10 Blind Dates by Ashley Elston

This was a cute, surprise read I snagged at the library. It’s a mostly wholesome book, perfect for teenagers who love love stories.

10 Blind Dates starts off with our lead, Sophie, in a long-term relationship with her boyfriend, Griffin. Sophie’s parents are out of town and she has a few days before she has to drive to her nonna’s house for the holidays. She is excited to fill that time with her boyfriend. However, as she goes to tell him the good news, she overhears Griffin tell another friend he is eager to get out of the relationship. 

Heartbroken, Sophie runs to her nonna’s house early to hide with her very large extended family over Christmas break. Nonna figures out why Sophie sought refuge, and in an effort to help her granddaughter, she devises a terrible plot to set Sophie up on ten recovery dates. Her large family gleefully breaks up the ten date slots so they can each choose a guy to introduce to her. BUT that means her evil cousins and her good cousins and her clueless uncles and … well … you get the idea what kind of dates she’s going on. 

Also, Griffin wants her back and maybe her long lost crush wants a chance to date her, too. You can see how this would be utter chaos for a teen girl. 

What’s so great about the story is how family ends up being Sophie’s real love and anchor, which she’d somehow lost through distance and infatuation. Plus, we get to experience funny, charming, weird dates with Sophie, all of which deepen her bond with her family as they cheer her on. Sophie realizes ways she needs to grow so that her relationships are healthy and honest, and it all seems to end the way it ought to end.

(This book might not be for younger readers, as it does allude to make-out sessions, slight LGBTQ mentions, and there’s a scene with porn in the background.)