Have you ever felt like even Mother Theresa has got more game than you? If you have, you'd be in the same boat as geeky, awkward metalhead Nova Porter. Bad Taste In Men follows Nova from her prepubescent years through young adulthood and her attempts at getting dudes to dig her. Juggling self-esteem issues, small town outsider status, and questionable taste in guys, Nova is looking for love in all the wrong places - like the food court at the mall. Nova's circle of friends and her strange(ly) endearing family more than make up for what her love life lacks. Along the way, Nova alternately plays the roles of hero and villain, mastermind and stooge; picking up far more valuable life lessons than numbers for her little black book. One part chick lit for tomboys and one part Freaks and Geeks for kids who came of age in the mid-'90s, Bad Taste In Men is loaded (like a freight train) with pop cultural references and crude humor. From getting laughed at by your crush to being stood up (twice!) by a guy with one eye, Bad Taste In Men showcases the humor and humiliation that accompanies the search for love (or at least "like") as a small-town teenage outcast, managing to wring heart-warming sweetness from angsty adolescent memories - and jokes about barf and poop. Clarion ForeWord Reviews: Funny and bittersweet ... Nova's often-disastrous attempts to find a guy who likes her as more than a friend are tender, sensitive, and never self-pitying....the humor, rather than the bitterness of Nova's rejections, is emphasized and allows the story to remain upbeat....As the narrative winds through Nova's emotional development, from elementary school to college, all the hurt is resolved in a heartfelt epilogue that contains equally compelling messages about life targeted at young adults and grown-ups. Kirkus Indie Reviews: It's one romantic rejection after another in this mid-1990s coming-of-age novel. Nova Porter isn't an average teenage girl. She prefers Mötley Crüe to New Kids on the Block, and at the mall, she'd rather make prank phone calls than shop. Yet as she enters junior high school, her desire for a boyfriend prompts her to make the first of many earnest attempts to ask guys out. Nova narrates the novel like a stand-up comic, heaping pop-culture metaphors and self-deprecation onto the story. Candid dialogue carries the bulk of the novel, which paces things well. Lana Cooper was born and raised in Scranton, PA and currently resides in Philadelphia. A graduate of Temple University, she doesn't usually talk about herself in the first person, but makes an exception when writing an author bio. In December 2013, she published her first novel, Bad Taste In Men , a humorous coming-of-age tale for awkward geeks who grew up in the '90s. She has also written short stories for several anthologies. Cooper has written extensively on a variety of pop culture topics for PopMatters and her own blog, DelightfullyDysfunctional.com. She enjoys spending time with her family, talking to stuffed animals, comic books, and avoiding eye-contact with strangers on public transportation.