First Date Stories: Women's Romantic and Ridiculous Midlife Adventures

by Jodi Klein

Overview

Ellen meets Jim at a posh restaurant, hoping for an evening of fine wine and better conversation. Maria sets out on a walk with a man she's been looking forward to meeting. In First Date Stories, these women, and others, enter into initial liaisons with well-honed expectations—and come out on the other side with extraordinary tales to tell.

Chances are, every woman in her mid-thirties and over who is seeking a loving companion has a first date tale of triumph or disaster. Each of the candid and memorable stories Jodi Klein shares here imparts a bit of wisdom—with the help of takeaway tips and inspirational quotes—to guide readers through what can be a baffling, intimidating, and sometimes lonely journey.

Before a promising first date, or after an awful one, First Date Stories offers readers the reminder that being single should be celebrated, that not all first dates are created equal, and that every initial encounter has the possibility to become something long-lasting and wonderful.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781647421854
Publisher:	She Writes Press
Publication date:	09/14/2021
Pages:	216
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

Jodi Klein knows what it’s like to date longer and later in life. A demanding career and desire to find her “Mr. Yes” led to her becoming an alumna of nearly 400 dates over the course of 26 years. She founded First Date Stories—the podcast and the blog—as a platform for women to share their tales and wisdom so that others can overcome the trials of dating in midlife and find the long-term love they seek.

Jodi is an entrepreneur, a marketing executive, and a real estate broker. She is a graduate of UC Davis and holds an MBA from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan. Jodi lives with her husband in San Francisco.

Table of Contents

The Story Behind First Date Stories 1

The Eight-Minute Date 17

The Real Jim 29

An Evening in the Desert 45

How'd You Like to Treat Me? 61

The Day Trip 81

The Winer 95

The Dame in Shining Armor 113

The Two-in-One Date 127

The Cringe 149

Dinner Al Fresco 163

The Traffic Trifecta 177

The Rest of Your Story 199

Gratitude 201

Editorial Reviews

2024 DatingNews.com Editor’s Choice
2023 National Indie Excellence Awards Finalist in Relationships
2023 National Indie Excellence Awards Finalist in Anthologies
2022 Readers' Favorite International Book Award Gold Medal Winner in Anthology (Non-Fiction)
2022 Next Generation Indie Book Awards Finalist in Relationships (Non-Fiction)
2022 Firebird Book Awards First Place Winner in Short Stories

“Readers will likely come to this book for the intriguing stories, but they’ll stay for the supportive common sense that the author dispenses, and they’ll appreciate her compassionate tone throughout. A sensible, readable, and, above all, forgiving overview of modern dating.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“First Date Stories gives the caliber of experiences that one hopes for when selecting a book . . . I absolutely loved this book and wholly appreciate the contributions that Jodi weaves into a fantastic anthology. Really well done.”
—Readers’ Favorite, 5-star review

“This collection of hopeful, relatable, funny, and admittedly eye roll–inducing stories wonderfully captures what it’s like to date in midlife, with savvy advice that will make dating easier for readers. A must-read for all single women who are considering getting out there or are back out there.”
—Erika Ettin, author of Love at First Site: Tips and Tales for Online Dating Success from a Modern-Day Matchmaker

“First Date Stories had me laughing from the start. Jodi Klein is a wonderful storyteller, and she does a great job with description. Whether nibbling samples at a grocery store counter or conversing at a coffee shop, I felt like I was actually on each date. For someone who has been married for thirty-eight years, that's something. If you are single, this book, full of advice and warning signs, is for you. It’s intelligent, humorous, thought-provoking—the perfect companion.”
—Corie Adjmi, author of Life and Other Shortcomings

“Such an enjoyable book! While many ‘seasoned daters’ can get frustrated with the process of finding a partner, Jodi Klein masterfully points out how each date provides us with valuable knowledge about ourselves and gets us one step closer to finding enduring love.”
—Marisa T. Cohen, relationship researcher and author of From First Kiss to Forever: A Scientific Approach to Love

From the Publisher

2021-06-08
A series of anecdotes and advice from a veteran of many, many dates.

“Dating for decades isn’t something that people usually tout,” Klein notes at the beginning of her humorous and defiantly upbeat new book. “But why not? Isn’t it better to wait to meet the right partner than to divorce the wrong one?” Such sound logic is a recurring feature of this work, which consists of several tales—some harsh, some infuriating, almost all funny—drawn from her time in the dating world. “Dating takeaway tips” after each story provide postgame analysis, as it were: what went right, what went wrong, what lessons can be learned. No matter what aspect of the dating experience readers love or hate the most, they’ll likely find it somewhere in these accounts. There are endless restaurant dinners with their attendant anxieties and unwanted discoveries, and there are awkward confessions, strained silences, and often bumbling attempts to come up with mutually interesting things to do. But along the way, Klein appealingly offers hard-won wisdom from her own experience, weighing in on such issues as who should pay (“if by not doing ‘the reach’ you find yourself in a ‘check standoff,’ you will have learned something about him”) and what to do when one is stood up (“The best antidote to a bad date, or a no-show, is quality time with a girlfriend, a BFF, a family member, or someone else who cares about you”). Readers will likely come to this book for the intriguing stories, but they’ll stay for the supportive common sense that the author dispenses, and they’ll appreciate her compassionate tone throughout.

A sensible, readable, and, above all, forgiving overview of modern dating.

Kirkus Reviews