Das Gupta M, Shuzhuo L (1999) Gender bias in China, South Korea and India 1920–1990: effects of war, famine and fertility decline. Dev Change 30(3):619–652 Horn EE, Xu Y, Beam CR, Turkheimer E, & Emery RE (2013). Accounting for the physical and mental health benefits of entry into marriage: a genetically informed study of selection and causation. Journal of Family Psychology, 27( 1), 30–41. [ PMC free article] [ PubMed] [ Google Scholar] I cannot wait to read the Ward sisters next especially after meeting them all here! I’m so glad i read this series first.

I met Logan Ward when I read ‘Focused’ last month and I was intrigued. Focused is about Logan’s sister Molly and takes place years after this book. Logan is a NFL player but his most important job is being the guardian to his four younger half sisters. He would do anything for those girls, including getting married. Umberson D (1992). Gender, marital status and the social control of health behavior. Social Science & Medicine, 34( 8), 907–917. [ PubMed] [ Google Scholar] Teachman J (2003). Premarital sex, premarital cohabitation, and the risk of subsequent marital dissolution among women. Journal of Marriage and Family, 65, 444–455. [ Google Scholar] If the latter suggestion is correct, the pattern of findings might be construed as an effect of becoming engaged. However, the sample size in this study prohibits directly assessing for such a pattern as many people (in this sample and in society) no longer get formally engaged prior to marrying. Of course, those who move toward marriage (and eventually do marry) may start out better off on such indicators to begin with (selection), but may also benefit from the period of time of gaining clarity about commitment with a person who will become their spouse. As noted by Cherlin (2004), people may also experience the lead-up to marriage as a period of satisfaction with the imminent attainment of the status of being married. Rodgers RH, & White JM (1993). Family development theory. In Pauline G, Boss PG, Doherty WJ, LaRossa R, Schumm WR, & Steinmetz SK (Eds.), Sourcebook of family theories and methods: A contextual approach (pp. 225–254). New York: Kluwer/Plenum Press. [ Google Scholar]Rhoades GK, Stanley SM, & Markman HJ (2010). Should I stay or should I go? Predicting dating relationship stability from four aspects of commitment. Journal of Family Psychology, 24, 543–550. [ PMC free article] [ PubMed] [ Google Scholar] i'm in the worst mood lately, so literally every single thing annoys me. at one point i remembered being mad at the football club name, thinking who in their right mind would name their club "the washington wolves"?! another time someone said "whyyyy was that so motherbleeping hot?" uhm... do people really say motherbleeping, is that actually a thing? please say no. therefore a lot of things got on my nerves that i usually wouldn't care about. that's the problem with being a moody reader. The Bombshell Effect is proof that Karla Sorensen can write humor, heart, and angst in a harmony that should be illegal. I didn't just love this book, I inhaled it, making it a permanent piece of who I am -- and I'll never let it go.

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True romance. I loved how the love between these characters developed so slowly and purposefully that I fell in love right along with them. It was so easy to see how and why they felt the way they did. The chemistry was real, the emotional, deep rooted feelings were true. It was just so well done. Frech A, & Williams K (2007). Depression and the psychological benefits of entering marriage. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 48, 149. doi: 10.1177/002214650704800204 [ PubMed] [ CrossRef] [ Google Scholar] Kurdek LA (2005). Gender and marital satisfaction early in marriage: a growth curve approach. Journal of Marriage and Family, 67, 68–84. [ Google Scholar]Salvatore JE, Gardner CO, & Kendler KS (2019). Marriage and reductions in men’s alcohol, tobacco, and cannabis use. Psychological Medicine, 1–7. [ PMC free article] [ PubMed] [ Google Scholar]

Married individuals have a readily available source of social support and companionship, so it is unsurprising that their overall health, across the life course, is generally superior to that of unmarried individuals ( Hornish & Leonard, 2008). While at least one study found that the benefits to physical health for married individuals could be fully attributed to selection effects ( Horn et al., 2013), other studies have not observed any selection effects ( Jhang, 2018; Joung et al., 1998). While some researchers have not observed gender differences in these health benefits (e.g., Lindstrom, 2009) others have found that men benefit more from marriage because women promote their spouses’ health more than vice versa ( Ray et al., 2009; Umberson, 1992; Umberson et al., 2006). We hypothesized that married individuals would report better health than unmarried individuals (Study 1) and that both men and women would demonstrate physical health benefits as they transitioned to marriage (Study 2). Woods L, & Emery R (2002). The cohabitation effect on divorce: Causation or selection? Journal of Divorce and Remarriage, 37, 101–122. [ Google Scholar] Lamb KA, Lee GR, & DeMaris A (2003). Union formation and depression: selection and relationship effects. Journal of Marriage and Family, 65( 4), 953–962. [ Google Scholar] Overall Opinion: I went into this expecting a light, sexy read - and I got it! Was it deep into the characters and connection between them? No, but I wasn't really expecting it to be either. It was, however, just what I was looking for after a heavier book with some depressing content. I wasn't a huge fan of some of the H's behaviors. I also really disliked the fact that the epilogue was directly after their big conflict was resolved. I wanted some actual time with them as an outed couple, and maybe some more time with them becoming a family with the H's daughter! Otherwise, it was an enjoyable, light read that I enjoyed for what it was -- but it won't be making its home on my favorites shelf. Chen Y, Qiu Z (2011) How high housing prices affect household savings rate and property inequality. Econ Res 46(10):25–38

and it's freaking embarrassing how a 36 years old—A GROWN MAN—Luke Pierson had to be told by her dearest mom to apologize for offendig a woman. sir, in your old age and with A DAUGHTER too? it's very embarrassing. I don’t do casual, and the second you bare your body to me, the second I get my hands on you like I’ve imagined a thousand times, the second you take me in, it’s you and me, you got it?” There are generally two types of marriage costs in the world: dowries and betrothal gifts. The difference between the two is that dowries are paid by the bride’s family to the bridegroom’s family, whereas betrothal gifts are given by the bridegroom’s family to the bride’s family. The cost of marriage varies significantly and shows different characteristics across countries and regions (Rao, 1993). For instance, with rapid economic growth in India and China, the cost of marriage in these countries has been increasing, while it is decreasing in European countries (Rao, 1993). Although the reasons for the increased cost of marriage in certain countries are complex, the following two factors need to be considered: First, an increase in the cost of marriage helps improve an individual’s position in the family (Srinivasan, 2005). In societies in which men traditionally have more power than women, women are normally eager to improve their economic status in the family. Bursztyn et al. ( 2017) report that marriage can give people an economic boost, especially single women who do not want to be seen as ambitious before getting married. Career ambition seems to be an undesirable trait in the marriage market, even though the ability of single women to work is no different from that of married women (Maristella and Aloysius, 2003). Thus, some parents offer a higher value dowry to show that their family is wealthy, helping secure their daughter’s future economic status in the family (Srinivasan and Bedi, 2007). Second, as the gender imbalance becomes more severe, marriageable young people have more difficulty finding suitable partners (Chen and Qiu, 2011). In the past, Chinese young women always asked for the ‘Big Three’ (Li, 2002), which became the basic material standard by which a female chose a spouse. Footnote 1 h rating: 4 stars. Allie. I liked her. I appreciated her strength and how she was confident in her own skin. Anderson S (2007) The economics of dowry and brideprice. J Econ Perspect 21(4):151–174. https://doi.org/10.1257/jep.21.4.151