Double Date

Greek #1

by Marsha Warner

Two dates— same night!

Major oops. When Casey Cartwright's brother begs her to be nerdy Dale Kettlewell's date to the sure-to-be-boring Honors Engineering Awards, Casey says yes. Even though Dale is totally not her type… and might have a crush on her. Ugh. But it's a nice thing to do, and Casey's always been the "nice" girl.

But now, that night conflicts with the biggest event of the semester, the All-Greek formal. Casey already has a date lined hot transfer student Rob Howell. He's her plan to get over her sexy-slacker ex, Cappie. And even nice girls get to be bad sometimes, right?

What to do? With a little help from BFF Ashleigh, unwanted advice from frenemy Rebecca Logan and even a push from Cappie, what Casey does may surprise even herself….

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Marsha Warner was born in the small Himalayan town that only appears every seven years and then disappears back into the morning mist. At the age of ten, she became famous for her lion-wrestling exploits. At seventeen, she became the first person to ascend Mount Everest on one foot. By thirty she had her first million from her lucrative career of appearing uncredited in thousands of films. By forty she had perfected her time machine, but unfortunately, in her attempt to go back to 1941 and kill Hitler, she got stuck in a traffic jam of other history enthusiasts and adventurers trying to go back in time and kill Hitler and was forced to return to the present for lack of fuel. She instead focused her efforts on creating the series of tubes and wires known today as the Internet, using a lot of rubber tubing and wiring she got from RadioShack despite them refusing to ever have a sale. She used the last bits of time machine fuel (which is made from dilithium crystals) to track back to make sure she was twenty-eight when this book was published, or twenty-nine if there were delays in the production until August 2010.

Warner lives in New York City, where she has the popular job of walking around the city in an ill-fitting suit. So far she has avoided getting murdered or stumbling upon a murdered body. As watching three episodes of Law & Order will tell you, pretty much everyone in New York City is either murdered or stumbles upon a murdered body. She has considerable faith in her audience for being both mature enough for this subject matter and for getting most of the references above. She does not own any cats.

Reviews

[Brandi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would actually rate this book about a 3.4.

My biggest complaint regarding this book is that too many characters were thrown into the mix with little or no character development. Initially, it is rather difficult to keep everyone straight. The story also detours onto too many irrelevant tangents that really do not contribute much to the story.

It's actually quite a shame since most of the characters are rather likable and the plotline was interesting, but this novel fell short. I do anticipate that the series will improve as I read newer installments, though, as the characters are developed more and it becomes easier to keep track of who's who.

[Christina (Confessions of a Book Addict) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Casey, a self proclaimed good girl and sorority sister, always tries to do the right thing. Her brother comes to her for a favor. He asks her to get his friend, Dale, a date to the Honors Engineering Awards. Casey ends up going with Dale herself despite her initial hesitation. All is going as planned until the Engineering Awards are canceled and moved to the same night as the All Greek Formal, which is one of the most anticipated nights of the year. This poses a major problem for Casey as she was going to go with her crush, Rob, to this event, even though he has a past with her frenemy, Rebecca. Her plans have been thwarted, especially because she was hoping to show off Rob in front of her ex-boyfriend, Cappie. Between the cast of entertaining characters and the college commotion, readers will enjoy this fun, lighthearted ride. Marsha Warner's Greek: Double Date, which is based on the hit TV show, Greek, proves to be an amusing read, especially for fans of the show.


You know when you read a book and you think to yourself how perfect this book would be if only you were reading it on the beach sipping a pina colada? Well, sometimes I have this thought frequently, especially if I am reading a book that is mind-candy and that's what I was thinking as I reading Greek: Double Date. I wish I had this book with me while on vacation this past summer, because it would have been the perfect beach read. It was a lot of fun to immerse myself in Casey's sorority life, especially with all the drama and tangled webs her friends weave. Plus, Warner's writing style was simply fun!


I must admit that at the beginning, I struggled with this book, because I found myself a bit confused; however, things definitely ironed themselves out and by the middle of the novel, I was extremely entertained. It may be because I've only seen the show a few times and perhaps I needed some prior knowledge?


This isn't a book that I can put on my classroom shelf as it talks about frat parties, strippers, and alcohol, but I think high school students will really enjoy this book and will get a glimpse into what college life is like, especially if you are in a sorority or fraternity. If you are fan of the show, it's fun to see the characters come to life and to obtain more background regarding a particular storyline or character. In fact, readers can learn even more about the characters since the next book in the series, Best Frenemies, comes out this October. In sum, if you want a quick read that is drama filled and enjoyable, be sure to check out Marsha Warner's Greek: Double Date.

