Book Review/ Giveaway: Project Happily Ever After by Alisa Bowman

on January 12, 2011

*** this giveaway is closed ***

As you all know, we're anti-resolutions on this blog, and rather make small changes
so this week I'm showcasing some books and products that can help you make the
small changes in your life, that may lead to larger ones! ENJOY!

We really don't think of our marriages as changes/resolutions, but this new book has some ideas you might want to consider!

Synopsis: Saving Your Marriage When the Fairytale Falters

No one talks about the dark side of marriage. Take the death fantasy—the heart attack or the aneurysm many a husband or wife has wished on his or her spouse. Or, take the lack of sexual interest, the wives who dread their husband’s touch and who wish, hope and pray that, for the love of God, he won’t want to get busy tonight, tomorrow night, or ever. And then there’s the mental preoccupation with who will get what pieces of furniture if the marriage does not last. People just don’t talk about these things.

Until now.

In Project: Happily Ever After Alisa Bowman bravely tells the story of how she went from wishing her husband dead to renewing her wedding vows. Her four-month project was a last ditch effort to save a marriage that many—her friends, her colleagues and even her own mother—had written off as hopeless. It’s a fearlessly honest account of all of the topics that unhappily married people and the counselors who try to help them are too scared and guilt-ridden to discuss. From dry spells to bikini waxes, romance instruction manuals to second honeymoons, the silent treatment to power struggles, she goes where many marriage improvement experts have feared to tread.

About the author: Alisa Bowman is a recovering divorce daydreamer and creator of ProjectHappilyEverAfter.com, which was voted one of the Top 10 Marriage Blogs of 2009. She has appeared on Discovery Health, FOX's Ask Dr. Manny Fox, the NBC 10! Show, Better TV, and many others. She has been interviewed by Redbook, First, Pregnancy, CNN.com, Woman's World, iParenting.com, and many other outlets

Review: I have to admit I laughed out loud when I read the synopsis when I was offered this book to review! Alisa basically read all the marriage counseling books she could and made her own plan, and this is what the book is based on. Her marriage issues were really very basic, primarily lack of communication, and I think for people in the same predicament she was in, then this book could offer a great place to start, to begin to work on their marriages.

For others with more serious issues (say infertility, or infidelity), this book can help, but I think more professional help would be warranted. Her husband was also willing to make changes on his part and to work with her on the project. If your husband balks at the "self- help" angle, then again a trained therapist might be the answer.

Bowman pulls quotes from some very good marriage counseling guides and her appendix of them is great, as with any self- help program, not every plan is for every person. I also wish the book had been formatted differently, with each chapter dealing with her 10 steps, and then info from her life and research to document it. Others may like the memoir approach with side notes better. I just think stressing the steps more would be better.

All in all, it's not a bad book, and for some couples, it may be JUST what they need!

Giveaway:

Winner will receive their own copy of Project: Happily Ever After!

Entries:

Make sure I have an email address, with your comment, so I can contact you, if you win!
If I don't have a way to contact you, you will forfeit your win!

USA / Canada

3 day winner's rule : Winner has 3 days to acknowledge they won prize,
and confirm address, if no contact, then new winner will be picked in their place.

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Contest will end on January 28th, at midnight. Winner will be picked by Random Number (random.org) on January 29th, and emailed. As soon as winner's info is received, I will email their info to Lierman New Media Marketing, who will mail book out to the winner!

Disclosure / Disclaimer: I received this book, free of charge, from Lierman New Media Marketing, for review purposes. No other compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post. Nor was I told how to post about it

either.