Everyone calls me Lucky, but when it comes to love, I’m anything but.

The Day I Stopped Falling for Jerks, the first in the fun and flirty Jerk Duet from New York Times bestselling author Max Monroe is available NOW!

The Day I Stopped Falling for Jerks podcast Episode 1: “Is this thing on?” Hi, everyone. I’d like to welcome you to episode one of my very first podcast. [quiet, hesitant laugh] I’m a little nervous, so please bear with me as I try to figure out how to podcast. See, I’m more a writer of words than a podcaster of words, but what I’m about to tell you is honestly too damn big to fit into one of my columns. Way too big. It’s a real doozy, guys, but I have to get it out. And I’m hoping, once I finish recording this—since my boss says I might start feeling symptomatic of, say, poisoning, if I ruin this new venture—I’ll actually be able to upload it to Scoop’s website. Apparently, I’m told, podcasting is the wave of the future, and if we—meaning Scoop—don’t get our foot in the door first, we—meaning I—might as well find another room. Room meaning office. I’m pretty sure she’ll fire me, okay? Still, I figure pouring my guts out to a bunch of strangers has to be at least close to therapeutic, so consider my fingers and toes crossed that my technical inability doesn’t mean it’s for nothing. [mumble from producer] Oh, good. I’m told the uploading portion of this podcast will be taken care of by someone else. Smart move, guys. [laughs again] Okay, so where do I even begin? [long, audible sigh] Well, I guess my love life would be a good start, huh? I mean, it’s the whole reason I’m here, ready to pour my heart out to you. The past. The present. The future, as I’ve sworn and promised it to myself. They’re all kind of a hot mess, but it’s really the chaos I’ve gotten myself into this time that made me decide to take action. Think of a woman trying to stand up in a hammock during an earthquake, and then throw in a writhing pit of cobras dancing below it for good measure. Add in the task of juggling several oddly shaped objects and a horrible lack of hand-eye coordination, and you might have some idea of what I look like while trying to navigate lust, like, and love. Relationships, dating, finding love…God, you guys, it is so hard. I envy those people who manage to find the love of their lives on a first date or—even more mind-blowing—a chance encounter a la love-at-first-sight that blossoms into a long-term courtship. Like, how in the hell does that even happen? It feels like some trippy, magical unicorn kind of stuff or, worse yet, an evil consecration for those with a special, dark gift.