Penguin targets lonely bookworms

The site's users can seek inspiration for classic romantic novels.

Penguin has launched an online dating website with Match.com to bring lovelorn literature fans together.

Members will be asked to list their favourite books in their profile and will be able to search for suitors with similar literary tastes.

Penguin will promote the site in the final pages of more than two million paperback novels.

It hopes the site will restore "the importance of the written word to modern courtship".

Readers can sign up to the Penguin dating service for free, but are required to subscribe in order to contact other members on the site.

Anna Rafferty, Penguin's digital marketing director, said that people have a strong emotional connection with their favourite books.

"People are passionate about what they read," she said.

"What better way to find your life partner than over a shared love for Lawrence or a passion for Pynchon."