Then Comes Marriage

A Los Angeles Times Best Book of 2015 Roberta Kaplan’s gripping story of her defeat of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) before the Supreme Court. Renowned litigator Roberta Kaplan knew from the beginning that it was the perfect case to bring down the so-called Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Edie Windsor and Thea Spyer had been together as a couple, in sickness and in health, for more than forty years—enduring society’s homophobia as well as Spyer’s near total paralysis from multiple sclerosis. Although the couple was finally able to marry, when Spyer died the federal government refused to recognize their marriage, forcing Windsor to pay a huge estate tax bill. In this gripping, definitive account of one of our nation’s most significant civil rights victories—named a Ms. Magazine Top 10 Feminist Book of 2015 and a National Law Journal Top 10 Supreme Court Aficionado Book of 2015—Kaplan describes meeting Windsor and their journey together to defeat DOMA. She shares the behind-the-scenes highs and lows, the excitement and the worries, and provides intriguing insights into her historic argument before the Supreme Court. A critical and previously untold part of the narrative is Kaplan’s own personal story, including her struggle for self-acceptance in order to create a loving family of her own. Then Comes Marriage tells this quintessentially American story with honesty, humor, and heart. It is the momentous yet intimate account of a thrilling victory for equality under the law for all Americans, gay or straight.

BONUS: This edition contains an excerpt from Mary Balogh's The Secret Mistress. Against the scandal and seduction of Regency England, New York Times bestselling author Mary Balogh introduces an extraordinary family—the fiery, sensual Huxtables. Vanessa is the second daughter, proud and daring, a young widow who has her own reason for pursuing the most eligible bachelor in London. One that has nothing to do with love. Or does it? The arrival of Elliott Wallace, the irresistibly eligible Viscount Lyngate, has thrown the country village of Throckbridge into a tizzy. Desperate to rescue her eldest sister from a loveless union, Vanessa Huxtable Dew offers herself instead. In need of a wife, Elliott takes the audacious widow up on her unconventional proposal while he pursues an urgent mission of his own. But a strange thing happens on the way to the wedding night. Two strangers with absolutely nothing in common can’t keep their hands off each other. Now, as intrigue swirls around a past secret—one with a stunning connection to the Huxtables—Elliott and Vanessa are uncovering the glorious pleasures of the marriage bed…and discovering that when it comes to wedded bliss, love can’t be far behind.

In this humorous and touching novella, a couple makes it to their first anniversary and discovers that marriage is not all they expected it would be. With grace and insight, with honesty and charm, the couple comes to the realization they must take a close look at their union and what their marriage is truly about.

Widow Miranda Talbot, who is enjoying her independence after years as a dutiful wife, avoids the attentions of numerous suitors before falling for Castor Worthington, who, unbeknownst to her, has a twin who is also courting her.

Book description to come.

In 1949 film star Ingrid Bergman fled to Europe following a public outcry and her denunciation by the U.S. Senate. The charge? She had an adulterous affair with director Roberto Rossellini resulting in a pregnancy, actions for which one senator called her "a horrible example of womanhood and a powerful influence for evil." Would any star flee the country over so minor an offense today? Author Rebecca Price Janney examines how people in other eras throughout American history conducted their relationships. How did they fall short of God's ideal as presented in the Scriptures? How often did they get it right? What has led us to becoming a culture of "anything goes" morality? And conversely, have there been any surprising improvements in recent years? This book is not a culture-wars creed, but rather a historical look at the American family, showing that the pattern is more complicated than a downward spiral of morality from our country's founding to the present. In addition, one of the intriguing features of the book is the author's close look at marriage and relationships within subcultures that are not often considered, including those of Native Americans, Conquistadors, and slaves. In order to better understand the state of marriage and relationships in the U.S. today, Christians need to better understand not just Scripture but our nation's history -- and Then Comes Marriage? gives readers an accessible, broad, and thought-provoking introduction to both.

A candid, heartfelt love story set in contemporary California that challenges the idea of what it means to be American, liberated, and in love When Huda meets Hadi, the boy she will ultimately marry, she is six years old. Both are the American-born children of Iraqi immigrants, who grew up on opposite ends of California. Hadi considers Huda his childhood sweetheart, the first and only girl he's ever loved, but Huda needs proof that she is more than just the girl Hadi's mother has chosen for her son. She wants what many other American girls have--the entertainment culture's almost singular tale of chance meetings, defying the odds, and falling in love. She wants stolen kisses, romantic dates, and a surprise proposal. As long as she has a grand love story, Huda believes no one will question if her marriage has been arranged. But when Huda and Hadi's conservative Muslim families forbid them to go out alone before their wedding, Huda must navigate her way through the despair of unmet expectations and dashed happily-ever-after ideals. Eventually she comes to understand the toll of straddling two cultures in a marriage and the importance of reconciling what you dreamed of with the life you eventually live. Tender, honest and irresistibly compelling, First Comes Marriage is the first Muslim-American memoir dedicated to the themes of love and sexuality. Huda and Hadi's story brilliantly circles around a series of firsts, chronicling two virgins moving through their first everything: first hand holding, first kiss, and first sexual encounter. First Comes Marriage is an almost unbearably humanizing tale that tucks into our hearts and lingers in our imagination, while also challenging long-standing taboos within the Muslim community and the romantic stereotypes we unknowingly carry within us that sabotage some of our best chances for finding true love.