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Thursday, February 5, 2015

Love By the Book by Melissa Pimentel

Lauren Cunningham has a great job but her love life is lacking. Though she isn't looking for anything serious, she would like someone she can spend time with. When her latest relationship takes a nosedive thanks to a spontaneous breakfast (she cooked him eggs!) she decides to take a more scientific approach to dating. She'll choose one dating book each month, follow it to the letter, and chronicle the results. But will her experiment bring her love?

The concept behind Melissa Pimentel's debut is charming and quite funny. Of course the possible outcome of Lauren's little experiment leave lots of room for drama! Given that she starts with The Rules, which involves no eye contact and basically no personality on her part, it's easy to imagine from the start that at least one of her subjects would consider the fact that she's somewhat unstable and bordering on insane.

Each new book makes for new potential awkwardness (Rules of the Game from a girl's perspective...) and hilarity. And while they are all ostensibly for the purpose of allowing Lauren to meet and date men, they do give her a chance to gain some keen insight into herself as well.

Pimentel says in her author's note that the book is about how much fun dating can be. Honestly, I never found dating fun. I found it weird and off putting, spending much of my time wondering if I was lusting after a potential serial killer and/or freaking out about all the weird games guys play. But I have to admit that experiencing it through Lauren's eyes was quite amusing. I'm still glad to be out of the dating world altogether, though.

Rating: 3/5

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