When I was asked to review DC gal and dating expert Jess McCann’s book called “You Lost Him at Hello” I was wondering if they had actually read my blog.
I’m planning a wedding. I don’t date (anymore… though I ertainly had my horror stories). Why should I read this book?
Truth be told, I may not be a fan of self-help books, and I may have never read “He’s Just Not That Into You” but I think every gal should read this.
If only because she calls us women out for our dating mistakes. Everything from making ourselves too available to drunk dialing.
I have a few great tales of drunk dials gone VERY VERY wrong so I can relate to the whole “alcohol and phones” don’t go together. They don’t. Wanna know why?
Shortly before Fiancé and I began dating, and just before The Ex offered to move home to make things work, I met and went on a few dates with a nice, very cute dude. We’ll call him…Al. I was incredibly paranoid from the start that I wasn’t good enough for Al. He was insanely hard to reach, a very hard worker and a lobbyist for a trade group. He was smart, had gone to GW, and was easy on the eyes. We met at a happy hour that I frequented with a former coworker, his friend and my friend A (Fiancé’s ex).
We saw each other a few times. I was incredibly smitten, but was coming on (as I know now) way too strong. A was pressuring me telling me “well you’ve been on three dates. You’re dating now!” and whenever I questioned if I should call him, she’d tell me WHY NOT?! Bad influence? I think yes.
It all came to a head when I was out at a bar, hadn’t seen him in a week (I should have read the signs!!) called him drunkenly telling him I was tired of games, blah blah blah if he wasn’t into me he should just tell me instead of leading me on. The next day, A and I were out at Adam’s Morgan Festival when he called. I took the call, but he said he “just didn’t have time for a relationship” and even though I had lead him to believe I hadn’t wanted one either, he didn’t believe me.
I was a poster child for all the No-no’s that Jess stated in her book.
Thankfully, I shaped up, realized I was letting The Crazy take hold, decided it was all for the better, started hanging out with Fiancé and wham bam thank you ma’am. Our relationship doesn’t follow all of her “guideline’s to success” from a sales person point of view, but hey it worked for me. (I never enjoyed sales/retail anyhow…)
Another point that I appreciated? No means Next. Many gals go back to boyfriends thinking they can fix/change relationships. Jess tells us why that’s not the case. I realized, while reading it, not that I needed further proof as to why the Ex and I weren’t right for each other but we broke up…no fewer than five times and got back together. Each time, within days or weeks we’d end up fighting about the same crap, and, looking back on it now, especially after reading that, we were doomed for failure.
All in all, I’d give her book a four out of five. I’m not a huge fan of these types of books, but with her mixture of bringing it all from a different point of view (a sales point of view if you will) anecdotes, and stories of her friends’ failed attempts at dating, it made it a quick easy read that I got a few laughs out of. I’d recommend it for anyone who wants to find a husband in a hurry? I kid, I kid. But seriously, if you liked “He’s just not that into you” I’d read it. If you’ve ever wondered why you can’t hold onto a guy? I’d read it for sure. It forces us as women to…see The Crazy like she really is and encourages us not to embrace that inner crazy but to deter that inner Crazy Gal and just live our lives and Mr. Right will find us.
