Building Love Together in Blended Families: The 5 Love Languages and Becoming Stepfamily Smart Paperback – February 4, 2020

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!

I received my book today and have not been able to put it down!!! Like every other book by Dr. Chapman and Ron Deal, this book is incredibly insightful to inner workings of marriage and blended families. Being a stepparent is one of the hardest things I have ever done, but this book makes it feel so much less daunting. We have followed Dr. Chapman's "5 Love Languages" for awhile both in our marriage and with our children. This book adds an added level to that as we are also a blended family. It discusses how to apply those same principles of the love languages to your stepfamily, individuals who may not want to give or receive that love from you the stepparent. It discusses how to balance stepfamily life - the guilt, the emotional wounds, cultural differences, etc. If you've followed the Smart Stepfamily series as I have, then you know how much Ron Deal adds in these categories. This book is an absolute must read if you are part of a blended family!

This was the perfect book to read after reading Ron L Deal’s book, the Smart Stepfamily. I recommend reading that as well as the 5 love languages before this one, but it still makes sense if you don’t. The insights and advice here was humbling. I realized I have so much more work to do on myself to get to a point where I can consistently show love, even to those who are not as receptive. It certainly helps me appreciate even more how difficult divorce can be for so many families.

This is a really good read for someone trying to blend families. Of course everyone’s situation is different but they did their best with addressing a lot of different issues

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.

Wow I really wish I had this book in a earlier blended family situation! I thought the blended family would just get along like my ex-fiancé did and I. Well two of the three kids had terrible arguments and it affected the entire family dynamic. This should be a required read for all blended families! I really think my ex-fiancé would be married today if I had the knowledge of this book before, it is a must read!

I am a fan of this writer and was so happy there was a blended family book! After just 3 pages I knew this book would be a game changer! It seems like it is talking about us in every scenario!!! SO HELPFUL! Buying a second copy for my partner!

This was a great book. Gives a lot of insight on why there might be struggles, and very helpful ways to start to create a foundation to build relationships within a blended family.