Building Love Together in Blended Families: The 5 Love Languages and Becoming Stepfamily Smart

We’re a blended family and anyone who blends will tell you, it brings a whole new set of challenges! This is not my first blended family book… I’ve also read Jimmy Evans’ Blending Families, as well as The Smart Stepmom and The Smart Stepfamily- both authored/co-authored by Ron Deal. This book has very practical and impactful information in it! I love the “5 Love Languages” spin on it as well. I’m reading it with my stepmom small group and we’re 3 chapters in. So far, I think it’s great! I was afraid it would seem really repetitive with having already read two of his books, but it’s been helpful/encouraging!

Good delivery, good book with some examples on patients on different constellations of families and probable issues.

Not read it all yet but came highly recommended for anyone in a step position

Already a blended family? Are you a single parent looking to date again? Are you dating a single parent? This book is for you. Maybe you have read other titles in the 5 Love Languages Series and what was successful with your own children or previous spouse is not succeeding as well with your current family. Context is provided as to the challenges step-families or future step-families face when expressing and receiving love from the 5 love languages such as topics like competing attachments, pacing implications, the impact of loss, sibling rivalry, and rejection. While the authors address many challenges, they also present hope and encouragement for step-family participants. They share how to avoid common mistakes and by recommending many aspects that help family members take steps forward with patient, persistent, intentional faithfulness. This book is also sprinkled with examples of people who were able to chart an improved course for their family togetherness as they faced reality checks while trying to love well through the 5 love languages and their dialects.

Easy and quick to read, necessarily over simplified for what it is, and overly religious without needing to be. (Including a complete absence of anything other than blended families involving heterosexual re-marriage). Much better books out there, but worse ones to!