Marriage Be Hard

<b><i>NEW YORK TIMES</i> BESTSELLER &#149; Discover the keys to upholding your vows while staying sane&#160;in this hilariously candid guide to relationships from the husband-and-wife team of comedian Kevin Fredericks and influencer Melissa Fredericks</b><br><br><b>FINALIST FOR THE NAACP IMAGE AWARD &#149; &#147;Kev and Melissa are not afraid to tell the truth!&#148;&#151;Tabitha Brown <i>New York Times </i>bestselling author of <i>Feeding the Soul</i></b><br><br>Growing up&#160;Kevin and Melissa Fredericks&#160;were taught endless rules&#160;around dating sex and&#160;marriage but not a lot about what actually makes a relationship work.&#160;When they&#160;first&#160;got married they felt alone&#151;like every other couple had perfect chemistry while the two of them&#160;struggled. There were conversations that they didn&#146;t know they needed to have fears that affected how they related to each other and seasons of&#160;change that&#160;put their&#160;marriage&#160;to the test.&#160;<br><br>Part of their story reads like a Christian fairytale: high school sweethearts married in college never sowed any wild oats&#160;with two sons and a thriving&#160;marriage. But&#160;there&#146;s&#160;another side of their story: the night Melissa kicked Kevin out of her car after years of communication problems the time early in their&#160;marriage when Kevin bordered on an emotional affair the way they&#146;ve used social media and podcasts to conduct a no-holds-barred conversation about forbidden topics like jealousy divorce and how to&#160;be&#160;Christian <i>and</i> sex positive. (Because as Kevin writes &#147;Your hormones don&#146;t care about your religious beliefs. Your hormones want you to subscribe&#160;to OnlyFans.&#148;)<br><br>In <i>Marriage&#160;Be&#160;Hard</i> the authors provide a hilarious and fresh master class on what it takes to build and maintain a lasting relationship. Drawing on interviews with experts and nearly two decades of&#160;marriage they argue that<br><br><b>&#149;</b> Compatibility is overrated.<br><b>&#149;</b> Communication is about way more than simply talking.<br><b>&#149;</b> Seeing divorce as an option can actually help your&#160;marriage.<br><b>&#149;</b> There&#146;s such a thing as healthy jealousy.<br><br>Real&#160;marriage&#160;is not automatic. It&#160;ain&#146;t no&#160;Tesla on the open road.&#160;Sometimes it&#146;s a stick shift on a hill in the rain with no windshield wipers. But&#160;if you get comfortable visiting&#151;and revisiting&#151;the topics that matter it can transform your bond with your partner and the life you&#146;re building together.<br><br>Written for those tired of unrealistic relationship books&#151;and for anyone wondering if they&#146;re the only ones breaking all the rules&#151;<i>Marriage Be Hard</i> is a breath of fresh air and the manual you wish existed after you said &#147;I do.&#148;