Books with category ❣️ Dating
Displaying 10 books

Love, Theoretically

2023

by Ali Hazelwood

The many lives of theoretical physicist Elsie Hannaway have finally caught up with her. By day, she's an adjunct professor, toiling away at grading labs and teaching thermodynamics in the hopes of landing tenure. By other day, Elsie makes up for her non-existent paycheck by offering her services as a fake girlfriend, tapping into her expertly honed people-pleasing skills to embody whichever version of herself the client needs.

Honestly, it's a pretty sweet gig—until her carefully constructed Elsie-verse comes crashing down. Because Jack Smith, the annoyingly attractive and arrogant older brother of her favorite client, turns out to be the cold-hearted experimental physicist who ruined her mentor's career and undermined the reputation of theorists everywhere. And he's the same Jack Smith who rules over the physics department at MIT, standing right between Elsie and her dream job.

Elsie is prepared for an all-out war of scholarly sabotage but… those long, penetrating looks? Not having to be anything other than her true self when she's with him? Will falling into an experimentalist's orbit finally tempt her to put her most guarded theories on love into practice?

The Love Wager

2023

by Lynn Painter

Hallie Piper is turning over a new leaf. After belly-crawling out of a hotel room (hello, rock bottom), she decides it's time to become a full-on adult. She gets a new apartment, a new haircut, and a new wardrobe, but when she logs onto the dating app that she has determined will find her new love, she sees none other than Jack, the guy whose room she snuck out of.

After the joint agreement that they are absolutely not interested in each other, Jack and Hallie become partners in their respective searches for The One. They text each other about their dates, often scheduling them at the same restaurant so that if things don't go well, the two of them can get tacos afterward.

Spoiler: they get a lot of tacos together.

Discouraged by the lack of prospects, Jack and Hallie make a wager to see who can find true love first, but when they agree to be fake dates for a weekend wedding, all bets are off. As they pretend to be a couple, lines become blurred and they each struggle to remember why the other was a bad idea to begin with.

Just My Type

2023

by Falon Ballard

To win the job of her dreams, a relationship-prone journalist needs to learn how to stay single in this heartwarming and hilarious new romantic comedy from the beloved author of Lease on Love.

Lana Parker is an expert girlfriend. After a disastrous breakup with her high school boyfriend, she's bounced from long-term relationship to long-term relationship and even works as the dating and relationships columnist for one of Los Angeles's trendiest websites. But when Lana suddenly finds herself single, she's ready to take a break, both personally and professionally. That is, until her high school ex, Seth Carson, takes an assignment at Lana's site. Having spent years traveling the world as a freelance journalist, Seth's finally ready to put down roots.

Seth and Lana's chemistry is just as combative—and undeniable—as ever and quickly leads to a competition that could shape both of their careers. Pitted against each other by Lana's boss, they are each tasked with writing an article series that goes against their usual dating type: Lana needs to write about being single and staying single, while Seth must learn to settle down and become boyfriend material. Whoever's series is most popular wins a highly coveted dream job. But when the two square off, it's not only their careers on the line—it’s also their hearts.

Tis the Season for Revenge

Abbie Keller thought that Richard Bartholemew Benson the Third would be her forever. In their four years of dating, she never doubted that she wouldn't end up with his grandmother's engagement ring on her finger. Sure, she had to change a few things about herself to fit that mold, like dying her hair, dressing more conservatively, and finding golf enjoyable (honestly the most difficult of the changes), but she was sure that at the end of it all, it would be worth it. That is, until he leaves her crying outside her apartment wearing a Halloween costume, having broken it off with her because she's just not serious enough.

So she does what every girl does when she's broken up with: she calls her friends, gets drunk, dyes her hair, and formulates her plan for revenge. It just so happens that the universe supports her efforts and gives her the perfect match to prove to her ex that he made a huge mistake: his boss. But when the relationship starts to become something more than casual dating and Abbie sees that the tough New York lawyer has a soft side, will she be able to follow through with her plan of deceit?

The Ex Talk

Shay Goldstein has been a producer at her Seattle public radio station for nearly a decade, and she can't imagine working anywhere else. But lately it's been a constant clash between her and her newest colleague, Dominic Yun, who's fresh off a journalism master's program and convinced he knows everything about public radio.

When the struggling station needs a new concept, Shay proposes a show that her boss green-lights with excitement. On The Ex Talk, two exes will deliver relationship advice live, on air. Their boss decides Shay and Dominic are the perfect co-hosts, given how much they already despise each other. Neither loves the idea of lying to listeners, but it's this or unemployment. Their audience gets invested fast, and it's not long before The Ex Talk becomes a must-listen in Seattle and climbs podcast charts.

As the show gets bigger, so does their deception, especially when Shay and Dominic start to fall for each other. In an industry that values truth, getting caught could mean the end of more than just their careers.

