Ready for Romance
Hot Lips, Great Escapes & 89 More Ways to Keep Love Alive

Written by Leslie and Jimmy Caplan
Published by New World Library

One of the concerns facing couples today, especially long-time married/committed couples, is how to keep the romance going and the love fresh. It’s all too easy to fall into a rut and do the same old thing day after day. The authors of this book are no different, but instead of focusing on their fears, they instead interviewed close couples to see what the secrets were and attempted to learn how they could help their own relationship last. The results of their research are the body of Ready for Romance.

Arranged in loose categories, such as “Zensational” or “Naughty ’n’ Nice,” the ideas range from the fun to the frisky, with an emphasis on simple, but meaningful things. Each idea is presented as a recipe, with ingredients such as “2 tender voices” or “1 clear night.” Many of the recipes are also preceded with love-related quotes from individuals such as Emerson or George Eliot. The ideas are at times things we’ve heard before, such as leaving love notes in surprising locations throughout the house, and yet it’s good to be reminded of these oldies but goodies. Other ideas are totally unique. All of the ideas will require a willingness to try something new or trust the experience of lasting couples.

Two of the best ideas come from Jeff Arch, screenwriter of Sleepless in Seattle, which are not only insightful, but hysterically written. There is a strong strain of humor running throughout this little book, and that’s all to the good for a couple seeking help and advice. There are around ninety ideas in all, and you are practically guaranteed to find a host of them that you think will work for your particular relationship and means. One of the best things about this book, though, is that few of the ideas require much money, and only a few can be left out completely for financial reasons for most of us. There are even a few ideas geared specifically for those days when you haven’t a single penny to your name.

The real problem with this book is how to get the people who need to read it to want to do so, and there’s probably not much to be done about this. There have been so many silly books on the market about this topic that most readers are jaded and automatically assume that this book too will make them spend too much money or do ridiculous things that don’t actually increase the level of intimacy or love in a relationship. Other people may have partners who feel the marriage is fine, while the other partner is unhappy and dissatisfied. It would have been nice to have had a section or part of the preface devoted to how to integrate some of these ideas when only one party is willing to try--though perhaps if that’s the case, there’s more to fix than just the fading of excitement.

All in all, one of the most useful things about Ready for Romance is what it represents: that there is hope for long-time, monogamous couples. If your relationship seems to be suffering a bit from ennui or monotony, pick this book up, and you will learn at least a few worthwhile things.

Grade: B+

Review submitted by Dindrane