Dating app Hinge is releasing its first-ever audiobook, The Bookseller reported. It features writing and narration from Rufi Thorpe, author of Margo’s Got Money Troubles, Curtis Garner, Tembe Denton-Hurst, Nicola Dinan, and Raven Smith. Each author wrote about a real-life couple that met on Hinge, and the couples contribute epilogues with their own reflections.
The audiobook expands the app’s “No Ordinary Love” ad campaign of as-told-to love stories. It first launched in 2024 with six stories by writers such as Roxane Gay. No Ordinary Love continued last year with five additional stories published weekly on Substack. They were penned by five new writers, including Hunter Harris, who wrote the audiobook’s foreword.
The audios are available now on Substack, Spotify, Libro.fm, Apple Audiobooks, Barnes & Noble Audiobooks, and the library app Libby. You can also read the written companions on Substack.
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“Hinge continues to find inspiration in the rise of book-focused conversations on social media and how it deeply resonates with Gen Z,” the company told The Bookseller. “Romance is the most popular genre read by 18 to 29-year-olds, and audiobooks are growing in popularity with readers, who listen as they go about their daily lives.”
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Hinge’s chief marketing and communications officer, Tamika Young, told The Bookseller that the campaign has always celebrated the real stories behind relationships, and that this year, the team focused on the conversations that moved those relationships forward, “the moments where someone asks the question, sends the text, or finally says the hard thing out loud.”
“These stories were meant to be heard, and an audiobook gave us the opportunity to bring listeners into those moments — to hear the pauses, the hesitation, and everything that happens just before someone finally says it,” Young said.
In Hinge’s latest report, it found that the majority of LGBTQ daters said that consistent communication from someone they’re starting to date makes them feel less anxious. Its latest feature, Friend’s Take, lets a user’s loved ones contribute something in writing (or audio, or an image) to their profile.