The Kiss Quotient

2018

by Helen Hoang

The Kiss Quotient is a heartwarming and refreshing debut novel that demonstrates one thing with certainty: there's not enough data in the world to predict what will make your heart tick. Stella Lane believes math is the only thing that unites the universe. She devises algorithms to predict customer purchases—a job that has given her ample financial resources but significantly less dating experience than the average thirty-year-old.

Stella's Asperger's makes social interactions challenging, with French kissing evoking images of a shark getting its teeth cleaned by pilot fish. Her logical conclusion: she needs plenty of practice—with a professional. Enter Michael Phan, a Vietnamese and Swedish escort who can't afford to refuse Stella's proposition. Agreeing to assist her with her intimate lesson plan, Michael helps Stella explore everything from foreplay to more adventurous positions.

As Stella begins to enjoy his kisses and yearn for more of the sensations he elicits, their straightforward arrangement starts to make an unexpected kind of sense. And the emerging pattern will persuade Stella that love is indeed the best kind of logic.

Modern Romance

Modern Romance: An Investigation is a journey into the intricacies of finding love in the modern era. Aziz Ansari, known for his sharp comedic voice, and Eric Klinenberg, an NYU sociologist, present an in-depth exploration of the pleasures and perils that come with the quest for love in times where technology has given us more options than ever.

The book takes a humorous and thoughtful look at how the culture of finding love has dramatically transformed in a relatively short period. A few decades ago, the search for a partner was confined to local neighborhoods and family connections. Now, the pursuit of a soul mate extends over years and across continents, with technology as the driving force behind these new romantic dynamics.

Ansari and Klinenberg designed a massive research project that included hundreds of interviews and focus groups from Tokyo to Buenos Aires to Wichita. They also analyzed behavioral data, surveys, and online discussion forums, enlisting the help of leading social scientists. This blend of humor and social science research results in a unique narrative that offers an unforgettable tour of romance in the 21st century.

P.S. I Still Love You

2015

by Jenny Han

Lara Jean didn't expect to really fall for Peter. They were just pretending, until they weren't. And now Lara Jean has to learn what it's like to be in a real relationship and not just a make-believe one.

But when another boy from her past returns to her life, Lara Jean's feelings for him suddenly return too. Can a girl be in love with two boys at once? In this charming and heartfelt sequel to the New York Times bestseller To All the Boys I've Loved Before, Lara Jean is about to find out that falling in love is the easy part.

Boomerang

Mia Galliano is an aspiring filmmaker. Ethan Vance has just played his last game as a collegiate soccer star. They're sharp, hungry for success, and they share a secret. Last night, Ethan and Mia met at a bar, and, well... one thing led to another, which led to them waking up the next morning—together.

Things turned awkward in a hurry when they found themselves sharing a post-hookup taxi—to the same place: Boomerang headquarters. What began as a powerful connection between them is treated to a cold shower courtesy of two major complications. First, Boomerang has a strict policy against co-worker dating. And second, they're now competitors for only one job at the end of summer.

As their internships come to an end, will they manage to keep their eyes on the future and their hands off each other, or will the pull of attraction put them right back where they started?

I Don't Care About Your Band

2010

by Julie Klausner

Julie Klausner's candid and funny debut I Don't Care About Your Band sheds light on the humiliations we endure to find love—and the lessons that can be culled from the wreckage.


I Don't Care About Your Band posits that lately the worst guys to date are the ones who seem sensitive. It's the jerks in nice guy clothing, not the players in Ed Hardy, who break the hearts of modern girls who grew up in the shadow of feminism, thinking they could have everything, but end up compromising constantly.


The cowards, the kidults, the critics, and the contenders: these are the stars of Klausner's memoir about how hard it is to find a man—good or otherwise—when you're a cynical grown-up exiled in the dregs of Guyville.


Off the popularity of her New York Times Modern Love piece about getting the brush-off from an indie rock musician, I Don't Care About Your Band is marbled with the wry strains of Julie Klausner's precocious curmudgeonry and brimming with truths that anyone who's ever been on a date will relate to.


Klausner is an expert at landing herself waist-deep in crazy, time and time again, in part because her experience as a comedy writer (Best Week Ever, TV Funhouse on SNL) and sketch comedian from NYC's Upright Citizens Brigade fuels her philosophy of how any scene should unfold, which is, "What? That sounds crazy? Okay, I'll do it."


I Don't Care About Your Band charts a distinctly human journey of a strong-willed but vulnerable protagonist who loves men like it's her job, but who's done with guys who know more about love songs than love.


Klausner's is a new outlook on dating in a time of pop culture obsession, and she spent her 20's doing personal field research to back up her philosophies. This is the girl's version of High Fidelity. By turns explicit, funny and moving, Klausner's debut shows the evolution of a young woman who endured myriad encounters with the wrong guys, to emerge with real-world wisdom on matters of the heart.

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