Character Connection (5): Min Dobbs

Character Connection is hosted by Jen @ The Introverted Reader.

It's been a while since I last did a Character Connection post, I finished Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie last night, and I loved the characters so much that I wanted to talk about them some more.

So... Min Dobbs. Min, short for Minerva, is a 33 year old actuary (a business professional who deals with the financial impact of risk and uncertainty and provide expert assessments of financial security) at her father's insurance firm. She's overweight, has low self-confidence, and is on her way to being the old spinster living in the attic with twelve cats. She just needs the twelve cats.

Despite the low self-confidence thing, she isn't willing to throw herself at any guy who makes a pass, a fact that her current boyfriend, David, comes to realize pretty quickly when she refuses to sleep with him. So he breaks up with her, at a bar, in front of everyone. The jerk.

But Min has friends to push her right back onto that horse, and they push her into a situation where she meets Cal Morrissey, handsome, successful, charming... womanizer. When Min overhears someone (see above jerk) bet Cal as to whether or not he can get Min into bed in a month, things start getting interesting. Min, needing a date to her sister's wedding in three weeks and feeling like she has the upper hand, agrees to go out to dinner with him. Where she channels the mantra: Take No Prisoners: Dating Edition. It is a sight to see.

But Cal surprises her. She feels different with him and he begins to make her feel more comfortable with herself and her body, even sexy. She challenges him, busts his chops and keeps him on his toes so he can avoid being eviscerated by her. But she soon realizes that she doesn't want to take advantage of him for her wedding date needs, and they agree not to see each other anymore. An idea which fate, or chaos theory, doesn't agree with. They keep running into each other, keep being drawn back to each other despite their intentions to stay away... He foils her diet with Krispy Kreme donuts, too, a fact which might just give her mother a coronary.

Mama Overlord, as I call her, ordered Min's bridesmaid dress two sizes too small in the extremely optimistic hope that Min would be able to lose the weight to fit into it. She bans Min from eating carbs, butter, sugar, food... Min rebels in small ways, but mostly allows Mama Overlord to dictate her diet because Min loves her sister and doesn't want to disappoint her on her wedding day.

Despite being pulled in 50 different directions by her family, friends, ex-boyfriend (who now wants her back after seeing her with someone else... the jerk), Cal, and HIS family, Min is determined to do what is right for her for once, even if that means getting a cat and becoming a spinster. Chaos theory just might have a different plan. The jerk.

I loved Min. She is witty, smart, and funny, and she has much better taste in shoes than I do. She's wary about her heart, but willing to take the risk for a man who encourages her to eat donuts. Hell, I would too.