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True Love: Real Girls, Real-Life Stories
From love triangles and cheaters to summer romances, these stories will touch every teen’s heart. One seventeen-year-old’s story talks of her sweetheart who joined the Army and was sent to the Middle East, and how his love letters kept their romance strong. In another, one girl learns (the hard way) how playing the field can only lead to heartache. Whether the ending is happy or sad, there is no doubt that love has changed these teens’ lives forever.
- GenresNonfiction
128 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 20, 2008
I got this book in the mail this afternoon, and I've already finished it. So...it wasn't really too long. It's a collection of 24 love stories, written by teenage/college girls. It was really funny. It got me reminiscing about my failed love life as a teenager. I'd like to share some highlights:
When I was 15, I ended up at a party with a boy I liked. It was the first Friday night of Christmas break, and he was flirting with me the whole night. He kept telling me how pretty I was, asking when I would turn 16 (presumably so he could ask me out), and insisting I be his partner for all team games. The party was at my friends house just a few blocks away, so when I said I was leaving to go home and he offered to walk me, I thought, 'YES!! Oh my gosh I am finally going to get kissed!!' (Too bad I didn't know then that my lips wouldn't make their kissing debut until well into my senior year, or wouldn't have had to worry about it.) He walked me home and put his arm around me, and was sooo snuggly and I was sooo excited, then he chickened out (that's my theory) and just dropped me off with no kiss. I thought about him nonstop my whole two weeks of Christmas break, and I was SO excited to see him when school started again. We were going to date, fall in love, and get married. But then I went back to school, and...I have no idea what happened. This boy wouldn't even look me in the eye or say hi to me in the hall. We hardly spoke two words again until graduation, then we went our separate ways. Until, that is, last week when he requested I be his friend on facebook. After all these years he wants to be facebook freinds, with no apology for breaking my 15 year old heart.
Then, there was this boy that I met at Engineering State, a week long summertime event at Utah State University. I actually thought his roommate was super cute and was hoping for some action with him, but this boy suddenly put his arm around me on the way to a class the second morning. I thought, "Okay! I'll take him, sure." And so our love affair began. We walked around all week together, and went to the dance the last night as a couple. We left the dance and went outside, alone, and I thought, NOW I will finally get kissed! But he didn't kiss me. Not even close. We just walked around holding hands. Later that summer he called and asked me to go to Lagoon with him, which I did. He also took me fishing. I didn't adore him, but I was dying for him to kiss me each time. He never did. (Funny enough, we sort of kept in touch over the years, here and there. He went to Snow College and then went on a mission. The last I heard from him, he tracked me down at my apartment at BYU. I was sort of dating my husband, and I was also seriously contemplating a mission. He called and asked me what I was up to. I didn't really want to re-open the dating scene with him again (I was no longer dying for a first kiss), so I announced that I was putting my mission papers in. He said, 'Oh, hmmm... Well, do you have any single roommates?" I told him sorry, but none that he would be interested in. And so that romance died.)
This next story isn't specifically about a boy, but rather just more about my pitiful lack of romance. At girl's camp the next summer, everyone was sitting in a group out on the lawn, telling the story of their first kisses. Since I couldn't make up a story about a guy everyone knew (which could be later verified as false), and I couldn't tell the truth about being a social outcast, I lied and said I had kissed the boy at Engineering State. Then I talked about going to Lagoon with him and making out with him there. If that boy had got half as much action as I was telling everyone he got, he'd have been a very happy dude. I was mortified that I was the only girl who had never kissed a boy. Even the uglies had got some action before me. Looking back, I don't know why it didn't occur to me that maybe everyone else was lying too, but it didn't. I guess I figured everyone else was honest. It WAS girl's camp, after all.
I liked another guy. He sat in my Junior year English class two rows over. Between us sat my friend Shelley. One day, Shelley starts passing me little scraps of papers that say, "I know. I totally like Abby. There's no way she would ever like me, though." Shelley and this boy were writing to each other, and he was confiding in her how much he liked me, but didn't think I'd like him back. (Can you imagine how mortified he would have been to know she was doing that? I never told her a secret again as long as I lived.) I should have followed up with this boy. I liked him, and now I KNEW that he liked me. This is a prime example of my lack of romance skills. I never made a move. So instead of me (the apparently unattainable girlfriend) he asked out another friend of mine who he didn't like quite as much, but felt he had a chance with. They were hot and heavy for quite awhile. I kept in touch with this guy, and he later told me about how they would make out at the end of dates. Yep, I could've got action with a guy I liked, but I pretended not to like him. I was so dumb.
Finally, my senior year I had an actual "boyfriend". He started out my locker partner, and we became really good friends. We went to Homecoming together that year, but I could tell he liked me more than I liked him. Finally, one night during the middle of the school year we were eating french fries together at Burger King and he admitted he really liked me. We sort of started dating, but not exactly. It was kind of like best friends/locker partners/he loved me. Since we weren't exclusive, it opened the way up for interruptions, like stalkers. There was this CRAZY girl named Jenny who moved into his ward that fall. She loved my boyfriend. LOVED him. She made a whole scrapbook all about him and decorated his room one day when he was at work. The day after the Christmas Dance (which we went to with different people) she asked him to the next dance, Preference. (This was super early to ask and strange.) She came up and apologized afterwards to me, and I was like, "Oh... it's okay," because I wasn't sure how I felt about my "boyfriend" anyways.
