From Dr. Jess Carbino, former in-house sociologist with Tinder and Bumble, a practical and science-backed transformative approach to modern dating, teaching readers how to build internal fulfillment, set healthier patterns, and create meaningful, sustainable connections.

Modern dating isn’t broken, but the way we approach it is. Modern dating encourages us to curate, optimize, strategize, and endlessly second-guess ourselves. We try to become whoever we think someone else wants, all the while feeling increasingly disconnected from what we want.

Dr. Jess Carbino knows the dating landscape from the inside. As the former in-house sociologist at Tinder and Bumble, she has spent years studying how people meet, match, choose, and connect. In Better Love, she draws on that unparalleled professional experience—along with cutting-edge research in psychology and behavioral science—to reveal what actually leads to healthier, more fulfilling relationships.

Spoiler: It isn’t playing hard to get or making yourself more desirable.

Instead, Dr. Jess helps you understand the hidden forces influencing your romantic choices. You’ll learn why first impressions can be both powerful and misleading; how your sense of control shapes your entire dating experience; why you may be chasing external validation instead of genuine compatibility; and how imagining what other people think of you can distort what you think of yourself.

Blending research with practical tools, Better Love will help you recognize old patterns, make more intentional choices, and date from a place of self-knowledge rather than anxiety. Because dating isn’t only the pursuit of another person. It can also be a pursuit of the self—an opportunity for growth and reflection that sets you up for more fulfilling relationships.

This isn’t a book about landing a partner at any cost. It’s a guide to building internal fulfillment so that the relationships you choose are grounded, mutual, and lasting. Smart, science-backed, and refreshingly practical, Better Love helps you stop performing for love and start participating in it.