CLAIRE Cale's dating disasters were legendary among her friends. At the age of 23 she claims she'd already met a guy who stole her money, another with anger management issues, a serial cheat and a liar who stalked her for three months after they split.

"All I'd ever wanted was to meet the man of my dreams, settle down and have a family," Claire says openly. "But every time I met someone it ended in disaster." Convinced she was just picking the wrong men, Claire's friends suggested she try internet dating but our heroine wasn't so sure. Surely internet dating was for desperate people? Then again, logically it might work better because at least she would find out something about the person first rather than going on looks alone only to be disappointed a couple of dates down the road.

"At first I thought there is no way I'm putting my photograph on the site. But if you don't you can't expect any potential dates to offer a photo. Then I thought, `How much do looks really matter?'" By going on appearances I've been out with a liar and a stalker, so let's forget the photos."

In hindsight it wasn't the best decision. After a few friendly emails she decided to meet up with a guy who shared her love of food and described himself as tall, dark and good looking.

"He turned out to be morbidly obese and at least 10 years older than he said he was," she remembers.

"Passion for food"

"I think his passion for food was eating as much as you can as fast as you can. He ordered three starters and then started picking at my plate too!"

Several disastrous dates later Claire finally thought she'd met her dream guy. "We had loads in common. He started referring to me as his girlfriend really quickly and invited me to Barbados for Christmas."

Caught up in the romance Claire suddenly realised it was about four weeks since she last logged on to the online dating site where they met: "I couldn't believe it. I thought he was my boyfriend yet he would be online all day every day."

When confronted, her date tried to convince Claire it wasn't him online at all but his mum.

"I set up a fake profile with a photo of a glamorous lady - we arranged a date and I turned up instead," she laughs.

"I had all my friends with me and we told everyone in the pub what had happened. When he arrived I chucked a glass of red wine all over his white shirt and everyone cheered - I got a standing ovation."

And just when she stopped looking at age 28, the hero of her story, 37-year-old Manchester-born property developer Robin MacDonald, showed up.

"50 dates"

"I went on about 50 dates before I met Robin - there was no spark. So, I just threw myself into work - then Robin came along. He said he enjoyed interior design. My idea of interior design was painting a bedroom - I had no idea he had bought a castle and renovated it.

"We chatted on the phone and seemed to have loads in common. We are both vegetarian, love cooking and keeping fit. What really caught me about Robin was that he said, `I've had enough of messing around.' That was music to my ears."

The couple met in the picturesque village of Caverswall, Staffordshire.

"When we drove up to the castle I just thought he was taking me to a National Trust stately home for cream tea. Then he said, `Welcome to my home.'"

Of course, the fairytale wasn't quite so straight forward. Shortly before they met Robin had advertised his search for love through a national newspaper. "I thought I'd found my Mr Right and then suddenly loads of girls were after him!"

Luckily Robin only had eyes for Claire and a year after their first date the couple are living together in his 13th century castle with plans to marry next year. As for all the disastrous dates, Claire has made the best of those too, compiling them for her very own fairytale called, Becoming A Princess.

"My friends were saying for ages, `You've had so many disasters you could write a book.'" Claire adds.

"Then I realised I could do so because I thought I'd always be single - now my dreams have come true."

Claire will be signing copies of her book at Waterstone's, Trafford Centre next Thursday as part of a speed dating event in store from 4-8pm.