She was a very pretty girl actually, but so stalker-ly. After Preference ended and all the lights were turned on, Stalker Girl grabs my boyfriend and hauls him to the parking lot as fast as she can. Most everyone else was hanging out inside for a few minutes, popping balloons and pulling down decorations. She pulls him behind a mini van, out of view and lays his first kiss on him. He doesn't object, obviously. He told me all about it not too long afterwards.
Then my boyfriend is in a school play, and he kisses another girl over and over and over again, as part of the script. They even take it the play to state competitions, where he kisses her even more times. I get to watch.
When did my boyfriend finally kiss ME? It wasn't until the end of our senior year, when we were almost graduated. By now we were pretty much officially together, and other suitors/stalkers had pretty much backed off. I lied to him. I told him he wasn't my first kiss. I didn't want him to know that I was such a dork. We're still friends and keep in touch. I occasionally contemplate telling him that he was really my first kiss, but I never get around to it. Maybe I'll tell him when we're 50 (or when he joins goodreads and reads this).
I could write a whole book, just like this one, about my high school crushes. Then the girls in this book who felt dumb for being virgins at the end of high school would feel better about themselves.
When I was 15, I ended up at a party with a boy I liked. It was the first Friday night of Christmas break, and he was flirting with me the whole night. He kept telling me how pretty I was, asking when I would turn 16 (presumably so he could ask me out), and insisting I be his partner for all team games. The party was at my friends house just a few blocks away, so when I said I was leaving to go home and he offered to walk me, I thought, 'YES!! Oh my gosh I am finally going to get kissed!!' (Too bad I didn't know then that my lips wouldn't make their kissing debut until well into my senior year, or wouldn't have had to worry about it.) He walked me home and put his arm around me, and was sooo snuggly and I was sooo excited, then he chickened out (that's my theory) and just dropped me off with no kiss. I thought about him nonstop my whole two weeks of Christmas break, and I was SO excited to see him when school started again. We were going to date, fall in love, and get married. But then I went back to school, and...I have no idea what happened. This boy wouldn't even look me in the eye or say hi to me in the hall. We hardly spoke two words again until graduation, then we went our separate ways. Until, that is, last week when he requested I be his friend on facebook. After all these years he wants to be facebook freinds, with no apology for breaking my 15 year old heart.
Then, there was this boy that I met at Engineering State, a week long summertime event at Utah State University. I actually thought his roommate was super cute and was hoping for some action with him, but this boy suddenly put his arm around me on the way to a class the second morning. I thought, "Okay! I'll take him, sure." And so our love affair began. We walked around all week together, and went to the dance the last night as a couple. We left the dance and went outside, alone, and I thought, NOW I will finally get kissed! But he didn't kiss me. Not even close. We just walked around holding hands. Later that summer he called and asked me to go to Lagoon with him, which I did. He also took me fishing. I didn't adore him, but I was dying for him to kiss me each time. He never did. (Funny enough, we sort of kept in touch over the years, here and there. He went to Snow College and then went on a mission. The last I heard from him, he tracked me down at my apartment at BYU. I was sort of dating my husband, and I was also seriously contemplating a mission. He called and asked me what I was up to. I didn't really want to re-open the dating scene with him again (I was no longer dying for a first kiss), so I announced that I was putting my mission papers in. He said, 'Oh, hmmm... Well, do you have any single roommates?" I told him sorry, but none that he would be interested in. And so that romance died.)
This next story isn't specifically about a boy, but rather just more about my pitiful lack of romance. At girl's camp the next summer, everyone was sitting in a group out on the lawn, telling the story of their first kisses. Since I couldn't make up a story about a guy everyone knew (which could be later verified as false), and I couldn't tell the truth about being a social outcast, I lied and said I had kissed the boy at Engineering State. Then I talked about going to Lagoon with him and making out with him there. If that boy had got half as much action as I was telling everyone he got, he'd have been a very happy dude. I was mortified that I was the only girl who had never kissed a boy. Even the uglies had got some action before me. Looking back, I don't know why it didn't occur to me that maybe everyone else was lying too, but it didn't. I guess I figured everyone else was honest. It WAS girl's camp, after all.
I liked another guy. He sat in my Junior year English class two rows over. Between us sat my friend Shelley. One day, Shelley starts passing me little scraps of papers that say, "I know. I totally like Abby. There's no way she would ever like me, though." Shelley and this boy were writing to each other, and he was confiding in her how much he liked me, but didn't think I'd like him back. (Can you imagine how mortified he would have been to know she was doing that? I never told her a secret again as long as I lived.) I should have followed up with this boy. I liked him, and now I KNEW that he liked me. This is a prime example of my lack of romance skills. I never made a move. So instead of me (the apparently unattainable girlfriend) he asked out another friend of mine who he didn't like quite as much, but felt he had a chance with. They were hot and heavy for quite awhile. I kept in touch with this guy, and he later told me about how they would make out at the end of dates. Yep, I could've got action with a guy I liked, but I pretended not to like him. I was so dumb.
