What does a free-spirited, fifty-something professional do when she breaks up with her non-committal Buddhist boyfriend and longs for a life partner? She holds a ‘letting go’ ceremony with the boyfriend, challenges herself to go on 50 dates, takes a few lovers, and voila! Finding Mr. Right becomes a sexy dating project.
Set in the SF Bay Area world of personal growth workshops and spiritual ceremonies, Fifty First Dates after Fifty traces the adventurous path of Carolyn’s universal quest for love. The goal of fifty pulls her forward through the highs and lows of dating—magical and ecstatic, pining and painful—while her heart soars, falls, and keeps on going. Buoyed by her dating project, she avoids settling for the wrong guy, discovers the type of man she wants, reconciles a love of independence and sex with her desire for commitment and emotional connection, and finds the unique partner for her.
This upbeat memoir about the search for a partner in midlife is also a celebration of a woman’s unabashed sexuality. Erotic in places, funny in others, it offers a positive view of dating as an enjoyable journey of self-discovery and self-love along the way to one’s own Mr. Right.
AWARDS
2022 Zibby Awards: Best Dedication
2022 Living Now Book Awards: Gold Medal in Relationships
2022 Independent Publisher Book Awards (IPPYs): Gold Medal in Non-Fiction Sexuality/Relationships
2022 Human Relations Indie Book Awards: Gold in Motivational Memoir, Silver in Personal Relationships Memoir, Silver in Inspirational
2022 Next Generation Indie Book Awards: Finalist in Memoir
2021 Chanticleer Hearten Book Awards: Finalist for Uplifting and Inspiring Non-Fiction and Memoir.
2021 Chanticleer Mind & Spirit Book Awards: On Short List for Enlightenment & Well-being Non-Fiction.
2021 Firebird Book Awards: First Place in Memoir; First Place in Relationships, First Place in New Age Culture Non-Fiction; First Place in Sexuality.
2021 Best Book Awards: Finalist in the New Age: Nonfiction category,
2021 BookLife Prize Nonfiction Contest, by Publishers’ Weekly: Quarterfinalist in Memoir/Autobiography.
PRAISE
“This is no mere memoir, but a handbook on how to date the adult way. By reading Arnold’s entertaining and upbeat story of voracious exploration, Generation X, Y, and Z can learn everything no one ever taught them about effective communication, self-care, emotional responsibility, and joyful sexual freedom. If dating is in your future, this inspirational book is for you.”
Robin Rinaldi, author of The Wild Oats Project: One Woman’s Midlife Quest for Passion at Any Cost
“This book will have great appeal to other seekers—men and women—especially those who are older or long for a deep sensual connection to others. Carolyn is such a role model for other middle-aged women—unafraid, unabashedly sensual and assertive. I love how brave and brazen she is!!”
Julia Scheeres, author of the New York Times best-selling memoir Jesus Land
“I really enjoyed listening to Carolyn Arnold read her memoir, Fifty First Dates After Fifty. Her voice brought me in to the world she described, and it was almost impossible not to feel her honesty and raw emotions in her words. The book is racy in parts, but it made me feel like I got to know the author’s joy in looking for her life partner even more. I looked forward to listening to know how her “experiment” turned out. This is a book, you won’t soon forget.”
Leslie Rasmussen, author of After Happily Ever After and The Stories We Cannot Tell
Carolyn Lee Arnold was able to transform the story of her midlife recovery from a breakup into a readable and educational book. She moves beyond the eat-pray-love model of experimentation and indulgence with a narrative that both opens your heart and makes you think. With attention to detail, realistic dialogue, and emotional intelligence, she shows how the values she developed through years of personal growth workshops informed her search for a life partner. See complete review here.
Jennie Orvino, Sonoma County writer and author of Poetry, Politics, and Passion
“Carolyn Arnold’s dating stories in Fifty First Dates After Fifty will be inspiring for any woman who worries that life has passed her by and that it’s too late to attract a life partner. There will be bad dates, broken hearts and dashed expectations–and some hot fun along the way. Carolyn’s tale of dating resilience and persistence shows us that finding a deep love is possible at every age.”
Sasha Cagen, feminist life coach and author of Quirkyalone: A Manifesto for Uncompromising Romantics
“Carolyn Arnold’s heart-centered and entertaining journey to find enduring love marvelously comes to life in the audiobook version of “Fifty First Dates After Fifty.”
Jodi Klein, author of First Date Stories: Women’s Romantic and Ridiculous Midlife Adventures
“Carolyn’s goal of fifty dates was a brilliant way to find a partner, and her communication skills, honesty, and appreciative regard for her dates would help anyone – not only in dating, but in all one’s relationships.”
Chas August, Relationship & Intimacy Coach
“Fifty First Dates after Fifty is not your typical dating book. Carolyn boldly shares the raw vulnerabilities of being a person truly living life on her own terms.
You’ll be rooting for Carolyn all the way through as she tries, fails, feels, picks herself up, dusts herself off, and courageously moves forward into her next new adventure.. .. . . funny and engaging . . . I was hooked at the prologue. You will be too.”
Wendy Newman, author of 121 First Dates: How to Succeed at Online Dating, Fall in Love, and Live Happily Ever After (Really!)
“Fifty First Dates After Fifty is a frolicking, often racy, memoir. … a fast, fun read. Arnold’s prose is clever, engaging, and confident. Arnold is unabashedly sensual and liberated throughout in terms of her approach to sexuality and what constitutes a fulfilling relationship.”
Story Circle Network
“Blending memoir and self-help, … Arnold offers a quick, refreshing––and surprisingly pro-sex––read about redefining relationships and expectations in a monogamous-normative world.”
Booklife