[Alexia561 · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the interests of full disclosure, I was never in a sorority, and didn't have much exposure to the Greek way of life. All I knew about Greeks, I learned from the movie Animal House. ;) To be perfectly honest, my friends and I used to mock them, especially during hazing when the poor pledges had to dress up in embarrassing outfits and perform degrading chores. I never understood why anyone would want to do that, but some people don't understand my excitement about book conventions, so guess it's a matter of different strokes for different folks.

When I first received this review offer, I was going to turn it down. A book about college sorority girls? Thanks, but no thanks. Then I felt guilty for stereotyping the genre and took a closer look. This book is based on a hit television show, and apparently has a huge fan base. That got my attention, even though I've never heard of the show. And the synopsis sounded promising, so decided to take a chance and try something new.

This book was a fast, fun read! The main character, Casey, seems a little over-earnest, but overall is a nice girl who tries to do the right thing. I liked her brother Rusty, her ex-boyfriend Cappie, and mercy date Dale. Think they had the most interesting personalities, and I enjoyed their scenes the most. I kept getting Frannie and Rebecca mixed up, and Casey's BFF Ashleigh was a little too perky for my tastes. Evan, Calvin, Fisher, and the other characters didn't leave much of an impression, but that may have been because there were so many people to keep track of. Oh, I did like Rusty's girlfriend, and wanted to know more about why she would want to be in a sorority, when it sounded like she was the anti-Greek. Nice twist for a pledge!

Overall, this was a good book. I didn't love it, but it wasn't bad. It's a Young Adult title, but seemed geared for the pre-teen crowd instead of the Harry Potter crowd. Does that make sense? The writing was a little juvenile, while HP read like an adult book. Might be because of the TV tie-in or something, but that didn't distract from the storyline.

Gave this book a 3/5 because while it wasn't bad, I didn't love it. I want to stress that a 3/5 is not a bad rating, and still means I liked it. This is outside my usual genre, so you may well love it! It was a cute book, the TV show it's based on is a huge hit, and there are a ton of fan sites out there. Not sure why I"ve never heard of it before, but now I have. :)

[Jennifer Wardrip · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reviewed by Jaglvr for TeensReadToo.com

It didn't start out that way. Casey Cartwright was doing the honorable thing. She agreed to help her brother, Rusty, find a date for his roommate, Dale, to the engineering awards' banquet. When she couldn't convince any of her fellow Zeta Beta Zeta sisters or pledges to go with him, she agreed to escort him. Dale was a nice guy. He just had a bit of a crush on her and she wanted to make sure he knew she was going as a friend, nothing more.

The night after the engineering banquet was the All Greek formal. Casey has been boyfriendless for a while, but when the new assistant to the dean shows up at the sorority house for a signature, Casey is smitten. She manages to invite Rob to be her date to the formal. So two dates on two different nights, no big deal, right?

But then distinguished alumni get food poisoning prior to the engineering event, causing that to be moved to the same night as the All Greek formal. Figuring that very few engineering majors were also part of the fraternity system, administrators saw no problem in having two functions on the same night. But it does put Casey in a bind. Wanting to do right by Dale, but eager to see if there are sparks with Rob, Casey doesn't know what to do.

And thus is the focus of DOUBLE DATE. Half the fun of the story is getting to the night in question and seeing if and how Casey might juggle both dates.

I don't watch the series, so I can't say if the book is based on a story line or not. But reviewing the ABC Family website, the characters are the same. Each one has their own little quirks and all are likeable in their own way. Reading this was just a teaser that whetted my appetite to find out more of what all these characters can get into.

[Katieb (MundieMoms) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was completely surprised that I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would. Normally I don't find myself getting into books like this, but I credit the fantastic writing by Marsha Warner for that. Greek, which is based on the popular TV series, is a light hearted, engaging read. I never once felt confused about what was going on and enjoyed all of the character interactions. I've not watched an episode of Greek, but I can only imagine the writing style is very similar to sitting down and watching an episode of it.

I was totally shocked when ZBZ sorority girl, Casey Cartwright agreed to be engineering nerd, Dale's date to the Honors Engineering Awards. Which she agreed to after her brother Rusty's relentless begging, as he couldn't have is fraternity brother going dateless. The night after she has a date with the hot new transfer student, Rob, who also have a history with Rebecca, to the All Greek Formal.

