Book excerpt: An incisive “couple’s workshop in a book” for navigating the challenges of relationships and unlocking lasting love Linda Carroll’s first book, Love Cycles, describes the five stages of intimate relationships in detail, illuminating the behaviors associated with each stage and strategies for successfully navigating them. This companion workbook, Love Skills, is a practical guide to creating and maintaining a loving relationship. Exercises, activities, self-assessments, and other concrete tools allow readers to understand where they are in their relationship. Carroll addresses such thorny issues as the loss of sexual energy, why what once seemed endearing is now annoying, and the many ways that family history and personality type can wreak havoc in relationships. Her well-researched practices help keep love alive in the midst of seemingly intractable differences, and specific, effective solutions to couples’ most common struggles provide a clear map for moving forward. Most important, Carroll’s couple-tested techniques allow readers to deal with conflict without losing connection, and show that conflict, when navigated properly, can lead to renewed closeness and unprecedented connection.