Get the Book

Real-life experts demonstrate how you can prepare your marriage for almost anything:

First Kiss to Lasting Bliss: Hope & Inspiration for Your Marriage—for couples of all ages and stages who want to achieve a blissful marriage.

Can your marriage survive an affair, loss of a child, drug addiction, serious illness, a long separation, financial ruin, and the test of time? If you didn’t answer an emphatic ,“Yes!” you need to read the real-life stories of couples who have not only survived but thrived despite these and many other pressures that rip most marriages apart.

Why do some marriages survive and thrive despite turmoil? The real marriage experts—married for decades—share their inspirational stories. Learn the secrets of marriage they uncovered that brought them profound happiness, even after the pain.

First Kiss to Lasting Bliss will give you the insight to protect and strengthen your marriage despite today’s challenges or any future obstacles that may come your way. These inspirational love stories provide examples of what real marriage is all about and show that great marriages are not perfect. It’s the twists and turns that keep life (and their stories) interesting.

For your convenience, First Kiss to Lasting Bliss is now available in the following formats:

Purchase a print version here at Amazon.

Purchase a Kindle version here at Amazon.

Purchase an iPad/iBook version here at iTunes.

Purchase a Nook version here at Barnes & Noble.

Purchase a Sony eReader version here at Sony.

Thank you!

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Couples featured in the book were interviewed across the country and include experiences of overcoming:

• Loss of a child 
• Drug addiction
• Infertility
• Military separation
• Stranger rape
• Infidelity
• Raising special-needs child
• Financial crisis/bankruptcy
• Brain injury
• Cancer
• Opposing religions
• Differing races
• Unsupportive family
• Life-threatening accidents and illnesses
• And more!

Their inspiring stories demonstrate that the success of a marriage is not based on one’s circumstances, but on a commitment to one another even during the most difficult times. The book doesn’t just skim the surface with pithy quotes or nuggets of wisdom, but allows readers to feel like they understand the couples’ lives, background and their challenges.

You’ll also receive 12 lessons to boost your marriage. For example, a couple who was separated during a year-long  deployment to Iraq shows us exactly how they “infused their marriage and lives with gratitude” despite the fact that the wife was at home caring for four very young children, and the husband was in a very dangerous job with the ultimate responsibility of saving lives. If they can focus on gratitude despite those real challenges, we can all learn how to focus more on it. Research shows this improvement alone will boost your relationship and tighten your marriage bond. Each chapter contains general advice from the couples as well.

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Endorsements: 

“In her new book, FIRST KISS TO LASTING BLISS, author Lori Lowe artfully explores the life-changing events of married individuals and helps us to understand how couples manage to keep love alive against all odds. She weaves beautiful and inspiring tales of real-life challenges and helps readers see how people can rise above their circumstances, and, like carbon compressed under severe pressure, emerge as bright and hopeful as diamonds.”

–Scott Haltzman, M.D., author The Secrets of Happily Married Women, The Secrets of Happily Married Men, and The Secrets of Happy Families

“Lori Lowe’s FIRST KISS TO LASTING BLISS is a must-read for anyone in a troubled marriage, or anyone whose marriage could use some inspiration. Lowe takes us on a vivid tour through the lives of a dozen married couples, each of whom faced unique forms of adversity. These real-life stories provide role models, knowledge and skills for coping with crisis that helped each of these couples survive and flourish. When marriages are in crisis, many couples simply call it quits.  Lowe’s stories show how, after a period of struggle, many couples find lasting happiness and a strengthened marriage.”

–Chris Gersten, Former Principal Deputy Asst. Secretary, Admin. for Children and Families, U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services (2001-2005); launched the President’s Healthy Marriage Initiative; marriage educator and author; Chair, Coalition for Divorce Reform.

“Working as a Marriage and Family Therapist over the past 23 years, I have heard the stories of couples as they journey through the challenges of marriage. Through her interviews, Lori captures in words some pictures of what these relationships experience, from enchantment to disenchantment and, for those who work hard, the path of recovery. This is an inspiring book that will inform and encourage any of us who care about this age-old institution called marriage. FIRST KISS TO LASTING BLISS is a story of hope for couples of all ages and stages.”

–Timothy Heck, Ph.D., Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Indianapolis, Indiana

“If your marriage is on the rocks, step away from the ice cream and open this book instead. In FIRST KISS TO LASTING BLISS, Lori Lowe has created the rarest of delights: calorie-free comfort food for the married person’s soul. With stories from real couples who faced the worst and managed to stay happily married despite it all, this book provides hope, inspiration and the advice you need to navigate the toughest of times.”

–Alisa Bowman, author of Project: Happily Ever After (Running Press, Dec. 2010)

“There is a reason marriage vows are ‘for better or worse,’ because all marriages go through difficult times, and too many face deep crises. However, the message of FIRST KISS TO LASTING BLISS is one of hope. A dozen couples, many whose marriages were stressed nearly to the breaking point, lived their vows and stepped back, building great marriages. This is an inspiring book our divorce-prone culture needs to read.”

–Michael J. McManus, president & co-founder, Marriage Savers

“Good for Lori Lowe for writing a book on successful couples. As a marriage counselor who reads in the field constantly, I can tell you there are precious few such books. Of course, there are books with positive messages, but few that paint a portrait of happy couples. We need to hear the stories of real couples who feel their struggles have been worth it and believe their marriage enriches their lives. Sad but true, too many people do not know any happily married people personally. So when they are struggling, they don’t have a role model. We all need a vision of what happy marriage is in the real world to inspire us now and then.”
–Claire Hatch, LICSW, a marriage counselor in the Seattle area. Author of Save Your Marriage: Get Rid of Your Resentment

“Lori Lowe gets it.  ‘Life’ has a tendency to get in the way of our best-laid plans, and this is certainly true when it comes to our most sacred relationships.  In FIRST KISS TO LASTING BLISS, Lori empowers married couples to persevere by sharing the amazing stories of twelve couples who faced incredible adversity but overcame the odds to keep their marriages strong and shining examples of true love.”

–Dustin Riechmann, author of 15 Minute Marriage Makeover and founder of the Engaged Marriage blog

“I thoroughly enjoyed reading From First Kiss to lasting Bliss. The author took the time to interview and truly capture the essence of twelve couples who have all overcome serious obstacles to their relationship. In each chapter, Lowe shares the story of a couple whose marriage was severely tested, and ultimately strengthened, by going through their challenges.

Her writing style is easy and engaging. It feels like you are making new friends as you read about their lives and what they went through to become an even stronger couple. Lowe extracts a lesson from each couple for creating a strong marriage, which she summarizes at the end of the book. There are twelve important lessons brought alive by the generous sharing of each couples’ story. This book is truly a gem.”

–Kim Olver, author of Secrets of Happy Couples