[citation needed] Crusie married in 1971, and followed her Air Force husband to Wichita Falls, Texas.
She entered a Silhouette-sponsored novella contest in the winter of 1991 and won one of twelve places with a novel called Sizzle.
[citation needed] Shortly after that, Harlequin bought Keeping Kate and changed the name to Manhunting, which was Crusie's first published novel, appearing in February 1993.
[citation needed] For the first three years of Crusie's career, her books were published as category romances under the Silhouette, Harlequin, and Bantam Loveswept lines.
[2][5] In 1995, Crusie signed with St. Martin's Press, and began writing single title novels, beginning with Tell Me Lies.
The switch to longer, non-category novels was easy for Crusie, who says that "I was never conscious of writing category or single title or paperback or hardcover.
"[5] Her long partnership with her editor, Jennifer Enderlin, made it possible for her to explore many different aspects of storytelling, and Crusie explained the depth of her relationship with her editor in an explanation of why she wasn't self-publishing]: "SMP still excels at the one thing I'd have to work full time to do half as well as they do: Tell people my book is out there.
[6] After a ten-year hiatus from publishing, Crusie began again in collaboration again with Bob Mayer, experimenting with self-publishing.
[citation needed] In September 2004, Crusie met adventure novelist Bob Mayer at the Maui Writers Conference.
[7] In August 2007, their second collaborative novel, Agnes and the Hitman, was released and made the New York Times best seller list.
The first - Lavender's Blue,[11] Rest in Pink, and One in Vermillion - came out in 2023 and the second - Rocky Start, Very Nice Funerals, and The Honey Pot Plot - came out in 2024 and early 2025.