A Date With Angel: And Other Things That Weren't Supposed To Happen

Kim and Angel #1

by J. Judkins

Kim could tell at a glance Angel wasn’t the average attractive yet poorly disguised extraterrestrial scout sent to assess Earth’s defenses before the inevitable alien invasion. Angel’s memory loss cover story? Lame. Robbing a passing ruffian of his shirt to cover her naked body? NOT a good way to avoid attracting attention! As a science fiction geek, Kim felt herself uniquely qualified to watch Angel and thwart her dark mission…once the alien got around to it.

But Angel had her own questions. She couldn’t help but wonder, why would Kim invite a stranger home? Surely, it could only be for romance! Kim didn’t dare correct her, not without giving herself away, and so both found themselves in an escalating romantic relationship neither actually wanted.

Is it possible lies and deception could lead to true love? Could projected feelings designed to fool the other become genuine?

“A Date with Angel is a romantic escalation comedy full of misinterpretations, grand theories, and devious, romantic traps ... and a suspected alien woman doing her best to meet a sci-fi paranoiac's expectations."

Genres: Romance, Science Fiction, Lesbian, Humor, LGBT, Fantasy, Comedy

381 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 2, 2015

About the author

I grew up addicted to video games, which gradually changed into the role-playing games, both tabletop and computer based. Other than books and movies and lately, writing, I don't do much at all.

Writing books is new for me, and I think my twisted ideas may actually have a market. Here's hoping. I'll do my best to be sociable, but I'm not particularly good at it. If, however, you poke me with a sharp stick and send direct questions, I'll do my best to answer them.

Reviews

[Gavin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was billed as a romantic comedy, and it most definitely delivers on that promise. This was an enjoyable light-hearted tale packed full of romance, humor, fun sci-fi references, and hilarious mishaps!

While on her way home from a bout of star gazing Kim, a shy, extremely introverted, socially anxious, sci-fi geek, spots a hot naked blonde snatching a shirt from the body of an unconscious man. She immediately jumps to the conclusion that any self respecting sci-fi nerd would in such a situation: she has encountered a Terminator! Being of sound mind Kim quickly dismisses this theory. After all, everyone knows Terminator's are not real. That leaves only one possible conclusion: the women is a freshly arrived alien on a scouting mission to earth! This theory gains more traction when Kim asks the women if she needs help and her probing reveals the alien has gone with the incredibly lame, lost memory, cover story. Determined to put a stop to this alien's nefarious plans Kim decides to invite her home, under the guise of helping her, so she can keep an eye on her.

Angel is not quite sure why the stranger has invited her home, surely it can only be for romance! She decides to play along as she does need a place to stay. Kim cannot correct Angel's misconception as surely this would only raise her suspicions and make it impossible to figure out her nefarious alien missions.

The whole plot was light-hearted, over the top, ridiculous, and incredibly fun. Kim and Angel found themselves in a rapidly escalating romance that each thought the other wanted. There was a whole lot of hilarious mishaps along the way and before too long both women had to try hard to remind themselves that they are only acting!

Kim and Angel both had a ton of weird quirks, but that did not stop them from being incredibly likeable. They also made a surprisingly great couple and I enjoyed their slow burn romance. The rest of the plot was not overly complex, but it did not need to be as the humor and romance carried the story.

All in all this was exactly the sort of fun romantic comedy I was hoping it would be.

The ending left the possibility for a sequel which I'd definitely read.

Rating: 4.5 stars.

Audio Note: I took a little bit of time to warm to Kendall Taylor's narration, but in the end I thought she did a decent job. Her chosen voice for Angel could have been better, but importantly she got the humor and tone of the story.

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Edit: Just as much fun the second time around! I'm not sure why I was so sparing in my praise of Kendall Taylor's narration the first time as she really did a great job with this book and even her voice for Angel was fine!

[Kara · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is another one of my favorite books! The narrator does a great job, and I keep “A Date with Angel” on my iPhone with lots of bookmarks to return to my favorite parts over and over whenever I want to smile, laugh and shake my head at the same time!