After an unfortunate event happens, the Honors Engineering Awards are canceled and moved to the following night, which happens to be the formal. Now Casey, who's trying to find out what kind of history Rob and Rebecca have, has to decided what the right thing is to do. Ditch Dale or cancel on Rob. What I like most about Casey's character, is she's always trying to do the nice thing for everyone.

I've never been apart of sorority, but enjoyed being apart of it of Greek's. Greek is a quick, fun read. While the characters aren't in-depth, they're a lot of fun getting to know. If you're looking for a fast past read, with fun characters, then I recommend picking up Greek.

[Mundie Moms & Mundie Kids · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was completely surprised that I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would. Normally I don't find myself getting into books like this, but I credit the fantastic writing by Marsha Warner for that. Greek, which is based on the popular TV series, is a light hearted, engaging read. I never once felt confused about what was going on and enjoyed all of the character interactions. I've not watched an episode of Greek, but I can only imagine the writing style is very similar to sitting down and watching an episode of it.

I was totally shocked when ZBZ sorority girl, Casey Cartwright agreed to be engineering nerd, Dale's date to the Honors Engineering Awards. Which she agreed to after her brother Rusty's relentless begging, as he couldn't have is fraternity brother going dateless. The night after she has a date with the hot new transfer student, Rob, who also have a history with Rebecca, to the All Greek Formal.

After an unfortunate event happens, the Honors Engineering Awards are canceled and moved to the following night, which happens to be the formal. Now Casey, who's trying to find out what kind of history Rob and Rebecca have, has to decided what the right thing is to do. Ditch Dale or cancel on Rob. What I like most about Casey's character, is she's always trying to do the nice thing for everyone.

I've never been apart of sorority, but enjoyed being apart of it of Greek's. Greek is a quick, fun read. While the characters aren't in-depth, they're a lot of fun getting to know. If you're looking for a fast past read, with fun characters, then I recommend picking up Greek.

[Nina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Major oops, indeed! When Rusty asks his older sister to go on a date with his roommate Dale she says ‘yes’. When the date is moved on the day of the Formal, she decides not to go and text him the message. Unfortunately, the geek himself can’t do two things at the same time and the message never reaches him. Also there’s a secret about Rob that only Rebecca knows, but is keeping to herself.

Talk about trouble in paradise. In the beginning it went to slow and I had big trouble getting into the story. There wasn’t a lot of things happening in the beginning, but when the day finally arrives of the date the story picks up the pace and the roller coast begins. It still didn’t grabbed my fullest attention, but it was way better than the beginning.

There was not a lot of development of the characters and I felt like they where missing something. I couldn’t bond with any of them. I would have love to learn more about the backgrounds of the characters, but also about the sorority. But even though there wasn’t any depth I still liked Casey and Cappie. They where cute characters that made the story worth the read. I mean the whole time I was hoping that they would get together.

And then finally the end came, which by the way was a open ending. Don’t we all love that, now we have to wait for the second book to know if Casey ends up with the love of her life.
Overall I did enjoy the book, but I did not adore it.

[Once · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I never went to an out of state college nor did I join a sorority, this series makes you feel as if you did. You fall in love with the characters and their adventures throughout their college years. Although the title may seem as though you know how it will turn out, it completely surprises you.

Casey is a senior in college, majoring in law until she decided to switch to...... She is also the educator at her sorority ZBZ. Dale is a nerdy engineering student who has been elected to receive an award at the Engineering awards. Dale asks Rusty, Casey brother to help him find a date for the awards. Rusty is Casey's brother, who begs Casey to go to the awards ceremony with Dale.

The All Greek formal is coming up and Casey has her eye on the new transfer student Rob. Rob just transferred to the university and has this mysterious past drama, Rebecca. When rob asks Casey to th All Greek Formal, Casey accepts. But when the awards ceremony is cancelled and rescheduled to the same day as the All Greek formal, Casey must decided which one to go to.....

There's a television show based on the series airing on ABC family.

review link: http://www.onceuponatwilight.com/2010...

[Jennifer Monzon · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I never went to an out of state college nor did I join a sorority, this series makes you feel as if you did. You fall in love with the characters and their adventures throughout their college years. Double date is one of the many books in this series and the one I read. Although the title may seem as though you know how it will turn out, it completely surprises you.

