REVIEW: My Mother's Ridiculous Rules for Dating by Philip William Stover

- October 31, 2024

MY MOTHER’S RIDICULOUS RULES FOR DATING

by Philip William Stover

Release Date: October 24, 2024

Review

I really like the author’s writing style. It’s cheeky and engaging, and the premise of the story is fun and endearing.

Sam is likeable, and quite frankly, relatable. He hasn’t reached the milestones he expected to and he has a lot of self-doubts. It makes for a tumultuous time. Made even crazier by his mother. Doesn’t help that he’s a bit of a doormat.

Unfortunately, I wanted to set the mother a drift on a raft in the middle of the ocean. She was over the top and never once listened to Sam's wants & needs. I would have left the country if she was my mother.

The story had a number of wonderful side characters that brought a richness to the story.

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Synopsis

It’s hard to prove Mom wrong when she’s found Mr. Right…

Dumped by his boyfriend and stuck in an unfulfilling job, jaded NYC ghostwriter Sam Carmichael can’t be more miserable. Until the eve of his thirty-fifth birthday when his mother, Gloria, arrives with a present from the past.

Years ago, exasperated by Gloria’s matchmaking, Sam promised his mother that if he wasn’t coupled up by thirty-five, he would do whatever she wanted to find a boyfriend. Sam was joking; his mother was not.

Gloria swoops in creating new dating profiles, re-doing his wardrobe, and setting him up with a parade of bizarre matches. When his mom zeros in on sexy and passionate artist, Finn Montgomery, Sam intends to prove her wrong and stop her interfering for good. But when it comes to finding love, does mother really know best?

About Philip William Stover

Philip William Stover splits his time between Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and New York City. He has an MFA in writing and is a clinical professor at New York University.

As a freelance journalist, his essays and reviews have appeared in Newsday, the Forward, the Tony Awards, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Houston Chronicle, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, and other national publications. For many years he ghosted for an international best-selling women’s fiction author. He has published multiple middle-grade novels for Simon & Schuster and was the American Theater critic for About.com.

He grew up tearing the covers off the romance novels he devoured so he wouldn’t get teased at school. Now he enjoys traveling the world with his husband of over twenty years and would never consider defacing any of the books he loves.

He can be found on social media as Philip William Stover.

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