Rekindling the Romance: A Book Review

All couples go through stages of love. They start out hot and heavy, and then at some point down the road they get to the point of disappointed love. That’s when couples have to make a decision about whether or not to stay committed, working through to the point of enjoying committed love. This is the subject of “Rekindling the Romance: Loving the Love of Your Life” by Dennis and Barbara Rainey.

This book is written from a conservative Christian perspective. However, it has many points that even liberals or non-religious people could agree on. It is also written from the perspective of both a husband and a wife, with each taking half of the book to give their take on things. The Raineys begin each of their parts of the book with a kind of goofy scenario. They each describe a husband and a wife who go to see a marriage counselor. Each person gives their side of their plight to the counselor. They are then given a “magic pill” and they somehow transform into their spouse’s personality and start to see things from the other perspective. This lasts about a week, in which they both drive each other crazy, but then they start to “see the light.” At the end of the week the couple starts to appreciate the other person more and begins to cherish what they have together.

I admit that I found this part pretty silly and struggled through the first part of this and even skimmed it at points. However, as I read on I began to comprehend some very valuable concepts on effective communication and on how to build an environment to help rekindle the romance in my own relationship. The book effectively described how I feel as a man, and what a woman feels like going through the different stages of love. What was very enlightening to me was that it is never too late for a couple to rekindle the romance in their relationship, as long as there is love and a commitment to each other. The Raineys shared examples of couples who were on the brink of divorce, who were able to work their way back to having the delight of romance in their lives again.

I found this book to be a great read! I feel it would be an excellent resource for couples to work through together and discuss how this is relevant in their own relationship. I liked that it was not full of psychobabble or old “churchy” maxims that people are just supposed to accept without really working it through. The book was fun and easy to read, and gave plenty of real life illustrations as to how the Raineys and other couples were able to work through disappointed love and get to the delights and depth of cherished love. Any couple who is struggling with these issues would benefit from reading and discussing this book together.

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