​I have been looking forward to the release of this book ever since I first heard that one of my favorite YouTubers was planning on writing a book with his wife. Since I was on the launch team for Jeff’s last book, It’s Not What You Think and I met Jeff on that book tour, I knew it was a book I didn’t want to miss. And sure enough, I was right. It’s a book with the facts that everyone should know about love and marriage, regardless of your relationship status. It’s a book that came at a time when I needed a refresher about God’s incredible design and intention behind marriage and relationships in general. But this is also a book that brings my journey as a blogger and a book reviewer full circle. I When I reviewed It’s Not What You Think, it was my only my second book review. But since then, thanks to a lot of positive feedback from several people (including Jeff himself!), I have found a passion for reviewing books, mostly books on Christian living. This review is my 19th book review in almost 4 years, which is insane. My desire to do more with book reviews started with It’s Not What You Think. It’s been incredible to see where God has taken a simple interest of wanting to be involved in book launches and has turned it into a way to serve and minster to others online. In light of all this, it’s my pleasure to give this book my highest recommendation to anyone, single, dating, or married, over the age of 16. If you want to know more about it, just ask ~ Bethel

Love is hard. It takes effort, intentionality, self-denial, humility, vulnerability, and many other things that our culture has convinced us is unnecessary or makes us weak. So instead, we revert to the culture’s distorted views of sex and romance, and we unknowingly buy into the lie that we will find lasting love and fulfillment using their methods. They also imply that you will never find fulfillment unless you have your “happily ever after.” However, there is even more unhappiness, un-fulfillment, divorce, and brokenness in relationships and marriages than ever before. And this brokenness is creeping into the hearts and minds of men and women who have never even been in a relationship. All because we have given into the lie that we will never be happy without it. It makes us as the question: Is it possible to find a love that lasts in our world today?

In the latest book by YouTuber and author Jefferson Bethke and his wife Alyssa, Love that Love offers hope that we can find a love that lasts in our world today by sharing their own personal romantic journeys. As they take turns authoring chapters titled after popular songs, they share the highs and lows that led them to each other and that inevitably led them to marriage and a family.  As you join them on this incredible journey, they help us see the problems with our culture’s broken and distorted view of love and helps us replace it with one that is full of life, hope, and endurance. They cover so much in the pages of this book, from recognizing unhealthy relationships and bad self-esteem, to seasons of singleness, to healing from breakups, to the beauty of sex in the covenant of marriage. Although this young couple has only been married for 5 years, they speak with a wisdom beyond their years and their experience, as they reflect much of the counsel and wisdom bestowed upon them by those who are older and wiser than them. What results in a radically transforming view of love and romance that could change our culture, if we choose to embrace it.

​This is exactly the book my generation needs, regardless of their relationship status. As a single woman who has never been in a relationship, I found this book to be powerful, useful, and exactly the insight I need to give me a necessary foundation to build my sexual theology. This book, as well as workbooks and a video curriculum, are available today! Get your copy now!

​Most women in our culture today, especially teens and young adult women, struggle with knowing or understanding their own value. We struggle with discerning the truth about our worth and our identity when Satan and the culture around us feeds us so many lies about where they should be found, especially when you’re single. Many young women turn to the wrong source to find their value, whether it be the love of men, their dress size, the approval of others, or other invalid sources. When they don’t get it from these sources, they are dissatisfied with their own reflections and often turn to methods of self-harm just to cope with life. Too many women are stuck in this cycle in our world today. It makes us ask: is there something better? And how do we find it?

In their book Spoken For, authors Robin Gunn and Alyssa Bethke set out to help us women understand the place where we find our value – at the feet of Jesus. They help give us a much needed perspective on the value we have in God’s eyes through our identity in Christ. We are spoken for because we belong to Him. Robin and Alyssa describe how we are wanted, pursued, cherished, and valued, and how our lives can change if we live like we believe all this to be true. This is done both with the explanation of biblical promises as well as personal stories from both authors, written in each of their voices for every chapter. You come to enjoy Robin’s and Alyssa’s life journeys as they reveal their struggles to believe these truths in their own lives and dating relationships, including Robin’s break up of her first engagement and Alyssa’s struggle with an eating disorder. Although she is young, Alyssa has been mentored by Robin, and has just has much wisdom to share in her story. The two generations of experiences and honesty shared between them would be valuable to any young women that takes the time to read it. This book also includes discussion questions at the end of each chapter, which can be used for group discussion or personal reflection. This is all done with the intention of helping us understand that we are not up for grabs. “You are spoken for.” 

​This book is a must read for teens and young adult women seeking to understanding their value and their purpose. This would also be a great resource to older women that want to minister or mentor younger women. It’s available through most major book distributors, so girls, get your copy today!