The Dare [Hardcover]

Elda Minger (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 2003

Book, Fiction, Romantic Humor

Product Details

• Hardcover: 310 pages
• Publisher: Berkley Publishing Group (2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 073943862X
• ISBN-13: 978-0739438626
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #959,037 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I was born in a small English village . . .
Actually, no. I was born in Hollywood, California, and have lived in Southern California most of my life. My parents were both teachers, so I grew up in a house filled with books and music. Also animals, and lots of relatives.
My grandmother taught me to read before I went to school. I can't remember a time I wasn't reading. We read everything. Comic books, the backs of cereal boxes, and lots of books. She also taught me to keep a journal from the time I was nine, so the pathway from my brain to a pen was developed early.
I never thought of being a writer. My uncle published a biography of Mozart. My father, a history professor, published three textbooks. As a child, I imagined that writers were alone at their desks, always isolated. They also got depressed when the rejections arrived. Not what I wanted to do for a living!
My parents always encouraged me to dream. Nothing was seen as out of reach, and a career in the arts was respected. When my father died two months before I graduated from college, I started writing a novel. It was my way of trying to find order in chaos and pain. Six years after I started, I published that novel, and went on to write a few dozen more.
I was so wrong about the writing life. You're never alone, you're surrounded by your characters, always thinking about them, laughing and cheering them on or crying when they face heartbreak. And as for the rejections? The truth is that writing is not for the faint hearted. You need a certain toughness which was hard for me to learn. But my Dad used to always say, the way to get Elda to do something is to tell her she can't. (Works like a charm.)
I've been a writer for many years now, and I can't think of a better way to live my life. My goal was always to give a reader a bit of the pleasure that countless authors have given me, and I hope I've done that.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Funny and Sexy- all in one, December 20, 2003

By 

destiny morna "destiny21" (louisiana) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Dare (Berkley Sensation) (Paperback)

The Dare by Elda Minger is a great and fun book to read- perfect to pass away a cold winter night. Alyssia comes into town to be the maid of honor in her best friends wedding. Mindy the bride is having doubts about her fiance because of her bad luck with men in the past. Mindy comes up with a scheme to spy on her fiance during his bachelor party. Alyssia disguises herself as a stripper to keep an eye out on the groom.

The best man, Connor, is keeping an eye on Alyssia- he wants a tame bachelor party but things get out of control. He and Alyssia spend the night together but he knows her as "bambi" the stripper.

At the wedding the next day, Connor knows there is something familiar about the shy innocent and blushing maid of honor but doesn't immediately connect her to the hot, sexy stripper of his fantasy night. Eventually, he figures out the truth, but Alyssia has run back to her hometown.

Connor decides that she is the woman for him and sets out to win her..flying out to find her, worm his way into her social circle and eventually acquiring a veritable zoo collection. The parrot, dogs, skunk, and pig provide much of the book's humor as they and Connor seek Alyssia's heart.

This book was great to read..i hope that this author keeps writing funny, unusual, fast paced contemporary romances like this one...it doesn't disappoint!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A frustrating experience, April 1, 2004

By 

BarkLessWagMore (USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Dare (Berkley Sensation) (Paperback)

I read this for my local romance reader's book group. We chose it because the premise sounded like a lot of fun in the write up we read during our last meeting. The execution of that premise, however, was much less enjoyable than the glowing review it received in an industry mag.

Alyssa's best friend Mindy is getting married but Mindy doesn't trust her husband-to-be to remain faithful during his bachelor party (her previous fiancé cheated on her during his bachelor party) and asks Alyssa to infiltrate the party disguised as a stripper (Alyssa's a dancer and knows how to shake her thang). During the party Alyssa drinks some booze laced punch and lets loose. Cooper, the best man and a straight-laced type, removes Alyssa from the party (letting her sleep it off in his den) when she throws her bra in his face. When Alyssa awakens she decides to have a wild a night of sex with Cooper, throwing her virginity and all common sense to the wind . . .

Cooper is smitten with the smart-mouthed stripper who has just given him the best sex of his life and intends to get to know her a whole lot better but it seems she's run away. He meets her again, of course, at the wedding the next day and recognizes her even though she no longer wears a black wig, stripper makeup and is acting all shy and innocent. But before he can have at her again she's on the run back home to San Francisco.

The setup is cute (if you can suspend your disbelief enough to have some fun with it) but from here little things begin to drive me over the edge.

Alyssa is nauseatingly over-the-top sweet. She meets a kid on a plane who whines that she wants a pony for Christmas and doesn't believe in Santa because he refuses to deliver her one. When Alyssa learns from the mom that she's struggling to make ends meet Alyssa (whose family is loaded) agrees to buy her one so she'll continue to believe in magic. I swear, I couldn't make this stuff up. She dotes on her grandfather (which is kind of sweet) and remains a virgin at 24?! Why remain virginal to throw it away on a one night fling? This girl is described as a gorgeous, wild, free-spirit but has never seen a man's anatomy up close? Sorry, I'm not buyin' it.

Anyway, Cooper is so desperate to have a repeat of the "greatest sex in his life" that he nearly becomes all stalker-like. He interrogates the other strippers until they reveal private info. that leads him to Alyssa. He then boards a plane and follows her to San Francisco, leaving his important business in the hands of his partner, when he locates her and spies on her while she dances at her place of business.

All of this adds up to a book more frustrating than funny.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Dare is GREAT FUN!, March 3, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: The Dare (Berkley Sensation) (Paperback)

Love this book. It's fun to have a story get right into the romance and fun. A great joy to read! I especially loved all the animals. If you are an animal lover, you will love this book. I have been to San Francisco several times and the description of the area made me feel like I was right there.
Great Characters! Buy it you'll love it!