Finally, my senior year I had an actual "boyfriend". He started out my locker partner, and we became really good friends. We went to Homecoming together that year, but I could tell he liked me more than I liked him. Finally, one night during the middle of the school year we were eating french fries together at Burger King and he admitted he really liked me. We sort of started dating, but not exactly. It was kind of like best friends/locker partners/he loved me. Since we weren't exclusive, it opened the way up for interruptions, like stalkers. There was this CRAZY girl named Jenny who moved into his ward that fall. She loved my boyfriend. LOVED him. She made a whole scrapbook all about him and decorated his room one day when he was at work. The day after the Christmas Dance (which we went to with different people) she asked him to the next dance, Preference. (This was super early to ask and strange.) She came up and apologized afterwards to me, and I was like, "Oh... it's okay," because I wasn't sure how I felt about my "boyfriend" anyways.
She was a very pretty girl actually, but so stalker-ly. After Preference ended and all the lights were turned on, Stalker Girl grabs my boyfriend and hauls him to the parking lot as fast as she can. Most everyone else was hanging out inside for a few minutes, popping balloons and pulling down decorations. She pulls him behind a mini van, out of view and lays his first kiss on him. He doesn't object, obviously. He told me all about it not too long afterwards.
Then my boyfriend is in a school play, and he kisses another girl over and over and over again, as part of the script. They even take it the play to state competitions, where he kisses her even more times. I get to watch.
When did my boyfriend finally kiss ME? It wasn't until the end of our senior year, when we were almost graduated. By now we were pretty much officially together, and other suitors/stalkers had pretty much backed off. I lied to him. I told him he wasn't my first kiss. I didn't want him to know that I was such a dork. We're still friends and keep in touch. I occasionally contemplate telling him that he was really my first kiss, but I never get around to it. Maybe I'll tell him when we're 50 (or when he joins goodreads and reads this).
I could write a whole book, just like this one, about my high school crushes. Then the girls in this book who felt dumb for being virgins at the end of high school would feel better about themselves.
March 16, 2020
Was really excited about reading this because Seventeen was my favorite magazine growing up. But But I’m really disappointed! I honestly don’t think anybody proofread this. There are so many sentences that don’t make any sense.
I.e. (I’m terrible at math—so I knew she was just math—so I hitting on me.) ( That’s how it felt with Bobby. I liked him, but I with Bobby.)
These are actual sentences I copied and pasted from the book. I really feels like you’re reading a Wattpad book, like did they have any editors?
I.e. (I’m terrible at math—so I knew she was just math—so I hitting on me.) ( That’s how it felt with Bobby. I liked him, but I with Bobby.)
These are actual sentences I copied and pasted from the book. I really feels like you’re reading a Wattpad book, like did they have any editors?
August 11, 2023
This is a book about the different kinds of experiences that people encounter in relationships- both good and bad.
It's actually pretty good to find out about certain problems that people have in relationships and find out how to avoid those problems.
There are a variety of topics covered like self-esteem, long distance relationships, possessiveness, emotional maturity, and more.
I like that the stories were about experiences that people really go through.
It's actually pretty good to find out about certain problems that people have in relationships and find out how to avoid those problems.
There are a variety of topics covered like self-esteem, long distance relationships, possessiveness, emotional maturity, and more.
I like that the stories were about experiences that people really go through.
December 29, 2013
I got this book in high school when a teacher was retiring and giving away her books, and I kind of chose it on a whim. I'd start reading it, roll my eyes at the cheesiness of some stories, then drop it back in a box of assorted books.
I wish I'd stuck with it earlier.
There are two stories in here that hit me hard. One was about a girl who found herself in a deeply abusive relationship and made the decision to leave it. The other was about a girl who found herself falling for another girl.
Both of these stories are so important because we still don't hear enough about either circumstance in regard to teenagers. Hopefully girls who are struggling with all sorts of relationship issues can find comfort in a story in this book because maybe they'd realize they really weren't alone.
I wish I'd stuck with it earlier.
There are two stories in here that hit me hard. One was about a girl who found herself in a deeply abusive relationship and made the decision to leave it. The other was about a girl who found herself falling for another girl.
Both of these stories are so important because we still don't hear enough about either circumstance in regard to teenagers. Hopefully girls who are struggling with all sorts of relationship issues can find comfort in a story in this book because maybe they'd realize they really weren't alone.
November 3, 2010
From love triangles and cheaters to summer romances, these stories will touch every teen’s heart. old’s story talks of her sweetheart who joined the Army and was sent to the Middle East, and how his love letters kept their romance strong. In another, one girl learns the hard way how playing the field can only lead to heartache. Whether the ending is happy or sad, there is no doubt that love has changed these teens’ lives forever.its sad at some point and some points are very happy if you love romance this book is for you.
February 4, 2009
omg i love this book is so real
June 26, 2016
This was a very sweet and quick read. It's definitely something I'd give to a much younger girl, but I found it hard for me to enjoy at my age.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews