Valentine's Day. Either you love it or hate it!  It is a great opportunity to express your love to someone special or a depressing reminder that you have yet to find Mr. or Ms. right. Serendipity works for some, but you don't have to wait forever for fate to bring you love. It's time to take matters into your own hands. (This is a PG site folks!)

Everyone and their brother are online looking for love. Match.com says 40 million Americans use online dating sites, which is about 40% of the single population according to the US Census. HuffingtonPost reports that online dating is now the second-most common way for couples to meet!

Maybe you've just been "looking for love in all the wrong places!" You can skip sorting through thousands of dull, undesirable profiles on the big dating sites and stop wasting time with people who don't share your flair. To change your strategy and narrow the field...sign up to one of these niche dating sites that fits the bill:

20 Unique Dating Sites:

Dating Sites for Geeks

Geek used to be an undesirable name, but oh, how times have changed!  Geeks are now the hot, high wage earning, gadget loving go-to-guys and gals who have garnered the respect from the masses!  If you're a geek or are hoping to attract one, check out one of these dating sites for people with higher intelligence and a propensity towards tech.

• TrekPassions
  • Find someone you’ll want to Klingon to! For people with a love for Star Trek, Star Wars, and other favorite sci-fi films, TrekPassions, is a free site dedicated for sci-fi lovers. Trek Passions is part of Passions Network, which offers more than 200 niche dating sites for all kinds of passionate interests, from mustaches to vampires! You might get lucky and find out she already has a Princess Leia slave outfit, or he can recite poetry in Romulan.
• Cupidtino
  • Are you an Apple Fanboi?  There's an app for that! Cupidtino is mac-inspired dating app geared toward hip, creative, fun people who love their Macs as much as much as Steve Jobs loved his jeans & black mock-turtlenecks! Bonus points if you both enjoy mocking Android and MS users.
• Geek2Geek
  • As the site says: “Geeks make the best friends and lovers, because they're smart and they're loyal." (Does that sound like a description for a labrador retriever to you, too?) Regardless of their copywriting, this site looks to be a great resource for finding people who will share a love of anything from fine wine to web design.

Dating Sites for Animal Lovers

Birds of a feather flock together! There are animal lovers and non animal lovers.  No sense wasting time with your beautiful blond if she’s allergic to man’s best friend! If you’re really into pet friendly people, there are several sites that bring together people and their pets.

• DateMyPet
  • Meet pet lovers, dates for you or your pet. That's right, for you OR your pet.
• EquestrianSingles
  • Dreaming about riding into the sunset with the love of your life? Love could be waiting for you at Equestrian Singles.com
• PURRsonals
  • A dating site for cat lovers! If you’re finicky about finding someone who will love your "Fluffy" as much as you do you’ll want to check this site out!

Beauty or the Beast

According to statisticbrain.com, 49% of people say physical characteristics are the most important factor when it comes to online dating. (Come on people, did you learn nothing from Shrek?)  Well, whatever your preference, you can find beauty skin-side and out at these sites:

• DarwinDating.com & BeautifulPeople.com
  • If you’re tired of sorting through unattractive profiles on other sites and you're looking to only date people who are 9’s and 10’s...AND you’re pretty confident you’ll make the cut, Darwin Dating and Beautiful People might be up your alley. And if you’re not...don’t worry there’s always:
• TheUglyBugBall.com
  • Skip the superficial people on other dating sites and search The Ugly Bug Ball, a site that lets your inner beauty speak for itself! Perfect for people with great personalities!

For Those Who Have Never Been Kissed

• WeWaited.com:
  
  • Are you saving yourself for marriage?  Want to date someone who shares your values? There’s a site dedicated to those who are saying, “I won’t” until they’ve said, “I do.”

Other Niche Dating Sites

• Farmers Only
  • This site is only for those who prefer good old fashioned traditional values and fresh country air.  Suit wearing, latte drinking, yuppy city folks need not apply!
• Tattooed Singles
  • A site for people who are passionate about body art, tattoos, and piercings. It’s just my suspicion, but I’d bet people on this site are less likely to be afraid of commitment than other sites!
• Biker Kiss
  • Motorcycle riders unite!  BikerKiss is the #1 site for biker singles to find relationships and romance with others who share their love of leather and the open road.
• VeggieDate.com
  • From lacto vegetarians to vegans who like it raw, here’s a site for those who are just waiting for true love to sprout!  Don’t struggle with other dates who prefer steak and eggs for breakfast when you’re into smoothies and green juices the morning after, find someone who shares your panache for passion fruit that makes you pucker.

Political Dating Sites

• Democrat Singles
  • Find liberal love with like-minded progressive people.
• Republican People Meet
  • Look no further if you’ve been searching for a romance with a single conservative!

Dating Sites for Criminals

• Women Behind Bars & Inmate
  • Prisoner men and women looking for love and marriage.  While unable to access the internet, these inmates would love to be your penpal.

So there you have it!  Our FatWallet love-finder list.

The options are endless, and while many of these sites are fun to talk about, if you're serious about finding love, you need to keep your head in the game. You can check out the reviews of many dating sites on Viewpoints.com.

Before you dive in head over heels with the heart-throb or hottie of your dreams, be careful! Not everyone plays fair when it comes to love. Reader's Digest suggests, "Check sites such as pigbusters.net and romancescams.org," to protect yourself from online dating scammers and Dr. Nerdlove has some great tips to check out so you don’t get Catfished!

Happy love hunting!
;) Heather

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