Love, Intimacy and Sex in the Second Half by Kim Kimberling and Nancy Kimberling
by Kim Kimberling, Nancy Kimberling
At a glance
Pages215
First published2023
AudienceAdult
About the Author
Kim Kimberling, Nancy Kimberling1 book reviewed
Love, Intimacy and Sex in the Second Half by Kim Kimberling and Nancy Kimberling
by Kim Kimberling, Nancy Kimberling
LuvemBooks Verdict
Best for
Married couples of faith who have recently entered or are approaching the post-parenting season and want a candid, biblically grounded guide to rekindling intimacy and sexuality in the second half of their marriage.
Worth it if
You and your spouse share a Christian worldview, have children who have left or are about to leave home, and are ready to engage honestly — including about sex — with what this new life stage can look like for your relationship.
Skip if
Readers outside the Christian faith tradition, couples who are still in the thick of parenting or who are childless, or anyone seeking clinical-level depth beyond what a 215-page popular guide can provide will likely find the book's focus too narrow or its framework too specifically faith-structured to be useful.
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Love, Intimacy and Sex in the Second Half is a frank, faith-rooted marriage guide by Dr. Kim Kimberling and Nancy Kimberling — co-founders of the Awesome Marriage ministry — designed to help long-married couples rediscover connection, intimacy, and a fulfilling sex life once the child-rearing years are behind them. Drawing on Dr. Kim's four decades of Christian counseling practice and the couple's own 53-year marriage, the book occupies a genuinely underserved niche: Christian marriage resources that address the post-parenting season with directness and depth. The key caveat is equally clear: readers outside the Christian faith will find its biblically structural framework difficult to translate, and couples still in active parenting years may find the focus less directly applicable to their stage of life.
- Is it worth reading?
- For Christian couples entering or already in the post-parenting chapter of marriage, Love, Intimacy and Sex in the Second Half delivers something genuinely rare: a faith-grounded resource that addresses sexuality in later marriage plainly rather than politely avoiding it. The combination of Dr. Kim Kimberling's 40-plus years of Christian counseling expertise and the couple's own 53-year marriage gives the book an unusual balance of professional structure and personal authenticity. It is, however, a poor fit for readers outside the Christian faith or for couples still in active parenting years, for whom the premise is less directly applicable.
- Similar books
- Readers drawn to Love, Intimacy and Sex in the Second Half may also want to explore The Second Half of Marriage by David Olson and Dave Ferguson, which addresses the same life-stage transition with a similarly practical orientation. For Christian marriage guidance with a theological depth, The Meaning of Marriage by Timothy Keller is a widely-read touchstone. Sheet Music by Kevin Leman takes a frank approach to sex within Christian marriage, while His Needs, Her Needs by Willard F. Harley Jr. explores the underlying emotional needs that sustain long-term partnerships. Rekindling Desire by Barry McCarthy and Emily McCarthy focuses specifically on reviving sexual intimacy in long-term marriages, making it a strong secular complement.
- Who should read this?
- This book is written for Christian married couples who have raised their children and are now navigating — or preparing for — the post-parenting chapter of their relationship. It speaks directly to those experiencing the empty-nest transition but also to couples facing other second-half triggers: career changes, approaching retirement, or the emergence of new shared life goals. It is not well-suited to readers outside the Christian faith, to couples who are childless or still actively parenting, or to those seeking deep clinical guidance beyond what a 215-page popular guide can offer.
- How faith-forward is the content?
- Faith is not a peripheral add-on in Love, Intimacy and Sex in the Second Half — it is structural to the entire argument. The text is explicitly rooted in biblical teaching and the belief that God has a specific design for marriage, including direct engagement with what the Bible says about love in the second half of life. The book is not written as a secular resource with optional faith elements; readers who do not share this framework will find the approach difficult to translate into a different worldview.
- What makes the authors qualified?
- Dr. Kim Kimberling holds a Ph.D. and a Doctor of Ministry in Christian Counseling, along with master's degrees in Christian Ministry and Theological Studies, and brings over 40 years of professional experience counseling couples and families. Nancy Kimberling co-authors from lived experience: the two met on a blind date in college, have been married for 53 years, raised two adult children, and have five grandchildren. Together they co-founded Awesome Marriage, a ministry reaching more than 300,000 people weekly. Crucially, Dr. Kim has stated publicly that he is 'open and honest about the struggles he has experienced in marriage' and uses personal examples as teaching tools, giving the book an authenticity that distinguishes it from purely clinical guides.
- What sets this book apart?
- Love, Intimacy and Sex in the Second Half occupies a genuinely narrow niche: most Christian marriage literature focuses on the early years — premarital preparation, newlywed adjustment, raising children together. Resources that address the post-parenting chapter with equal specificity, and that treat sexuality in later marriage as a topic worth direct engagement rather than polite avoidance, are far less common. The dual-author structure — one partner a credentialed counselor with 40-plus years of practice, the other a co-participant in a 53-year marriage — also gives the book an unusual balance between professional framework and personal relational voice.
Summarize this book
Is it worth reading?
Who should read this?
How faith-forward is the content?
What makes the authors qualified?
What sets this book apart?
Summarize this book
Published in November 2023 by The Core Media Group, Inc., Love, Intimacy and Sex in the Second Half is a Christian marriage guide by Dr. Kim Kimberling and Nancy Kimberling, the couple behind the Awesome Marriage ministry. The book targets long-married couples navigating the empty-nest transition, framing this life stage not as a loss but as a distinct season worth intentionally preparing for — one in which couples are, as the book puts it, 'back to where you started: just the two of you.' It addresses love, emotional intimacy, and sexuality in later marriage with frank directness, grounded in biblical teaching and the authors' own 53-year marriage as a lived reference point.
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Age & Reading Level
Recommended age
Adult
Reading level
Adult
Content to know about
frank discussion of marital sexuality
Skip if you are looking for a secular or non-faith-based approach to intimacy and marriage in later life.
Editorial Review
Published in November 2023 by The Core Media Group, Inc., Love, Intimacy and Sex in the Second Half is a Christian marriage guide co-authored by Dr.…
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