I received Triple Shot Bettys in Love by Judy Gehrman in my big box of Penguin books, but after reading the first two pages, I realized this was not a stand-alone sequel, so I ordered the first in the series, Confessions of a Triple Shot Betty, so I could read it first. The premise sounded cute. Geena is excited that her favorite cousin, Hero, is coming to work in the coffee shop with her and her best friend, Amber, for the whole summer. She envisions a summer of girl-bonding that dissolves when Hero and Amber instantly hate each other. In the first couple of pages, I thought there was nothing that could make me want to finish the book. What happened? I learned the nickname of one of the main characters, a name chosen for its shock value and advertisement of sexual experience, and I thought, "I have a daughter. There's no way I can handle this." I am SO glad I pushed through and kept reading, because what followed was a cute, clever, laugh-out-loud story of three very different girls and their growing friendship. Gehrman uses stereotypes (the Skater, the Slut, the Trust-Fund Priss, the Jock), but defies them at the same time by making her characters more about other characteristics. The aforementioned Slut turns out to be far more complex than I had feared, and (I'm a mom now, so when I read YA, this is something I think about) the message ends up being more about embracing who you are than the Girls Gone Wild story I was worried about. I think it's actually a very positive message for teen girls. And when Hero's reputation is ruined, Geena and Amber (and a diverse group of guys) step up to make things right. The positive messages are completely integrated in a very funny, yet moving account of growing up in Amerca today, so it's not preachy in the least. Gehrman does a great job of rendering scenes that made me absolutely crack up (Geena looking for her nonexistent dog as a cover was hilarious), while making her main characters shine with realism. Lovely story, told in diary entries written by the delightful Geena.
The sequel, Triple Shot Bettys in Love, has Geena unwillingly flirting with a cute new teacher on MySpace under Amber's name. She thinks Amber's fixation on the teacher is unhealthy, but she knows Amber will have to find that out for herself. Meanwhile, Geena's boyfriend is spending time with a childhood friend who's moved back to Sonoma Valley, a gorgeous fashion plate. Geena has to learn how to be a girlfriend without losing her identity while trying to unite Amber with Jeremy, a far more suitable beau. I thought this one was cute, too, though it didn't sparkle quite as much as the first.Do you want to win these two books? Confessions is a trade paperback, and In Love is a trade paperback-sized ARC, and they need a good home! To enter, leave your best dating story (funny, embarrassing, whatever) in a comment on this entry. But hurry! I'm closing this contest Thursday, February 12 at midnight Pacific Standard Time. I'll pick my favorite story and send the winner's books out by Valentine's Day!
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22 comments:
okay this isn't really a dating story but it is pretty embarrassing and odd and sorta a dating story I suppose.
I was volunteering at my local library and this guy there asked me out, we never actually went on a date b/c I knew he had a girlfriend, but I supposed her friend (she also volunteered there) told her I was dating him or something (that's the only way I could think of for why she would think this b/c I really don't think he'd tell her that) so one day while I was putting some books back in order, his girlfriend (I didn't know who she was until a while later when I pieced it together) came up to me and started yelling at me (at a library! it was so mortifying)telling me some very not nice things about how I'm a whore who steals boyfriends after yelling at me for about five minutes straight she threw some books at me, she managed to throw two before one of the workers told her to leave. She was really mad at me. I tried to defend myself but she wouldn't let me speak! So I just let her be. For the most part I just stood there and stared at her, I was just too shocked, and at first I had no idea what she was talking about.
It was the weirdest thing that has ever happened to me.
I've never ever had a real date. Can I enter? ;|
Any story related to someone you're interested in or who's interested in you would be fine :) One of the funniest parts of Confessions of a Triple Shot Betty is a scene in which Geena makes up an outrageous lie to explain her actions to a guy. They're not on a date or anything.
That night, my first boyfriend and I went down to the lakeshore near his house. We had only been going out for a week and so were still shy around each other. After finding a nice flat rock by the water's edge, we sat next to each other (not touching, how awkward!) and watched the sunset colors ripple on the water's surface and finally disappear.