Casey is a senior in college, majoring in law until she decides to switch to...... She is also the educator at her sorority ZBZ. Dale is a nerdy engineering student who has been elected to receive an award at the Engineering awards. Dale asks Rusty, Casey brother to help him find a date for the awards. Rusty is Casey's brother, who begs Casey to go to the awards ceremony with Dale.

The All Greek formal is coming up and Casey has her eye on the new transfer student Rob. Rob just transferred to the university and has this mysterious past drama, Rebecca. When Rob asks Casey to the All Greek formal, Casey accepts. But when the awards ceremony is cancelled and rescheduled to the same day as the All Greek Formal, Casey must decide which one to go to.....

There's also a television series airing on ABC Family.

[Reading Vacation · Rating 4 out of 5]

REVIEW
This book is based on the ABC Family TV show, GREEK. I went into this book having never seen the show and not knowing very much about college fraternities. Regardless, I was interested in reading it because the premise sounded as though it would be pretty funny. Two dates on one night equals lots of craziness!
Casey seems to be a nice enough girl and she had good intentions when she accepted both dates. Both of the guys, Dale and Rob, play into their stereotypes. I wish there had been more character development though.
The story itself starts out pretty slow, but picks up when the date night finally arrives. The way Casey handles the situation is somewhat predictable, but again, I think she had good intentions.
If you are a fan of the TV show, I would think that you would enjoy this book. It is a quick and easy read. Now I know at least a little bit about fraternities too.
Thank you to Meryl L. Moss Media Relations for making this book available for review.
RATING
4 Plot
3 Characters
3 Attention Grabbing
4 Girlie Meter
3 Ending

17 TOTAL

4 STARS

[Brenda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I imagine reading this book was much like watching an episode of the TV show, Greek. I've never seen the show, but I'm thinking I'm not at all the target audience for this show. I like sci-fi and fantasy shows, and the occasional sit-com (but only if it's really funny). So I'd probably never sit down and watch this show, and for that reason I also had a hard time getting through this book.

The writing was okay, but I never felt invested in the story, and for taking place mostly over the period of one night, it felt like it dragged a bit. I think for a person who watches and enjoys the show, and feels more invested in the characters and their lives, this would be a fun read. For someone like me, who is just coming into it without any previous knowledge, it's just not great.

So, with that said, I would recommend this if you like the TV show, or if you're a really big fan of sorority/fraternity stuff. Otherwise, I don't think it does a good enough job to stand on it's own for YA readers like myself.

[Gmr · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great book perfect for a lighter bit of fun on your reading list. Fans of the show will certainly recall the episode on which it is based, but that does not detract from the draw you will feel towards the book. As is often the case, it only adds to the experience, providing the inner dialogue and back storys that couldn't necessarily be fit into an hour's viewing time. Certainly able to be finished in one sitting if one would choose to, but also fun to draw out over a few reading sessions...after all, why would you want to leave the world of "GREEK" any earlier than you had to? As if! ^_^ Happy reading!

[Mιss •kαthєяίиє• Τhε Emεrαℓd Pяίиcεss®]

Is it my imagination or they have spelled at the cover the word "Greek" wrong??
No, it isn't. I am Greek, so don't dare contadict me!!! It writes Grssk. The letter Σ (a letter from the Greek alphabet) is definately not equivelent to the "e" in the English alphabet. I think that the editor and the cover designer of this book made a mistake.....

[Upstatemamma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eh! I was not so impressed with this book. Reading it I thought to myself I can see how this would make a pretty good TV show but a book? No, not so much. The characters were sort of flat. And the story was just annoying - especially because the ending did not really solve the story line. It is left open for more stories.

[Bridget · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was such a fun read. It brought me back to my days as a teen. No, I never had two dates in the same night but I can remember liking two guys at once. I would daydream about what might be and how I would choose one over the other. If you like teen books, I'm pretty sure you will enjoy this one.

[Shanna Gonzales · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was pretty much like watching the show. And I like the fact that it is a book that can be read without actually having seen the show. I'm looking forward to reading the second one.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

reminds me of the tv show --full review to com

[L · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick and fun, but read more like fanfiction than a novel. I loved this show, so I was happy to read about the characters and their world, but the writing and characterization could have been better. 2.5 stars.

[Brianna (The Book Vixen) · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF

I wasn't feeling the story or the characters.

[Kelsey]

I'm marking this one as DNF. As much as I enjoyed the show, I just couldn't get into this one.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice quick read if you were a fan of the show and want more of the characters

[Allison · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too many characters, too much back story. Not a great read.