Love & Romance Books

The Five Love Languages: How to Express Heartfelt Commitment to Your Mate

Gary Chapman

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Total reviews: 586 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Unhappiness in marriage often has a simple root cause: we speak different love languages, believes Dr. Gary Chapman. While working as a marriage counselor for more than 30 years, he identified five love languages: Words of Affirmation, Quality Time, Receiving Gifts, Acts of Service, and Physical Touch. In a friendly, often humorous style, he unpacks each one. Some husbands or wives may crave focused attention; another needs regular praise. Gifts are highly important to one spouse, while another sees fixing a leaky faucet, ironing a shirt, or cooking a meal as filling their "love tank." Some partners might find physical touch makes them feel valued: holding hands, giving back rubs, and sexual contact. Chapman illustrates each love language with real-life examples from his counseling practice.

How do you discover your spouse's - and your own - love language? Chapman's short questionnaires are one of several ways to find out. Throughout the book, he also includes application questions that can be answered more extensively in the beautifully detailed companion leather journal (an exclusive Amazon.com set). Each section of the journal corresponds with a chapter from the book, offering opportunities for deeper reflection on your marriage.

Although some readers may find choosing to love a spouse that they no longer even like -hoping the feelings of affection will follow later- a difficult concept to swallow, Chapman promises that the results will be worth the effort. "Love is a choice," says Chapman. "And either partner can start the process today." --Cindy Crosby. This text refers to the Amazon.com Exclusive Journal & Paperback Book Set.

The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists

Neil Strauss

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 562 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Are you just another AFC ("average frustrated chump") trying to meet an HB ("hot babe")? How would you like to "full-close" with a Penthouse Pet of the Year? The answers, my friend, are in Neil Strauss's entertaining book The Game. Strauss was a self-described chick repellant--complete with large, bumpy nose, small, beady eyes, glasses, balding head, and, worst of all, painful shyness around women. He felt like "half a man." That is, until a book editor asked him to investigate the community of pickup artists. Strauss's life was transformed. He spent two years bedding some fine chiquitas and studying with some of the North America's most suave gents--including the best of them all, the God of the pickup "community," a man named Mystery.

Mystery is an aspiring Toronto magician who charges $2,250 for a weekend pickup workshop. He is not much to look at: a cross between a vampire and a computer geek. But by using high-powered marketing techniques he's turned seduction into an effortless craft--even inventing his own vocabulary. His technique sounds like a car salesman's tip sheet: his main rule is FMAC--find, meet, attract, close. He employs the "three-second rule"--always approach a woman within three seconds of first seeing her in order to avoid getting shy. Other tricks: Intrigue a beautiful woman by pretending to be unaffected by her charm; also, never hit on a woman right away. Start with a disarming, innocent remark, like "Do you think magic spells work?" or "Oh my god, did you see those two girls fighting outside?" And finally, the most important characteristic of the pickup artist--smile.

After two years, Strauss ends up becoming almost as successful as Mystery, but he comes to an important realization. His techniques were actually off-putting to the woman he ended up falling in love with. And they never prepared him for actually having a relationship. After a while, he ran out of one-liners and had to have a real conversation. Still, The Game is a great read that may help some AFCs come out of their shells. --Alex Roslin

Love & Respect: The Love She Most Desires; The Respect He Desperately Needs

Emerson Eggerichs

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Total reviews: 209 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Truth seeker 1 out of 5 stars.
2 of 4 people found this review helpful.

Emerson Eggrichs clearly states in his notes in the back of the book, that it is important to make a distinction between theology and theory. He goes on to distinguish that `The Love and Respect Connection' is his theory in which he infers from Ephesians 5:33.

It seems that Mr. Eggrichs is pitting spouses against each other by pointing out how different men and women are and using many derogatory statements about what women are thinking about men and vise versa. Thus creating separation rather than unity . . . you know, `and the two shall become one.' My husband agrees that Emerson Eggrichs seems to grind spouses against each other like sandpaper rather than bringing them together in unity.

Mr. Eggrichs quotes John Gottman, a renowned and well-respected University of Washington psychology professor. However, he fails to keep the context of the studies by omitting John Gottman's scientific research to include `mutual' love and respect. Direct quotes from John Gottman's books:
"No matter what style of marriage they have adopted, their discussions, for the most part, are carried along by a strong undercurrent of two basic ingredients: love and respect. These are the direct opposite of - and antidote for- contempt, perhaps the most corrosive force in marriage. But all the ways partners show each other love and respect also ensure that the positive-to-negative ratio of a marriage will be heavily tilted to the positive side." . . . "By this I mean a mutual respect for and enjoyment of each other's company." . . . "They don't just "get along"- they also support each other's hopes and aspirations and build a sense of purpose into their lives together. That is really what I mean when I talk about honoring and respecting each other." "...you need to understand the bottom-line difference that is causing the conflict between you-and to learn how to live with it by honoring and respecting each other." (Reference John Gottman's books `Why Marriages Succeed or Fail' pages 61 and 62 as well as `The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work' pages 19, 23 and 24.)

