Crusie novel in far too long and really wish that she would write more and this book reminded me of why I appreciate her writing so much.

Stepping into Crusie's world is definitely not like stepping into the world of most chick lit writers today. Her characters seem very real and their adventures different.

Maybe This Time is a lot ghost story (Turn of the Screw) and a little bit romance. It has humor, intellect, and style. Crusie doesn't rely on cutesie to get her job done, but maybe a little bit of quirk.

Why just 4 1/2 stars then? I found that the book ran a little long. While I was very happy to be in Crusie's world again, the last twist may have been just one too many.

Anyway, fun read. I would definitely recommend to other readers who enjoy humor, romance, and mystery mixed with the supernatural. ( )