Customer Reviews

The RoMANtics Guide: Hundreds of Creative Tips for a Lifetime of Love

5 star:		(59)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I'm a marriage counselor and am always looking for material to recommend to my clients. Unfortunately, most of the books of this nature fall way short of being able to give my professional recommendation.

A lot of couples that I work with are in trouble because of their skewed view of romance. So many couples have tremendous debt that strains their marriage and many of the books I read only increase that problem with suggestions of cruises, exotic flowers and jewelry. Michael Webb has the right approach with his hundreds of ideas that are heartfelt, yet don't cost a lot of money. So many men in my practice tell me that they cant afford to be romantic. They are already maxed out on their cards. This book shatters the myth than romance must cost an arm and a leg.

What I like most about this book is that the ideas show and inspire couples to be romantic in ways that are meaningful to their relationship. Too much romance out there is too generic -- bought right off the drugstore counter. Michael's ideas and suggestions bring a deeper level of intimacy that can enrich even the most loving of marriages.

While this book will give you hundreds of ideas (more than you could ever possibly need), more importantly, it will inspire and teach you how to come up with your own inventive and sincere ways of expressing your love. You don't just give a starving man a fish, you teach him how to fish. The RoMANtic's Guide doesn't just give romantically challenged people ideas, it provides them with resources and knowledge to become a changed man or woman.

I can without any hesitation recommend this book. It is far more useful than almost any book I've read written by guys with "Dr." in their title. This is coming from a guy who has two of those degrees.

Buy the book and be prepared to live a lifetime of love.

I bought this book online because of the great reviews that it received from so many readers. I was excited about finding new and creative ways of being romantic, ones that were truly sentimental, as opposed to being sappy. And I did find a handful of good ideas.

The problem is that out of hundreds of entries in the book, I only ended up with 8 or 9 good ideas. Don't get me wrong - the author has the right attitude about romance. He doesn't like doing what everyone does; he realizes the importance of personalization, originality, variety, and fun. The philosophy of always, always thinking about the perfect ways to express your love is a very good one, and one which I think would benefit almost everyone. The author does come up with many creative and thoughtful ideas for gifts, activities, etc.

The big issue I have with this book is that I don't feel it suits those who already have the attitude that the author has. A great many of the ideas in this book were ones which I had already thought of and carried out before, and many of the remaining ideas were (I felt) a bit too everyday or cheesey. It doesn't take a whole lot of thought to come up with the idea of writing "I *heart* you" in the snow, for instance.

This book is a pretty good one for those who don't normally think about romance all that often but really want to become a romantic person. But what the average rating of five stars does not tell online shoppers is that it is simply NOT THAT GREAT.

Would I recommend this book? It depends on what kind of person you are. I STRONGLY recommend going to a bookstore and flipping through it before buying it here. I naively assumed without seeing the content that this book was indeed the best romance guide for me, and payed good money for a handful of tips. Don't make the same mistake. On a lighter note, I wish everyone happiness, and happy romancing. :)

I was looking for a book a few months ago on dating ideas and one of my coworkers highly recommended this book. I reluctantly bought it and began leafing through it. I was sceptical at first and now I am hooked.

What I appreciate most about this book is that the author really does appear to be a true romantic -- someone who openingly and willingly expresses his love and emotions.

So many people consider themselves romantics but in reality they do and buy things more to impress others than to show their love. How is calling FTD and ordering a $75 bouquet romantic? It took very little thought and no effort. All it does is show that you are willing to spend money for someone. I loved the author's idea of having his wife's bridal bouquet recreated and dried for their anniversary.

I initially wanted the book just for dating ideas and there were plenty of unique ones like the Quarter Date and the Millionaire Date. But soon I was inspired by this book that romance is not limited to dates and special occasions. So many of the ideas in the book can be "anyday" expressions. In fact true romantics I have come to learn are romantic mainly on everyday -- not on special occasions when it is "obligatory."

I was wanting to do something special on the anniversary of the day we moved into our first house (the book shares a lot of unconventional holidays you can celebrate). There were a lot of ideas in the book I could have used but I opted for the "Love Builds a House" idea. We had such a wonderful time that I think I will make it an annual observence.

I had some friends who were having problems in their marriage. They were about to file for separation. They said they lost the "spark" and all the love was gone. I bought them each a copy of the book and suggested they just do one simple idea a week for one month. After two weeks they told me they were staying together permantently. They rediscovered romance -- what they thought was only important in the courtship phase of their relationship.

If you are looking for a book of ideas simply to impress someone else with your credit card spending habits then you should buy a different one. If your desire is simply to seduce someone (these ideas are magical enough that will certainly do that too) you have the wrong motive. If you think that the only reason for romance is to end the night in the sack, then you will never be a romantic.

But if you think romance is opening your heart, sharing your emotions, cherishing and honoring the one you love - this book is for you. If you believe that time and experiences shared are more important than expensive gifts that never really last, then buy this book. If you want a lifetime of love, then get this book today.

