by Maria Geraci
PRAISE FOR
The Boyfriend of the Month Club
“A novel as quirky as its main character, The Boyfriend of the Month Club delivers comedy, romance, and a little bit of literature…immensely sexy, immensely satisfying and humorous.”
—Portland Book Review
“There’s nothing like a satisfying chick lit book on a blah winter’s day or on a sunny day at the beach. The machinations of friends and family in a cozy setting while the main character falls in love with the perfect guy becomes the chocolate bar for the soul…The Boyfriend of the Month Club is such a nugget of pleasure.”
—All About Romance
“The Boyfriend of the Month Club is the perfect book to grab on vacation or while relaxing over the holidays when you want a quick, funny read with lovable characters.”
—Philadelphia Women’s Fiction Examiner
“This book is a straight fun-read girls’ book. No other way to put it.”
—Celebrating the Southern Written Word
“This is a hysterical novel about a woman trying to find the perfect man. Grace’s close-knit family and friends serve as great secondary characters that add so much humor and love to this novel.”
—Chicklit Club Review
“This is a good romantic comedy story of literary heroes versus modern men, and the mistakes of modern relationships. Grace is a fun character with a lot of spirit. She’s the perfect romantic comedy heroine.”
—Parkersburg News and Sentinel
“The action is fast, the characters are smart in addition to being sassy, and the one-liners never stop.”
—Romance Junkies
“A funny look at love and relationships.”
—Southern Pines Pilot
“There are plenty of laughs, great characters, and romance. The Boyfriend of the Month Club is just plain great fun! Enjoy!”
—Reader to Reader Reviews
“This book is a quick, entertaining read that will keep you smiling until the end.”
—Two Lips Reviews
“Style-wise, think Dorothea Benton Frank meets My Big Fat Greek…er, Cuban Wedding. It’s a happy day when I read something that wouldn’t ordinarily end up on my to-be-read pile and end up loving it. Maybe you’ll get your hands on The Boyfriend of the Month Club and love it too!”
—What Women Write
“A lighthearted and fun read, I would definitely recommend The Boyfriend of the Month Club to chick lit fans.”
—ChickLit Plus Reviews
“Geraci fills the…enjoyable story with literary references and her leading lady is endearingly flawed. Romance readers will revel in the Austen-perfect happy ending and the warm friendship among members of the club.”
—Publishers Weekly
“The first thing that comes to mind with this book is the unique and fantastic humor that is found from the beginning and just doesn’t end…I absolutely loved it and hated to put it down…If you need a good laugh about the dating scene or just like to read about some fun characters, pick up The Boyfriend of the Month Club. It’s a terrific way to relax and learn not to take things too seriously as characters look for love and find it where they don’t expect it. (Or maybe they do.)”
—Night Owl Reviews
PRAISE FOR THE NOVELS OF
MARIA GERACI
“Geraci’s sexy, funny debut is an emotionally satisfying story of love, friendship, family, and community.”
—Chicago Tribune
“Bunco Babes Tell All is a refreshing story about the importance of women’s friendships crossed with the situational humor of a romantic comedy.”
—Sacramento Book Reviews
“A steamy romp of a read whose lively characters kept me turning the pages.”
—Haywood Smith, New York Times bestselling author of the Red Hat Club series
“A fun book, and what promises to be a delightful series from Geraci.”
—Wichita Falls
“This book had everything for me: sex, romance, laughter, and even a slight mystery, but as they say, ‘What happens at Bunco, stays at Bunco!’”
—Publishers Weekly Beyond Her Book Blog
“Maria Geraci has become my new favorite author…I can’t wait to read her next piece of work.”
—Fallen Angels Reviews (Recommended Read)
“This is a lighthearted romp that fans will enjoy as Georgia invades Florida only to realize she has to make up her mind who she wants. The Bunco Babes are a solid support crew, especially with dice and margaritas, while Dave is a well-drawn protagonist. Still, this warm frolic is owned heart and soul by Georgia as she must roll the dice between being a football widow if he ever asks, a love goddess if he ever asks, and if neither asks, a Bunco Babe gone wild.”
—Genre Go Round Reviews
Berkley Titles by Maria Geraci
A GIRL LIKE YOU
THE BOYFRIEND OF THE MONTH CLUB
BUNCO BABES GONE WILD
BUNCO BABES TELL ALL
a girl
like you
Maria Geraci
BERKLEY BOOKS, NEW YORK
BERKLEY BOOKS
Published by the Penguin Group
Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
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Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.
