How to Date Like a Grown-Up: Everything You Need to Know to Get Out There, Get Lucky, or Even Get Married in Your 40s, 50s, and Beyond - Softcover

It's a Lot Easier to Date Once Your Eyesight Starts to Go

Raise your hand if you've ever been on a date so bad that halfway through the calamari you were thinking, Why in the world am I still sitting here listening to this guy? Stabbing myself in the arm with a fork or attending a four-day seminar on putting paper clips up my nose would be more interesting.

When you were twenty, or even thirty, you probably would have forced yourself to sit through the entire date, hoping it would get better, making an effort to make some sort of human connection with this person, or digging for something - anything - you might be able to use to piece together an intelligent conversation.

Now, you're just not interested in wasting an entire evening on a date that's going nowhere.

A lot of things change once we hit forty.

I'm not just talking about those silver hairs that begin to sprout overnight, or those little tiny wrinkles around your eyes that weren't there yesterday, or the fact that you probably shouldn't go braless ever again. (Even if they still are fabulous, you probably want to give them all the help you can.)

In your twenties and thirties, you're looking outside yourself - you're trying to accomplish things, kick-start your career, define yourself. By the time you hit forty, you finally have a pretty good idea of who you are, and that changes everything.

You're a grown-up, which means you're looking for something more when it comes to dating, love, and romance.

You want love, companionship, commitment, sex. Sometimes you want all of those things wrapped up in one fabulous package. Sometimes you just want one or the other: romance a la carte.

You are tired of waiting for the right guy to show up, and yet, you're still hopeful that he will. Which is why the usual "head-out-to-the-bar-and-meet-your-Prince-Charming" book aimed at twenty-somethings just isn't going to cut it for you.

Why Dating Like a Grown-Up Is Different
This book will tell you everything you need to know to get back out into the dating world after a long marriage or dating hiatus, how to have better luck (or meet better men) if you've been on the dating scene for a while, how to just get lucky, or how to get married if that's what you're looking for. How to Date Like a Grown-Up will teach you the best (and worst) places to meet men; reveal what forty-, fifty-, and sixty-year-old women have that their twenty- and thirty-year-old counterparts don't; and let you in on all of the places and situations that might be making you a magnet for losers.

Want to Get Out There?
I'll tell you how to avoid feeling like the invisible woman; where to find the best untapped places to meet nice, decent, and attractive men; how to deal with the pitfalls and benefits of dating younger men; and whether or not it's a good idea to try to rekindle an old flame. I'll clue you in on the methods of the new pick-up artists so you can spot the men who are just looking for a quick romp (whether this is a good thing or not is your call). I'll give you some little-known secrets that will improve your dating odds dramatically and teach you how to work a room. I'll help you learn how to sift through the jerks, prisoners, and married men online; teach you a foolproof method for picking an online dating site that best meets your needs; and show you why speed dating can be the most time-effi cient dating method under the sun. You'll also learn how to break it to your kids that your social life is more interesting than theirs is. (Read this book, and I promise it will be!)

Want to Get Lucky?
You're not the only one. I'll let you know when to avoid a one-night (or ten-night) stand and when to go for it, how to tell if a man is just looking for sex, and how to face getting naked in front of someone new for the first time. I'll tell you what men really think about sleeping with women over forty, how to accommodate changes in your body (and his), and explain the good and bad of the little blue pill.

What's more, I'll clue you in on the one thing you can do in the bedroom to make a man speed up his marriage proposal.

Want to Get Married?
I'll let you know why men over forty are rushing to the altar and, for once, why many women are holding back. You'll learn the skinny on living together versus getting married and the financial considerations for both. I'll help you navigate the etiquette for second- or third-time brides and fi rst-time brides over forty. And I'll throw in some pointers from experts on how to gracefully handle children, stepchildren, exes, and other assorted relatives on your big day.

If You've Got Questions About Dating Like a Grown-Up, I Can Help

I'm Lisa Daily, and for six years I've been helping women change their lives and attract the kind of men they've been searching for. I am a dating coach, columnist, and the relationship expert on Daytime, a syndicated morning TV show. During the last two years, I have interviewed hundreds of men and women over forty about what they're looking for in a relationship as well as what they're looking to avoid. I've learned where they're looking (and where the good ones are hiding), what works, and what doesn't. I've answered hundreds of viewer and reader letters and received thousands more. (You'll see many of them throughout the book.) I've interviewed dozens of experts in a variety of fields, read hundreds of studies, and even conducted a survey, the Grown-Up Dating Survey, specifically for this book. I want to help you get from here to happily ever after.