My Mother’s Ridiculous Rules for Dating by Philip William Stover

Jen reviews My Mother’s Ridiculous Rules for Dating, a standalone romance novel by Philip William Stover.

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?

‘It’s not her life. It’s mine and she’s going to have to accept that.’ I fold my arms.

‘Have you met your mother? Gravity is less determined than she is. That will never happen.’ I can live with the disapproval but it’s the nagging that will destroy me. I want to be able to invite Paul to holidays without my mom making us miserable with her polite yet lethal shade.

It’s You by Ali Gatie

This song does double duty by being suitable for both the relationship between Sam and his ex, and also between Sam and Finn.

I am not sure how this book got on my radar, it might have been the title (Amazon knows I’m a sucker for these fun titles and throws them at me constantly) but the premise and the cover were eye-catching with a fun vibe too. For whatever reason I snapped it up.

So, the summary says it all with no need for me to rehash.

My Mother’s Ridiculous Rules For Dating is incredibly well-written with sharp, quick prose without too much in the way of unneeded baggage. The story was a bit hit and miss for me though, which made it feel a little slow at times. I think I expected more in the way of rom-com mad-capedness than there actually was – at least between the lead and his dates.

Sam’s mother on the other hand had plenty following her around, she injected the story with a whirl-wind of chaotic energy. Sometimes I found her to be a little annoying and uncomfortable in her no-barrier approach to everything about her son’s life, and those around her, but I’m a shyer kind of person who would be mortified to have that kind of openness about my sex life with my parent, or anyone outside my partner so there is that. I do know a lot of people like Sam’s mom though, and she rings true to them.

The group of friends around Sam are wonderful. The friend-group is one of the things I enjoy most in romcoms and I am disappointed when there isn’t at least one supportive person, Sam has quite a few around him, including his biggest supporter in his mom.

I am at the right age for all the nods to pop culture in My Mother’s Ridiculous Rules For Dating that Sam drops, though some were a bit older than I am, I have been around long enough to recognize the references and I really enjoyed Sam’s POV. Our personalities were very similar, so despite me not being a gay man, I understood him and his choices, wants, fears, regrets, etc. and found him quite relatable in everyway including his humour.

The story turned out to be little more uhm… maybe not serious, but thoughtful? in its identity and message than I was expecting. I was looking for straight-up fluff and humour and this was more socially aware and self-reflective growth kind of stuff. It does have some great talking points – everything from representation and the ways it matters, to stepping out of your comfort zone in life, love and career, and pushing you’re fears aside to pursue your dreams. I think gay or not, Sam’s struggle is something we all deal with at some point.

My Mother’s Ridiculous Rules For Dating had a very lovely ending that has growth and happiness for Sam, without being saved by love, while still giving us, the reader (or at least this reader) what we wanted for him.

So while this story wasn’t quite what I was looking for, I do think it will resonate with others – especially those looking for a little more substance and not just a straight-up cotton candy read. My Mother’s Ridiculous Rules For Dating still have lots of warm and funny moments to make you smile too.