Award-winning journalist Amy Webb had just come out of a bad relationship learning the hard way what she didn't want in a life partner when she decided to play the online dating game to win. Amy Webb is a Journalist who has to apply some of her skills to find a life partner through online dating after a failed dating relationship. She initially takes her relatives' advice and dates many men in her area. She of course decides to date men who seem nice and possibly compatible on paper.
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Amy turns to online dating to search for Mr. Right. The initial results are disappointing. Each man sounds nice on paper, but the dates are disastrous. One man high-fives Amy every few minutes, and even mistakenly announces to others that Amy is his girlfriend. Another orders over a hundred dollars worth of food and expects her to pay for all of it. Each of these men, it turns out, has many points of incompatibility that keep her from dating them again, or even talking to them again. As soon as Amy meets a man who seems promising, he admits to being married!
Amy decides to jot down everything she wants in a man, subsequently breaking the data points up into negotiable and non-negotiable points. She creates spreadsheets and a system by which a man has to score at least 700 points for her to date him. Many of the men who sound like they may otherwise have potential score less than 700, based on her requirements. These include a man who hates to watch sports, especially golf, who wants to have two kids with her, and whose sense of humor is compatible to Steve Martin, Judd Apatow, Woody Allen, and Jerry Seinfeld.
She finds members of the JDate site who pique her interest, and then realizes that in order to compete with other female members who may like him too, she needs a complete makeover. This includes a monthly $300 haircut, a membership to a gym, and a new wardrobe. She even creates many fake male profiles to see what her female competition have to say.
Amy never stops until she meets an optometrist with whom she messages for a short time before dating him. The chemistry is finally there! They date for a year, even fulfilling a mutual wish of walking through the ruins in Petra, Jordan. It's here that her beau proposes to her, and they get engaged for a year. They get married, and a year after that, they have their first child together, a girl whom they name...Petra!
The first part of the book's dedication is to her husband Brian, "who still scores 1,500 points."
Best part of story, including ending:
I liked Amy's sense of humor and persistence. She says so many sardonic things in the book. She also stays up all night many nights figuring out her points system.
Best scene in story:
She goes out with a man with whom she hits it off. She compares him to Jeff Goldblum at a time when she thought the actor was most attractive. This man has a lot in common with Amy, including the same line of work. He appears cultured, asking the waiter about the espresso selection. She describes her cheeks feeling warm, which was a good way to illustrate the physical feeling of attraction she started to develop for him. He keeps answering his cell and apologizing for it, especially when he gets a call from his estranged wife. He claims that their marriage counselor suggested a trial separation for them. Amy yells, "You're fucking married?!" storms out of the bar, and complains to her sister that he was a "fucking married asshole!"
Opinion about the main character:
I had no issues with Amy Webb. I liked that she was witty, funny, and knew what she wanted. I also liked that she was cultured and smart.
