The Singles Table

One broken heart. One grumpy bachelor. One very sexy deal. The laugh-out-loud romance from the author of the TikTok sensation The Dating Plan. Celebrity-obsessed lawyer Zara Patel is the best at helping her friends find romance through the wedding season. She's never faced a guest at the singles table she couldn't match, until she crosses paths with Jay Donovan. Jay has no time for love, and definitely no time for a match-maker. When charismatic Zara crashes into his life, he's thrown into close contact with exactly the kind of chaos he wants to avoid. Worse, they're stuck together for the entire wedding season. So they make a deal. She'll find his special someone if he introduces her to his celebrity clients. But when their arrangement brings them together in ways they never expected, they realise that the perfect match might just be their own.

“This novel has all the funny banter and sexy feels you could want in a romantic comedy.”–NPR A high stakes wager pits an aspiring entrepreneur against a ruthless CEO in this sexy romantic comedy. After her life falls apart, recruitment consultant Layla Patel returns home to her family in San Francisco. But in the eyes of her father, who runs a Michelin starred restaurant, she can do no wrong. He would do anything to see her smile again. With the best intentions in mind, he offers her the office upstairs to start her new business and creates a profile on an online dating site to find her a man. She doesn’t know he’s arranged a series of blind dates until the first one comes knocking on her door… As CEO of a corporate downsizing company Sam Mehta is more used to conflict than calm. In search of a quiet new office, he finds the perfect space above a cozy Indian restaurant that smells like home. But when communication goes awry, he's forced to share his space with the owner's beautiful yet infuriating daughter Layla, her crazy family, and a parade of hopeful suitors, all of whom threaten to disrupt his carefully ordered life. As they face off in close quarters, the sarcasm and sparks fly. But when the battle for the office becomes a battle of the heart, Sam and Layla have to decide if this is love or just a game.

A Marie Claire Book Club Pick! Even with a step-by-step plan, these fake fiancés might accidentally fall for each other in this hilarious, heartfelt romantic comedy from the author of The Marriage Game. Daisy Patel is a software engineer who understands lists and logic better than bosses and boyfriends. With her life all planned out, and no interest in love, the one thing she can't give her family is the marriage they expect. Left with few options, she asks her childhood crush to be her decoy fiancé. Liam Murphy is a venture capitalist with something to prove. When he learns that his inheritance is contingent on being married, he realizes his best friend's little sister has the perfect solution to his problem. A marriage of convenience will get Daisy's matchmaking relatives off her back and fulfill the terms of his late grandfather's will. If only he hadn’t broken her tender teenage heart nine years ago… Sparks fly when Daisy and Liam go on a series of dates to legitimize their fake relationship. Too late, they realize that very little is convenient about their arrangement. History and chemistry aren't about to follow the rules of this engagement.

Table for one A critical reading of singlehood, gender and time is the first book to consider the profound relationship between singlehood and time. Drawing on a wide range of cultural resources - including web columns, blogs, advice columns, popular clichés, advertisements and references from television and cinema, the author challenges the conventional meaning-making processes of singlehood and time. Lahad's analysis gives us the opportunity to explore and theorize singlehood through varied temporal concepts such as waiting, wasting, timeout, age, the life course, linearity and commodification of time. This unique analytical approach enables the fresh consideration of some of our dominant perceptions about collective clocks, schedules, time tables and the temporal organization of social life in general.

Happy Singlehood charts a way forward for singles to live life on their terms, and shows how everyone—single or coupled—can benefit from accepting solo living. Based on personal interviews, quantitative analysis, and extensive review of singles’ writings and literature, author Elyakim Kislev uncovers groundbreaking insights on how unmarried people create satisfying lives in a world where social structures and policies are still designed to favor marriage. In this carefully crafted book, Kislev investigates how singles nurture social networks, create innovative communities, and effectively deal with discrimination. Happy Singlehood challenges readers to rethink how single people organize social and familial ties in new ways, and illuminates how educators, policymakers, and urban planners should cater to their needs.

Suzanne Schlosberg's friends dubbed her the Cal Ripken of celibacy. Given the common belief among single women that all the good men are either married or gay, Suzanne's predicament is hardly extraordinary, but what she does to end the streak makes for a hilarious tale. Suzanne hits bottom when her younger sister gets engaged, leaving her less than a year to find a date for the wedding. She shifts into overdrive, experimenting with Internet dating, speed dating, and other bizarre 21st century match-making rituals. But after enduring every indignity of singlehood, she ultimately learns to ask herself: Does she really need a man to find happiness?

A warm and witty novel about friendship, fine dining, and learning that life doesn’t always turn out quite how we expect it to—perfect for fans of Barbara O’Neal and Nancy Thayer On New Year’s Eve, Fran and Will Parrish host a dinner party, serving their friends a gourmet feast. The night is such a success that the group decides to form a monthly dinner party club. But what starts as an excuse to enjoy the company of fellow foodies ends up having lasting repercussions on each member of the Table for Seven Dinner Party Club. Fran and Will face the possibility that their comfortable marriage may not be as infallible as they once thought. Audrey has to figure out how to move on and start a new life after the untimely death of her young husband. Perfectionist Jaime suspects that her husband, Mark, might be having an affair. Coop, a flirtatious bachelor who never commits to a third date, is blindsided when he falls in love for the first time. Leland, a widower, is a wise counselor and firm believer that bacon makes everything taste better. Over the course of a year, against a backdrop of mouthwatering meals, relationships are forged, marriages are tested, and the members of the Table for Seven Dinner Party Club find their lives forever changed. Praise for Table for Seven “A fun and delectable journey of love, friendship and delicious food.”—RT Book Reviews “[Whitney] Gaskell’s engaging novel is a high-wire artist’s performance as she spins a highly entertaining tale of a monthly dinner party.”—Booklist “[Table for Seven] invites readers to monthly dinner parties featuring mouthwatering menus and a group of guests dealing not so well with various relationship issues. . . . Gaskell has mastered the art of putting the fun in dysfunctional.”—Kirkus Reviews

A happy, successful, God-pleasing life comes in a variety of packages. "And contrary to what our churches, married friends, society, and nosy Aunt Marge may tell us, that includes singleness." In this up-front book packed with girl talk and plenty of pep, Camerin Courtney reveals how she transformed from a self-conscious single girl to an I-am-single-hear-me-roar woman. While she admits that she still has "singleness stinks" days, Courtney doesn't indulge in pity parties or offer readers a guide on finding Mr. Right. Table for One is, instead, an optimistic, up-beat look at the many emotions, expectations, joys, frustrations, and privileges of singleness. It shows how to dive into God's plan and purposes for this phase of life--whether it lasts for four years or forever. Fun and encouraging sidebars sprinkle the text, covering everything from must-see movies to a list of great things about singleness (i.e., "If we buy floral sheets, no one complains.") This savvy, girlfriend-to-girlfriend guide to singleness will delight and inspire single women. It offers great insight for friends, families, and church leaders who want to encourage them as well.