It Happens Every Spring (The Four Seasons of a Marriage Series #1)

Meet the characters that live, work, dream, and love in the community of Deepwater Cove. Best-selling authors Gary Chapman and Catherine Palmer team up to show how four married couples, all in different stages in life, experience the joys and hardships of marriage as examined in Gary Chapman's The Four Seasons of Marriage. In book one, Steve and Brenda face a common problem among middle-age couples: empty nest syndrome. Steve works too much, and with their two children out of the house, Brenda feels lonely and unfulfilled. In order to save their marriage, the two must learn to reconnect. Readers are also introduced to many charming characters, like Cody, the mentally challenged homeless man that shows up on Steve and Brenda's porch; Pete, who owns the Rods ’N’ Ends tackle shop; and Patsy Pringle, who owns the Just As I Am beauty parlor, where much of the action takes place.
The series is based on the marriage principles found in Gary Chapman's non-fiction book The Four Seasons of Marriage. Similar in tone and light-hearted, quirky humor as Jan Karon's Mitford series, Fannie Flagg's books or Steel Magnolias. Each book has a study guide that talks about the four seasons of marriage and the healing strategies depicted in that volume's story.

Relational expert Chapman rewrites his core message in fiction, teaming with prolific Christian novelist Palmer in this first in a projected tetralogy highlighting the concepts taught in Chapman's The Four Seasons of a Marriage. The plot and characters evince Chapman's thesis that marriage is a journey back and forth through different "seasons," while the neighborhood of Deep Water Cove and little town of Tranquility, Mo., provide the settings. Five local women start a club ("TLC") to help one another through problems in their relationships and their community. In a squeaky-clean nod to Desperate Housewives, a charming handyman is steaming things up with Brenda Hansen. Meanwhile, romance is brewing for Patsy Pringle, who runs Just As I Am, a "faith-based beauty experience." Palmer's descriptions can go over the top; the obligatory "autumn" character "was a windblown shock of wheat, a ripe apple hanging heavy on the tree, a mourning dove that gathered her little ones close about her and cooed in the wind." A homeless, mentally handicapped man gives Palmer some engaging opportunities to flesh out the other characters as they respond to his plight. However, the novel's scenes too often conspire to illustrate a counseling point, and the included study guide reinforces the idea that this is self-help disguised as fiction. (Jan.)
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