If you’ve had enough of reveling in your single state and marriage is on your mind, you’ll need The List: 7 Ways to Tell If He’s Going to Marry You In 30 Days or Less! by Mary Corbett and Sheila Corbett Kihne. These two sisters (both married, with children) lay out a tough-love, seven-point guide to help women decide if the man in question is a keeper or a cull. The sisters contend that when a man’s alarm has sounded, he will take seven specific actions in fairly swift succession in order to secure the woman he wants. These are: 1) He’ll make the first move. 2) He’ll call her within 24-48 hours to set up a first date. 3) He’ll make the first date easy and fun. 4) He’ll call her within 24 hours to set up subsequent dates. 5) He’ll want to talk to her every day and want to spend all his free time with her. 6) He’ll demonstrate unconditional loyalty. 7) He’ll talk about marrying her in concrete terms and he’ll propose or will let her know his intentions. (Pretty specific, huh? Almost scary!) Each item on the list gets an explanatory chapter with case studies, exceptions and clarifications, along with a Wrap-Up at the end with insights like this one pertaining to #5: If a man doesn’t want to spend all of his free time with you, it means there has been a False Alarm. It is hard to believe after getting this far on The List that things aren’t going to work out. But if he won’t give you his time, he won’t give you a ring. Ouch. Sad, but almost certainly true.
Linda Stankard writes from Nanuet, New York.