I’m not going to say much (spoilers!), but Kim is a very likeable self-described asexual who very quickly learns she rather likes being pursued by Angel. Her ongoing dismay at frequently not being pursued as aggressively as she is preparing for is just hilarious! We experience Angel through Kim’s eyes, but she is hilarious and likeable in her own way, as she learns that she too likes to kiss and is very anxious to explore sexuality.

85% of the book is an incontestable 5*. At nearly 15 hours long, the book does bog down in a few spots. The “love before sex, or sex before love” dilemma is drawn out more than necessary, and the ending of the book abruptly moves away from the fun of the two main characters’ developing awareness of who they are themselves and to each other, into more of a sci-fi realm.

Clearly the book sets up for a sequel. Well….GUESS WHAT!!!! When I clicked on the author’s GoodReads profile I found artwork I’ve never seen before!!! So I looked on Twitter and the author said just two days ago “Done with the sequel soon, I’ve got cover art of the antagonist, who’s convinced the best way to blend is to be a supervillain”

I am SOOOO Freaking Excited! I really hope that the playfulness and super sexiness of the first book continues, and that the sequel isn’t all mechanical sci-fi like the very end of “Angel”, but did I mention I’m REALLY EXCITED?!!

[lov2laf · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a kooky story that is pretty well written and rather amusing.

Kim is a self-admitted life-long no libido, "not attracted to men or women", introverted, self-centered, non-social person who wants to spend her time playing video games, reading, and being as unnoticed as possible...and she's proud of it, dammit.

Along comes Angel, a hot, nearly naked woman that Kim finds stranded at night in a parking lot. Within seconds, Kim's deduced she's an alien so, of course, she wants to take her home because, hello, that's cool. Only, Kim can't let on that she knows Angel is an alien so the entire story is the two trying to outsmart, manipulate and best each other...all for our amusement. Don't tell them that, though. They probably wouldn't like it.

The author did a great job here, spinning out a story that is fresh and unique. We read the story through Kim's point of view which is, quite frankly, manic. Her mind is on speed trying to keep up with the hijinks of Angel which is complicated by the fact that she may actually be falling for the girl, her hermit self be damned.

The banter between Angel and Kim is something out of Abbot and Costello and Kim's escalation into hysterics at the least amount of attention or any admission of emotion is highly entertaining.

Along with sci-fi comedy, this book is a romance with some mystery thrown in. We're basically too stuck in the analytical and logical side of Kim to feel any true romantic intimacy so I'd say this falls into a "cute romance" type category. There is sweetness here. Despite the asexuality or gray-sexuality of Kim, there is also sex in this story. It's more than fade to black, but the comedic nature of the narrative doesn't make for erotica, as much as Kim begins to enjoy it.

For the dings against the story, I felt the book started to drag a bit somewhere between 40-60% of the way through because Kim's arguments started to feel repetitious. However, around the 60% mark, the story really picks up again. The book feels a little unpolished editing-wise but I'll take fresh content and spirit any day, which this story has. I didn't get a strong feel for what Kim looked like other than she had green eyes, was five foot, and had a smaller chest than Angel...I suppose this could work in the reader's favor if they want to come up with their own idea or perhaps want to lean towards an average looking protagonist. The author did wrap up the book but it also ended super abruptly. An extra chapter here would've been nice but it's not a deal breaker.

There are a lot of allusions to science fiction, video games, and geek-like culture and the book itself borders on parody and is an homage to these.

Overall, the book is really well done and a fun read. I recommend it.

[Lexxi Kitty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting experience - the 'listening' to a book part. Quite fun, really.

As before, the book was great until we got to the part wherein Angel got flustered by Kim's constant double-talk and conspiracy theory ramblings. And went insane herself.

To a certain extent, those 'frustrating moments' were magnified in audio form. The numerous times Kim mentioned to herself that Angel didn't love her because of a comment she made about sex. The double-talk - obviously Angel is trying to trick Kim into sex. It was funny until it was annoying.

