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Title: Nicknames: Tales from the Shallow End of the Manhattan Dating Pool

Author: Mary Geneva with Lisa Canfield

Release Date: April 8, 2015

Genres: Memoir, Comedy, Self-Help

Publisher: Mill City Press

* * * * * * * * * Summary * * * * * * * * *

There are a million bad dates in the city that never sleeps.

Mary Geneva has been on 999,999 of them.

When she moved to Manhattan in her mid-20s, Mary imagined being single in New York City would be like something out of a Hollywood movie. And it was—a horror movie.

Nicknames is a look at some of the most hopeless, horrendous, and frequently hilarious dates you can imagine. Mary shares her true-life adventures looking for Mr. Right in the treacherous New York dating scene. You’ll meet men so bizarre, their names have been changed to protect the guilty.

Part memoir, part self-help book, Nicknames will have you laughing out loud…and possibly abstaining from dating forever.

* * * * * * * * * Excerpt * * * * * * * * *

I ran after him, only to be greeted with a temper tantrum that seemed more appropriate for someone in his terrible twos. My mind was racing. Was he bipolar? Did he have multiple personality disorder? Is this how it all started with Ted Bundy?

He screamed like a man possessed, right there on the street, ranting and raving about how he had taken me out to dinner three times and I had never even offered to pay. This, of course, was wrong, meaning he was completely delusional. More importantly, he was terrifying. He was a full foot taller than me and was screaming as if he was about to cut my throat right there in front of all of Chelsea.

I started to plan the quickest possible escape from what felt like certain doom. He kept yelling, moving on to the fact that I was “expensive” and “high maintenance.” Then, mercifully, he left me on the corner, but only after his unforgettable parting words: “This is why you are beautiful, almost thirty, and ALONE!”

I guess I couldn’t have expected him to put me in a cab to make sure I got home safely given how “high maintenance” I am. I couldn’t fathom what had just happened. Then I remembered he was from Jersey. What was my rule about dating guys from the “outer limits”? I made that rule for a reason: because they’re WEIRD!

Book Links

Goodreads | Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon AU | Barnes & Noble

Author Biography

Mary Geneva is a sales professional by day and a serial dater by night. Married at age 21 and divorced at 26, she and her cat Diva were left to learn how to balance their checkbook.

In Nicknames, Mary tiptoes back into the dating pool, accumulating many late night, drunken scraps of paper and text messages, outlining unbelievable—yet totally true—events. Knowing she couldn’t make this stuff up, she stored the memories away, and is finally able to share them with you.

Undaunted, Mary lives, works, and plays in NYC. When not dating, Mary can be found planning her next scuba diving adventure and hanging out with her pets, rescued pup Valentino and kitty Diva.

Mary also charges full speed ahead pounding the pavement, racing marathons and raising money to bring awareness of suicide prevention and outreach programs.

But nothing brings a smile to Mary’s face like her famous garlic roasted mashed potatoes, perfectly whipped mountains of starch, hoping to one day find the meat to her potatoes.

To unwind, Mary is on a mission to create the perfect martini!

Mary’s Social Links

Jump on and Follow the rest of the TOUR!

November 9 – Hello Precious Bliss (review)
November 11 – Read by Carolina (excerpt)
November 12 – Ali – The Dragon Slayer (review & excerpt)
November 13 – Newbery and Beyond (review)
November 15 – One Book at a Time (review) MaryGeneva-TweetBadDate

Published Date: 14^th July 2015 by Andrews McMeel Publishing

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Be Patient, Don’t Let the Haters In, Live in the Light, and Build Your Own Rainbow—these and many more inspiring reminders from Jeremy Ville fill the pages of Live Life Sunny Side Up.

To break out of a creative funk, artist and designer Jeremyville began pairing positive affirmations with simple, yet thought-provoking drawings and posting them online under his “Community Service Announcements” project. The response was overwhelming, and the result is a library of 800 images in just a few years. Live Life Sunny Side Up collects 100 of the most inspiring CSAs guaranteed to bring you out of a funk even on your worst days. This collection of simple and cheerful messages is perfect to give to a friend or keep on your nightstand for those days when you need a quick pick-me-up or a reminder to “Live Free Range Instead.”When I hear the term “Self-Help” I think of a repetitive preachy text book full of pages and pages of junk that while wonderful on paper is useless in the real world – not that I’ve read that many, so shame on me, I guess! If more of them are like this book I would happily give them a go.

SO this book is categorised as a “self-Help” book, but don’t let that put you off. This book collects Jeremyville’s all-time favourites of his “Community Service Announcements”. The illustrations are bright, colourful and cuter then a baby elephant. The messages are simple but powerful and relevant. It is watermelon flavoured bubble-gum sweet and it will make you smile. It might even make you think to call your mother once in a while.

I would love to have TRUST IN YOUR IDEAS AND JUMP and OWN YOUR STRANGENESS as big posters on my wall at home, however I don’t think my husband would be into it.

While I wasn’t blown away, I did enjoy reading It.

Jeremyville is a New York based artist, product designer and author. His art is about simple, thought provoking messages told in an instantly recognisable style.

Jeremyville grew up by the ocean at Bondi Beach in Sydney Australia, and started his art career drawing at the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper, while completing his Architecture Degree from Sydney University, and editing the student newspaper Honi Soit. It was amidst this education in print at the age of 19, that he first discovered the power of simple writing, and the impact that an iconic image can have in helping to change the world.

Jeremyville draws daily in his sketchbook and shares his Community Service Announcements through his social media, with messages of environmental action, social change, inner growth and positive daily actions.

Website – http://www.jeremyville.com/

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/JeremyvilleDaily

Twitter – https://twitter.com/Jeremyville

Instagram – https://instagram.com/Jeremyville/

YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/user/MrJeremyville/videos

Goodreads – http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/9873838.Jeremy_Ville