Customer Reviews

Confessions of a Triple Shot Betty

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

When Geena's cousin Hero comes back from boarding school for the summer, Geena can't wait for her to meet her best friend, Amber, and work with them at the local coffee shop, Triple Shot Betty's.

Loud, wild Amber and preppy, conservative Hero are like oil and water - they just don't mix. Throw in a bunch of guys - including a conceited recent graduate, an intriguing Italian boy, and Geena's lifelong classmate who is her academic rival - and someone's sure to reach their boiling point.

Geena, with her hair set in two long braids and her skateboard often underfoot or by her side, is a cool leading character - even though she doesn't necessarily think she's cool. She's also smart, top of her class, yet socially awkward and sometimes even shy. Her academic rival turns into her crush, naturally, while the girls plan a special kind of revenge on another boy, a suave and handsome recent graduate who has hurt many of their classmates.

This book is a modern-day version of Much Ado about Nothing by William Shakespeare, complete with mistaken identities and romantic blunders. The sequel, Triple Shot Bettys in Love, will be a retelling of Cyrano de Bergerac. It will be fun to see what happens to Geena, Amber, and Hero next.

Fantastic summer read that shows some real girl power! I really enjoyed the development of the characters and was totally surprised and thrilled by the ending. I will certainly be recommending to all my friends!

CONFESSIONS OF A TRIPLE SHOT BETTY
JODY GEHRMAN

Rating: 4 Enchantments

Geena Sloane hopes that this summer will be the best yet, after all her cousin Hero is coming home and will be working with her and Geena's best friend Amber at Triple Shot Betty. However, she didn't count on them hating each other on sight. Now all her plans for girls' nights hanging out are teetering on the brink of never happening.

Geena, Amber and Hero are three girls who couldn't be more different. Geena's all about becoming valedictorian and is known as the skater chick; Amber has a `rep' with around town and Hero is the shy, boarding school girl with an overprotective father, who because of her sister's mistakes won't let her date till she's in college.

I really liked how CONFESSIONS OF A TRIPLE SHOT BETTY was set up, written in a journal style, rather than chapter form. Filled with some great secondary characters, which Ms. Gehrman does so well, I loved how when things went downhill, it was the stofers who figured into the girls' plans on how to get even with `The Man'.

One of the scenes I really enjoyed was when Geena sees Ben, her really hot arch rival and possible crush, biking by her house (which is highly unusual) and decides to go out and see what he's doing. Instead of simply going outside, she pretends to look for her non-existant dog, Auggie. It was truly one of the most laugh-out-loud scenes in the book.

All in all, CONFESSIONS OF A TRIPLE SHOT BETTY is great, fun read, perfect to tote with you on summer vacation or just laying out by the pool.

This is Ms. Gehrman's first Young Adult novel. She previously wrote chick-lit for Red Dress Ink. You can learn more about Ms. Gehrman's books at her website, http://www.jodygehrman.com

Lisa
Enchanting Reviews
April 2008

Geena's summer plans are slowing evaporating.

She's caught between her best friend, Amber, and her cousin, who just returned from boarding school. She's been looking forward to summer and hanging out with her two best friends and having a blast.

But when Amber and Hero meet for the first time, it's clear that mixing her two friends together is exactly like mixing baking soda and vinegar. When John makes it clear that he's interested in Hero, who Amber is clearly not over, relations are not likely to improve.

Can the summer be salvaged with all the drama and the crushes, as well as the Triple Shot Betty, the coffee shop that ties everyone together?

CONFESSIONS OF A TRIPLE SHOT BETTY sums up a fun summer romance mixed with something a little edgy: think Peaches mixed with A Bad Boy Can Be Good for a Girl.

Once you're done with this one, pass it on to your friends.

Reviewed by: Jennifer Rummel

Most novels I read require an adjustment period, a small frame of time in which I get used to the writing, the characters, and the setting. This one didn't--I was grabbed by the neck in a choke-hold from page 1, easing straight into its rhythm.

