Love Rules: How to Get the Relationship You Want

by Joanna Coles

Overview

"For those looking for a smart, no-bullshit, effective guide to finding love, look no further."—Esther Perel, author of Mating in Captivity

"While I’m not sure what Carrie Bradshaw would have made of today’s new world of dating, I do know this: armed with Love Rules, she would have figured it all out in one season."—Sarah Jessica Parker

Sheryl Sandberg empowered women to lean in. Arianna Huffington Encouraged them to thrive. Now, Joanna Coles guides them on their most important journey: finding love. Love Rules will enable you to identify what you want in a relationship, when you should pursue it, and how to find it.

Just as there is junk food, there is junk love. And like junk food, junk love is fast, convenient, attractively packaged, widely available, superficially tasty—and leaves you hungering for more. And both junk food and junk love require enormous amounts of willpower to resist.

Social media and online dating sites have become the supermarkets of our relationship lives. You have to wade through rows of cupcakes and potato chips to find the produce aisle, where those relationships grounded in intimacy and trust live—the ones worth your investment. A diet book for romantic relationships, Love Rules first asks women to re-assess the way they think about their relationships, and then helps them use that newfound awareness to navigate their love lives more successfully in this very modern, fast-paced—and often lonely—digital age.

In these pages leading media exec and former Editor in Chief of Cosmopolitan and Marie Claire Joanna Coles provides a series of simple guidelines for finding worthwhile love: fifteen rules—love "hacks." She also explains how to use dating apps effectively to expand real world connections and how to avoid DADD—dating attention—deficit disorder, where the tantalizing promise of someone better appears to be only the next swipe away.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062652591
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	04/09/2019
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	1,091,398
Product dimensions:	7.90(w) x 5.10(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Joanna Coles is the chief content officer of Hearst Magazines and serves on the board of Snap Inc. She is the executive producer of The Bold Type on Freeform, a scripted show inspired by her life as a magazine editor, and starred in the docuseries So Cosmo on E!. Born in the United Kingdom, Coles was the New York correspondent for the Guardian and the Times of London before joining Hearst as editor in chief of Marie Claire.  She was editor in chief of Cosmopolitan from 2012 to 2016. She lives in New York.

Table of Contents

Foreword vii

Part 1 Take Inventory

Rule #1 Establish your ideal love weight 3

Rule #2 Clear out your cupboards and sweep the fridge 9

Rule #3 Begin a dating detox to reset your metabolism 17

Part 2 Date. Rinse. Repeat.

Rule #4 The treadmill won't run on its own. Climb on and press Start 33

Rule #5 Choose the right recipes for your dating type 51

Rule #6 You won't get skinny by eating the same old sh*t 83

Rule #7 Stop with the comfort foods. It's okay to be a little hungry 97

Part 3 Shortcomings and Love Traps.

Rule #8 Alcohol is not a food group. Respect your limits 109

Rule #9 Hookups are like French fries 123

Rule #10 Porn is like chewing gum-all artificial flavor 141

Rule #11 Stick to natural sugars. Substitutes are bad for your health 157

Part 4 Love Rules: The Slow Diet for the Long Haul.

Rule #12 Trust your gut and protect yourself with probiotics 173

Rule #13 Set your own "best before" date 185

Rule #14 Look for relationship role models 209

Rule #15 Life is a feast. Take your place at the table 215

Acknowledgments 223

Notes 227

Recommended Reading 237

Editorial Reviews

Coles led Cosmo from sex tips and quizzes to its current era of also covering politics, the wage gap, domestic violence and gun control. Correspondingly, her book is fun, unflinchingly honest and incredibly serious.... There’s no finger-wagging or single-shaming here.” — Washington Post

“At long last, a book that provides a concrete, easy-to-navigate road map to finding love—and does so with all the whip-smart insight, humor, and wit you’d expect from Joanna Coles. Love Rules is going to have a huge impact on so many people.” — Arianna Huffington

“Generally, you never want to take emotional advice from a British person. Joanna Coles is the very rare exception to that rule.” — John Oliver

“For those looking for a smart, no-bullshit, effective guide to finding love, look no further.” — Esther Perel, author of Mating in Captivity

“While I’m not sure what Carrie Bradshaw would have made of today’s new world of dating, I do know this: armed with Love Rules, she would have figured it all out in one season.” — Sarah Jessica Parker

From the Publisher

While I’m not sure what Carrie Bradshaw would have made of today’s new world of dating, I do know this: armed with Love Rules, she would have figured it all out in one season.

Sarah Jessica Parker

Coles led Cosmo from sex tips and quizzes to its current era of also covering politics, the wage gap, domestic violence and gun control. Correspondingly, her book is fun, unflinchingly honest and incredibly serious.... There’s no finger-wagging or single-shaming here.

Washington Post

For those looking for a smart, no-bullshit, effective guide to finding love, look no further.

Esther Perel

Generally, you never want to take emotional advice from a British person. Joanna Coles is the very rare exception to that rule.

John Oliver

At long last, a book that provides a concrete, easy-to-navigate road map to finding love—and does so with all the whip-smart insight, humor, and wit you’d expect from Joanna Coles. Love Rules is going to have a huge impact on so many people.

Arianna Huffington

Coles led Cosmo from sex tips and quizzes to its current era of also covering politics, the wage gap, domestic violence and gun control. Correspondingly, her book is fun, unflinchingly honest and incredibly serious.... There’s no finger-wagging or single-shaming here.

Washington Post

Joanna Coles has a keener understanding of human relationships than anyone I’ve ever known – and an unparalleled handle on how to put that knowledge into action. In Love Rules she manages to deliver the advice that so many people are desperate for: how to find and sustain a healthy, loving relationship in this crazy, chaotic world, where too many shiny things are competing for our attention.

Amy Cuddy