The Happy Couple: How to Make Happiness a Habit One Little Loving Thing at a Time

Psychotherapist Goldsmith (the Emotional Fitness series) weighs in on how to maintain happy and loving relationship, focusing on what a partner must do to fully appreciate and love his or her better half. Goldsmith organizes the book in an approachable way: each chapter deals with one potentially contentious issue in relationships. But the tips aimed at helping readers forge more loving relationships are predictable and repetitive. Often, Goldsmith resorts to suggesting that the couple spending more quality time together as an overall relationship booster—a great idea, but not one that every couple has time to accommodate. Not surprisingly, Goldsmith also recommends that partners communicate with each other constantly. According to the author, texting and talking on the phone every day is essential to a healthy relationship. Goldsmith is supportive in his tone, but the book depends too much on these catch-all resolutions to what are really very personal problems. (Dec.)