Intimate Conversations for Couples: Turn Your Relationship into a Lifelong Love Affair

by Bill Syrios

Are you getting all the romance, passion and joy you want in your relationship?

Wouldn't you like to…
• Tell your partner how he or she can fully love you?
• Be fully listened to and completely understood in the process?
• Be nurtured and cherished in the unique way you feel loved?

When it comes to the opposite sex, the intimacy rules are different!

This book will help you understand and overcome those differences by sharing an ordinary couple’s extraordinary weekend of intimate conversations. Sarah and Matt get away from the house, the kids and their daily lives to listen to each other’s hearts, explore their differences and deepen their connection.

Intimate Conversations enhances the lessons of their freewheeling dialogue with practical how-to sections inviting readers to explore their own hearts and those of their partners.

365 pages, Paperback

First published February 14, 2014

About the author

Bill Syrios has honed his understanding of intimate relationships as a pastor, father and husband for over 35 years. He wrote Intimate Conversations for Couples for those longing to experience a deeper level of intimacy, passion and life-long commitment with the one they love.

Bill holds a Masters of Divinity from Fuller Theological Seminary and has authored three other books on spirituality and relationships. He and his wife, Teresa, live in Eugene, Oregon and have four grown sons: Luke, Andrew, Phillip and Mark. Bill is also the founding partner of Stewardship Properties, a real estate investment company with offices in Eugene, Kansas City and Dallas.

www.IntimateConversations.com

Reviews

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book.while reading the book it was hard to put down.I laughed and learned about somethings and the way the book is wrote is relateable. I won this book on the Goodreads First Reads and I got a signed copy from the author with a book mark..thank you.This author is a writter that I will look forward to reading from again. Goodreads First Reads.

[Barbara Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

A year ago my husband and I hit a rough patch. One particular encounter ended quite explosively. Feelings were hurt on both sides and our relationship went in the deep freeze for months. We wouldn't or couldn't talk it out and when we tried, it only got worse. Fortunately we were able to get through it but I realized that I NEVER wanted to get into such dire straits again.

I decided to start reading relationship help books, and recently this one caught my eye. The book went back and forth between two ways of communicating. The first being a dialogue between a husband and wife and the second being more practical, highlighting important points, giving quotes, and providing exercises.

I suppose the dialogue provides a kind of example of how to communicate but I learn better from straightforward explanation. So, while I'd give that part a higher rating, I'd have to give the dialogue a lower one and it was the bulk of the contents. Overall the information contained is helpful but I really wanted more clear and practical explanation. I hope the author writes another book and leaves the dialogue out.

[Annie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Intimate Conversations reads a bit more like a novel than a relationship book. I enjoyed that aspect. The book follows a weekend of a couple as they talk about their issues. While I doubt this is a conversation many people would actually have, it’s a good example of how to communicate. While parts of the book helped open my eyes to a few things, there were a few parts that had me rolling my eyes. A quote from Scott Peck had me laughing at his utterly ridiculous statement regarding orgasms and spirituality. Atheists do not yell “oh god” because an orgasm is a religious experience. Was his intent to insult an entire group of people or was it just based on obvious lack of any common sense? The whole bit of modesty, spirituality and sexuality I found very insulting and damaging to women. This is not a book that would work best for people who are not Christian or of a likewise based faith. There were parts that I did find appealing such as creating a “love frames” list aka a list of things that your partner does that makes you feel loved. I would have to say overall this book was a bit too much hit and miss for me. I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book, which is a unique spin on the relationship self-help manual, is equally suitable for couples who are just starting out and couples who have been together for the longest time. The book is divided up into enormously warm and accessible conversations between a couple experiencing a weekend away together, and the exercises that follow each chapter echo and reinforce the chapters that precede. They also serve to show you how to integrate the ideas and themes contained in those chapters into your own lives. The real triumph of this book, though, is that it never really feels like a self-help book. It feels like you're a fly on the wall in the relationship between Matt and Sarah. Perhaps you’ll see a little of yourself in them, perhaps their relationship will even feel like a mirror being held against your own. Whichever is the case for you, reading this book will feel like Matt and Sarah are guiding you through any concerns or issues you may have - and the beauty of it is that you won’t even realise they’re doing it. It’s a relationship masterclass, and a total triumph.

[Sophia Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a contemporary redo of Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus. I liked the fact that it combines fiction (a real-life conversation) with non-fiction (relationship help). This gives the book a genuine feel and makes it fun to read. All in all it's well written with a practical focus. I also thought the scratch art drawings added a nice touch.

In his introduction, "So Let's Talk," the author mentions that not all women will identify with Sarah nor men with Matt--the book's two characters. (He estimates 75% or so of women readers will identify with Sarah and the same percentage of men to Matt.) But where does that leave the other 25%? It's not that easy to flip the dialogue in such cases as he proposes.