I do not recommend that you spend your time or energy on this nauseatingly repetitive book when there are so many good books to choose from that can actually help create harmony in your marriage.

Editorial Review:

Based upon Ephesians 5:33 and extensive biblical and psychological research, Dr. Emerson Eggerichs reveals the power of unconditional love and unconditional respect and how husbands and wives can reap the benefits of marriage that God intended.

Why Men Love Bitches: From Doormat to Dreamgirl-A Woman's Guide to Holding Her Own in a Relationship

Sherry Argov

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Total reviews: 424 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Do you feel like you are too nice?

Sherry Argov's Why Men Love Bitches delivers a unique perspective as to why men are attracted to a strong woman who stands up for herself. With saucy detail on every page, this no-nonsense guide reveals why a strong woman is much more desirable than a "yes woman" who routinely sacrifices herself. The author provides compelling answers to the tough questions women often ask:

-Why are men so romantic in the beginning and why do they change?

-Why do men take nice girls for granted?

-Why does a man respect a woman when she stands up for herself?

Full of much-needed advice, hilarious real-life relationship scenarios, "she says/he thinks" tables, and the author's unique "Attraction Principles," Why Men Love Bitches gives you bottom-line answers. It helps you know who you are, stand your ground, and relate to men on a whole new level. Once you've discovered the feisty attitude men find so magnetic, you'll not only increase the romantic chemistry in the relationship-you'll gain your man's love and respect with far less effort.

Getting the Love You Want: A Guide for Couples, 20th Anniversary Edition

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Total reviews: 119 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

When Harville Hendrix writes about relationships, he discusses them not just as an educator and a therapist, but as a man who has himself been through a failed marriage. Hendrix felt the sting of his divorce intensely because he believed it signaled not only his failure as a husband but also his failure as a couples counselor. Investigating why his marriage dissolved led him to start looking into the psychology of love. Marriage, he ultimately discovered, is the "practice of becoming passionate friends."

As a result of his research, Hendrix created a therapy he calls Imago Relationship Therapy. In it, he combines what he's learned in a number of disciplines, including the behavioral sciences, depth psychology, cognitive therapy, and Gestalt therapy, to name just a few. He expounds upon this approach in Getting the Love You Want: A Guide for Couples. His purpose in writing the book, he says, is "to share with you what I have learned about the psychology of love relationships, and to help you transform your relationship into a lasting source of love and companionship."

Divided into three sections, the book covers "The Unconscious Marriage," which details a marriage in which the remaining desires and behavior of childhood interfere with the current relationship; "The Conscious Marriage," which shows a marriage that fulfils those childhood needs in a positive manner; and a 10-week "course in relationship therapy, " which gives detailed exercises for you and your partner to follow in order to learn how to "replace confrontation and criticism ... with a healing process of mutual growth and support." The text is occasionally dry and technical; however, the information provided is valuable, the case studies are interesting, and the exercises are revealing and helpful. By utilizing his program, Hendrix hopes you too will be able to solve your marital difficulties without the expense of a therapist. --Jenny Brown

The Mystery Method: How to Get Beautiful Women Into Bed

Mystery, Lovedrop

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Total reviews: 142 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

“One of the most admired men in the world of seduction” (The New York Times) teaches average guys how to approach, attract and begin intimate relationships with beautiful women

For every man who always wondered why some guys have all the luck, Mystery, considered by many to be the world’s greatest pickup artist, finally reveals his secrets for finding and forming relationships with some of the world’s most beautiful women. Mystery gained mainstream attention for his role in Neil Strauss’s New York Times bestselling exposé, The Game. Now he has written the definitive handbook on the art of the pickup.

He developed his unique method over years of observing social dynamics and interacting with women in clubs to learn how to overcome the guard shield that many women use to deflect come-ons from "average frustrated chumps."

His tips include:
*Give more attention to her less attractive friend at first, so your target will get jealous and try to win your attention.
*Always approach a target within 3 seconds of noticing her. If a woman senses your hesitation, her perception of your value will be lower.
*Don't be picky. Approach as many groups of people in a bar as you can and entertain them with fun conversation. As you move about the room, positive perception of you will grow. Now it's easy to meet anyone you want.
*Smile. Guys who don't get laid, don't smile.

He's Just Not That Into You: The No-Excuses Truth to Understanding Guys (The Newly Expanded Edition)

Greg Behrendt, Liz Tuccillo

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Total reviews: 801 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

For ages women have come together over coffee, cocktails, or late-night phone chats to analyze the puzzling behavior of men.

He's afraid to get hurt again.

Maybe he doesn't want to ruin the friendship.

Maybe he's intimidated by me.

He just got out of a relationship.

Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo are here to say that -- despite good intentions -- you're wasting your time. Men are not complicated, although they'd like you to think they are. And there are no mixed messages.

The truth may be He's just not that into you.

Unfortunately, guys are too terrified to ever directly tell a woman "You're not the one." But their actions absolutely show how they feel.

HE'S JUST NOT THAT INTO YOU -- based on a popular episode of Sex and the City -- educates otherwise smart women on how to tell when a guy just doesn't like them enough, so they can stop wasting time making excuses for a dead-end relationship.

