Mary Balfour, author of Smart Dating: How to Find Your Man

Peace Between the Sheets: Healing with Sexual Relationships

As a matchmaker who runs several dating agencies I only wish I could make Peace Between the Sheets compulsory reading for all people who seek a new relationship. There might just be even more happy endings.

The book addresses the age-old problem of the romance junkie, the person (more often, but not always, a man - dare I say it) who, after satisfying an initial surge of lust and infatuation in a new relationship, suddenly pulls back and loses interest. It also looks at how this addictive see-saw effect can play a damaging role in ongoing relationships of many years standing as well, suggesting that after orgasmic sex both men and women go through what can be a destructive period of emotional withdrawal.

Magical Blend Magazine

I have to admit that when I first encountered the basic premise of this book - that sex without orgasm for either partner was better than with - it sounded too extreme to take seriously. But after reading the very solid biochemistry her theories are based on, as well as the testimonials to the success of the practices it suggests, I started thinking that the author just may be on to something. The book argues that we're hard-wired to become depleted and depressed after orgasmic sex and therefore to eventually lose interest. But trade the climax for an ongoing physical intimacy (she includes a program at the end of the book to get you started), and love blooms eternal. Written with great good humor and engaging storytelling, this book is well worth a read - and its practices, perhaps, worth a try! - Pearly Baker Best

Monte Paulsen, editor of the DRAGONFLY REVIEW OF BOOKS, February, 2004

The other bold title in this year's Valentine's Day Avalanche is Peace Between the Sheets: Healing with Sexual Relationships (Frog). Lawyer-turned-relationship-counselor Marnia Robinson argues that many of us are literally addicted to orgasm, stumbling through life from one dopamine hangover to the next.

The first half of Robinson's book makes the case that orgasm unleashes the same sort of chemical assault on the brain as alcohol, nicotine, cocaine or other drugs. She asserts that many couples' relationships eerily resemble the addict-dealer relationship pattern: newfound delight, devolving into angry resentment. "We remain at biology's mergy," she writes, "until we begin to make the connection between the great sex we had last week and the disharmony we are experiencing this week."

Reviews:

• Review by Mary Balfour (UK author)
• Review by Richard Anthony Smith (UK psychologist)
• Dragonfly Review of Books (by Monte Paulsen)