I'm uncomfortable with any kind of stereotyping of men and women's roles. Many women have more of Matt's orientation and vice versa for Sarah's. So, those readers are going to have a difficult time going back and forth with the "male" and "female" perspectives. I, for one, did. The book is still a worthwhile read but I was hoping for a little more balance.

[Bill Syrios · Rating 5 out of 5]

HERE'S MY HOPE: A friend stated that Intimate Conversations is "chicken soup for the heart." I love that sentiment because my hope is that Intimate Conversations will, one day, contribute to CONVERSATIONS what Chicken Soup For The Soul has provided for STORIES--an ongoing source of encouragement, inspiration and practical help.

There are so very many intimate conversations waiting to happen: among couples in various phases of life, between friends, family members, even business associates. The intention behind this book is to pave the way for more in-depth dialogue; getting people talking, listening and acting in more respectful, loving and affirming ways.

How Did the Book Come to Be?

In 1999 I came across an intriguing analogy describing the two roles a man and woman play out in sex; that of guest and hostess (see page 18 ff. of the book). I decided to write a short paper about this analogy and... 365 pages later I realized I had gone a little beyond the scope of my original intent!

From the beginning I worked at describing the "average woman/average man" and I called them "every woman" and "every man," with the couple taking on speaking roles and the conversation located at their favorite cabin during a weekend getaway. Their ongoing talk became so personal that the characters took on names. Matt and Sarah's conversation now makes up 70% of the contents with the other 30% comprised of highlighted principles from their interaction plus a number of practical exercises for journaling and dialogue--a unique right brain/left brained mode of teaching and learning.

Early on I saw the potential of this conversation format being the first among many written by a host of gifted writers. So when the domain name IntimateConversations.com become available in 2002, I grabbed it. Indeed the possibility of building a brand around this name, not unlike Chicken Soup For The Soul, encouraged me to keep moving ahead. "What Chicken Soup is to STORIES," I began envisioning, Intimate Conversations could be to CONVERSATIONS."

Upon reading the original manuscript my wife, Teresa, declared: "If that's what men are like, I'm not sure I want to be married!" This declaration brought about two revelations. First, the book needed a thorough reading by women because I must be missing something and secondly, my 30-year marriage must be missing something as well! Teresa and I ended up going into counseling for nearly a year with Carolyn Rexius who not only helped us solidify our marriage, but also played an important role in shaping the book.

By 2006 the book was complete with two different possible covers and 22 beautiful scratch art drawing by Patti Sobel. But my day job of being a real estate investor was so demanding that Matt and Sarah--their conversation and their concepts--got stuck on the shelf, only to be circulated among a few friends with occasional updates. Six years later one of those friends, Carla Cochran, read the book and liked it so much she kept asking me to produce copies, ten at a time, to pass on to her friends. Carla's enthusiasm (she is forever deemed Intimate Conversations' Raving Fan #1) reminded me of the book's powerful message.

Finally in the summer of 2013 another friend and film maker, Sandor Lau, prompted me to completely revamp the book. Sandor connected me with Patricia Marshall (Luminare Press) who redesigned the interior and cover, and with Kent and Thomas Goodman (Amsel Media Group) who provided a first-class marketing team. Matthew and Emily Flood stood in as the "beautiful people" for the front cover and Monique Kirby took on numerous rounds of copy editing, with publication by Crossover Press coming on Valentine's Day, 2014.

There you have it: the inception, the hiatus, the brand, the hope. Those involved call ourselves THE INTIMATE TEAM (see https://www.facebook.com/intimateconv...) and invite you to join us. Leave a review, check out the website/videos/articles, spread the word to MAKE LOVE COUNT: When we, as couples, work on love's three key ingredients--Intimacy, Passion and Commitment--we can truly turn our relationship into a Lifelong Love Affair. How good is that?!

IntimateConversations.com
Enriching Our Lives--One Conversation at a Time

[Cindelu · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this book on Goodreads.

It has an interesting style of writing with the entire book revolving around the conversation of a husband and wife during a weekend trip The conversation centers around sex, intimacy, needs and desires of each the man and the woman. Each person discusses and explains what he/she needs/wants from the marriage to the other person.
It was easily read and I believe it would benefit couples to read it together so that they can discuss it and do the worksheets.
It had a lot of useful information and insights.

[Kelina Cowell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a great insight into what it takes to have a healthy life long relationship with your partner. It contains the all the information needed to ignite a lasting passion back into your relationship. It also touches on how to understand your partner's needs, which is refreshing and insightful.

[Michael Kochuga · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nothing terribly ground breaking but everything done in an interesting way. Something of a modern approach to common issues. This is a nice read for those looking at fresh or even aged relationships suffering from a dull spot but don't expect anything mind-blowing.