Why do we love who we love? Why do we stay in unfulfilling relationships, or stray from rewarding ones? Why do some couples crash and burn while others stay madly in love?

In The Intimate Animal, Dr Justin Garcia - one of the world's leading experts on the science of love and sex - reveals that the answer to these questions lies in our evolution. We are biologically wired to connect with each other, yet our inner intimate animal is often at odds with the way we live now.

Dr Garcia explains the multiplicity of human sexual and romantic behaviour using cutting-edge research from his team of researchers at the world-leading Kinsey Institute, including:

• Why we have evolved to live and die for love
• Why searching for 'the one' is futile
• Why we are wired for 'social monogamy' but not necessarily 'sexual monogamy'
• Why some people are more likely to cheat

With practical tips on love and lust - the two biological systems often in painful conflict - The Intimate Animal is the essential, research-backed guide for anyone who wants to forge deeper, more intimate connections in these disconnected times.

'Garcia brings us back to the animal inside to remind us that even when connection, love, and desire feel elusive, it's exactly what we're wired for' Esther Perel, bestselling author of Mating in Captivity

'Fascinating and useful' The Telegraph Magazine

'A thoughtful and well-researched treatise' The Sunday Times

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Dr Justin Garcia

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An evolutionary exploration of how and why we fall in and out of love.

Dr. Justin Garcia is a world-leading expert on the science of love and sex. In his first ever book, he reveals our intimacy instincts. He explores how the tensions between our competing evolved desires for love and sex explain the heartache and heartbreak of our romantic and sexual lives.

In this book, Dr Garcia uses compelling case studies, revealing his cutting-edge findings and offering practical tips on love and attraction - two biological systems which are often in painful conflict. For example,
over 50% of American couples decide to stay together after infidelity and over 30% of single Americans have fallen in love with someone they didn't initally even like. He explains how these tensions play out in today's digital age in complex ways, and that we are now in a global intimacy crisis because sex can be digitized but love cannot.

The Intimate Animal offers us the first evolutionary understanding of the entire life course of our intimate relationships - how we date, mate, break, and remake our love lives.