Ditched: A Love Story by Robin Mellom

Release Date: January 10, 2012

High school senior Justina Griffith was never the girl who dreamed of going to prom. Designer dresses and strappy heels? Not her thing. So she never expected her best friend, Ian Clark, to ask her.

Ian, who always passed her the baseball bat handle first.

Ian, who knew exactly when she needed red licorice.

Ian, who promised her the most amazing night at prom.

And then ditched her.

Now, as the sun rises over her small town, and with only the help of some opinionated ladies at the 7-Eleven, Justina must piece together — stain by stain on her thrift-store dress — exactly how she ended up dateless. A three-legged Chihuahua was involved. Along with a demolition derby-ready Cadillac. And there was that incident at the tattoo parlor. Plus the flying leap from Brian Sontag's moving car...

But to get the whole story, Justina will have to face the boy who ditched her. And discover if losing out at prom can ultimately lead to true love.

I absolutely loved this book. I really can't say it any other way. It was funny, it was sweet, it was sad, and it was just a really great read.

The book opens with the hilarious, and sadly true, first chapter titled: "Food, a cell phone, and my dignity. . . all things I do not have". As if that wasn't enough to make me want to read the entire book immediately, the opening paragraph tells of the book's heroine, Justina Griffith, waking up in a ditch the morning after her high school prom, with no recollection of how she got there. Oh yeah, and her thrift-store-acquired prom dress? It's covered in stains of various colors. Most of us would be thinking, please, PLEASE do not tell me where those stains came from. I don't even want to know. Hello? Prom??? Gross. However, as the book continues, Justina uses the stains (and a french fry-shaped bruise on her shin) to help her piece together her disaster of a night. And let me just tell you, those stains aren't from anything you'd guess...

I really loved Justina. I thought she was one of the most endearing characters I've come across in a long time. She was so real. I, however, had a love/hate relationship with Justina's love interest/best friend/prom date, Ian. As Justina had "flashbacks" from their friendship, I absolutely loved him. I thought he was such a good catch. But all evidence (as Justina wakes up in a ditch, dateless) instead points to scumbag. How can you argue with the facts??

I think after Justina remembers the entire night, it'd be pretty hard for Ian to redeem himself. This is one you'll just have to read for yourself to find out if Ian really is the jerk he appears to be at prom. And trust me, you want to read this. I would even go so far as to say that it's buy-worthy. So, set aside a $20 bill from your Christmas cash stash to use on January 10th. You can thank me later.

Happy Reading!

**I received this egalley from the publisher for the purpose of review.