So, Mum and Dad Want to Read My Dating Book…

There are certain sentences you never expect to say in life, like:

• “Yes, that’s my ex on Strava again.”

• “No, I’m not joining another dating app, thanks.”

• And: “Mum, Dad… I’ve written a book about my love life.”

Telling my parents I’d written Swipe Right, Keep Left was one thing.Telling them they could read it was… another level.

Breaking the news

I did it casually, like ripping off a plaster.

“I’ve written a book.”“Oh wow! What about?”“…Dating, divorce... And me.”

Their faces did that polite-parent thing: half proud, half trying to work out if this means strangers will now know family business.

Then came the Big Question:

“Can we read it?”

The warning label

I love my mum and dad. They’ve seen me at my best and absolute worst. But they haven’t, historically, read detailed accounts of my dates with men from apps.

So I said:

“Yes… but there are chapters you’ll laugh at, and chapters you probably won’t be all that happy about.”

I warned them there would be:

• Swearing (sorry, Mum)

• Very honest inner monologues

• Some bits that might feel a bit too close to home

• And moments where I didn’t come out looking like an angel either

Because that’s what this book is: not a neat PR version of my life, but the messy, funny, painful, hopeful truth of it.

Writing honestly when people you love might read it

Knowing my parents might read it forced me to ask some big questions:

• Am I being fair?

• Am I telling my story, not everyone else’s?

• Am I sharing this because it’s true and might help someone – or just for shock value?

It didn’t make me censor myself, but it did make me more intentional.

I don’t think every parent needs to know every detail of their child’s dating history. But I also think there’s something powerful about saying:

“This happened. It was hard. It was funny. It changed me. And I’m not ashamed of it.”

Their reaction (so far)

Have they read every word yet? Yes, once and they're planning on reading it again this weekend. Have they laughed? Yes. Have they done the worried parent look at certain bits? If they have, they've quietly kept that to themselves.

But underneath it all, there’s pride. Not just that I wrote a book, but that I turned something difficult into something creative. That I didn’t just survive; I processed it, shaped it, and shared it.

And if that means my mum now knows more about my dating life than she ever imagined, well… at least she can’t say I’m not communicating.

If you’d like to read the very book I nervously handed to my parents (with a health warning), you can grab Swipe Right, Keep Left on Kindle now. There’s also a free Rule Book download on my site if you prefer to ease yourself in gently.