Sugar Daddy Diaries

by Helen Croydon

Frustrated with her stalled career as a broadcast journalist and uninspired by dating naive and needy guys her own age, Helen Croydon joins a website to seek an older man. She expects it to be just a few fun dates in some fancy bars but finds herself propelled into a world of Prada shopping trips, fine dining, first-class travel and fascinating, powerful men. Helen's soul-searching dating adventures take her to New York, Malaysia, highbrow sex parties, top ski resorts and London's finest hotels. When one of her dates alludes to a monthly allowance, she is shocked, but how long will her resistance to the idea last?

Sugar Daddy Diaries is a confessional true story that questions modern ideals about relationships, examines the attraction of power and asks if money can ever be the currency of love.

320 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 1, 2011

About the author

Helen Croydon is an author, ghostwriter and writing coach. She has a rich media career behind her with 15 years as a journalist and five years as a PR agency founder.

As an author, her most recent book is the memoir, This Girl Ran: Tales From a Party Girl Turned Triathlete (Summersdale Publishing), which was long-listed for the William Hill Book of the Year in 2018. She is perhaps most well-known for the confessional dating memoir, Sugar Daddy Diaries: When a Fantasy Became an Obsession (Mainstream Publishing), which made the WHSmith best-seller list in 2011. Though she is always quick to point out that this was a memoir written in much younger, wilder days!

Her other title, Screw the Fairytale: A Modern Guide to Sex and Love, is a polemic asking whether full-time, committed relationships are still relevant.

She wrote these books during a 15-year journalism career, in which she also wrote features for all national UK newspapers, worked as a news producer for ITN, and was a regular commentator on shows such as ITV Good Morning Britain, BBC Newschannel, Sky News, Woman's Hour, Five Live and more.

In 2019, she moved away from journalism and book-writing to try her hand at being an entrepreneur. She set up her own PR agency specialising in thought leadership development. She grew her business, Thought Leadership PR, to seven employees and had big plans to grow and sell it. But an epiphany on a spiritual retreat five years into building her business, told her that her gift for articulating stories could be put to better use through ghostwriting stories that need to be told.

Much to colleague's astonishment, this led her to scale down the business to go back to the much lesser paid, but more fulfilling, roots of writing – only this time she focusses on ghostwriting and writing coaching.

Reviews

[Kat · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked parts of it, but found it changed tact half way through. Sometimes there was waffle too.

[Samantha Kukuljan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Before this book I thought women who dated older men were just sluts.

BUT THANK YOU HELEN for showing another perspective. You were honest and gave it a good perspective. You were curious about a whole other world and shed light on it in such a way that made it glamourous and so basic at the same time.

Now when I see young women with much older men I think of your lessons.

Great book to show people another perspective.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bought for me as a joke but an interesting look into the lives of super rich sugar daddies and their arrangements with young, attractive women. The author is knid of annoying though; she is anti-relationship which is fine but never really faces the fact that she is engaged in a form of prostitution by allowing men to pay her for sex. Her narrative is littered with self justifying asides and whilst I admire her honesty, she never really asks herself the question that looms over her memoir; why would a young, attractive successful journalist accept payment from men for sex?

[Natasha Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

Croydon takes us through her experiences of excusively dating wealthy sugardaddies. Not a bad read but drags a bit and I didn't really care about her. Never a good look, not caring about the central character..
Interested though that she lived on her terms and refused to apologise for it.
The memoir 'The Extreme Dating Diaries of Isabelle Monroe' is far more pacy and funny read. But I would say that, I wrote it after all..

[Anika · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting and entertaining. This is a diary account of a late 20s/early 30s women who doesn't seek long time commitments and has a thing for older men. Thus, I felt that book talking to me a lot of times :P The voice is refreshingly honest and direct, the different man Helen meets (via various online dating platforms) are described in a way that makes them all easy to distinguish. Helen offers some fascinating views on life and relationships - views of the tolerant kind. I liked reading this, it was like meeting a lot of new people who each had their story to tell.

[Nancy Stringer]

What motivates a Sugar Daddy? He knows at his age he can't expect someone of younger age to be with him. He finds that a financial investment is often a substitute for an emotional affection and acceptance. Once a Sugar Daddy is naked, he clings on to any human being. He views intimacy as a commodity and he wants the rewards of a devoted girlfriend but also the freedom of a bachelor lifestyle.

When does a Sugar Babe stops taking the money? When she changes her view about what she wants.

[Colleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fast read, beach read, but an interesting story of a girl who began internet dating because she preferred older men. Over time it seems to evolve into something rather different, possibly addictive, not entirely healthy, but a well documented journey through it and back. (I always like happy endings)

[Janice starvics · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sugar Daddy Diaries describes or better yet borders the forbidden sugardaddy, sugarbaby world. Helen Croydon offers the insight for those who are curious, but afraid to ask.

The book represents the Helen's experience, on www.sugardaddie.com at the extremes. I would say a very courageous book, that somewhat depicts what each and everyone of us secretly wants, but afraid to go for it.

[Shaun Attwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

With a warm and clear voice, Helen took me into a world that I never knew existed: sugar-daddy internet dating. As her adventures became more extraordinary, I couldn't put the book down. I was constantly wondering what was going to happen to her next. I admire Helen's honesty and bravery for writing this book.

[Heidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great insight. I learned a lot through this book.
Unfortunately, the reality in the UK seems to have changed a lot since Helen's experience with the sites.
I would like to be a modern day mistress.... So far have not been successful but will "keep calm and carry on"

[Cathrine · Rating 3 out of 5]

What sounds like a bit of fun dating older and rich men, soon shows that there are no ideal relationships. What we really want is to be loved no matter how strange or quirky our needs are.

[Natasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book! My only regrett is not reading it when i was single!

[Ally · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this book. It was an easy read, appeared honest and genuine. An insight into a different world.