I did notice one thing, though - there were certain jokes that were more humorous via ear than eyeball. Like the one wherein Angel, in a kind of off-hand comment said something like 'you always play with my breasts as if you are trying to get milk out of them.' And the whipped cream is desert topping or something to be used during sex conversation was both humorous and frustrating.

October 14 2016

[Lexxi Kitty · Rating 5 out of 5]

My first book by this author, and, as far as I can tell, the only book by this author.

At the 37% mark, I had written:
"I may mess everything up, somehow, by admitting this but . . . so far this is the funniest book I've ever read in my life. I can't stop laughing. On the train. In the pizza place picking up pizza. Etc. Please don't turn bad immediately after me admitting this here."

And here I am, book completed, and I’ve rated it 4 stars instead of 5. I have three theories for ‘what happened’. Or at least I did yesterday when I had originally desired to write a review. Let’s see if I recall any of them. Oh, right, I should mention what happened before presenting theories. See, if I had been able to write this yesterday*, I’d have been able to remember this bit here. The ‘what happened’ is that roughly 50 to 60% of the book is literally, and yes I know what that word means, laugh out funny. Involuntarily laughing out funny. Having people give you looks because you are rolling around laughing. While the last 40 to 50% of the book is not.

1) I read all 380 pages very very quickly. Practically non-stop. While also attempting to do stuff, like commute home from work, and walk, and get food. Theory one is that I read so quickly that I became somewhat numbed by the humor to the point that I was no longer able to achieve humor-gasm. (Theory one fails in that there were still moments wherein I broke out laughing, loudly, near the end of the book).
2) Theory one is that I was numbed from reading everything at once so my ability to feel the humor had been numbed. Theory two is that I read everything so fast that the insanity inherent in the book finally overwhelmed me to the point that I was incapable of noticing humor, except on rare occasions, as I battled through the insanity.
3) Theory one posits that I became numb; theory two posits that I became overwhelmed. Theory three takes what has been learned, felt, examined and assumes that the second half of the book was simply less funny than the first.
4) I’ll add in a fourth theory about why the latter half of the book wasn’t as funny to me as the first half had been. Add it in after I’d already written everything else in this review. I, odd as it might seem, saw a lot of similarity between myself and Kim. I had the thought, somewhere along the line, that this would probably be how any kind of romantic relationship would have to occur with me being involved. By accident. And by the insistence of another. But then the character diverged from me and so the antics of the book lost some of their pleasurable elements that had been previously acquired while reading. (Somewhere along the line my brain reminded me of that 7 year relationship I had been in, and then I had an argument with my brain about whether that was real or not; at which point I just shrugged and returned to the book).

All theories might be right. I might have read too fast and been numbed. The insanity might have been more sustainable/bearable if I hadn’t read everything in one gulp. And even if I had taken time, the second half might simply have not been as funny as the first.

From the beginning, though, the book was ‘insane’. A woman who has no social ability is out using her brand new telescope for the fourth time. She got it as a gift. She’s quite bored and figures four attempts are enough. While coming to this conclusion, she hears a sound near her. A sound like pain. With her extensive knowledge from reading, movies, gaming and the like, she suspects the sound might be alien in origin. She investigates. Eventually emerges from the woods to spot a woman near her car. The woman is naked but for a shirt she is in the process of tugging on. Near her is a shirtless man on the ground knocked out. She has two immediate thoughts – (1) Terminator!; (2) must get closer!

One thing leads to another and the woman who is wearing just a shirt agrees to go back to Kim’s place. Kim being the person who had been out with the telescope. The bottomless woman has explained that she lost her memory, and clothing, in a fire. Eventually decides that her name is ‘Angel’, since the guy she knocked out used that word. Kim believes Angel is an alien scout out to lay the foundations for an alien invasion.

Naturally, the insanity of the situation is readily apparent. I’m not really sure how to word this, but I’ll attempt to do so. One of the advantages of the first half over the second half is that Kim’s insanity isn’t overwhelming the plot, or, for that matter, Angel. Once Angel started arguing back in an illogical manner – revealing that she knows that Kim believes that Angel has been attempting to manipulate her all this time, and knows that she always seems to fail when she actually does attempt manipulation . . . once that argument occurred my head kind of exploded. We were doing loop de loops. Circular logic/circular arguments. Kim was insane but it was manageable. Angel was insane, but in a cute ‘person who lost their memory or might be an alien, or possibly a terminator sent from the future to kill all’ way.

