Natasha Burton - The Little Black Book of Big Red Flags: Relationship Warning Signs You Totally Spotted... But Chose to Ignore

No matter how preoccupied we are with crafting well-phrased Facebook statuses (Natasha), searching for the best food truck in Los Angeles (Julie), or interpreting astrological charts (Meagan), as three twenty-something female friends, we still find ourselves talking about boys. A lot.

While our dating styles and current relationship statuses are totally differentserial monogamist Natasha is coupled, habitually love-struck Meagan is single, and former fling fan Julie is marriedas weve swapped stories of male conquests past and present over the course of our friendship, including tales of those whod captured our hearts and subsequently squashed them, we found that most of our anecdotes lead back to one essential question: What the heck were we thinking? We cant believe the number of downright dreadful dudes weve encountered, how many Big Red Flags these men presented, and how completely insensible we were at certain points during our romantic careers.

Turns out that our men-related mishaps were not only hysterical in hindsightno matter how terrible they seemed at the momentthey also offered us valuable lessons on what not to look for in a boyfriend. Reasoning that many women had similarly dicey dating pasts, and relationship horror stories of their own that needed to be shared, we created a website called The Little Black Blog of Big Red Flags. Starting with our own storiesand, trust us, we have a lotthe site grew quickly, and daily submissions came in from across the country and eventually from around the globe.

Soon our readers began sending in questions along with their dating tales, seeking advice from us on how to handle their particular red-flag situations. After rifling through thousands of submissions in order to find the most common red-flag moves carried out by dudes, we compiled these cant-believe-it-really-happened tales of dating disaster, along with our advice on how to handle them.

In the pages that follow, well be pointing out the red-flagworthy problems men put out there, so you can evaluate what youre okay with, and what youre so not okay with, to gain a better understanding of what you want out of a partner and your relationship.

Keep in mind that a red flag isnt always a must-get-out-now offense (some are just good to know), and this book isnt intended to guy bash. Superficial complaints or personal pet peeves do not count as red flags. If youre expecting a guy to be perfect in every way and to never get on your nerveseveryoure going to be waiting around a long time and will most likely end up bitter and lonely, drinking boxed wine by yourself. While you shouldnt settle for a dude who doesnt treat you the way you deserve, you might want to reconsider some of your dating criteria if a mans bank account or ability to play a mean air guitar is your top priority.

On the other hand, if a man physically harms or threatens you, his behavior is a full-on deal breaker. You dont need this book, you need a restraining order. Like yesterday.

Because we are not psychologists, cops, or crisis-management professionals, we wont be covering abusive red flags.