Reality Check [Mass Market Paperback]

Leslie Carroll (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2003

IF LIZ CAN’T FIND “THE ONE”
SHE’LL TAKE THE MILLION.

Liz Pemberley is a smart girl with a weakness for bad boys, but for the first time in her life, her bad luck with men might just pay off. A hot new reality TV show called Bad Date is offering a million dollars to the singleton with the best story of romance gone awry. There’s no one with a more dismal dating history than Liz and she intends to prove it . . . on national television.

Once she gets on the show, the unimaginable happens–she meets a really nice guy. And not only is Jack Rafferty nice, he’s also, sexy, sweet, and ready to settle down. But as contestants on Bad Date, they’ve signed a contract that makes fraternizing with each other a major no-no. What’s a girl to do? Of course she wants to win the prize money, but Jack is too good to resist. With her fate on the show hanging in the balance, Liz will risk it all for the one thing she has always wanted–the perfect man!

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Carroll (Miss Match) offers a tongue-in-cheek look at one of television's hottest trends in this comic contemporary romance. Frustrated with her job and burnt out on dating, Manhattan copywriter Liz Pemberley figures she might as well sign up for "Bad Date," a live reality game-show, and profit from her many misadventures with men. Her two lovelorn roommates follow suit, and miraculously, all three make it onto the show. The object: to relay your worst dating experiences and be the last one standing after the participants with the least objectionable stories have been voted off. The prize: one million dollars. Liz's witty and at times caustic remarks add spice to the show and the narrative, but her relationship with Miami restaurateur and co-contestant Jack Rafferty is the novel's true source of heat. Despite the couple's instant attraction, a no-fraternization clause in their TV contract holds them apart for a while, but there's never any question that they're destined to break the rules. Carroll strains the book's credibility by having Liz's roommates find love and lifelong happiness during the show as well, and the story's sheer number of coincidences will cause many to cringe (how likely is it that a New Yorker and an out-of-towner will run into each other in Manhattan?). Still, this cheery caper will strike a chord with readers who have had plenty of dating dilemmas.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

New Yorker Liz Pemberley is bored with her life as an advertising copywriter when she spots an announcement for a new reality show called Bad Date. When she and her roommates, Jem and Nell, sign up for interviews, they meet devilishly handsome Jack Rafferty, who is immediately taken with Liz's quick wit and humor. All four of them are accepted as contestants on the show, where each week they tell America their dating woes before being voted off one-by-one for having the weakest bad date story. Even though contestants aren't supposed to fraternize, Liz and Jack can't help themselves, but Jem and Nell dislike Jack, which prompts Liz to question his motives. When it becomes clear that the show is straining the women's friendships, they vow not to let the show come between them, then, in the midst of hashing through their worst dates, they start having the best dates of their lives. Carroll's clever and suspenseful behind-the-scenes peek at a reality-based show is sure to keep readers riveted until the very end. Megan Kalan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Ivy Books; 1 edition (January 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0804120005
• ISBN-13: 978-0804120005
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 1 x 6.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,343,004 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I used to tell people that I was born in Manhattan and raised in the Bronx; but the truth is that apart from the stellar education I received at the Fieldston School in Riverdale, much of who I am was shaped by my two grandmothers, who encouraged me to follow my bliss long before it became the sort of catchphrase you find on tee-shirts and new-age tchotchkes. My East Side grandmother took me to FAO Schwarz, the New York City Ballet, and afternoon tea at the Plaza Hotel, where I dreamed of becoming another Eloise. My West Side grandmother took me to the Central Park carousel and the zoo and treated me to colorful paper parasols and gummy, lukewarm pretzels from the vendors whose wares my East Side grandmother deemed too "dirty" for human consumption.

There are writers on both sides of my family, and although I always loved to write, I never anticipated that it would become my profession. I had wanted to be a ballerina; and though my club feet were corrected at birth (from the stilettos I adore now, you'd never know) and my short Achilles tendons made my toes turn in (corrected at the age of 9), I was never going to end up en pointe.

About a year later, I decided to become an actress when (if?) I grew up, and I never looked back. I majored in Theatre at Cornell University, worked in summer stock, and took classes with a couple of acknowledged masters. I performed a lot of Shakespeare and other classics in New York parks, basements, church choir lofts, and the occasional Off-Broadway theatre; then founded and ran my own nonprofit theatre company for several years. And when things got slow, and I found myself working three survival jobs simultaneously (one of them as a journalist and editor), I decided it was time to pursue an additional creative avenue.