There is supposedly a sequel. I’ll likely acquire it as quickly as my greedy little hands can get it and devour it. Hopefully I’ll be able to slow myself enough to enjoy. And, hopefully, the humor from the first half resurfaces. Harder now, though, as the ‘fish out of water’ and ‘we don’t’ know what’s going on’ elements are gone now.

The book is not a five star book; I’d directly or indirectly noted that to begin the review, but didn’t say what it is. Those peeking above the review already know what I rated the book. That’s right, I rated it 4.8 stars. What? We don’t have that ability? Hmms. I might have to raise it to five stars then. As it is closer to 4.8 stars than 4.5 or 4. I just went to so much trouble saying why it isn’t a five star book. I don’t want to have to try to find something else to write there.

This was a really fun book all the way around. From the embarrassments at work, at home, out on dates. The accidental nature of some of the activities. The slow build up of sexual tension. This, I know, is an odd thing to say considering that one of the first things they did when they got back to the apartment was take a shower. Together. Which included Angel soaping up Kim, and Kim returning the favor as she didn’t want to admit that everything was a little weird, because she wanted to keep the alien close, but couldn’t think of what to say, so found herself being soaped up, and soaping up the alien. This book should come with a warning. I was giggling and outright laughing at their antics, and the next thing I knew I was on a train reading a rather erotic scene in a shower involving two women. It was an ‘accidental’ scene, though. This is why I say there’s a slow build up of sexual tension. Because Kim denies any actual attraction to Angel until deep into the process (the process being the romance/book, not process of being soaped up). While Angel was just soaping someone, without knowledge that there is anything odd about that, nor with any romantic desires while doing so. No, that developed later. Rather quickly. A switch got flipped when they were at a restaurant and someone made the comment that they were on a date. And Kim couldn’t think of a quick way to get around that comment. From that moment on, Angel acted like a girlfriend.

Right, sorry, the warning. Two parts: 1) you will make a fool of yourself by laughing loudly. Be aware of this issue if you attempt to read this book where others can see you reading; 2) there are some rather erotic scenes that pop up unexpectedly.

*- the book was so good that when I returned to my apartment with food, I gobbled the food and continued reading. The point, though, is that I literally (my I seem stuck on that being my word of the day or something) tossed my keys when I got inside. Along with all my belongings. Because I wanted to continue reading. The next day I could not find ‘my stuff’. I spent four hours looking for my keys. I eventually found them though too late to actually write my review (so I wrote it today). Did give me the chance to watch the new Star Wars for the first time, though.

December 31 2015

[Mimi · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute light read that's sometimes funny but requires quite a bit of suspension of disbelief. Much of the humor stems from misunderstandings, awkward situations, and the two main characters Kim and Angel being socially inept. I enjoyed this story and will probably seek out the sequel, should the author decide to write it.

[IanWAA · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was hilarious and I absolutely loved Kim's inner dialog full of misunderstandings but some times it got a bit fatiguing.
This one is definitely a book I will have to reread or listen to at some point.

[Ted · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this a few years ago. Figured since book 2 was out it deserved a re-read.

Quirky. Zany. An over abundance of inner debate/dialog. Fun. I liked it. Quite funny at times. Kim's a pretty fun character.

[Christie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Update rating after listening to Audible narration

The story is entertaining, It made me laugh more often than not, sometimes because it was truly funny and other times because it was so ridiculous it had me shaking my head and laughing.... either way I was laughing.

Update:
I originally rated this a 3 star book but after reading several others that I gave 3 stars to I decided to reread or I should say listen to this book. I purchased the Audible companion a while back and decided to listen to the story on a road trip. I must say that the story is a 4 star book especially if you need a good laugh and an all around fun story to get your spirits up.