Reexamining familiar scenarios and classic mind-sets that keep us in unsatisfying relationships, Behrendt and Tuccillo's wise and wry understanding of the sexes spares women hours of waiting by the phone, obsessing over the details with sympathetic girlfriends, and hoping his mixed messages really mean "I'm in love with you and want to be with you."

HE'S JUST NOT THAT INTO YOU is provocative, hilarious, and, above all, intoxicatingly liberating. It deserves a place on every woman's night table. It knows you're a beautiful, smart, funny woman who deserves better. The next time you feel the need to start "figuring him out," consider the glorious thought that maybe He's just not that into you. And then set yourself loose to go find the one who is.

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Amazing Sex, Third Edition

Sari Locker

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Total reviews: 51 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Sexy is as sexy does, according to Sari Locker (called "our favorite tantalizing sex writer" by Playboy magazine). But how to feel sexy if you're a virgin, or if you've experienced sexual problems, or have serious body image hang-ups? The Complete Idiot's Guide to Amazing Sex succeeds in not only teaching technique (as well as a book can), but also offers serious advice for boosting your self-esteem. As with other Complete Idiot guides, you'll probably want to turn this one backwards in your bookcase, or at least get a book cover for it. But get past the silly title and you'll find a plethora of facts, tips, and tricks on topics including sexual response, masturbation, foreplay, afterplay, oral sex, fantasy, sex toys, sexual preference, cross-dressing, and "The Big Om": tantric sex.

The margin notes liberally decorating the book are worth a hearty chuckle. The "Sextistics" are particularly fun and eye-opening. Some examples: only 9 percent of people surveyed believe sex appeal is innate; the rest feel it can be acquired!; about 7 percent of women have never climaxed; the majority of male crossdressers are married with children; and, according to the Hite Report, nearly 60 percent of men ages 61 to 75 said their desire for sex remained steady or increased with age, Viagra or no.

Locker, a sex educator and WCBS-TV relationship correspondent, has been a sex educator for more than a decade. That said, she should have placed the facts on contraceptives and sexually transmitted diseases earlier in the book, before the hot and heavy photographs of sexual positions. That gripe aside, Amazing Sex is worth investigating by both sexual neophytes and experienced couples looking to maintain a state of hot monogamy.

She Comes First: The Thinking Man's Guide to Pleasuring a Woman

Ian Kerner

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Total reviews: 111 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

"When it comes to pleasuring women and conversing in the language of love, cunnilingus should be every man's native tongue," writes clinical sexologist Ian Kerner, Ph.D. in She Comes First, a straightforward, intimate, and exuberant guide to cunnilingus. Kerner first explored "the oral caress" as a way of compensating for his "sexual inadequacies," and quickly learned that women not only welcomed but often preferred "the way of the tongue," reaching orgasm more consistently than through intercourse. Kerner educates readers about the clitoris, "the powerhouse of pleasure," with 18 parts and 8,000 nerve endings (twice as many as the penis) and describes female sexual response from "foreplay" through "coreplay" to "moreplay." A large part of the book is a graphic, detailed primer on "mouth music," including best positions, step-by-step techniques (illustrated), and tips for tongue and fingers. How long should this last? Until the woman has an orgasm or many, says Kerner, and "melts blissfully before your eyes." "The vast majority of women complain about guys who don't like to do it, don't know how to do it, or simply don't do it nearly enough," writes Kerner. This book will change that. Women: Buy it for your partner! --Joan Price

Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus: The Classic Guide to Understanding the Opposite Sex

John Gray

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 390 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

"A Classic" 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This is among the best books that I have read on building loving male-female relationships. I gained valuable insights about men and women and this helped me to understand my moods and actions and those of my wife. I could clearly see myself being vividly described by the author. I can plainly make out where I need to change to become an understanding and caring husband without being as I always tended to be "Mr Fix-It" when my wife talks about problems or issues bothering her.

I now appreciate the value of cherishing my wife to motivate her. I no longer get surprised when I hear women expressing their feelings through various superlatives, metaphors and generalizations. I now know that men and women communicate differently; they love, think, feel and perceive things differently as though they are from different planets. The book provides useful and helpful problem solving techniques that have greatly helped me in my relationships with women.

I would like to thank John Gray for helping me to learn that my differences with my wife are normal and that the difficulties we have often experienced in our relationships have also been experienced by other couples and that these differences, when understood, help to cement strong and lasting relationships.

I, therefore, highly recommend this classic which highlight strategies for reducing tensions in relationships and strengthening love through recognizing differences between men and women.

Editorial Review:

Relationship counselor John Gray focuses on the differences between men and women--men are from Mars, and women are from Venus, after all--and offers a simple solution: couples must acknowledge and accept these differences before they can develop happier relationships. In this unabridged version, Gray gives a spirited delivery of his message, especially when role-playing typical male/female interactions. Although it takes some time to adjust to his slightly nasal tone, the information is sound and gives both men and women helpful hints on improving themselves and their union. (Running time: 9.5 hours, 6 cassettes) --Sharon Griggins