Lovemaking: How to Talk about Sex with Your Spouse | A Guide for Everyday Catholics [9781646803712]

Overview

Sex in marriage can be beautiful—but also new, confusing, awkward, and even frustrating. How do you talk openly about lovemaking without feeling embarrassed? How do you ask for what you need? What if something feels off, or worse—what if it hurts? For many couples, Catholic marriage preparation touches on the basics but leaves them with real, unanswered questions like: Am I doing this right? Can I really ask that? Why does it sometimes feel so fast . . . or so slow?

Winner of a 2026 CMA Book Award from the Catholic Media Association: Family Life (Honorable Mention).

Lovemaking: How to Talk about Sex with Your Spouse is the candid, practical guide you’ve been waiting for. Bold, playful, and full of real-talk, Renzo and Monica Ortega—hosts of the Two Become Family podcast—offer couples the tools they need to communicate more openly, connect more deeply, and transform their sexual intimacy.

Drawing from their own experience as well as the wisdom of Catholic teaching, including St. John Paul II’s theology of the body, Renzo and Monica tackle the tough questions couples are often afraid to ask:

• How do we talk candidly about frequency and foreplay?
• Do men really only “want one thing”? Why do women get “headaches”?
• Why is the female orgasm so elusive?
• Why are there so many rules around sex? Does the Church expect us to have a hundred babies?
• How does sex change after kids come into the picture?

This isn’t a steamy how-to manual, nor is it a dry theological explanation. It’s an honest, approachable conversation about the realities of marital intimacy, grounded in Catholic faith and real-life experience. Each chapter includes conversation starters designed to help couples talk about their needs, desires, and boundaries. “You need connection before connecting,” they write, “Our spouse can only really learn the language of our bodies—what we like, what we love, what we dislike, and what gives us the heebie-jeebies—if we communicate in spoken language as well.”

Renzo and Monica’s relatable, down-to-earth wisdom will resonate with couples navigating both the joys and struggles of married life. Lovemaking will help wives feel understood, husbands feel challenged, and both spouses feel closer than ever. Read it together, talk it out, and discover a path to a more fulfilling sex life and a deeper marital union.