For fans of Taylor Jenkins Reid, Sally Rooney, and Rebecca Serle, Tory Henwood Hoen's The Arc is a smart, high concept love story that asks: can you curate your soulmate?Thirty-five-year-old Ursula Byrne, VP of Strategic Audacity at a branding agency in Manhattan, is successful, witty, whip-smart, and single. She’s tried all the dating apps, and let’s just say: she’s underwhelmed by her options. You’d think that by now someone would have come up with something more bespoke; a way for users to be more tailored about who and what they want in a life partner––how hard could that be?Enter The Arc: a highly secretive, super-sophisticated matchmaking service that uses a complex series of emotional, psychological and physiological assessments to architect partnerships that will go the distance. The price tag is high, the promise ambitious––a level of lifelong compatibility that would otherwise be unattainable. In other words, The Arc will find your ideal mate.Ursula is paired with forty-two-year-old lawyer Rafael Banks. From moment one, this feels like the electric, lasting love they’ve each been seeking their whole adult lives. But as their relationship unfolds in unanticipated ways, the two begin to realize that true love is never a sure thing. And the arc of a relationship is never predictable...even when it's fully optimized.
It's like a fire. It starts with a foundation: kindling, newspaper, other combustible materials. So the stage is set. Then there's a spark, which ignites the fire and puts things into motion. Then comes the first flicker, and you have to nurture this part: blow on it, keep the oxygen flowing. Then another flame, then the initial burst as the flames combine. It's beautiful; it's hot; it's exciting; it's atavistic. And then after a little while, the first settles into itself. Sometimes it dies down a little, but then it flares up again. Embers form, and they keep the heat going even when the flames aren't as strong. So it stays lit, it stays war, and it evolves. Every fire evolves in its own way, if you keep feeding it.
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