Top 10 Romantic Tips May 2012
And the top 10 romantic, love and relationship books to help make your relationship something special
In the area of romance it’s not unusual to not be attentive enough to convey one’s true feelings about how much you care about the other person. You would be surprised at how easy it is to show someone how much you love them. Here’s 10 ways to communicate your love to that special person:
- Use those three-special-words more often, when you look into someone’s eyes and say “I love you” the brain releases oxytocin, the bonding hormone, and helps strengthen your romantic relationship.
- Take time to actively listen. Look at the person who is speaking, respond occasionally with some verbal cue like “hmmm,” “uh-huh” or nod your head. Together, you should set aside some time to talk (and listen) every day, and ask each other questions to clarify thoughts and get more information.
- Strengthen your relationship by taking time to get to know what makes your partner happy and show that you care with thoughtful little gifts and gestures. Pick up her favorite flowers occasionally; bring home his favorite snacks from the grocery store; or make a reservation at a favorite restaurant or a tee time for a round of golf.
- A great romantic tip and idea for men is to use a jar filled with love tokens. Make the tokens exchangeable for kisses, hugs, etc. Then, give the jar to your girl so that she can use them when she wants.
- Win your beloved’s heart and stomach; try out new delicacies in the kitchen. However, let not this romance stop at kitchen only and carry it forward to your dining table. Set the table with candles and go for it.
- Nothing would be better than spending a relaxing evening with your beloved and discussing the topics of interest with him or her.
- Set something aside for her every day. It might be a newspaper article you read during your commute, a link to a website you came across, or even a story you heard by the office water cooler. She will appreciate that you took a moment to think of her during the course of your day.
- Wrap a small mirror in a delicate lace handkerchief and beautiful ribbon, then present it to your lover.. Tell them, “I want you to know that this is my most treasured thing in life…”
- Summertime romanctic opportunities include everything from night time concerts to Shakespeare in the Park to renaissance festivals to ice cream cones and day trips to the beach.
- Guys: know her dress size, shoe and stocking size, blouse and nightgown size, bra and panty size, pants and coat size, and of course her finger size (for rings that fit).
Gals: know his coat size, shoe and hat size, shirt and pants size, finger size (for bowling balls that fit)…
You can never have enough romantic tips in your arsenal of love, so for your more provocative research, here are the top 10 selling books on how to supercharge the romance in your relationship:
1. Just Your Type: Create the Relationship You’ve Always Wanted Using the Secrets of Personality Type
Price: $25.79
With a nod to Jung and Myers-Briggs, the Tiegers (Do What You Are, etc.) once again plumb the depths of personality type theory. This time, they apply it to the realm of committed romantic relationships, including (but not limited to) marriage. According to the authors, everyone can be characterized by one of 16 personality types; using them, we can attain a clear understanding of our partners and ourselves and achieve better communication and smoother relationships. They begin with a thorough yet succinct self-analysis to identify the “unconscious preferences” that make up one’s type: introversion or extroversion, sensing or intuition, thinking or feeling and judging or perceiving. The rest of the text is a sourcebook for referencing specific combinations of types, typical communication difficulties and suggestions for how each partner can better “reach” the other. The Tiegers are adamantly opposed to popular theories of innate gender differences, as well as to the notion that relationships between people of disparate types are doomed. Ending with a concise summary of their research and a supplementary guide to professional counselors, organizations and books, the authors offer a uniquely constructive handbook for couples.
2. Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus: The Classic Guide to Understanding the Opposite Sex
List Price: $14.99
Price: $10.19
You Save: $4.80 (32%)
Rediscover the most famous relationship book ever published
Once upon a time Martians and Venusians met, fell in love, and had happy relationships together because they respected and accepted their differences. Then they came to Earth and amnesia set in: they forgot they were from different planets.
Based on years of successful counseling of couples and individuals, Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus has helped millions of couples transform their relationships. Now viewed as a modern classic, this phenomenal book has helped men and women realize how different they can be in their communication styles, their emotional needs, and their modes of behavior—and offers the secrets of communicating without conflicts, allowing couples to give intimacy every chance to grow.
