Zoe Foster Blake - LOVE! An Enthusiastic And Modern Perspective On Matters Of The Heart

Any writer worth their tweed blazer knows that if you have written a column for long enough, youve basically created a ready-made book. Because I held Cosmopolitan s relationship advice column as my hostage for almost a decade, I had a lot of essays sitting there, just gathering dust in my Dropbox. Thing is, I really, really liked a lot of them. They had been written with a lot of care, time and love, and, usually, personal experience. Many of them had been emailed to friends when their hearts had been stomped on, and, being the opportunistic, arrogant pig I am, I thought it seemed wasteful to not share them (again) with the greater public, in permanent book form.

But Ive done a lot of growing and living since I had that column. I got married, had kids, started a business, travelled furiously, watched as friends married and divorced, published (an app and) a book on break-ups, popped into space with Elon Musk (lie) and, while I am still young (twenty-three, I think) and have a huge amount of life learning to do, there was more I wanted to say. So, I wrote twenty new essays in the hope of a more rounded picture of love.

I cant help thinking that if Id had a book like this when I was younger, I mightve avoided some real asshats... or, more crucially, not beaten myself up when I let those asshats crush me. Alas! I regret nothing. Life is for living, and the bad is as useful and as meaningful as the good. It all pushed me to where I am now, and I dont want to make you vom, but I am a deeply contented woman with a beautiful little family (hold it in), who gets to write books about topics she is passionate about, and people actually choose to read those books. Its whatever is three levels above #blessed.

Anyway. Once Id written all my new stuff, I chucked in all of my columns, printed them out, whacked a hole-punch through the top left corner, and used some string to keep them together.

Unfortunately my editor said that was lazy and tacky and that it would mean only one person could read it at a time.

All I heard was: blah blah blah WORK. So I quickly outsourced the project to an online content creative robot.

Enjoy!

Each chapter pertains to a key stage of life, with specific reference to love and relationships. There are no rules and there is no normal when it comes to the heart: some of us may choose to keep our options open forever, or keep them closed, or live in a lighthouse with only a donkey and a TV for company.

But most of us will slither through single, dating, and committed in a half joyous and half headfucky loop for a large portion of our lives.

Theres no right or wrong when it comes to love, life and relationships. Its different for everyone, every single time. However, a fresh perspective cant hurt, and this book lovingly serves up a few for you to consider.

Note: As I myself am heterosexual, I cannot pretend to understand the complexities and nuances of a non-heterosexual relationship, and it would be both obnoxious and unprofessional of me to assume I did. But I have endeavoured to use gender-neutral language, as this book is intended to be inclusive of all sexual preferences.

Love is love, overall, and since the core message of the book is very much about SELF-love, I am optimistic there is plenty in here for all women (and men, even), no matter your romantic preference, age, stage, number of marriages or active dating profiles.

MY BASIC RELATIONSHIP PRINCIPLES

Since its arrogant and lazy for me to assume you have read any of my previous books, columns or blogs on relationships (... or is it lazy of YOU ? No, definitely not, sorry, carry on), I cant just tap-dance my way through this book presuming you know the driving forces behind my compulsion to write hundreds of thousands of words of unsolicited, unprofessional relationship advice for strangers.