With the pop psychology of Malcolm Gladwell and the humor of Carrie Bradshaw, Romances & Practicalities combines a charming personal love story with research-backed self-help, including a set of 250 questions to help you foster deeper intimacy and get honest about what you´re really looking for in a partner. A few months into Lindsay Jill Roth´s whirlwind transatlantic courtship with a handsome Englishman, he made a comment that hit her like a gut-punch: "I don´t know you well enough yet." Despite hours on FaceTime and swoon-worthy dates in London and NYC, Roth realized he was right: they didn´t know each other very well. And their relationship, while certainly romantic, was hardly practical. Did they even have a shared vision for the future? In the age of increasingly impersonal dating, how do you get off the dating hamster wheel and advance a relationship along the path to commitment? How do you know if you´re with "the one"? Enter Romances & Practicalities, a set of 250 research-backed questions spread across twelve categories--from money to children to chores to sex--designed to help you identify your wants, needs, and non-negotiables, assess compatibility, initiate tricky conversations with grace, and build a deeper, stronger relationship. Questions range from seemingly light and casual to intimate and serious, including: How did your family communicate, share, and argue growing up?How are we different? Might our differences be a source of future conflict? How important to you is alone-time? How important is your career in terms of your identity? How do you feel about debt? Mortgages? If we were stuck on a desert island, what strengths would you bring to help us survive? Roth weaves the questions with her own love story, provocative interviews with couples who´ve used the system, and practical guidance from a diverse range of clinical and popular experts including Lori Gottlieb, Nicole LePera, Mark Hyman, Emily Morse, Suze Orman, Nate Berkus, Justin Baldoni, and Barbara Corcoran. Roth´s wise and witty narrative explores the reasons we don´t often equate romance with practicality, and arrives at a surprising truth: healthy communication isn´t just vital, it´s sexy.