Review: Third Date by Kylie Keene

At 23, Morgan is a little behind other women her age when it comes to dating and relationships. More specifically, she’s a virgin. Dating wasn’t a priority in high school and college, but now that Morgan has a job and her own apartment, she’s ready to jump back into the dating scene.

When Morgan’s friends at work inform her that most men expect sex on the third date, she panics. She’s convinced her lack of experience will be a total turn-off for guys and make for a really awkward third date. Her friends tell her to just do it with a random guy to get it over with, but Morgan isn’t sure that’s what she wants.

When she meets a guy she’s certain is her dream man, she’s ready to lose it on their third date. But doing so isn’t as easy as she thought. And then there’s the fact that she can’t get another guy out of her head.

Through a series of mishaps and misunderstandings, Morgan eventually finds herself at a place she wasn’t expecting, but the place she wanted to be all along.

Morgan has finally decided to start living a bit more adventurous, which just means going out more and try new things. It's been ten years since her mom died and Morgan closed herself off from the outside world. She's now 23 and never had really a boyfriend let alone some action between the sheets. It's not that she never wanted to, her mind just wasn't on it. That is all about to change though, until she finds out guys expect a certain something at the end of the third date. All this putting herself out there and start taking some risks, scare the bejeezus out of her.

Doing it with some stranger she doesn't know, is not what she wants, but she also doesn't want to make a very big deal about it. She just wants to find a decent guy, date him for a while and get it over with. The only problem seemed to be to find such a guy. Luckily she runs into Grant pretty quickly, he ticks off all of her boxes and things slowly progress between them.

Which is all good except for the fact that Morgan also ran into this other guy from high school. Nothing then ever happened between them, but it's kind of hard to deny the chemistry between them and Morgan has trouble keeping him out of her head. It takes a while to get to this point in the story, which for me could have come sooner, because I have the feeling it would've created more drama.

I was afraid Morgan would be this very naive virgin girl and I'm glad that wasn't the case. She knows things have changed since the 50's and that guys expect certain things. Morgan would also like those things, her fear is more of disappointing them because of her inexperience. I find that she has a very clear view on life, about what she wants to achieve without it being unattainable. She's very down to earth, has no huge complexes and believes that she worth of a great guy. These things might be obvious, but it's so refreshing to find a heroine like that.

Of course she makes some mistakes and bad decisions. It only shows that she is not perfect, but also gives her the ability to learn from that. Now she just had to figure it all out when it comes to the guys in her life.

Overall a very sweet romantic story. You can see that ending coming from miles away, but that doesn't make it any less enjoyable. The guys certainly each have their qualities, though I do have a favourite. Morgan was a very likeable character and I easily got swept in her hunt.

3.5

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Excerpt & Giveaway: Third Date by Kylie Keene

At 23, Morgan is a little behind other women her age when it comes to dating and relationships. More specifically, she’s a virgin. Dating wasn’t a priority in high school and college, but now that Morgan has a job and her own apartment, she’s ready to jump back into the dating scene.

When Morgan’s friends at work inform her that most men expect sex on the third date, she panics. She’s convinced her lack of experience will be a total turn-off for guys and make for a really awkward third date. Her friends tell her to just do it with a random guy to get it over with, but Morgan isn’t sure that’s what she wants.

When she meets a guy she’s certain is her dream man, she’s ready to lose it on their third date. But doing so isn’t as easy as she thought. And then there’s the fact that she can’t get another guy out of her head.

Through a series of mishaps and misunderstandings, Morgan eventually finds herself at a place she wasn’t expecting, but the place she wanted to be all along.

“Okay, here’s the deal. I’m ready to date but I’m kind of lacking in experience.” I wait for their response but they say nothing, so I continue. “What I mean is that I haven’t done the things that you’re claiming men expect on a date.”

“Wait a minute.” Kayla sets her wine glass down. “Are you saying you’re a virgin?”

“Yes.” I sit up straighter, the wine boosting my confidence. “I’m a 23-year-old virgin.”

“Hold on.” Kayla puts her hand up like she’s stopping traffic. “How is that possible? I mean, I know you haven’t dated much but—”

“Don’t listen to her,” Paige says. “I think it’s sweet. And romantic. You’re saving yourself for marriage. A lot of people do that. Good for you, Morgan.” She raises her glass as if we should toast to my virginity.