Copyright © 2012 by Maria Geraci.
Cover design by MNStudios.
Cover photos by Shutterstock.
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or
electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of
copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.
BERKLEY is a registered trademark of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
The “B” design is a trademark of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
PUBLISHING HISTORY
Berkley trade paperback edition / August 2012
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Geraci, Maria.
A girl like you / Maria Geraci.
p. cm.
ISBN: 978-1-101-58118-6
1. Women journalists—Fiction. 2. Stock car drivers—Fiction.
3. Florida—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3607.E7256G57 2012
813’.6—dc23
2012005213
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
>
ALWAYS LEARNING
PEARSON
For Mami,
who always loves me no matter what kind of sandwich I am.
acknowledgments
First off, thank you to Deidre Knight, my wonderful agent and friend for believing in this story. And to my editor, Wendy McCurdy, for giving me the freedom to write this without knowing how it was going to end. I’d also like to thank her assistant, Katherine Pelz, and the rest of the team at Berkley.
Thank you, Rosanne Dunkelberger, my Bunco pal, and the editor of Tallahassee Magazine, for answering all my questions and for the tour. A special thanks also goes to Alicia Miles for reading portions of my manuscript. I really hope I got everything right.
Thanks to my pal Melissa Francis for all the brainstorming, and to Jamie Farrell for the great critique, and, last but not least, to Beth Spooner for being my beta reader. I’d also like to thank my daughter, Stephanie, for giving me the initial feedback that started the novel.
As usual, I’d like to thank the awesome nurses in labor and delivery at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital, my home away from home. And of course, to my family: my parents; my sister, Carmen, whose support means so much to me; and of course, my lovely husband, Mike, who eats way too much takeout when I’m in writing mode. I love you all.
Ugly Friend: A friend a person brings with him/her to a gathering/event in order to make him-/herself appear more attractive in comparison.
—THE URBAN DICTIONARY
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-one
Chapter Twenty-two
Chapter Twenty-three
Chapter Twenty-four
Chapter Twenty-five
Chapter twenty-six
Chapter Twenty-seven
Chapter Twenty-eight
Chapter Twenty-nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-one
Chapter Thirty-two
Chapter Thirty-three
Epilogue
chapter one
It was a dark and stormy night…
I open the door to Captain Pete’s, the new “it” club in Ybor City, and am immediately reminded of that famous bar scene from Star Wars. Except in this scenario, I am the alien and everyone else is normal.
“Why is your hair wet?” Torie asks the second she sees me.
Kimberly stares at me in horror. “You look like a drowned rat.”
The bar is incredibly crowded even for a Friday evening and I have to strain to hear them above the noise. Someone male and reeking of Hugo Boss bumps into me but doesn’t stop to apologize.
“In case neither of you noticed, it’s raining outside,” I say.
“Emma,” Torie says, “that’s what valet parking is for.”
“It’s no biggie.” I pull the ends of my dark hair forward to wring the water out. “I’m exhausted, so I’m only staying for one drink.”
“One drink?” Torie frowns at me and gives Kimberly a look I can’t interpret except to say that they are both up to something, which usually does not bode well for me. Torie and Kimberly are terrific friends, but they are constantly trying to fix me up because they don’t think I’m aggressive enough to find a guy on my own.
I signal the bartender. He ignores me and moves to another customer before finally taking my order.
The guy who bumped into me earlier finagles his way onto the edge of our group. He points to the nearly empty beer in Torie’s hand. “Looks like you need a refill.”
Torie smiles brightly. “Thanks, maybe later?”
This is Torie’s standard spiel. She never shoots a guy down completely, because as she likes to say, “You never know.”
Hugo Boss smiles back. Disappointed, but not discouraged.
Stuff like this happens a lot to Torie. Unlike Kimberly, Torie is not a classic beauty, but she gets hit on more than Kimberly and me combined. I think this is because while Torie is pretty and has a great figure, the real attraction is that she exudes a combination of confidence and accessibility. Only the really cocky guys make a play for Kimberly. As for me, I admit to getting a lot of their leftovers.
“Don’t I know you from somewhere?” Hugo Boss asks me.
See? Leftovers.
I really shouldn’t reward him by validating this cheesiest of all pickup lines but I can’t help but be sympathetic to his plight. While he’s not exactly cute, he’s not a dog either. Plus, we are here to meet men.
“Somewhere sounds a little generic,” I say, trying to give him an in. “Maybe you could be more specific?”
