The Montreal Business Journal strives to offer its support to Canadian talent, including our own local authors and books. This is especially true when a book addresses social issues like dating and relationships that are of interest to our readers. 

One such book, Infinite Shades of Happiness: Love & Online Dating, a new work by author André Prince de Grâce addresses the phenomenon of online dating websites and how they have significantly altered the rituals of dating and romantic relationships.

Online dating is not going away. It is growing, becoming more deliberate, and turning into the surest way for anyone to meet their soulmate. Really. And as author André Prince de Grâce points out in his new book,in order to evaluate your perfect soulmate, you must first evaluate your own needs.

What do you look for in a soulmate? Is their physical appearance important to you? The realanswer to this question may always be yes, but as Prince de Grâce points out, most people don’t like to admit this. Not admitting that they are attracted first to someone by their looks is the first stumbling block that people who go to online dating websites must overcome to find the “heart of their lives.”

What other qualities in a person are you looking for? This is the next question that de Grâce poses. And this is where it becomes apparent that Prince de Grâce is asking the reader to look inward at themselves before they go to any dating sites to search for their soulmate. It stands to reason because the first thing any online dater must do is to fill out is their online dating profile - which includes a physical picture of their own.

After the author has turned the mirror on the reader, Prince de Grâce begins to share his own online dating experiences, along with the many women whose real-life online dating stories he has included in his book. Keep in mind, Prince de Grâce (as well as the women whose stories he recounts), are both looking for true love on the internet. This is a dating practice that grows statistically every year.

In the end, what the book finds is that although the means of meeting new potential mates has changed, the old rituals have not. While women are fairly clear about the qualities they want from true love, men don’t seem to pick up on the clues that these women are offering. In turn, men looking for their soulmate on dating sites do not present their best qualities - even when they have them.

It’s the old communication problems in a new format. So while it is possible to widen your prospects, dating online is no better than dating in real life – until you take de Grâce’s approach and philosophies to heart.  “Infinite Shades of Happiness: Love & Online Dating” is a book that will help you reevaluate your own needs as you empathize and learn from people who are going through the same online dating experience you are- to find their one true love.