Imagine if your good friends were a couple dedicated to helping you build the marriage you've always dreamed of.  Steve and Rhonda Stoppe, from No Regrets Woman, are that couple. After three decades of helping couples build no-regrets marriages, the Stoppes have compiled their success secrets into this fun and easy-to-read book, The Marriage Mentor. It will help you learn to engage in meaningful conversation, break free from regrets that hold you back, and renew your hope for lifelong love.  Every page feels like a candid conversation with a friend. You will laugh and learn from a biblical perspective the secrets to enjoying a marriage that lasts a lifetime.

This book, divided into separate readings for the husband and wife, is a no-punches-pulled approach to marriage.  It uses real-life scenarios from the authors’ marriage and talks about what they learned from each and how you can apply them to your own marriage.  The authors address special situations, such as abuse and divorce, and more-common situations, such as only one partner being willing to work at the marriage.  Each chapter has both spouses’ perspectives of the same stories, questions for you to ponder, and easy ideas to begin practicing immediately.  In addition to the physical book, there are short online videos to accompany each chapter.  The book retails for $15.99.

Each chapter addresses a scenario that is common to marriages, such as the feeling of falling out of love, parenting toddlers and teens, attraction and sex, fighting and a need for respect, and times of crisis.  The book is written from a Christian viewpoint, ranking our relationships as God, spouse, and children, in that order.  There is an appendix on how to have a relationship with God.  The chapters are short, easy reads that will occasionally have you laughing along with the author.  Men read the parts written by the husband; women read the parts written by the wife – this format make it very easy to relate.

While not necessarily a book that would be appropriate for dating or engaged couples, it could be beneficial to newlyweds, and would probably be most beneficial for those who have moved beyond the honeymoon phase and into ‘real life.’  It is divided into separate sections for the husband and wife to read, but would be helpful even if only one spouse is willing to do the readings and begin implementing ideas.

Deep into the teen years, our marriage has overcome many bumps and bruises, including that of parenting a special needs child through parental chronic illness.  Like most couples, we’ve learned along the way, and one of the things we’ve learned is to read marriage books.  That may sound off, but I believe that successful marriages don’t just happen.  If we continue to study other marriages, learn from them, and apply those principles to our own, we can thrive in marriage.  I would recommend this book to all married couples.

-Product review by Holly Johnson, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, November, 2018