••• NO ••• JUST ••• PLAIN ••• NO •••
TOMMY’S BLIND DATE
ANNE BROOKE
👎🏿🚫⭐️🚫👎🏿
17 JUN 2020
I’m with the reviewer, MICHELLE ARTHUR, ⭐️⭐️, June 10, 2019, on this one —
QUOTE:
“Just a lot of "huh?" on my part.
Didn't really understand what AB found so sexy about writing this story, or the characters, or the situation.”
I WHOLEHEARTEDLY, AND COMPLETELY AGREE WITH YOU, MICHELLE ARTHUR.
ONLY, my opinion is MUCH MORE HARSH, because of what ANNE BROOKE is really “PUSHING” here.
IT’S SHAMEFUL REALLY.
Read on (SPOILERS) if you REALLY WANT TO KNOW what we’re talking about. . .
〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️
Tommy’s best friend, Jacob, talks him into going on a blind date with him, so he can try to help Tommy figure out just what exactly it is, he may be doing, that’s making all these blind dates, that he keeps going on, go so wrong
Every time Tommy comes home after one of these yet again, perfectly awful dates, he spends the rest of the evening monopolizing what’s left of Jacob’s night, complaining to him about just how terrible this blind date, in particular, really was.
Jacob suggests a “fake/play” blind date between them.
Jacob is an actor.
So, he figures he can act his way through a “fake” blind date and “play” at being a potential, previously unknown suitor, with his best friend Tommy, pretty easily — at least, that’s how he presents this whole idea to Tommy.
Jacob tells Tommy they could use it as a way to, hopefully, give Tommy some guidance as to how he can IMPROVE either his own behavior, and/or the OUTCOME of these dates so that maybe, they could at the least, turn out to be a little more tolerable.
Really, though, it’s all just a ruse for Jacob to get Tommy to go out with HIM — instead of all these other people that Tommy keeps trying to meet through one endless “blind” date, after another.
Blind dates set-up by co-workers (etc) who don’t really take Tommy’s and/or the (prospective) other man’s personalities (or compatibility) into consideration.
Because honestly, having been friends for years, does make it rather hard for Jacob (and Tommy, of course) to break the ice and come out about how they actually do feel about each other.
It’s hard to finally come out and suggest they might be better with each other, at least more so, than they seem to be with all these other people.
They both seem to be getting no where, with their respective dating lives, since break-ups with their “once” long-term partners and are having a hard time finding the “all-elusive” perfect boyfriend — which is, of course, standing right in front of them.
However, their fake “blind date” was really ICKY, if you ask me.
And, let’s face it — you did ask me.
Well, for a review, anyway.
Jacob is supposed to be HELPING Tommy hone his blind date “skills.”
Yet, one of the first things Jacob does, is tell Tommy that he (Jacob) will be paying for the entire expensive dinner and wine himself.
After all, it was he (Jacob) that chose the restaurant as the place of their “play” date, together.
BUT . . .
and there’s always a BUT, isn’t there?
In RETURN for his GENEROSITY, he expects something MORE from Tommy.
In reply, Tommy tells him his payment of the debt owed for the dinner, and wine, basically depends on wether he thinks said items are UP TO HIS STANDARDS.
ICKY . . .
FOR EXAMPLE — at the start of the date Tommy arrives about five minutes late and this is the interaction that ensues:
“ . . . I don’t like my dates being late,” he said. “I made the effort to get here on time and I expected you to do the same. Are you always late when you see someone for the first time, Thomas? . . . “
“ . . . Yeah, I am, unless I really like the look of them. I mean what’s the point of wasting an evening if I don’t like the goods? But, after five minutes or so of checking you out, I thought I might as well give you a try. I don’t have anything else to do . . . “
“ . . . Not bad,” he said. “Like you, I think I’ll try this date out for a while, but you’d better keep my interest or I’ll just leave. I do hate being bored, almost as much as being kept waiting. Do you understand, Thomas? . . . ”
(Arrogant Pr¡ck, much?)
THEN, once they went inside the restaurant, and were seated:
“ . . . I’ll pay for the wine and the meal, Thomas. It’s my treat. It’s what I’m bringing to our first date together. Tell me, what are you bringing?”
“ . . . What I’m bringing to our evening together depends on whether I like the food here and the wine, too, for that matter . . . ”
“ . . . Then you won’t be disappointed. And, as a result, neither, I hope, will I . . . ”
Nothing like a Big, Fat D¡ck Head, is there?
Just what exactly is Jacob trying to “teach” Tommy about his dating skills?
That he isn’t “A§§HØLE” enough?
That he doesn’t “PUT OUT” enough?
Up until then, Tommy had never slept with anyone on the first date. And he’s always told his blind dates that, right up front, and Jacob knows that.
So, is he teaching “SLUTTISM”?
It’s like Jacob is telling Tommy that, if he would “put out” on the first date, then maybe his dates would go better. (Remember, after Jacob reminded Tommy that he was basically “paying for his company by buying dinner” and in doing so, Tommy needed to, basically, be “providing something” in return.)
Or, is he telling him if he actually DID sleep with someone on the first date then, that “date” might at least think about seeing him again? (After all, that was part of the point of this fake date — to see if Tommy could “learn” how to get at least one of these blind dates, to be interested in him enough, that there might, at least, be a second date.)
Yeah, NO.
JUST•PLAIN•NO.
Although, to be fair, after the dinner conversation took place, Jacob DID remind Tommy that this was just make believe and they could stop any time Tommy wanted to.
Tommy didn’t want to:
“ . . . You know this is a game, don’t you? he whispered, sounding more like the Jacob I knew . . . Role play, like we talked about . . . We can stop if you don’t like it, you know, Tommy. You just have to say . . . “
“ . . . “Yes,” I said. “I remember that . . . “What’s not to like?” I said at last, winking at him. “For a blind date, this is going pretty well so far, don’t you think?”
WHAT THE H€££?
“Going pretty well?”
What kind of “dates from hell” had Tommy been going on that he thought this was “going pretty well?”
REALLY?
I know Jacob was just trying to, FINALLY, get Tommy into bed after all those years of pining for him but, this was just PLAIN UGLY.
Didn’t like the scenes they were playing out, as “practice” blind dates — AT ALL.
YUCKY . . .
ICKY . . .
The only thing they both were “playing” at was being A§§HØLE§.
To paraphrase a quote I’ve heard before:
“ARROGANT A§§HØLE§.”
Instead of playing this out with the harshness of a (basically) “put out or get out” type of scene — I think maybe, something more along the lines of . . . “I’ve been wanting to meet you for so long, I just can’t believe I finally talked your sister into introducing us . . . “ would have been a better way of getting Tommy to know just how much Jacob really thought/felt about him and what he really, truly wanted to happen between them.
I’m no author, obviously, but really, this was just wrong . . .
Playing like you’re teaching someone “better dating skills” by telling him you “expect him to re-pay you” for the expense of the dinner, and drinks that you, yourself arranged and thus, are paying for — BEFORE you even get around to ordering, yet — ?
What’s that?
Fair warning?
Be careful what you order, because you’ll be paying me back, big time?
So, ANNE BROOKE, just what DID you find so sexy about writing this story, or the characters, or the situation?
••• NO ••• JUST ••• PLAIN ••• NO •••
MTULIPK
Yeah, I know, quite a lot to say about a book that’s only 25 pages.
OOPS ‼️‼️‼️