The sky was brilliantly clear; it was perfect for stargazing, and our mutual love for astronomy was something we had bonded over. We lay down on the rock, headlights from passing cars occasionally shining on us, and realized that between the two of us, we could only recognize two constellations: the Big Dipper, and the W-shape of Casseiopeia. Clearly we failed at being astronomers. We laughed, I checked the time, and realized I had to get home soon. (It was a school night, after all, even though I was a second-semester high school senior.)
Sitting up, I had a sudden rush from having all the blood quickly leaving my head. Before I could catch my breath and clear my vision, my boyfriend had sat up too, and leaned towards me and...
It was soft and wet and minty and perfect. As far as first kisses go, I think I got pretty lucky!
-
Hehe. Okay okay, enough sap already!
stephxsu at gmail dot com
This is the story of my first date with my now husband. We had met the night before at a bar so I could hardly hear anything he had said. Here is the story:
He called me to get directions to my parents house. I gave him directions and I got him lost. He called to tell me where he was and I didn't have the foggiest idea as to where he was. I had to get my dad on the phone to give him correct directions. My dad knew I was terrible at giving directions yet he made me do it. When he finally does arrive he comes in and my parents give him the usual 3rd degree. Now we go out to his car. As we are driving to the movie theater he turns on his turn signal which causes his windshield wipers to go on. He tries to get the wipers to go off but they just keep going back and forth, back and forth. At this point I am laughing as he is saying, "Oh I am so sorry about this car." Between my laughs I respond "I thought I was the only one who drove possessed cars." He then laughs and stops worrying about the car and it acting up. We had a great time at the movies and dinner after wards.
I think that is what made me fall in love with him because something so embarrassing happened and he still called me again.
This isn't my dating story but it is funny and it happened in my life. My roommate and best friend in college dated a guy named Dan for two years before breaking up with him. The very weekend after their break up she went out to a party looking for a rebound good time. I had to work so I stayed home. The next morning I get up to go to work at about 8 am and there is a guy I don't know on my couch drinking a beer. I ask him what his name is and he says Dan. I giggle and go about getting ready for work.
The next weekend she again goes out and I again stay home because of work. On Saturday morning I get up early to get ready for work and there is a third, completely new, guy sitting on my couch. I say good morning I'm Erika. He says "hi I'm Dan." I literally laughed in his face. Three guys, three Dans. It was like a disease. I still give her a hard time for it and we have a strict no Dan rule now.
Hope you get a good giggle out of this one.
sports[dot]erikalynn[at]gmail[dot]com
Here's a real life dating story from 44 years ago- I went on a double date with a friend from college and her boyfriend whose brother was my "blind" date. It was the day before Valentine's day and my friend and her boyfriend were kidding around about it so my date says, "oh, yeah, tomorrow is Valentine's Day so here's a nickel. I figured I never see this guy again, right, well anyway we have now been married for 42 1/2 years and every Feb 13th he gives me a nickel for every year we have been together.
Please enter me in the contest as my teenage granddaughter would get a kick out of these books.
ooops forgot e mail contact
florida982002[at]yahoo dot com
Thanks
Great contest! I am glad you liked the books. Obviously, don't enter me, because I already have them :)
PS - I linked to your contest so hopefully that will get you a few extra entries :)
http://presentinglenore.blogspot.com/2009/02/win-triple-shot-bettys-prize-pack.html
Ok this is a funny story of how I met my current boyfriend:
One night I went to a party with friends of mine, where I was introduced to a guy who they were trying to set me up with. I didn't go the party with the intentions of meeting anyone special and I didn't feel any chemistry between him and so once our conversation ended I didn't think I'd see him again. Later on in the night, he approached me, acting as if we hadn't met. I was obviously shocked but after talking a little more, I found out that this guy was the other one's twin brother!! I ended up really connecting with his twin and that was 4 years ago - we've been dating ever since!!
