Next!: A Matchmaker's Guide to Finding Mr. Right, Ditching Mr. Wrong, and Everything In Between

Since launching her professional matchmaking business in 1986, Barbara Summers has engineered the match for hundreds of married couples. In Next! A Matchmaker’s Guide to Finding Mr. Right, Ditching Mr. Wrong, and Everything In Between, Barbara extends her expertise to all women who want to find—and keep—the right guy.

In her high-spiritedguide to finding love, Barabara claims there are many “someones” for everyone. In a world of rich possibilities no woman should ever buy into the mentality that she’s unworthy of love, or feel she must settle for less than she wants, or stay in a relationship when the love is gone.

Readers are invited to begin their search by creating a “Dream Match List” of Must-Haves, Nice-to-Haves, and Deal Breakers. Whileexploring the do’s and don’ts of dating, Barbara shares stories of her experiences with clients and her own (many) marriages. We learn the red flags of potential disasters and ways to recover from heart-wrenching breakups. And if we suddenly feel ready to make the leap into marriage, she recommends turning to the Marriage Practicality Checklist to help us decide if we’ve really found a good match.

From what to expect on a first date to when to call it quits, Barbara delivers thoughtful instruction with humor and generosity. Most of all, she never wants a woman to be “stuck.” This won’t happen if we follow her advice: be fearless and know when to say “Next!”

Barbara Summers is the relationship expert behind Next!Since launching her professional matchmaking business Healthy Professional Singles in 1986, Barbara has matched hundreds of couples into marriage.

Barbara also works as a relationship coach and leads seminars and workshops on topics such as how to keep a relationship hot, handling a divorce, and what is it you’re looking for? She hosts yearly retreats to Canyon Ranch.

Barbara has proven media experience, particularly as a relationship expert taking live call-ins. She has been a guest on national and local television, such Good Morning San Diego, Fox 5 Morning News, and Channels 7 and 10 evening news, and was featured in an Emmy Award–winning documentary on Tiger (as in the professional baseball team) wives. Barbara also has extensive experience as a live radio show host, including the Bab Summers Show on WJBK and Singles Talk on KCEO, which was a popular listener call-in program about relationships. 

Carey Blakely is an experienced author and freelancer who is also working on a noveland poetry collection.

She is the co-author of Crazy Like a Fox: One Principal’s Triumph in the Inner City by Dr. Ben Chavis with Carey Blakely. The book was published in 2009 (hardcover) and 2010 (paperback) by New American Library, a division of Penguin.

Crazy Like a Fox was featured on NPR, MSNBC, CNN, Stossel on Fox Business Network, The Laura Ingraham Show, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Washington Post, Christian Broadcast Network, The Bill Handel Show, National Review, City Journal, Sirius Radio, and other media outlets.