Blog Tour Review: Perfect Combination: Seven Key Ingredients to Happily Living & Loving Together by Jamillah Lamb, David Lamb
Title: Perfect Combination: Seven Key Ingredients to Happily Living & Loving TogetherAuthor: Jamillah Lamb and David Lamb
Publisher: Between The Lines Production Inc.
Published: Feb. 1, 2012
Pages: 182
Genre: Marriage/Love and Romance
Review: Paperback provided by author as part of blog tour
Buy Links: Amazon, Amazon.uk
Perfect Combination: Seven Key Ingredients to Happily Living & Loving Together Finally a relationship book that deals with real life and real love. Written by a couple who have found (and worked at!) a true and lasting love, Perfect Combination teaches the 7 key ingredients to live and love together, all while keeping it 100% honest. This book is like sitting down at the kitchen table and having that couple you admire tell you everything: the good, the not-so-good, and what you need to know to triumph in love while still remaining true to who you are. In Perfect Combination, Jamillah and David take you behind the scenes of a relationship put to the test: working side by side 24/7; the day-to-day financial worries that can stress any pair; and a painful, but ultimately happy journey to having their first child. Each chapter in the book tells real life stories in a unique conversational style, with Jamillah and David playing off each other with honesty, harmony and a healthy dose of humor. Each section ends with a key 'ingredient' that sums up what any couple can learn to transform their own relationships. It is also packed with practical tips for "cooking up" love and romance. If you think this book is about some "perfect couple" that never have a fight or haven't overcome serious struggles, you're in for a surprise. Being a "perfect combination" doesn't mean never having a conflict... it means working together to answer the questions: What is Love? What is Romance? What is Marriage? Jamillah & David have: Each suffered with past relationship-sabotaging behaviors they found hard to let go Battled themselves and each other about what was important in their past Struggled to figure out that mutual appreciation is more important than gender roles Helped each other through hurting times on the way to becoming a family Learned you've got to let yourself learn love lessons, even when you don't like the lesson If you've read relationship books in the past, and thought, "that sounds great, but how do you actually do that?" then Perfect Combination is for written for you. This book goes deeper than typical relationship books, romance novels, and romance movies. Men, you'll recognize yourselves in David's struggle to drop his suspicious nature and eventually sacrificing his fear of vulnerability by choosing love above all. You'll smile to yourself when you read David admitting sometimes he expects Jamillah to read his mind and know what he wants. Women, you'll see yourself in Jamillah's painfully honest struggle to realize that she could let herself be cared about and cared for without it being a sign of weakness. You'll cheer her courage as she leaves a comfortable corporate job to help them both live out a dream. And you'll discover many more powerful stories and lessons when you read Perfect Combination. Jamillah and David are the creative force behind the successful off-Broadway play, Platanos Y Collard Greens, currently in its 9th year running. Now they bring you their secrets on how any couple can strengthen their love and create a harmony of work, friendship and respect
So many couples
don't want to deal with it, especially not in detail,
but we
all come
to every
relationship with
a past.
We walk around carrying
hurts, pains and regrets in gigantic
emotional duffel
bags. Believe
us; we
do the
same, just
like every
other couple. Just because you see us on stage smiling at each other
affectionately at the end of a great show, our
genuine love on display doesn't mean that we haven't had to unload
emotional baggage to
arrive at
a place
of Love
and Happiness.
So before
we get into what works in our relationship and
in our partnership, or deal with the places where we are still being
challenged, we wanted to share with you our "Before You” talk.
We have all been in
relationships before that didn't work, and we all have to deal with
the ideas, memories, expectations and pain that keep us from Love and
Happiness. It's necessary
because there are some important lessons you learned in those other
relationships about what
you don't want and will
not accept in a relationship (your
deal-breakers). But, here's the truth that
stings: even though you're an amazing, wonderful, gifted person, you
have also learned some things about yourself
that didn't always reflect you in the best light, but they were
real.
