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25 Relationship Books to Help You Strengthen Your Love
Check out the list of relationship books selected by our marriage and couples therapists.
Long-lasting relationships require effort and constant adjusting. While the excitement and passion of a new relationship can make things seem easy at first, maintaining a healthy and fulfilling relationship over time takes work (both individually and as a couple).
If you are experiencing challenges in your relationship, books written by experts and marriage therapists can be valuable resources. Although they are not a replacement for couples therapy, they can be a great complement to help you strengthen your love.
Whether you are struggling with conflicts, trust issues, or feeling disconnected, relationship books can provide a roadmap for navigating these issues and rebuilding a stronger, more fulfilling relationship. By seeking out the guidance of experts and taking proactive steps to improve your relationship, you and your partner can overcome obstacles and build a lasting and satisfying connection.
In this list, we included books suited for different types of relationships, life stages, and backgrounds to make sure you can find something that is right for you.
All the books featured are independently selected by our relationship experts. If you buy something through our links, we may earn an affiliate commission.
by Dr. Sue Johnson
We all want a lifetime of love. But sometimes we need extra help. Dr. Sue Johnson, developer of Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy shares her successful program for creating stronger, more secure relationships.
Learn how to nurture, protect, and grow your relationship with 7 healing conversations.
by Harville Hendrix, PhD and Helen LaKelly Hunt, PhD
Recommended by therapists and happy couples around the world, this book will help you revive love, increase closeness, and strive for positive daily interactions.
Become the most connected couple you know and experience the reward of a strong fulfilling relationship.
by Milan and Kay Yerkovich
Are you tired of fighting about the same things over and over again?
Relationship experts Milan and Kay Yerkovich explain how your childhood created an “intimacy imprint” that affects your marriage until today, and how you can break free and achieve the relationship of your dreams.
by Stan Tatkin, PsyD MFT
We all have moments when we wish we could get inside the other person’s head. While every person is wired for love differently, the good news is that most people’s minds work in predictable ways.
This book is a complete insider’s guide to understanding your partner’s brain and enjoying a romantic relationship built on love and trust.
by Helen Fisher, PhD
This book is a new way to understand relationships, whether you’re searching for one or eager to strengthen the one you have. Helen Fisher shows how understanding who you are will help you find and keep the love you want.
Discover the type of person you might have chemistry with and how to find them, attract them, and keep them.
by David Richo, PhD
This relationship book explores 5 hallmarks of mindful loving and their key role in our relationships.
Filled with practical exercises for couples and singles, psychotherapist David Richo offers heartening insights into a lifelong journey of love.
by John Gottman, PhD and Nan Silver
Based on years of studying couples, the renowned relationship expert John Gottman gives us 7 principles for a harmonious and long-lasting relationship.
Discover the strategies and resources to help you and your partner collaborate and solve any problem, from sex, money, religion, work, and family, to pretty much anything else.
by Gary Chapman
Falling in love is easy. Staying in love—that’s the challenge.
How can you keep your relationship growing against the constant demands of everyday life? Dr. Gary Chapman’s proven approach to showing and receiving love will help you and your partner experience greater and deeper levels of intimacy. Find the secret to making your love last!
by Alexandra H. Solomon, PhD and Mona D. Fishbane, PhD
Real love starts with you. To build a healthy lasting relationship with a romantic partner, you must first grow a strong sense of self-awareness and connect with what you really want.
This book offers invaluable lessons to help you explore and commit to your own emotional and psychological well-being, so you’ll be ready for the love your heart desires.
by Helen Fisher, PhD
Working with a team of scientists to scan the brains of people who had just fallen madly in love, Helen Fisher proved that when you fall in love, specific areas of your brain “light up”.
In this book, you will find the answers to some of the oldest, most fundamental questions: what love is, who we love, and how to keep love alive.
by Winifred M. Reilly, MA MFT
Marriage and family therapist Winifred Reilly brings us an unconventional message: it only takes one to make a marriage work.
