Skip to main content

Kissing Ted Callahan (and Other Guys)

Kissing Ted Callahan (and Other Guys) is a YA contemporary novel by Amy Spalding.

Catching her best friend and bandmate Lucy with fellow bandmate Nathan caused a ripple of shock in sixteen-year-old Riley and Reid.

Suddenly painfully aware of their naiveté, lack of experience and romantic prospects, they strike a deal with each other. They will Make Something Happen and document their experience in a shared notebook.

While Reid struggles with insecurity and the moral issue of pretending to want to adopt a dog to spend time with a girl who works at an animal shelter, Riley tries to figure out how to make progress with cute, quiet, possibly slightly nerdy Ted Callahan.

Yet, when Riley is confronted with other cute boy options – how can she turn down the experience?

But is she getting in over her head?

Kissing Ted Callahan (and Other Guys) was a modern, fun book with, at times, laugh-out-loud first-person, present tense narration.

Full of awkward brimming high school romance, loads of poor decisions and likable, approachable (so to speak) characters, it was very enjoyable to read – and definitely a quick read!

However, the twist with the notebook near the end, I felt, was pretty predictable from the get-go. I did appreciate the way the characters handled it – certainly more straightforwardly than in past versions of storylines like this.

Yet I still felt like Kissing Ted Callahan (and Other Guys) could have done without this particular twist – and kept the whole book more original.

Plus, as swoony and awesome as the end was – I did feel it was too fast and easy. Not to mention, I would have liked more focus on Riley’s fractured friendship with her friend Lucy than 97% romantic entanglements.

Don’t let these quibbles give you the wrong impression, though! Kissing Ted Callahan (and Other Guys) was truly an entertaining, great read – I just felt it may have been able to hit an even higher note, potentially.

Comments

Sarah McCarty said…
Appreeciate your blog post

Popular posts from this blog

Author Q & A - Jan Eldredge Stops By!

Next Wednesday y'all will be getting my oh-so-humble opinion of Evangeline of the Bayou , the Summer 2018 Kids' Indie Next List selection! (That means it was picked via booksellers at independent bookstores countrywide.) Until then, I have a Q&A with the Louisiana born and raised author herself: Jan Eldredge! (Don't forget to come back next week for my review!!) A Conversation with JAN ELDRIDGE Author of Evangeline of the Bayou 1) The glossary in the back of the book is so helpful! Where did you learn about all these creatures? Which creature from the book is your favorite? I have a small, but growing, collection of books about mythical creatures around the world. If I couldn’t find what I was looking for there, I researched library books, online websites, and the occasional documentary. Something that really surprised me as I started learning more about mythical monsters was the number of different cultures that share very similar

First Step: Admit You Have a Problem

Hi fellow Bibliophiles! I have been rather neglectful to this blog... instead continuing to stay buried in a book as I have during the holidays. I'm hopeful that most of you have been doing this too and can easily accept my apology. Have I been reading? Um, yeah! (Translation: duh.) Just haven't been able to pull myself away long enough to actually WRITE about what I'm reading. Lol. But that's me, a bibliophile, an addict, an addict who's fallen off the wagon and fully embraced her love of reading - especially with all this free time to do so!!! I've also been watching awesome holiday movies, eating yummy, but bad-for-me, food and hanging out with the people I love best! You too? I hope! ;) Anyway, I will return with a new book review next week, most likely on Monday or Tuesday. Thanks for your patience and keep reading!!!

Promotion Celebration for Maximum Ride!!!

Do you love the series Maximum Ride ? How about James Patterson? Are you a huge fan of action-packed books? Well, I’m thrilled to bring to you an opportunity to stock up on some awesome reading!!! ENTER TO WIN A SET OF JAMES PATTERSON PAGETURNERS! MAXIMUM RIDE – IF SHE LIVES, THE WORLD LIVES, IT’S THAT SIMPLE. Read “MAX” - the newest book in the bestselling Maximum Ride series. On sale in paperback 09/01/09! Still reeling from their most recent adventure, Maximum Ride and the rest of the flock must head out to sea to uncover the secret behind a brand new series of disasters—fish are dying off the coast of Hawaii, hundreds of ships are being destroyed. As if that weren’t enough, they’re also being tracked by a criminal mastermind with, oh yeah, an army of mercenaries. Can the flock save themselves and the ocean, and the world, from utter destruction? Now for the rules : The Maximum Ride: Max Promotion is open to legal US residents who are at least 13 years of age as of August 24, 200