Geena's plotting for perfection when she lines her cousin, Hero, up a job at Triple Shot Betty, a coffee shop her best friend, Amber, and her work at. But Hero and Amber clash at first sight, and the great summer Geena was envision begins to fall apart. Figure in a case of mistaken identities and a group of boys who are not exactly what they seem, and trouble starts shaking up in paradise. It's up to the Triple Shot Bettys, armed and armored with a legion of wronged girls, to set things straight once and for all.

There are many, many reasons I loved this novel. Behold:

I've probably said this in every review I've ever written, but I'm such a character-driven person, it's not even funny. I loved the characters Jody Gehrman created here: they all had a certain depth, and even the bad-guy, which usually comes out archetypal in most novels, had substantial development.

I'm also a sucker for feel-good feminist stories. This one's it. It's very subtle, without an overload of women-vs-men superiority, and it gets a clean message across.

The voice. This is very good chick lit. I caught some passages which reminded me faintly of Sloppy Firsts and Second Helpings. This goes to say something, because I'm one of those people who worships Megan McCafferty and think of Sloppy Firsts and Second Helpings as the best teen chick-lit books ever.

The plot. Most novels I've read recently are beautiful coming-of-age pieces with great characters but just very little actual plot. Not here. Do we have the coming-of-age aspect to it? Yup. But it's paired with a strong, compelling plot as well.

Summin' it up: I loved this novel. Loved it. Recommendation? YES, absolutely! Get it, get it, get it.

Rating: 9/10

If anyone's interested in seeing and interview with Jody or a Q&A session of this book, go to my blog :)

All Geena wanted out of this summer was for her best friend, Amber, and her cousin, Hero, to become instant friends. Unfortunately this does not go down without a hitch. Meet the Bettys girls who need to learn how to resist the irresistible John (the man). Geena's friend Amber gets a reputation as being skanky when she moves to the new town after having a slight thing with John. Geena's cousin Hero (parents, were big Shakespeare fans)is the "pure innocent one" who ends up getting burned by John too, when she fails to fall for his devilish good looks. Geena decides that she can not stand by idly and watch her friend's reputations disintegrate. So she calls upon some other girls who have been burned to bring down The Man.

So this is my second time reading this novel. I read it when it first came out a couple years ago and loved it then. I still love it! Geena is such a feminist, but not in a bad scary way. She is not one to sit around and be dumped on or watch as her friends suffer a boy's egotistical crap. I really loved the character's and how you got enough background on them to relate to them, but you didn't know like best friend secrets. All the characters were fun and quirky and people you could love...or love to hate (John). Some people are just slimy and this book had a great way of dealing with those people. If you have ever been scorned by a guy and then he slandered you, this book of delicious revenge is for you. Jody is a fantastic author and has a fun narrative to help you glide through the book. It was very interesting seeing how the girls interacted with each other and I appreciated that they each had a separate entity they weren't all alike. Each character is completely there own and think of things from different points of view. Though the summer crushes and heartache are typical throughout the young adult genre, this book possess many interesting developments, that one would not really suspect (at least I didn't).

First Lines:
"Great. So much for my summer. I should have known. School's not even out yet, and Operation Girlfriend is already in tatters."


Favorite Line:
"I may die with my hymen intact, but at least I'll have my dignity."

Geena has the perfect summer planned out. Her, her cousin Hero, and her best friend Amber are going to have some quality girl time working at the Triple Shot Betty coffee drive-thru shack. Things never work out as planned though. Hero and Amber don't get along, actually that's an understatement, they hate each other! Geena feels that her summer's ruined now and is torn between her favorite cousin and her best friend.

As the summer progresses though, the girls' relationship starts to improve, slightly. The Betty girls though are faced with a whole new problem, hot guys! Geena is desperately trying to deny the fact that she likes her arch rival (and competition for class valedictorian) Ben, Hero is hopelessly in love with the Italian working on her dad's vineyard, and then Amber, well she's just trying to find somebody. The girls run into no end of problems, but it ends up being one heck of a summer.

