24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Wall Street Journal
What Hot Dragon-Riders and Fornicating Faeries Say About What Women Want Now
Lauren Nauheimer, 40, hadn't been in a relationship for seven years when she picked up Sarah J. Maas's 'A Court of Thorns and Roses' at a Manhattan bookstore in 2023. She was quickly absorbed by the fantastical story of Feyre, a huntress who aligns with a faerie lord who eventually becomes her mate for life. As the two battled evil agents in the land of Prythian, Nauheimer found herself once again feeling the pull of love.
'I didn't feel safe in my real-life dating, but reading about it, I could feel safe,' said Nauheimer. She raced through the next four books in a little more than a week and pored over them with her best friend in California, who had coincidentally picked them up too. Nauheimer said she now summons the heroine's superpowers to psych herself up before dates: 'If Feyre can save all of Prythian, I can go meet a man at a bar for a drink!'
