First Date Stories

Women’s Romantic and Ridiculous Midlife Adventures

Non-Fiction - Relationships
185 Pages
Reviewed on 05/06/2021
Buy on Amazon

This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Donation Program, which was created to help nonprofit and charitable organizations (schools, libraries, convalescent homes, soldier donation programs, etc.) by providing them with free books and to help authors garner more exposure for their work. This author is willing to donate free copies of their book in exchange for reviews (if circumstances allow) and the knowledge that their book is being read and enjoyed. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email. Be sure to tell the author who you are, what organization you are with, how many books you need, how they will be used, and the number of reviews, if any, you would be able to provide.

Author Biography

Jodi Klein knows what it’s like to date longer and later in life. A demanding career and desire to find her “Mr. Yes” led to her becoming an alumna of nearly 400 dates over the course of 26 years. She created the podcast First Date Stories, and founded the blog of the same name, to provide a platform for women in midlife to share dating tales and advice.

Jodi is an entrepreneur, a marketing executive, a real estate broker, and the president of Espoir Ventures, LLC. She is a graduate of UC Davis and holds an MBA from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan. Jodi lives in San Francisco with her husband.

    Book Review

Reviewed by Jamie Michele for Readers' Favorite

First Date Stories: Women’s Romantic and Ridiculous Midlife Adventures by Jodi Klein is a non-fiction collection of experiences aimed at cementing solidarity and reinforcing sisterhood from within the ranks of the post-forty dating scene. All told, there are nearly a dozen moments that Klein puts forward. These stories are told in vignettes, with each delving into a full first date and all it entails. Pre-date jitters, premonitions, and early expectations roll over into the slices of reality that are both good and bad, providing an unvarnished look into the meeting. The experience is then followed by “The Rest of the Story”, which provides what occurred after the date ended. Finally, Klein plucks what can be learned from the featured story's heart and through the beauty of hindsight is able to provide “Dating Takeaway Tips” to encourage a better next time.

A dear, dear friend of mine in the over-fifty dating scene once told me that in this specific age bracket, the dating pool definitely has pee in it. First Date Stories gives the caliber of experiences that one hopes for when selecting a book written for a niche category of readers, but Jodi Klein pushes beyond this with moments that are written with pitch-perfect wit, even when the tales take a turn into the realm of drama that reads like fiction. My favorite is The Real Jim, where Ellen goes on a date with a man who feels the demands of his daily life inhibit his true nature...and once permission is given for him to let loose, he gets way too loose. There are others, such as The Day Trip and The Cringe, both of which delve into dating someone whom you've crossed paths with before, and the divergence of how those concluded so differently. I absolutely loved this book and wholly appreciate the contributions that Klein weaves into a fantastic anthology. Really well done.