Ok, I have to admit it was the title of this book that got my attention. It’s not because I am looking for that special someone, my husband and I have been married for almost 20 years, but I was curious.

I know that I’ve had my fair share of romances gone bad, but can you really fall in love with anyone if you know the contents of this book. Well, I was going to found out what How To Fall In Love With Anyone by Mandy Len Catron was all about.

The movies, the books, the shows, the pictures of love have been indoctrinated into every girl I know almost since birth. Beauty & The Beast, Snow White, Love and Basketball, every sitcom with a romantic spin, soap operas we are literally surrounded by love stories. With those stories, subconsciously we create the idea of the perfect man and the perfect relationship, what they do, what they looks like, what they are (or so we think). In other words, a huge problem in the making. Having a happy and healthy relationship with the perfect mate is on lots of people’s todo list. But, what happens if your idea of the perfect relationship is built on fantasy?

What I found in those pages….

This book was not exactly what I was expecting. It is a rich book that gave me a lot to think about. In the book, Mandy does a great analysis of where we get our ideas of love and relationships. She also talks about how polluted our thoughts on relationships become because of all of the images we see. She helps us explore our own family dynamic and she share her own. By tearing apart the reasons why both her mother and grandmother marry and why the picked their spouses, she unlocks a mystery I think we all should all explore. As she looks at their love stories she comes to understand that behind their marriages, there are some important details that tell their own stories. These revelations are a great starting point for each of us as we think about the relationships we hold up as our example love stories.

When I finished thinking about my own parents and my own past relationships I could definitely appreciate how environmental factors impact the romantic choices we make.

Media, Movies & Myths

The author does a great job of pointing out how we romanticize everything and how the media, entertainment choices, and the stories we tell and hear, impact how we see love and the factors we consider to be important. She questions the myths of romance and how the unrealistic pictures of love have made relationships more complicated and have us dismissing prospects because we are spending too much time looking for “THE ONE”.

At the end of the day…

The book was a refreshing and important read. I appreciated her transparency and she makes some really valid points. I know it made me think about how many of those romantic movies are playing in the back of my head. I also couldn’t help think about how many times those movies and that “ideal picture” caused problems in my own relationship. What I walked away with most of all is that you shouldn’t settle, and you should really think about the standards you want your perspective mate to meet.

In the book, Mandy also shares the 36 questions that came from a study that can really help you find out pretty quickly if the person you meet or are currently in a relationship with are a good match.

Should You Buy It?

This is a book I wish I had years ago, I certainly would of cut my unnecessary dating in half. As a wife, I even wondered how much intimacy I could gain answering these questions with my husband.

As a mom, this is a book I am going to get for my daughter. I think that the revelations that come from reading the book are valuable and can help cut out some of the background noise that often shows up in our relationships. For my single sisters, I think this book is a must read because it really does give you some great things to consider.