Fast forward a decade. I'm now a multi-published author in three genres, as well as a freelance journalist. And I've also adapted a number of classic texts (IVANHOE; THE PRISONER OF ZENDA; THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL; Mark Twain's "The Diaries of Adam and Eve") for the stage. I began writing women's fiction and historical fiction simultaneously, but my first published novel was the urban romantic comedy MISS MATCH in 2002. In 2005, as I continued to write about feisty female New Yorkers, my first historical novel was published under the pen name Amanda Elyot. While keeping those literary plates spinning I made my historical nonfiction debut in the spring of 2008.

In what I laughingly refer to as my spare time, I'm still a professional actress, working when the scripts and the roles excite me.

I'm such a native New Yorker that I still don't have a driver's license, "Big Sky Country" means Central Park, and the farthest I've ever been from the Upper West Side for any great length of time was my four-year stint upstate in Ithaca, at Cornell, known for its rigorous academics and its equally harsh permafrost.

My birthday falls on the same day as two of my heroes--F. Scott Fitzgerald and Jim Henson. So I reread THE GREAT GATSBY every year and number Miss Piggy among the great actresses of her generation. My favorite color is deep hydrangea blue, and it just kills me that it doesn't look good with red hair.

I live in Manhattan with my husband Scott--who is my hero and everything I ever dreamed of. For the past couple of years we've been considering an addition to the family in the form of a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Irresistably Funny TV Fantasy, January 23, 2003

By 

Virginia Lore "rumtussle" (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Reality Check (Mass Market Paperback)

Leslie Caroll has done a terrific job providing the ideal "what if" scenario in Reality Check, a contemporary urban fantasy for anyone who has ever daydreamed (or had a nightmare) about auditioning for a reality-based t.v. show.

In Reality Check, Liz has decided to audition for Bad Date, a t.v. show in which contestants compete for one million dollars with stories of how badly their romantic lives have gone. Though Liz and her roommates audition for a lark (each of them has an altruistic reason to want the big bucks), when all three of them are cast trouble is ahead. A bigger brouhaha may be coming when Liz and fellow contestant Jack begin to find each other irresistibly attractive.

The real nugget of gold amidst all these dreams of winning is Carroll's sense of humor. Though the novel is an insubstantial read, Carroll thoroughly enjoys manipulating the peccadilloes of the English language. She is unable to restrain herself from giving Liz, an ad copywriter, ludicrous products with equally ridiculous names for which to create ad campaigns. Bars and restaurants have playful names as well. Carroll writes with a light and even hand, creating a book that's easy to pick up, laugh-out-loud funny, and quick to read.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Delightful And Very funny, February 23, 2003

By 

Lisa (San Bernardino, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Reality Check (Mass Market Paperback)

I picked this book out because I am a reality Tv junky. If you want a happy funny kind of a book this is the book for you. I loved all these charaters, Jem and Nell they were so funny I would love to have friends like that. Liz and Jack were the best! This book made me laugh out loud and thinking about it know I am laughing all over again. I highly recommend this book.
Happy Reading Lisa

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Total gem!!, June 7, 2005

By 

Tracy Vest (Northern California) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Reality Check (Mass Market Paperback)

Liz and her 2 friends audition for spots on a reality dating show for dating "losers." The last standing after 13 weeks of re-telling horrendous dating experiences will win $1 million. At the audition, she meets Jack and soon falls for him, despite rules against them fraternizing. The other contestants are pretty sterotypical, but that does not take away from the story.

Liz is chosen primarily because the producers can tell that she will give the host Rick Byron (who was introduced as one of the dates in "Miss Match"), a hard time on camera. They were right - the snappy comebacks for all of Rick's inane comments are totally hysterical, and most of them she said under her breath, only to realize the microphone was on.

Liz and Jack do all that they can to keep the relationship a secret from both her roommates and the show's producers. Will all this clandestine activity wreak havoc on the relationship? Their first (non)date is a hoot, it is a wonder they tried for a second.

This is a very humorous look at the wonderful (or pitiful, however you look at it) world of dating via television. Another great book to catch in a similar vein is Bachelorette #1 by Jennifer O'Connell.