10 Blind Dates
By: Ashley Elston
Published Year: 2019
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Pages: 336
Summary (Provided by Goodreads): Sophie wants one thing for Christmas-a little freedom from her overprotective parents. So when they decide to spend Christmas in South Louisiana with her very pregnant older sister, Sophie is looking forward to some much needed private (read: make-out) time with her long-term boyfriend, Griffin. Except it turns out that Griffin wants a little freedom from their relationship. Cue devastation.
Heartbroken, Sophie flees to her grandparents' house, where the rest of her boisterous extended family is gathered for the holiday. That's when her nonna devises a (not so) brilliant plan: Over the next ten days, Sophie will be set up on ten different blind dates by different family members. Like her sweet cousin Sara, who sets her up with a hot guy at an exclusive underground party. Or her crazy aunt Patrice, who signs Sophie up for a lead role in a living nativity. With a boy who barely reaches her shoulder. And a screaming baby.
When Griffin turns up unexpectedly and begs for a second chance, Sophie feels more confused than ever. Because maybe, just maybe, she's started to have feelings for someone else . . . Someone who is definitely not available.
This is going to be the worst Christmas break ever... or is it?
First Impressions
The cover caught my eye as did the summary but for some reason I didn’t add it to my TBR until I heard some good things about it. So I guess it didn’t make a great first impression?
What I thought
I honestly don’t know why I didn’t grab this book earlier. It was so cute and such fun!
When Sophie’s sister is having medical issues with her pregnancy, she convinces her parents to let her stay with her Grandparents instead of going with over winter break. But Sophie’s real plan is to sneak back to hand out with her boyfriend daily. Until she overhears him on that first night talking about how he had been looking forward to having a break from her to test out whether or not he wants to break up with her for good. When she shows up at her Grandparents’ house heartbroken, her Nonna suggests setting her up on 10 blind dates to help her get over her ex. A combination of her aunts, uncles, and cousins set her up on daily dates and she learns not just how to get over her ex but about how much she has been missing that familial connection.
Sophie’s family is easily the best thing about this book. She has a massive family that is way too into everyone else’s business. She has her two closest cousins who are her age, as well as her cousin Charlie’s best friend, Wes. Then she has like 8 aunts and uncles and another entire gaggle of cousins. Add in a nosey but loving set of Grandparents and you maybe start to get the idea.
This book kind of reminded me of the book 99 Days by Katie Cutugno in that each chapter is a day over the course of winter break, 10 of which are the blind dates Sophie goes on. I love the way that the story was told in real time and that we got to read about each date.
The other fun thing, specific to me, was that I happened to choose to read this over winter break and while I was in Louisiana, which is where this story takes place.
While it was pretty obvious from the beginning who Sophie was going to end up with, it was a lot of fun to see how she was going to get there. I also liked the secondary plots of her sister’s pregnancy and her relationships with her cousins Olivia and Charlies. If you don’t wish that you had Sophie’s family by the end of this book the I don’t understand you at all.
This was such a fun holiday read, but you can definitely read it at any time of the year. Everything about this story was delightful an it was exactly what I needed at the end of the year. If you like fun stories with quirky family members, or if you’re just looking for a quick read, I highly recommend this book.