3. Intimacy & Desire: Awaken the Passion in Your Relationship
List Price: $15.95
Price: $10.85
You Save: $5.10 (32%)
Many couples begin marital counseling with Dr. David Schnarch with their sex lives in shambles, wondering what’s wrong with them, considering divorce. One partner will complain that the other doesn’t desire him, the other complains that she’s married to a sex maniac. During his 30 years in practice as a marriage and family therapist, Dr. Schnarch has discovered that sexual desire problems are normal and even healthy, in committed relationships.
In Intimacy and Desire: Awaken the Passion in Your Relationship, Dr. Schnarch explains why couples in long term relationships have sexual desire problems, regardless of how much they love each other or how well they communicate. Through case studies of couples he worked with, Dr. Schnarch shows why normal marital conflict can be the cause of desire problems and creates a roadmap for how couples can transform marital conflict into a stronger relationship and a font of new and powerful desire for each other. He takes it a step further, giving readers simple but effective exercises that will help them reconnect with each other.
4. Why Can’t You Read My Mind? Overcoming the 9 Toxic Thought Patterns that Get in the Way of a Loving Relationship
List Price: $14.95
Price: $9.96
You Save: $4.99 (33%)
Most people think that poor communication is the reason why so many relationships end, but it’s actually the way we learn to think about our partners and our problems that kills trust, erodes intimacy, and cripples communication. In Why Can’t You Read My Mind?, psychologist Jeffrey Bernstein reveals-for the first time-the nine toxic thought patterns at work in virtually every relationship, and shows couples how these distorted, negative, exaggerated thoughts can poison their love and end their union. With warmth and wisdom, Bernstein offers a simple yet powerful approach for breaking the toxic thinking cycle and helps readers establish new and more positive thinking habits for solving their problems and dealing with the stresses of everyday life. Packed with practical advice and valuable insights, Why Can’t You Read My Mind? makes it possible for couples to remain in or return to loving relationships permanently, and points the way toward finding a truer kind of love with one another for the first time. Perfect for couples wanting to maintain their loving relationship as well as for those working to restore their love, this book provides the missing link, enabling couples to beat the relationship odds and sustain a long-term relationship.
5. The Conversation: How Men and Women Can Build Loving, Trusting Relationships
List Price: $15.00
Price: $6.00
You Save: $9.00 (60%)
Only 34 percent of African-American children today are raised in two- parent households, a sharp contrast to 1966, when 85 percent of black children were raised by two parents. In provocative but heartfelt words, Hill Harper takes on these urgent challenges, bringing a variety of issues out of the shadows. In The Conversation, Harper speaks to women and men with clear-eyed perspective, covering topics such as:
•The myth that there are no mature, single, black male professionals
•What women can do to alleviate the “heaviness” they sometimes attach to dating
•What men can do to break the cycle of being a player
•The difference between sex and intimacy
•Bridging the communication gap
•Self-worth and net worth, and why you should never settle for an unworthy partner
6. The Seven Levels of Intimacy: The Art of Loving and the Joy of Being Loved
List Price: $15.99
Price: $10.87
You Save: $5.12 (32%)
BUILD THE STRONG, DEEPLY POWERFUL RELATIONSHIPS YOU’VE ALWAYS DESIRED
We all crave the heartwarming, incomparable connection of intimacy. But oftentimes, this complete, unrestrained sharing of ourselves is too daunting a task. Now, in The Seven Levels of Intimacy, Matthew Kelly explains step by step how to move beyond our fears and experience the power of true intimacy. By achieving each of Kelly’s seven levels, we can understand and gain confidence in our partners and ourselves until we are fully able to experience love, commitment, trust, and happiness.
With profound insight and the use of powerful and relatable examples, The Seven Levels of Intimacy redefines the most important relationships in our lives and how we view our interactions with one another. By finally comprehending and experiencing the great depths of intimacy, we can create the strong connections, deep joy, and lasting bonds that we all long for in our lives.
7. Relationship Rescue: A Seven-Step Strategy for Reconnecting with Your Partner
Price: $7.99
As a follow-up to his bestselling book Life Strategies, Oprah acolyte Phillip C. McGraw, Ph.D., moves from aiding the aimless individual to coaching the disconnected couple. McGraw has distilled his more than two decades of counseling experience into a seven-step strategy he calls “Relationship Rescue.”