[Jhosy]

I gave up on this reading.
As far as I read it was enough to realize that this story is not my type.
The fanservice reminded me of some Japanese anime in which inseveral scenes called "ecchi", the MC is unnaturally in front of a naked character with big breasts, or the MC needs to physically touch the naked girl.
I will not give stars to this book, because I didn't read until the end.

[T · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved reading this book. Even the extreme repetition was humorous. But now listening to the audio version put it solidly in my favorites. The masterful and intelligent humor in every sentence was executed perfectly by the narrator. This will be a frequent repeat for me.

[Book Worm · Rating 5 out of 5]

very funny, very unconventional, love it
This was the funniest, most refreshing read this year. I enjoyed everything about it. The story hovering between fantastical and science fiction. The quirky, sometimes repetitive, often ludicrous and absurd inner dialogue of the main character. This is the geekiest and most paranoid character I've ever come across. But instead of annoying the hell out of me Kim made me laugh.
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[C · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to love this story. The idea behind it was really great, but it was too one sided. As in, a lot of monologue and repetition in Kim's (the main character aside from Angel) internal monologue. This just didn't do it for me. I didn't hate, but I definitely won't read it again...just not my cup of tea as far as writing styles.

[Alastar · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book, it is also dangerous if you had to stop reading to do your work. I found myself through out work doing the smiling goofily or chuckling to myself as thoughts of parts of the book popped into my head. Both Kim and Angel are loveable characters.

[Paige Bookdragon]

The title is too darn catching.

[AnnMaree Of Oz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stayed up til 2AM because I couldn't put it down!

It's crazy and unconventional, and even after finishing it I'm still a bit stunned and left wondering 'what the heck happened?'

Kim is an introverted anti-social individual that never seemed to strive for much in life. She had her dead end office job, no real friends to speak of other than gossipy co-workers in neighboring cubicles, and spent her time reading, playing games, and watching films. All alone.

She's also got a vividly wild imagination and is completely paranoid and untrusting!

Which is why when she comes across a naked woman in a carpark with memory loss, she suspects everything from terminators to alien scout, and doesn't flinch at offering the stranger, calling herself Angel, a place to stay.

Angel is naive and interesting, the mystery surrounding her and her behaviours are intriguing and frustrating.

None so frustrating though is Kim and her wild spiraling thoughts in second-guessing everything, and driving herself mad with conspiracy and indecision.

Kim is truly a flawed and exasperating character. Her constant mind ramblings and manipulation of the situation, while thinking she is the one being manipulated is both amusing yet disturbing. But somehow charming and endearing? It's a very odd concept for sure!

It's one of those weird books and characters that sparks an odd little part of you that you've often tried to repress because you know it's not exactly 'normal'. At least that's the feelings I got from her character. Except she fully embraces her crazy, and doesn't care about 'normal'. Except when she does. Which again makes her so maddening. Yet relatable!

Seriously, just read it - it's the only way you'll understand - or not - kindle unlimited.

[lauraღ · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was a mix of things that I would normally like, but put together in the way that it was and written in the way that it was... it just wasn't very good or enjoyable. It dragged. Nothing happened. Normally you'd never hear me complain about authors putting character interaction before plot, because character interaction is something that I ADORE, but... it just didn't work here. Kim's convoluted arguments and over-explaining and navel-gazing exhausted me. A lot of the descriptions of her and Angel's relationship made me uncomfortable. I usually love books where the protagonists discover and explore their sexuality, but this didn't feel like that? It felt... voyeuristic, somehow. And I was drawn in by the cool sounding plot, but literally nothing actually happened re: Angel's alien nature until around 70% into the book. Some parts were so boring I wanted to cry.

I don't know. I wanted to like this book, but I just didn't.

[Tinything · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really like this book alots. Love it!

First of all, the first thing i noticed about this book is the title. Than i went to read the description and i really like both main characters’ name. (I dont know why, sometimes the names just catch my interest and made me want to read it). And than i went to read some reviews and saw one of the reviewer that i mostly come across with humour and funny tag along with other reviewers.. soo why not go for it? Than i bought it of course. Oh forgot to mention, i really like the start of the book!