Before he can respond, Kimberly pulls me away. “Thanks, but she’s not interested,” she says over her shoulder.
Hugo Boss shrugs, as if to say no biggie.
“Kimberly,” I hiss, “that’s kind of rude.”
“Forget about him! We dropped by your office on the way here.”
Let me tell you about my job.
I work for Dunhill Publications, which owns Florida! (yes, with an exclamation point) magazine, where I’ve been employed for the past six years as a journalist. Florida! is a high-end publication dedicated to celebrating the beauty and uniqueness of the Florida lifestyle (that’s our tagline). I worked as a freelancer for almost four years before I was hired full-time. It might not sound like a dream job, but I love it. Each magazine is a like a work of art. Great photos, great stories.
“You came by the office? Where was I?”
“Ben,” Kimberly says, emphasizing my boss’s name in a way that makes me twitchy, “said you were out running errands.”
Torie sniffs. “Without an umbrella, obviously.”
I ignore Torie’s little barb. Up to now, neither Torie nor Kimberly had met Ben, who only joined the staff at Florida! six months ago. Ben came to Florida! from Newsweek. He’s lived in New York and has traveled all over the world. How he ended up at Florida! I’m not sure, because although Florida! is an awesome magazine, it certainly can’t compare to the glamour of a publication like Newsweek. But whatever made Ben land here in Tampa, I’m grateful. Ben is a brilliant editor and I’ve really grown under his tutelage. I’m dying to ask the girls what they think of him, but I bite my tongue.
“We invited your sexy boss to go out with us tonight,” says Torie. “He should be here any minute.”
This seemingly benign statement causes my beer to go down the wrong way.
“Are you okay?” Kimberly slaps me on the back.
Hugo Boss turns around to see me choking and slips into the crowd without looking back. So much for chivalry…
“Raise your arms above your head,” instructs Torie.
What this will do, I’m not sure, but it works. I take a deep breath and try to calm myself. I’ve been secretly in love with Ben Gallagher since the day he told me his favorite word was ubiquitous.
This is how it happened.
Ben had been working at Florida! for about a month. The two of us were alone in his office discussing an article, when out of the blue, I blurted, “What’s your favorite word in the whole world?”
Without blinking, skipping a beat, or even pausing to frown, he turned to me and said, “Ubiquitous.” He then continued talking about the article as if we’d never had the exchange. I know this might sound dumb, but put in that same scenario, 99.9 percent of the population would have looked at me and said, “What?” for going off subject like that. But not Ben, because he tot
ally gets me.
Ben is everything a guy you hope to fall in love with should be. He’s handsome (but not too handsome), smart, has a great laugh, and is kind to animals. I know this last part because a couple of months ago a stray cat wandered off the street into our office. The cat was kind of mangy and looked like he hadn’t had a meal in days. Richard, a fellow journalist at Florida! (more on Richard later) immediately called Animal Control, which took the cat away. The next day Ben called the shelter and asked them to notify him if they planned to put the cat down, which, of course, is exactly what they were going to do. Ben drove to the shelter and adopted the cat, even though he is not a cat person. The cat’s name is Lucky (pretty appropriate if you ask me). Personally, I think the whole cat adoption story speaks volumes on Ben’s character.
Ben is also originally from Boston, which I totally love. While this might not sound exotic, for me, a rube from small-town Florida, cities like Boston and New York and Chicago hold some mysterious appeal. I’ve been to New York a few times. Once with my moms after I graduated high school, and a couple of times with Torie and Kimberly for a girls’ weekend. I don’t think I’d want to live there, but I’d love to say that I’m from there. It sounds so much more sophisticated than saying I was raised in Catfish Cove, Florida.
I envision my first date with Ben like this: He picks me up at my town house in his Toyota Prius (Ben is a member of the Sierra Club, another thing I love about him) and we go to a quaint little restaurant no one has ever heard of, but where the food is terrific. The owner greets Ben by name because Ben has discovered this fabulous restaurant that no one else knows about and the two of them have become chums. He orders the second-least-inexpensive bottle of wine on the menu and we begin a three-hour dinner that seems to go by in minutes because our conversation is so enthralling.
Afterward, we hit an independent bookstore where we peruse the aisles—poetry for me, natural history for Ben. Next, we take a walk along Bayshore Avenue. In the middle of the walk, Ben stops. He tenderly takes off my glasses, cups my face, and says, “Emma, is it all right if I kiss you?” While this might sound corny, it’s something I’ve always dreamed of a guy saying to me, so it’s definitely included in my perfect date scenario.
