Date Me, Baby, One More Time (Immortally Sexy, Book 1) [Mass Market Paperback]

Stephanie Rowe (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2006

This delightful and witty paranormal romance debut features pretzel-eating dragons, cursed mathematicians, and a guardian of the Fountain of Youth in desperate need of a date. Original.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Rowe carves out her very own niche—call it paranormal romance adventure comedy—with this freewheeling series kickoff. The novel introduces Justine Bennett, the immortal guardian of the Goblet of Eternal Youth (an espresso machine named Mona), and her former bombshell of a roommate, Theresa Nichols, now an 11-foot-tall fire-breathing dragon. They've watched over Mona for 200 years, but now hunky pretzel mogul Derek LaValle is certain that beheading Justine and taking Mona will break the family curse that leaves every LaValle man dead at 31. If Justine fails to protect the Goblet by killing Derek, she'll face the Chamber of Unspeakable Horrors and her mother will be sent to hell as Satan's eternal love slave. Naturally, Derek and Justine fall for each other and start a rocky courtship full of he said–she said and "who tried to kill whom first" arguments. The leads spar winningly, and Rowe's lusty, maudlin Satan is hilarious. The plot gets tangled at times, and a share of the jokes—as well as the adult material—are straight up groaners (including sex-starved Justine fighting off the advances of an army of evil, gorgeous men called Penhas—say it out loud for full effect), but Rowe's wit and imagination make this a strong start for what should be a refreshing series. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Thanks to a two-century-old curse, for four generations all of the men in Derek LaValle's family have departed this world as soon as they have lived for 31 years, 46 weeks, 4 days, 6 hours, 3 minutes, and 5 seconds. Derek's male relatives have been killed by everything from babies to lemonade to pet hamsters, and not only is Derek less than thrilled about his date with Death, he's worried about his twin, Quincy. There is only one way to break the curse--behead the Guardian and steal the Goblet of Eternal Youth--and Derek has only one week left. Justine Bennett has been the Guardian for two hundred years, and she's mighty tired of being celibate in New York City with only the shape-shifting goblet and her best friend, Theresa, who has been turned into a dragon, for company. Rowe's laugh-out-loud paranormal romance has a breakneck plot, delightfully bizarre situations, and the quirkiest of quirky characters: a lovesick Satan, a pretzel-addicted femme fatale dragon, and a goblet that changes into an espresso machine. Magically mirthful! Shelley Mosley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Warner Forever (May 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446617660
• ISBN-13: 978-0446617666
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 1 x 7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #576,808 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Amusing . . . kind of, May 4, 2006

By 

loonigrrl (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Date Me, Baby, One More Time (Immortally Sexy, Book 1) (Mass Market Paperback)

Maybe the problem is that I didn't read this book without interruption. I was about half way into it when I decided to read another book I was desperate to get my hands on, and when I came back to this one I just couldn't find it as funny anymore. What had been rather amusing soon became absurd and tedious.

In Date Me Baby One More Time, you've got Derek, one of the curse La Valle men who needs to find the Guardian of the Goblet of Eternal Youth and kill her, and you've got Justine, the Guardian, who has to kill Derek or else end up in the Chamber of Unspeakable Horrors. Justine and Derek are pretty cute, but it's the other characters who quickly got on my nerves. There's the Guardian's successor who is trapped as a dragon, has cybersex all day and has a serious addiction to carb free pretzels. There's Satan, yes Satan, which may seem kind of cool, but trust me, is not. He's written for laughs which aren't funny and no one takes him seriously. Dialogue like: 'My love pumpkin! I sense your distress! I come to rescue you!' speaks for itself and it's never a good sign when even an ex lover says such things as "Satan! Down! Stay!" as if he was a dog. Even worse than Satan is Satan Jr, and yes it's as ridiculous as it sounds.

When the books is more focused on our hero and heroine it's pretty good, and worth reading. It's only toward the end that the secondary characters and the plot spin out of control. If you like your humor bordering on the absurd then Date Me Baby is for you. If not, then forget about this one.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Celibacy and Pretzels: A Tale of Sex, October 19, 2006

By 

Joshua Koppel (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Date Me, Baby, One More Time (Immortally Sexy, Book 1) (Mass Market Paperback)

Justine Bennett is a Guardian. She has been charged with protecting the Goblet of Eternal Youth known as Desdemona's Temptation (Mona for short). She has been doing this for some two-hundred years. During that time she has had to remain celibate due to Guardian rules. She lives with her appointed successor who was transformed into a dragon when she was appointed. Just when Justine is belaboring the dullness of her life, someone makes a play for the goblet (now disguised as a cappuccino maker). Also interested in the Goblet is Dereck LaValle. The men in his family are cursed to always die at the same age. His time and that of his twin is fast approaching. He believes that killing the Guardian and drinking from the Goblet will end the curse. Add Satan, Justine's dead mother, Satan's son and the Guardians Council and you have quite a twisted tale.

This is a book about sex. Justine has been unable to have sex for two-hundred years. Her successor is a dragon addicted to cybersex. For most of the book, every woman immediately thinks about sex whenever she meets a man (sounds like a man's dreams come true). There is no talk of love or romance until the last few pages (apparently love is the offspring of quenched lust). I found the plot quite interesting and sufficiently convoluted but I have to wonder at Dereck. At one point he learns that killing the Guardian and drinking from the Goblet will not end the curse. Yet for the rest of the book he still feels driven to have to kill the Guardian. Why? I don't know. It is one of two questions I have for the author. All in all this is a fun book but not one for those offended by excessive sex (even between different species). I look forward to the sequel. Check it out.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Like a Bad Round Robin, June 27, 2006

By 

bhr "birdwoman" (Bryn Mawr, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Date Me, Baby, One More Time (Immortally Sexy, Book 1) (Mass Market Paperback)

This book was very, very silly. Terribly silly. Almost terrible. It reminds me of something that might result from an online round-robin with a bunch of giddy paranormal-romance authors. (readers of fan-fic will know what I mean.)

The basic plot: an almost-immortal chick who is guardian of the cup of immortality. A TDH (tall dark and handsome) who is under a curse and must kill Our Heroine to save his own skin. And the skin of all the males in his family.

There are dead characters, Satan, Satan's Son, a dragon who likes cyber-sex, and carb-free pretzels. All wrapped up in a plot which was hashed over waaaay too many times (I don't want to kill you but I must but boy I lust after you let's have sex).

If you're looking for the lightest bit of fluff to while away a plane ride (I was), this is ok. But again, you may find yourself wishing at the end that you'd passed this up (I did).

(*)>