“I’m prepared to kick a hole in the wall of the pain-ridden, unhappy maze you’ve gotten yourself into, and provide you clear access to action-oriented answers and instructions on what you must do to have what you want,” says Dr. Phil. His aim is to expose and eliminate the saboteurs that cause senseless damage to already-fragile marriages, and, like an emotional root canal, to replace them with values he says provide positive results. If you follow Dr. Phil’s strategy, he will lead you on a precise journey to uncover your heart and then share it with your partner as part of taking the “risk of intimacy.”
Dr. Phil leads you to “reconnect with your core” in the first five steps of his seven-step strategy. By no means a quick fix, there are in-depth and rigorous questionnaires, surveys, tests, and profiles that require a “brutally candid” mindset, with such fill-in-the-blanks as “List five things that today would make you fall out of love with your partner.” With this internal work accomplished, you’ll then move on to reconnecting with your partner during a two-week, half-hour-a-day short course. As a “dyad,” you and your loved one take turns giving monologues on topics such as “The most positive thing I took away from my mother and father’s relationship was…”
Once the “reconnection” has been established, Dr. Phil says the work shifts to a management role, as relationships are always a work in progress. Dr. Phil humorously refers to his own marriage throughout the book, sharing his mishaps and victories in learning to accept and enjoy what he sees as fundamental but complementary differences between men and women.
8. THE BUSY COUPLE’S GUIDE TO EVERYDAY ROMANCE
Price: $11.95
Romance doesn’t ever have to take a backseat to work, kids, chores, or any of the other constant demands of your multi-tasking life. The most important person in your world deserves to feel loved, cherished, and appreciated, right now and always. And you deserve the same!
It doesn’t require a lot of time, money, or energy to make each other feel special every day. Editha Rodriguez brings you the romantic wisdom of busy couples just like you—living their own happily-ever-after romances. They reveal their secret to keeping intimately attuned to what makes each other joyful and committed to creating an environment of trust, devotion, and respect.
This down-to-earth couple’s guide shows you how to freshen up and strengthen your relationship by minimizing distractions and finding new ways to demonstrate love, including:
- Using a “turn-on” list when your partner’s romantic mood is “off”
- Making your bedroom a sanctuary
- Appreciating the importance of “away” time
- Letting the kids plan some of your date nights
- Creating a Romance Box
As long as you have the desire and intention to make your relationship a priority, everyday romance—whether you’re together two years, twenty years, or fifty years—is possible. This book shows you why, and how.
9. Eat Chocolate Naked: And 142 Ways Other Ways to Attract Attention and Spark Romance!
List Price: $15.95
Price: $6.38
You Save: $9.57 (60%)
Ignite the fires of passion and romance
You can:
- Recognize romance in the most unlikely guises.
- Make it easy for him to get it right.
- Think about romance in a whole new way.
- Create a mood, from soft and serene to brimming with sexiness.
- Discover everything that attracts lovers to each other.
Want more romance, spark and passion in your life? Here’s how to ignite it yourself and find sizzling ways to fill every day with romance. Whether you’re after the ultimate seduction or a more intimate connection with your partner, included are hot tips and tricks for 143 sexy, silly, passionate and just plain fun activities to add spice to your love life.
Behind the eye-catching cover and provocative title, Johnson, a Northwest television anchor and gardening show host, offers hundreds of inspirational tips, projects and ideas for reconnecting with one’s femininity and becoming a more romantically authentic you.
10. A Labor With Love: A Dad’s-To-Be Guide To Romance During Pregnancy
Price: $14.99
Not only are there physical, physiological, hormonal, and emotional changes in pregnancy. But, romance changes, too. Based on moms’, new moms’, and moms’-to-be responses, as well as pregnancy professionals, A Labor With Love walks a man through each stage of pregnancy and shows him how to make his pregnant partner feel loved and cared for. A family is like a house, and Mom and Dad are the foundation. Before Baby arrives, to secure that the foundation is a strong and secure one, work needs to go into the relationship. Because once Junior makes his arrival, things can get a bit crazy. But, if Mom and Dad maintain a bonding and caring connection (which starts before delivery), the family unit will be a loving one. A Labor With Love is the book every dad-to-be needs to read and that every mom-to-be will buy for him.
Click Here for Best Sellers in Love and Romance
Copyright 2012 David Masters