In order to be willing to move forward, in love, with
love, you've got to deal with what you've learned about
yourself. The lessons you learned are
important and it's essential
to incorporate them
into your
everyday thinking
so that
you don't
make those
same mistakes
or waste
time on
those same
conversations, when you know that you
already know better.
I received this book as part of a blog tour to give an honest review.
When I saw the title being asked for review I figured I wanted to give it a try. I am always looking to see what else I can do to make my marriage work even better and be more happy for the both of us. In this book you get advice on how it worked for both Jamillah and David. They give advice on how you shouldn't let your past have anything to do with your present. There was one part that I really connected with and that was when us women argue we like to bring up other things than what is truly bothering us in the first place and that is really what I do. It was nice to know I wasn't alone in it. You get happy times within the story and some I wouldn't use bad times but maybe unhappy times. I think this is a book that both partners should read as it gives great advice even though every relationship is different you be able to take something away from it and put it within your own relationship.
At the end of each chapter you get a playlist and I have to say that was pretty cool. Some of the songs bought up some wonderful memories.
David and
Jamillah Lamb are the creative and dynamic couple that founded
Between The Lines Productions, Inc. to fulfill their co-mission: to
spread inspiration, joy, and love through the power of theater and
other media.
They are also co-authors of the acclaimed Perfect
Combination: Seven Key Ingredients to Happily Living & Loving
Together.
As they’ve
taken each step of their unique journey, they’ve become a trusted
source for answering the questions like: What is Love? What is
Romance? What is Marriage?
They didn’t
wake up one day, and ‘poof’, they were instant relationship
gurus. That might be how it happens in romance novels and romance
movies, but that’s not the story of their romance. Their expertise
grew out of everyday living and a desire to teach each other the
lessons of love, the joys and trials of marriage, and the beauty of a
romance. They are dedicated to giving other couples an honest,
no-holds barred look at their struggles, their hurts, their triumphs,
and their love.
His Story:
David was born
in Queens, NY and raised in public housing in Astoria, Queens. He
attended Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at
Princeton University and New York University School of Law. The
successful playwright of the hit off-Broadway play Platanos Y
Collard Greens, David has found the love of his life in
Jamillah.
Despite knowing
he had found the right person, David struggled to lower his guard and
put aside his tendency to be suspicious of women. Before Jamillah,
David would often find himself breaking up with girlfriends rather
than risk being hurt by rejection. Recognizing he had found a “kind
heart and sweet spirit” in Jamillah, he made the decision “to
grow up and grow into feeling what love felt like.” As the
relationship has deepened, he’s learned other lessons. He now
smiles at his typically male (let’s be honest!) expectation that
Jamillah be able to read his mind.
The ability of
love and romance to conquer hurts and overcome hardships is a theme
that runs through David’s books and plays. He loves being a
business, marriage, and parenting partner with Jamillah.
Her Story:
Jamillah grew up
in Chicago in the same neighborhood as First Lady Michelle Obama. She
earned a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Wesleyan University
and then a Masters degree in Public Policy from Harvard University. A
former Vice-President at Citibank, Jamillah uses her education and
experience in the daily operations of their business.
Just like David,
Jamillah had baggage of her own to overcome. Raised in a strict
environment with high expectations, she struggled to lighten up. She
put men she met before David “through the ringer,” worrying that
allowing someone to care for her meant being less independent. As she
learned to overcome her fears and become more trusting, she came up
against other challenges. Becoming a family with the birth of their
daughter Kaira was not a straight path. The journey to this
incredible blessing was filled with adversity and pain, but also the
support of David.
Jamillah made
one of her most important life decisions in 2005. At that time,
Jamillah was a VP at Citibank, while also helping get David’s first
play off the ground. The play had been going well for a couple of
years, but it was still a big leap of faith when she made the
decision to leave a comfortable corporate job to work on their
business full-time. Through ups and downs, and the typical financial
worries of growing a business, Jamillah has never regretted her
decision. The choice has allowed them to be together day in and day
out doing creative, passionate work together
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