With a focus on self-empowerment and resilience, this book will empower you to take a bold, proactive approach and turn a troubled marriage into a loving and lasting one.
by Brigid Schulte
Do you feel overwhelmed by all the responsibilities you have in your life? Well, you’re definitely not alone.
Award-winning journalist and harried mother of two Brigid Schulte went on a journey to understand why she felt so overwhelmed and how she could walk toward less stress and more leisure.
by Leslie Becker-Phelps, PhD
Have you been called clingy, insecure, desperate, or jealous? If you are constantly worried about your partner, you may suffer from anxious attachment, a fear of abandonment often rooted in early childhood experiences.
This book will show you how to get the love you deserve―and keep it. Break free from the same hurtful relationship patterns and leave heartache behind!
by John Gottman, PhD
Psychologist John Gottman teaches you to recognize the attitudes that doom a marriage and provides practical exercises, quizzes, and tips to help you understand and make the most of your relationship.
Discover what you can do to make your marriage last!
by Harriet Lerner, PhD
The renowned author Dr. Harriet Lerner gives us more than 100 rules that cover all the hot spots in long-term relationships.
This book is a treasure chest of lively, practical advice to help you navigate your relationship issues with clarity, courage, and joyous conviction.
by Stan Tatkin, PsyD MFT
Almost half of all first marriages end in divorce, and chances go down from there. So how do you beat the odds?
Find out if you and your partner are right for each other and how you can give your relationship the best possible chance to succeed.
by Marion F. Solomon, PhD and Stan Tatkin, PsyD MFT
What happens between partners that makes love turn to war?
In this book, two leading therapists combine neuroscience and couples therapy to help couples regulate each other’s emotions, maintain secure attachment, and foster positive, enduring relationships.
by The Arbinger Institute
What if the conflicts we have at home, at work, and in the world stem from the same root?
Find how to transform the personal, professional, and social conflicts that weigh you down. This new edition includes vital resources for combatting racism and prejudice in their many manifestations.
by Chana Levitan, MSc
In this practical handbook for couples, you will learn, not only how to live with personality differences, but to actually love those differences.
Through the real-life narratives of successful couples who shared how they made their personality differences work, you will find inspiration and guidance.
by Gary Chapman and Ramon Presson
Communication is key to any fully loving, successful relationship.
Bestselling author and marriage counselor Gary Chapman presents 101 questions to get the conversation flowing and reignite the love and intimacy you and your partner long for.
by Harriet Lerner, PhD
The greatest complaints in marriage and other intimate relationships are usually that partners are not feeling heard, that fights go nowhere, and conflict brings only pain.
Bestselling author Harriet Lerner focuses on the challenge and the importance of being able to express one’s “authentic voice” in intimate relationships, inspiring readers to speak their own truths to the most important people in their lives.
by Chana Levitan, MSc
If you don’t want to be a divorce statistic and are ready for a long-lasting relationship, this book’s for you.
Learn how to: spot long-term potential, know the difference between infatuation and love, uncover what you need to succeed in building a loving marriage, gain the confidence to steer through the dating process, and more!
by Matthew McKay, PhD
Love takes work but, when it comes to relationships, it pays to work smarter. Learn to improve communication, cope better with problems, and resolve conflicts with the one you love in healthy and creative ways.
This new edition will help you to accept your partner’s feelings (and your own emotions) without judgment.
by Harriet Lerner, PhD
By taking a careful look at the relationships where intimacy is most challenged, whether, by distance, intensity, or pain, this book teaches us specific changes, we can make to achieve a solid sense of self and a more intimate connection with others.
Know the steps to take so that good relationships can be strengthened and difficult ones can be healed.
by Ellyn Bader, PhD and Peter Pearson, PhD
Ellyn Bader, a widely recognized expert in couples therapy, presents a valuable and fertile developmental model for diagnosing and treating couples with a clear sense of direction to romantic partners in distress.
This book is a powerful therapeutic approach for all professionals who treat couples.
Looking for more Books on Relationships?
Check out our recommendations for relationship books focused on infidelity/affair recovery and sex and intimacy:
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