This book did make me laugh so hard and i really enjoy both main character banter back and force. They just kept me smiling most of the time. They are such a pair, i really love them!!

There is a bit of annoying part sometimes tho, Kim’s doubt. How she doesnt really trust anything and suspect anyone for doing something and she doesnt want to admit the truth.

Still, this book become my favorite now hahaha :)

[Bobbi · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cute romantic comedy. Nothing too fancy about it. Being a geek myself I can relate to Kim pretty easily. The word play/banter might get tiresome after a while for some, but overall an enjoyable, humorous read.

[Richard Natali · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book! Couldn't put it down!

What a great story! It was interesting and fun to read! I've never read anything quite like it. Is it romance, science fiction, fantasy, non-fiction??? I really couldn't classify it. Whatever it is, it is a great book!!!

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book. I think I feel more in love with this after the audio book which made me lol. Highly recommend reading the book followed by the audio. Angel is just so darn funny.

[Cynthia · Rating 1 out of 5]

I did not remember reading this. At. All. Some passages felt familiar in a way that made me wonder if I'd read it as a pre-publication fanfiction or something of the sort. But even after finishing it, I do not remember reading it last year.

This book is not good. First it insists on spelling everything out to the point of dullness and dryness, which completely defeats the humorous purpose. Not to mention, nothing makes sense, but not in the wild funny way promised, but simply in a plain illogical frustrating way. The main character is also insufferable and nothing she does justifies the love interest falling in love with her. At. All. Especially since, being written from the pov of the self-deceiving and more-than-a-little-reluctant main character, everything felt like coercion.

It all reads like a geek boy fantasy, complete with the Nubile Savage TropeTM (except the love interest is not a savage but that's only a detail), just with the main character changed to a woman. An awful, entitled, manipulative, possessive, borderline gaslighting, rude woman.

I read this book because it appeared in an ace book list, and while the main character keeps saying she's never been attracted to anyone until meeting the love interest, nothing else in the way she talks about any of it makes for a respectful and thoughtful depiction of asexuality. (At least it doesn't equate sex with sinful lust and romance with pure love, eh?)

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I laughed. A lot. The main character's personal narrative was hilarious, intriguing, & detailed. I fell in love with the curious steps Angel and Kim took to understand each other & move along in their relationship. This story was meant for a light hearted read and for a person more on the nerd/geek scale with Star Trek, Star Wars, and Doctor Who references to name a few. I loved it & I hope there's a sequel!

[Iori · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome read

I never laughed so much, the story is sci-fi/romance/comedy. It was fun to see the antics of the heroine, she's antisocial, a geek and so damn awkward. And there's Angel, she's fun, tough and witty, everything begin with a misunderstanding, but emotions make everything alright in the end.

[Sascha Broich · Rating 4 out of 5]

The end is a little letdown. But otherwise a great and funny read.
How Kim's mind tries to create plans where any normal person would see just normal behaviour.

[Laura · Rating 1 out of 5]

Nah girl.

[poppp · Rating 1 out of 5]

I tried really hard to like this book.. But nope, I don't. Kim's character is just plain annoying, and Angel's cuteness could not save them both. I was prepared for an average plot since the reviews say that it's a light, funny read but I couldn't take it. The manipulating/not manipulating this and that was done TOO many times -- Kim's monologues about that took up like 80% of the book. I tried skipping the blurb to get to the story but there was none. This could have been something and I'm disappointed. Shelved this in "did not finish". I skipped and really couldn't take it anymore and stopped with around 50 pages left (ibooks).

[Kin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A thoroughly enjoyable story. Both heroines were so outlandish and yet endearing. I'm resisting the urge to spoil anything mainly because it doesn't need any of that. The story was fun and ridiculous and I only wish there was more.

[Jennifer Black · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quirky main character, entertaining interactions and emotional development. This was a hilarious (made me laugh out loud often) read!

Edit: It had really funny and memorable moments! Felt like I hadn’t stressed that enough.

Edit: Still makes me laugh as I revisit passages from time to time!

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

it's really frustrating and convoluted and I loved it