Thanks for the great giveaway :)
I don't know if this counts as a "dating" story, but here's the story of how my husband proposed:
It was our senior year in college and one evening he met me at the little house where I lived so we could walk downtown for pizza. We got to the corner, and he stopped, pulled me back and started talking about how amazing the sunset was over the campus. I was puzzled because he usually doesn't go on about stuff like that--it seemed kinda weird. What I didn't know was that he was stalling because he'd seen my sister and my friends sneaking away from decorating the place where he was going to propose--we'd walked too quickly and were earlier than he'd planned! Apparently if I'd turned my head even a fraction, I'd have seen them dashing away, arms full of stuff decorating stuff. Finally they must have left, and he abruptly stopped talking about the sunset, and led me to where he finally proposed: the courtyard of a small chapel, the same place my dad proposed to my mom almost 30 years earlier. It was decorated with twinkle lights and rose petals, and there was soft music playing. He got down on one knee, said some amazing things, and the rest is history ;)
acvollers at gmail dot com
My most embarrassing moment -- probably ever -- involved a date out with my now ex-boyfriend!
My ex and I had gone out for a late dinner with a bunch of friends from high school I hadn't seen in a long time, including one man with whom I'd been infatuated in high school! I didn't expect to see that crush -- we'll call him Jim -- and was so tongue-tied, embarrassed and self-conscious I could barely speak! I could literally feel my face heating, my eye twitching and my palms sweating uncontrollably as soon as Jim walked in the waiting area of the restaurant. I was with my own boyfriend, of course -- we'll call him Kyle -- and didn't want KYLE to see me freaking out about JIM! And years after the fact! How embarrassing is that?
Of course, Jim walks over to say hello to me and I was about to faint. He was even better-looking than I remembered. And, of course, I had to introduce him to Kyle... so I put my hand on my boyfriend's arm, smile at Jim and say, all sweetly and nervously, "Kyle, this is my boyfriend Jim." I mixed up their names! I introduced the crush as my boyfriend to my boyfriend!
They both laughed awkwardly, of course, though Kyle was sufficiently annoyed about it after the fact. Jim gave me this sort of bemused expression as I cackled like a maniac, I was so mortified!
It might not sound that bad now, but I seriously wanted to crawl out of the restaurant and just redo the entire night, turning back time. It ranks up there as one of the most embarrassing moments of my life, if not the most! I felt my stomach churning just typing this. But I would be thrilled to win those books, so I'm doing what I have to do! :)
Sorry to write you a book, and thanks for the chance to win! :)
Megan
writing.meg [at] gmail.com
During the summer between my sophomore and junior years of high school, my best friend was dating this guy (who thankfully, she dumped about a month after this story took place) who was hosting an exchange student from France. My friend and her boyfriend wanted to go out, but he couldn't leave the exchange student at home. So they asked me to come along.
I went, I had a blast with my friend, but not so much with my blind French date. He did not say more than 5 or 10 sentences the entire time to me or my best friend. The rest of the time, he spoke to his host in French, asking what to order at the restaurant where we went after the movie for shakes. He was ANNOYING. Luckily, my friend was beginning to be bugged by the guy she was dating, so she was more willing to spend time with me on this disaster of a date and ignore her boyfriend, who we included as much as possible. Anytime we tried to include the French guy, he would say one word, maybe two, and then go back to thinking or whatever else it was he was doing. At one point at the restaurant, he was inside, while we sat outside. He bugged sooo much.
Needless to say, not a good date. And we did not hang out with them again while the French guy was still there.
~Meredith F.
rosesaremyfavorite at hotmail dot com
This is a really great contest with Valentine's day coming!
My experience isn't really that special or anything but when I first hung out with the guy I liked alone, it was ridiculously awkward. Ironically, we spent hours on the phone and texting but when he came over to hang out, we didn't talk AT ALL. We sat on my couch and just basically watched TV in silence. After a few hours, we went up to my room and just sat on my ground, staring at each other. Literally. We ended up playing the card game 13 in silence. It was the most awkwardest thing in the world...