I ignore her raised glass. “No, I’m not saving myself for anything. In fact I really just want to get the whole sex thing over with, especially now that I know men are expecting it by the third date.”

“That’s not true for all men,” Paige assures me.

“It’s all men.” Kayla pours herself another glass of wine. “So how could this not happen in college?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t go to many parties and I didn’t live in the dorms. I lived at home with my dad, so it just didn’t happen. Plus, I never made it past the first couple dates with a guy. I wasn’t interested enough in any of them to . . . you know.”

“If you can’t even say the word, you’re not going to be able to do it.” Kayla jumps up and starts pacing the floor. “Okay, we can fix this. I can find you a guy who would be more than happy to take care of this for you.”

“She’s not getting her car fixed here.” Paige shoots a dirty look at Kayla, then turns back to me. “You need to find someone who cares about you. Someone who will make this memorable for you.”

“I don’t know if I want it to be memorable. I think I might just want to forget it after it happens and move on.”

“Yes, that’s exactly what you should do,” Kayla says. “My first time was prom night junior year with this guy I was dating. I made it into this huge deal and then it was over in like a minute. And he dumped me the next week. So trust me, the first time sucks. You just want to get it over with.

“You should really think about this some more.” Paige uses her mom-tone, soft-spoken and concerned. “You’ve waited this long. What’s the rush?”

“I’m not in a rush. And I’m not saying I need to race out and have sex. I just need to start dating. But if this third-date rule is a real thing, or even if it’s four or five dates, then I don’t know what to do. I’m completely inexperienced.”

Kayla takes some cheese from the tray and plops down on the couch. “Just have sex and get it over with. I’ve already got someone in mind for you. I’ll see if he’s free Friday night.”

“Friday night? As in this Friday night? That’s so soon. I don’t think I can do that.”

Kayla gets up, grabbing her purse. “You can do it. I’ve gotta go.”

“Morgan, don’t listen to her. You’re not going to have sex with a guy just to get it over with. And you’re not doing it with some random guy.”

“Paige is right, Kayla. That’s just not me. I at least need to know the guy.”

“That’s why you’ll go to dinner first.” Kayla’s at the door, but she turns back and says, “Show me your underwear drawer.”

“What? Why?”

She races to my bedroom. I run to catch up with her, Paige following behind.

Kayla opens my top drawer and pulls out one of my bras. She holds it up. “What is this? Polyester? Beige? It doesn’t even have wires in the cups. No wonder you always look so saggy. Where do you even buy something like this?”

“They come in a two-pack,” I mumble. “You can get them anywhere.”

Paige stares at my beige bra, dangling in the air. “Um, maybe you could get one or two new ones. I could go shopping with you if you want.”

I snatch my bra from Kayla. “But these are really comfortable. And I don’t need that much support. I’m not exactly large-chested.”

Kayla takes it back and checks the size. “34C? That’s not small. You need new bras. Just throw this one out.” She tosses it on the floor and reaches in my drawer again. “Paige, look at this. It gets worse.” Kayla holds up a pair of my underwear. Pink cotton high-cut briefs.

“What’s wrong with those?” I try to grab them but she holds them high in the air. “They’re cut high up on the hip. They’re sexy.”

“You tell her.” Kayla says to Paige. “You’re better at saying things nicely.”

Paige looks at the underwear, then back at me. “Well, I kind of wore ones like that back in middle school. Not that you can’t wear them. I mean, you could work out in them, I guess. But maybe it wouldn’t hurt if you got something a little more, um, appealing to the opposite sex. Maybe something that doesn’t come in a pack of six.”

“What do you wear?” I ask her. “You’re married. You shouldn’t care what your underwear looks like.”

“I’m married, but I still want to look sexy.” She unzips the side of her skirt to reveal her silky black bikinis. “These are my weekday ones. I have better ones for the weekend.”

Kayla keeps snooping in my drawer. “That’s all you have in here? You don’t even have one decent pair of underwear? There isn’t even any variety. They’re all the same style.”

“I stock up every year during the back-to-school sales.” My voice trails off as I realize how pathetic that sounds. I’ve been buying back-to-school underwear! The kind meant for tweens! The kind that’s sold in six packs! “All right. Maybe I could use some new ones.”

Kayla tosses my underwear back in the drawer and closes it up. “I’ve gotta go. But we’ve got some work to do.

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