Praise for LOVE IS THE DRUG includes:

"Readers, especially those who recognize the 80's and 90's cultural references, will connect with Tyler's wicked humor and her yearning to move beyond the poison of family burdens and her own shortcomings." --Booklist

"(LOVE IS THE DRUG) has sparks of brilliance, such as the main character's wicked wit and a visceral music motif. First-time novelist Purcell is a skilled writer. Struggling, bittersweet Tyler proves that this author can nail complex characterization." --Romantic Times, Mainstream Fiction

"Froth with attitude..." --Kirkus Reviews

"A wonderfully vivid, fast paced novel about alcoholism, self destruction, and music. And, of course, love. Think Chuck Palahniuk's cadence matched with the keen observations of a music-obsessed poet." --Zoe Trope, author of PLEASE DON'T KILL THE FRESHMAN

From Editors at Atria:

"Wonderfully empathic, smartly comic, and wickedly insightful, this captivating debut novel maps the progress of an unforgettable young woman endeavoring to mend a broken heart and find salvation.

Hello, my name is Tyler Tracer and I am falling apart. I am twenty-four years old, and I have no ability whatsoever to choose an occupation or a hair color.

Meet Tyler, the singularly irresistible and straight-talking heroine of Sarahbeth Purcell’s touching first novel. An incurable romantic, Tyler’s chief obsessions include music, list-making—and David, the man who broke her heart. Despite an exhaustively detailed list of reasons for why she should just forget about David once and for all—including (but by no means limited to) chronic illness, terminal self-absorption, and geographical inaccessibility—Tyler remains hopelessly hooked on him. Hence the wild ride she embarks upon in the wake of her father’s death, a ride that takes her from her hometown in Tennessee to sunny Los Angeles, all in hopes of saving David from his ominous take on life.

This hilarious and dark cross-country expedition finds our young heroine negotiating the universally perilous terrain of sex, love, and relationships with uncommon verve, wit, and more than a little recklessness. Along the way, Tyler discovers, among other things, the uniquely redemptive powers of road-kill, the fact that enduring love tends to blossom in the most unexpected and unlikeliest places, and, above all, that nothing can stop her from making her own rules and mapping out her own life. Not even herself.

A joyous triumph of a debut to which readers will respond with a sense of instant recognition, Sarahbeth Purcell’s Love Is The Drug spins a story of bold living and loving that crackles with energy and innovation."