Well, this story isn't really about me but it's actually about my best friend (hope she doesn't read this and kill me! haha). It's not an exact date but more just an amusing story :)
So high school for me and my best friends just started this past school year, which of course means meeting new people! One guy, who we'll call Bob, was on one of my best friend's bus (we'll call her Diana). When she first saw Bob, she was all "He's cute!" and so they started to get to know each other, but they never liked each other. My other best friend, who we'll call Cathy, when he first saw Bob, was all "He's UGLY! Ughh eww". She didn't understand what Diana saw in him. But she ended up talking a lot to Bob, since Diana didn't like him or anything.
One week, when I was visiting California, Cathy suddenly calls me and says, "Hey! Guess what? Me and Bob are together now!" I was so shocked! The same guy she thought looked REALLY ugly ends up becoming the guy she falls for! Hahaha. I asked her about and she said, "Yeah, he does look pretty gross sometimes but I like him!" Then I go to Diana and ask her about Bob, and she goes, "Ughh he's so ugly! I wonder what I ever saw in him..." Their point of views COMPLETELY switched! I was so confused because it all happened while I was out of town haha.
Haha maybe this doesn't seem THAT amusing, but it is to me, probably because I saw everything that happened.
Anyways, please enter me! Sorry for writing such a long story x]
I would love to win these books. This is more of an embarrassing "wedding" story, vs. dating. My husband of 21 years is VERY shy, and was even more so when we got married. We got married on Dec. 26 in Wichita, Kansas, in an ice storm. Fortunately he had a long-tailed tux jacket. I say fortunately, because they gave him the wrong size pants (one size too small) and he split the rear end of his pants out BEFORE the wedding. I didn't know anything about it until afterwards. It wasn't noticeable at all because of the long tail on his jacket, but he was moving very gingerly during the wedding and reception. I will never forget the look on his face when he told me what happened!
p.s. I am Lenore's aunt. Thanks for the tip on the contest Lenore!
I once went on a date with a guy who literally could not stop talking about the Mets. I swear that every other word out of his mouth was either David Wright or Jose Reyes. Now, I love baseball and all, but this was seriously excessive. Even after I directly asked him Can we talk about something other than the Mets," he was back to Carlos Beltran two minutes later. He wouldn't even let me talk about the Cardinals. There was definitely no second date.
Ok, this is more of a funny one.
Me and my boyfriend had this huge fight and I didnt want to call him and actually talk to him. But I had all these things I wanted to say. So at the time he had a pager, which only allowed you to leave 15-30 sec messages. I called and left at least 6. Then I spent the rest of the night mad that he never called me back after I told him everything I thought in message form. Well he never got them. He dropped the pager in water and it never dried out. And he never thought to check to see if there were messages before the time ran out and they were automatically deleted. So when he called me the next day he hadnt heard anything I left but apologized anyway. A couple months later I told him all about the messages and we laughed about it. He made a good point though at that time, that if he had heard them he would have been even more confused since they would have played back in reverse order from the way I left them in such short bursts.
My most awkward date was a few years ago with an ex who decided he's gay after I dated him for 9 months.
We saw a wierd sci-fi movie we both ended up hating but there weren't a ton of choices at the time. His parents drove us there and back. We ran into a mutual friend who he was in a huge fight with and her brother and spent an awkward time in an electronics store with them for awhile. My date was messing around and popped some kind of kid toy and got all this green gooey stuff on my jeans- it was freezing and smelled wierd. We ended up running into his parents in the mall's bookstore and they said they'd been trying to call us for an hour.
That was our first date and definitely our wierdest!
pepsivanilla14(at)hotmail(dot)com
My husband and I had our first date to my brother's wedding! My husband was a brave soul for being willing to meet my entire family on our first date. And he stuck around! So he's either brave or insane.
Worst dating story... hm... well, my worst so far happened about two years ago. It was, in fact, with my still current boyfriend. This was our second date. He let me choose a movie and I chose a horror movie I wanted to see. Wanting to be a man, my date decided not to tell me that he had a low tolerance for blood and gore. This movie was very, very bloody and gory. About half way into the movie, my date excuses himself to use the restroom... half an hour passes, them forty five. Finally, the movie ends and my date comes strolling in during the credit. I was ditched for half the date!
Valorie
morbidromantic@gmail.com
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