I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fantastic book for anyone who is married or planning to get married. Phylicia and Lisa were both so transparent and had great ideas for bringing couples closer to God and closer to each other.

I have so much to say about this book, and much of it is far too personal to write about on this platform. But oh goodness - Christian ladies, pick this one up! I do not see how you can go wrong spending time with The Flirtation Experiment! ❤

The Flirtation Experiment was brought about by Phylicia watching none other than a Hallmark movie. If you've ever seen a Hallmark movie and you're past the newlywed phase, you've probably noticed what she did - that romance, specifically flirting, doesn't look like that once you've been married for a while! But whyyy is that?! So she researched and compiled a list of 30 ways to flirt with her husband and embarked on this experiment. She told Lisa about her idea and they joined forces to bring readers this helpful and honest book about what it looks like to intentionally express affection, support, love, and flirtation with your husband. The authors have different personalities and are at different points in life, but oddly I was able to identify with most of what both of them had to say.

I HIGHLY recommend this book! Start it today. Seriously, going into the busiest time of the year when so many of us do consume romantic movies and books - this is the PERFECT time to do your own flirtation with your husband. Whether you've been married for 5 years or 30 years, you'll love this book!!

Thanks to netgalley and Thomas Nelson for the free review copy. All opinions are my own.

The Flirtation Experiment by Phylicia Masonheimer and Lisa Jacobson 


This book is for married women who feel that their marriage is dry, missing something, or you feel like you've become strangers who live together. 


"Remember, the Flirtation Experiment is all about being a biblical woman and wife; you have so much to contribute to the upward direction of your marriage. So take courage and take action steps without apology or reserve."


This isn't a "how to" book. Phylicia and Lisa don't give a ton of advice, although they do give suggestions. They tell us what they did in their own marriages and how it affected them. There are 30 short chapters that go through different ways to pursue your husband. From romance to kindness, thoughtfulness to desire, we learn about how Phylicia and Lisa used these things to better their marriages through taking intentional steps and studying scripture


As women, especially millennials from the "purity culture", some of us have been taught that the man is the one who should do the pursuing. He should plan the dates, start the conversations, initiate sex, or be the romantic one. But it's not the case. These women did the pursuing and they made changes in their marriages, many times without their husbands noticing. 


This book teaches that it's ok for us to take the first step in our marriage. If we want a richer, deeper, closer marriage, then we need to be the ones to make it happen.


The way the chapters are structures is they start out on what they saw in the marriage that needed to change and what the decided to do about it. Then they tell what they learned through Scripture about each topic. Next, we see how their experiment changed their hearts and marriages. Finally, we see a suggestion or idea of how we can apply this specific thing to our own marriages. 


One thing to remember is that the things in this book are "experiments" these women did in their own everyday lives. This isn't a one size fits all, step by step instruction book to a better marriage. This is ideas and a jumpstart. Every one is different, so every marriage is different. And if you choose to implement some of these things, your own experiment will be different.


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I loved reading this book, so thank you to NetGalley for the advance copy! This sweet book is chock full of ideas for flirting with your spouse, from a Christian perspective. The anecdotes that each of the authors provide with how their experiments went are insightful and entertaining. A quick read, but definitely a useful one!

I’d probably give this 3.5⭐️
Some thoughts:
-This is a fun read that serves as a good reminder to continue investing in your marriage no matter how long you’ve been married.
-There are two authors, one who wrote after being married 5 years, and one who wrote after being married for decades.
-There were some ideas thrown in that helped me consider where purity culture might have negatively impacted my view of how I pursue my husband.
-I would likely only recommend this for those who feel they have a “good” marriage but would like to make it even better. The ideas suggested for growth are important but pretty simple and are not intended to fix major issues.
Thank you to Netgalley and Thomas Nelson for the advanced review copy.

Phylicia Masonheimer and Lisa Jacobson worked together to write this book, taking turns writing every other chapter. And what's neat about these two authors is they are approaching marriage from different seasons. Phylicia has been married less than ten years with three littles, Lisa has 20+ years under her belt with some adult children.

What is your marriage like? Are you needing some extra romance in your life? What would it take to try and go back and rekindle those dating days when the sun rose and set in your spouse and he was the best person in the world? That's what Phylicia and Lisa attempt to get you to do with their experiments.

Taking 30 different ideas/topics/whatever you want to call them, they set out to add some spark in their marriage. Whether it's affection, kindness, laughter, attraction or something else, they have an idea for you to try. Some of it would take you out of your comfort zone, some of the ideas would just make you be intentional, but the end result can improve your marriage. It's not a once and done thing though. You can't seek to "flirt" one time and your marriage will be healed of whatever was wrong, you must intentionally pursue your partner all the time.

"Act the way you want to feel". This is really good advice for me because it is way too easy to run on feelings along and not put the effort into our marriage that I should.

"Don't you find it interesting - if not down right convicting - that we can find it in our hearts to demonstrate Christian kindness to our friends, our neighbors, or even a total stranger yet struggle to offer that same compassion to our own husbands?"

This is a book that I need to get in paper format to really be able to connect with. It's a book that I need to be able to pick up and leaf through to get an idea to try. But as an ebook, it was really good and I would recommend it. It's on the lighter side, so it's a quick read. It's not an in-depth look at marriage; it is what it says, the record of an experiment.

I received this book from Thomas Nelson via NetGalley and was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are my own.

For many couples, the time prior to marriage can seem like the most exciting season, especially when compared to the seasons of dirty diapers or navigating job changes. Romance is often forgotten, and it's easy to wonder if the best has already happened. Through their own experiences, Jacobson and Masonheimer challenge women to be proactive in initiating romance with their husbands, and they offer a series of fun ideas and challenges to try.

There were a lot of things that I appreciated about this book--one is that the two women are in different seasons of marriage. Masonheimer is less than 10 years into her marriage and Jacboson is 20+ years into hers. I'm only a few years into my own marriage, so it was helpful to hear stories from two women who are ahead of me. I also appreciated that they tackle a common misconception in some Christian circles (especially more conservative circles) that it is primarily a man's duty to pursue his wife and create romance. While they don't do a deep dive into this topic, I was still glad to see that they challenged and encouraged wives to step up and do their share of initiating!

I certainly gleaned a few insights, and I think some of the ideas might be fun to try, but I also didn't feel like it was revolutionary. It's a light, quick read, so it's probably helpful to go into the book knowing that this will not be a comprehensive look at marriage. It may not be the first book on marriage that I would recommend to friends, but it was still enjoyable and had some good suggestions.

Thanks to Lisa Jacobson, Phylicia Masonheimer, Thomas Nelson, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and honestly review this book!

This book will revolutionize marriages! I love how this guide contains advice from two different married women, one who has been married for over 20 years, another married for just 7. The different views make this book interesting and I love how each chapter is short and easily broken down.

I'm busy planning my own experiment to try on my husband! :)

The Flirtation Experiment is an adorable read! Phylicia and Lisa do an excellent job with delving in, chapter-by-chapter on a variety of challenges women can take to improve intimacy with their men in a God-honoring way. This book is excellent for those wanting to challenge their perspective on intimacy and to improve the way they view their spouse.

This is a really practical book for breathing some life into your marriage. I love these authors and the way they worked together to provide biblical wisdom and practical aid for adding romance into marriage. I really appreciated how they were intentional about communicating against manipulation and abusive relationships and having the right mindset for using this book in your marriage! Definitely something I will be using in my own marriage and recommending to others! So thankful for these ladies!


Thank you Net Galley for the opportunity to review this book!