For Seller

By: Kim Peterson

Marriage Magic! Find It, Keep It, Make It Last
By Karen Sherman and Dale Klein
AuthorHouse (2004)
Reviewed by Kim Peterson for Reader Views (1/06)

Despite the multitude of books about marriage and the easy
availability of counseling, the American divorce rate hovers around
fifty percent. Quite often an event or unacceptable behaviors prompt
the dissolution, but just as often good marriages just wind down lost
in the busyness of everyday life. Marriage Magic! offers a skills-
based approach to fixing those types of marriages"”ones that grew
stale because they became routine, became a lower priority than
children and careers, became less than the expectations held early in
the marriage.

Sherman and Klein open their book with a quiz that asks pertinent
questions about your union helping you determine the level of your
disenchantment. They follow with an explanation of how to use the
book. Then they launch into part one which helps define what might
make up your general dissatisfaction and help you to realize how your
marriage reached this point.

In part two, the authors posit that you can’t move toward a solution
without actually understanding your perceptions, so they examine and
identify the emotions that might be infusing your relationship. They
scrutinize feelings of disappointment, hopelessness, hurt,
apprehension, neglect, boredom, lack of romance, anger and more.
Exercises to help you deal with your emotion follow each evaluation.
These activities motivate you to engage your partner and to initiate
and prompt change within the marriage.

Part three addresses communication concepts and tools that make it
easier to carry out the exercises. A brief look at the differences
between male and female communication styles remind couples to
bridge the gaps.

Much of the information in Marriage Magic! isn’t new, but is
repackaged for drained couples who want to experience vigor in their
marriages again. The authors target the audience well offering hope
and enthusiasm for restoring marriage to its intended vitality.

Kim Peterson is a reviewer for Reader Views
http://www.readerviews.com