Book Boyfriends and Pretty Dresses: Welcome to my #YAProm Night!

Hey guys! Tonight I’m heading to the YA Prom with Alexa Loves Books and Ella Bee Reads – I’ll be telling you about my own prom experiences, my dream YA date, my outfit, and my favourite YA dance books!

My date: How do I choose from a million book boyfriends? I started by narrowing down to what I thought my ideal date would look like – I’m not into paranormal stuff, and I wouldn’t want a celebrity on my arm because…do I really want a
bunch of other girls/guys trying to steal the most popular guy in school
from me during prom? So that cut Maxon from The Selection and Matt Finch from Open Road Summer. In the end, I realized that I would probably want just a normal, funny guy who would totally support me.

	Zac Efron as Patrick Sheldon? His hair looks greasy here…

Patrick Sheldon from Heather Demetrios’ Something Real would be my dream date. The perfect, really smart, supportive guy who would take care of me, look cool in a suit (but kick it up a notch with sneakers and some kind of snarky bow-tie or by wearing, like, a vintage blue suit), and make sure it’s the best night of my life with some great laughs and swoony kisses.

My outfit: Easily the hardest part for me. On the one hand, I would love to have something princessy and dramatic, but let’s be honest, Patrick is going to want to escape early for some alone time, so…I might need something shorter to run in.

Dress: Zuhair Murad Spring 2014 collection – I had the hardest time choosing a dress. In the end I decided to go for something that was of the moment – a Spring 2014 collection – and would satisfy my princess-y-ness but was still short enough to run and dance in. I would probably cut this down to make it sleeveless, other than that, the sparkle, colour, belt, and poufy skirt are perfection for prom.   And it has pockets!

Earrings: Marquee Crystal Earrings from BHLDN – this is definitely a place where less is more on the jewels – let that dress and those shoes shine!

Shoes: Christian Louboutin 2012 Bow Bow heels – I totally coveted these for my wedding, even though I could never, ever afford them.They don’t even exist in the gold anymore, but I really love them.

My books: I am one of those girls who carries a book in my purse always, even if it’s just on my phone’s Kindle app. So here are a couple of prom/dance reads for you guys!

Ditched by Robin Mellom – Justina is a reformed party-girl who realizes that she’s actually into her best friend, so she accepts his prom invitation. But the morning after prom, she’s ditched in a ditch, and she has to piece together what happened to her through various stains, bumps, and bruises on her dress. Very cute and very funny, it’s like The Hangover of prom, and it’s the first book I thought of.

Winter White by Jen Calonita – Winter White is the second in Jen Calonita’s Belles series – I would probably suggest reading the first book first. That said, this one is a bit lighter in tone, and the dance is an epic cotillion, which you totally want to read for the richy-rich experience of picking out the perfect white dress and getting the perfect escort.

Suddenly Royal by Nichole Chase – This isn’t a YA – more of an NA – but it’s really one of the best romance books I’ve read, and you kind of want that for prom. The MC, Sam, is a no-nonsense girl who gets told she’s royalty from Lilaria, a tiny European town. In between swallowing that, she meets the Crown Prince of Lilaria, who has the hots for her, and she tries to navigate being royal, taking over her lands, and trying to be herself. It’s full of sexy characters and pretty clothing, but it has a lot of substance, too. Great for fairytale lovers.

My own prom experience: Let’s just lay it on the table: for an event
that was super-hyped by the books, my junior and senior prom experiences
were not great. First of all, I never had a date, even though I
mustered up the
courage to ask both my crushes both years. Yay me for having courage.
Boo to the jerky guys, one of whom actually didn’t even give me an
answer, and then went and asked someone else to the prom, which I heard
through the grapevine. Seriously, he didn’t even give me an answer first. I had the worst taste in guys.

Living in Hong Kong, I
had the luxury of designing my own dress both years. Guys, don’t let a
16-17 year old design a dress if she doesn’t have at least some
semblance of fashion sense. Both dresses were…fine, but not the
greatest, and they didn’t quite fit right. I don’t have pictures on me
because I am so old that they are just printed pictures…I’ll try to
hunt them down and scan them in for you guys.

I
honestly
don’t remember much from either prom, and not because I was drinking or
anything. I hung out with my friends both years and I don’t remember it
being especially interesting or different from any other high school
dance, other than the food. My second year, the best part of the night
was an after party at my good friend’s apartment. We had some girl time,
put on a movie, and I promptly fell asleep during the opening
credits.

For those of you going to an actual prom next
year or this year…I guess the lesson is, don’t overhype it, and hang
with your friends, because that’s better than any romance you’re going
to get. I promise! Dance, enjoy it, and try to make memories that last! =)

My forever-after prom date: Stole this idea from Alexa. This is my husband and me on our wedding day, which was…way better than prom!

Ok, now it’s up to you: who would be your YA prom date? What would you wear? What are your favourite dance/prom books, TV, and movies? Leave a comment, or come discuss with us at 8:30pm EST today on Twitter!