Coming across this book was like finding a rare gem in the dessert. I've been looking for this sort of book for years and am thrilled to have finally found it.

I too am a firm believer that romance is giving a part of yourself, not just what you put on your credit card. I've been looking for someone who hasn't "sold out" to the billions spent on advertising telling us the amount of money we spend is what makes us romantic. I've seen far too many books that say costly impersonal gifts are romantic.

This book mainly has three categories. How to tell someone you love them in writing, how to show someone they are special by gifts you present to them and how to romance someone by doing things together with them.

The simple ways to say I love you using rubbing alcohol, kool-aid, mustard and glow in the dark stars really got me excited. I'm not great at love letters and I can definitely do these ideas.

I just love all the creative gifts ideas this book has. The latex glove idea was brilliant as was the items he made on the copy machine. I'm definitely going to try the dust pan and duct tape suggestion. My sweetheart is still bragging about some of the other tips I've tried out.

The dating ideas were terrific. I'm bored with dinner and a movie every week and now I can do the millionaire date or the quarter date. The do it again date or the bibliophile date.

If one person tries to do all the ideas in this book, it would probably take them five years. They are all awesome.

This book should be mandatory reading for every man and woman -- there would be a huge drop in the divorce rate if people just did a fraction of the ideas in this book.

When I picked up this book at the bookstore I expected it to be filled with the typical pat romantic tips like roses under the windshield, write a love letter, etc. I was blown away with the originality of the ideas. Who would have thought that a dandelion weed could have such romantic potential or the neat idea the author gives using rainx anti-fog. Sure, not every idea is for everyone but you would have to be a complete oaf if you couldn't find at least 40 or 50 really great ideas that would work in your relationship. The world needs more books like this -- one's that emphasize relationships built on fun experiences rather than expensive presents you buy for one another.

I find it interesting how almost all the reviews of this book are 5 stars but there are just a couple of 1 stars. You know that has to be from a "competing" author or someone who is jealous of this book's success.

I browsed the bookstore, skimming through all the books I could find on romance ideas and this one by far was the best.

Best in terms of creativity. Best in terms of ability to easily recreate the idea or tailor it to my needs and definitely the best in terms of budget.

Most of the other books I looked at seemed to think that romance was only about expensive jewelry, bouquets of flowers and making love in every room of the house.

The ROMANTIC'S GUIDE has really inventive and caring ways to express your love for holidays and every day. Many of this ideas are indeed so simple, yet if they are so simple, why don't people do them. This book is more than just ideas, it is an inspiration to have the sort of love that obviously Michael and Athena Webb have.

I dog-earred the pages with ideas that I thought would be great to do and I marked 76 different ideas. This book will keep me busy for years to come.

I'd give this book 10 stars if I could. I was separated from my wife (she asked me to leave) and I still didn't get it. I thought I was providing for her and the kids. I make a good income, I don't cheat on her and I take care of all the maintenance around the house. This book helped me to realize that I was neglecting what was most important to her -- romance. Not the expensive presents or luxury cruises. I wasn't making her feel special with all the little things I used to do when we were first married, like calling in the middle of the day. Putting notes on her pillow, etc. This book has re-energized my desire to do all the little things that mean so much for my wife. She let me come back home a few months ago and our marriage has never been better -- and this time it will stay that way as I am going to be a roMANtic.

I can't believe it has taken me 5 years to actually write this review. I bought The Romantic's Guide when it first came out and I still go back to it from time to time and still find the ideas fresh and creative. His site, TheRomantic.com is also fantastic.

I am a bit of a romance-aholic as I love to romance my sweetheart of 12 years.

I have a collection of about 15 romantic ideas books and here is my current top 5 in terms of usefulness and creativity.

1. The Romantic's Guide
2. Creative Romance
3. Romantic Antics
4. Ready for Romance
5. 1001 Ways to Be Romantic

I can't believe a book like this actually exists. I've been looking for it for a long, long time. I wanted a book full of creative ideas on expressing my love. For so long, all I found were books that confused romance with sex or expensive gifts.

And as a guy I appreciate Mr. Webb's manly approach to romance. I like how he doesnt find that he has to resort to frilly lace and sappy words to express the love he has for his wife.

Do yourself a favor and get this book today. If you don't like it, you are probably cold hearted. But at least you can give it away as a gift to someone whom it might help.

Your book was excellent. It was spirited, thoughtful and packed full of fun loving ideas. YES, romance can be FUN! Your book just proved that. Your book suggests many, many ways couples can bring romance into their lives and you've done all the thinking. Your book shows people some easy, inexpensive ways to make every day a romantic day. I think people tend to avoid being romantic because they feel intimidated, they don't have time, don't have money or can't come up with an idea....your book addresses all of these issues in a user-friendly manner! Thanks for sharing this with us. We look forward to hearing from you again!