With a title this cute, I knew before I even cracked the cover that this book was going to be great! I was certainly not disappointed. The story itself was super cute, the writing was superb, and it just left the reader wanting more.

All three main characters were unique in their own way and I felt like I got to know three different girls, instead of one person with a few differences. I especially loved Geena, who stood up for herself no matter what. She was a great narrarator, and she had some hilarious things to say. Her sense of humor was by far one of the best character sense of humor's I've ever come across! Hero and Amber were also really funny. I could really imagine them as real people and felt like they were easy to relate to even though we have completely different personalities.

I also really liked the style that the book was written in. It was told in journal entries by Geena, which I thought was really neat. Some books I've read try to do this, but just aren't that successful, but Jody Gehrman was really able to pull it off. The character's personas really came through and the whole book came completely alive.

In short I completely loved this book and am anxious for more. Jody Gehrman created an unforgettable, absolutely hilarious, and fun filled novel that any girl is sure to absolutely devour. I highly recommend this book to any and all who are looking for a book that will just brighten your day.

Geena Sloane has her summer all planned out. She's even thought up a code name for the plan - Operation Girlfriend. Geena's cousin Hero is coming home from boarding school and is going to work at Triple Shot Betty's (the world's best drive-through espresso stand) with Geena and her best friend Amber. It's going to be a summer of total girly togetherness - complete with lounging by the pool, giggling about boys and toenail painting.

It's going to be perfect, except: Hero and Amber hate each other on sight. They can barely avoid going for each other's faces with fingernails bared, and you want to know what's infinitely worse? They both seem determined to draw Geena into the middle of their war. And as if the cousin/best-friend death match thing wasn't bad enough, there are an odd assortment of gorgeous guys trying to throw themselves into the mix. Fabu. Just what everyone needs, flying pheromones.

But when Sonoma Valley High School's annointed king starts messing with the girls (and not in a good way, in case you were wondering), Geena, Amber and Hero band together to stand up for girls everywhere. If there's one thing this summer is going to prove it's that Bettys united are an unstoppable force.

This book is excellent! I was going through a period of not knowing what to read and Confessions of a Triple Shot Betty brought my out of that period. I now know what want to read.

Geena lives in California and works in a tiny drive-through coffee shop called Triple Shot Betty with her best friend Amber. It's summer and her cousin Hero is coming to California to work at Triple Shot Betty. Geena is wishing for a girl bonding summer with her two best friends. So much for that idea. Many problems come in the way that will either make you laugh or gasp in shock. All 3 girls will have some sort of romantic trouble, whether it been successful or not.

The book gets better and better each time I turn the page. Jody Gehrman has created a guy character so lovable, I long for my own Ben.

I highly recommend this book for someone who wants a lighthearted, quick and absolutely wonderful read.

This is another book that everyone was raving about a while ago, but one I never picked up until a few days ago. And all I have to say is: WHY DID I NEVER PICK THIS BOOK UP?! People, do not be like me and wait to read the books everyone is talking about. Read it right away. And if there is anyone left who hasn't read this one, read it!

Not only are the characters awesome because some of them are baristas, but also because they're just plain awesome. I'm sick of stereotypical characters and was relieved to see that though these characters seem cliche, they aren't. I love that Geena is not only a genius and barista, but a skater as well. I can count on one hand the number of girl skaters I've ever read about. I used to skateboard so I liked seeing a skater show up. Amber and Hero also are deeper than expected; Amber has plenty of real, emotional issues even though she seems lighthearted, and Hero seems innocent, but she can be kind of diabolical.

There's just enough stuff happening in the book to make it exciting, but not so much that it takes lots of brain power to keep up. While the romances are predictable and pretty cheesy, the rest of the book has plenty of twists. The plot twist near the end is especially grand, though a bit unrealistic. But who cares? It was hilarious, just like the rest of the book.