I loved this book because I love astrology, and yet so many books are written too technically. Olivia writes as though she has been your friend for years and you were sitting in the same room with her She is funny and very insightful. It's a blend of psychology with astrology that really helps you to understand your lover - not to mention yourself. I think if more people read this book it just might cut down on the divorce rate. Great read!
"Now I assume that you and your lover have been joyfully seduced, that you are committed to each other (legally or otherwise), and that you are now ready to embark on your second great adventure: living together!" - From the book
Based on Sun-sign astrology, Love After Sex shows readers the areas of greatest compatibility and potential challenges for all twelve signs of the Zodiac. You'll find out why it's a very bad idea to (attempt to) lie to a Scorpio, give Aries complete control of the checkbook, or say to a Cancer "Sure, now you're going to act like a big baby and refuse to talk. What's going to happen next? Are you going to get sick and call Mommy?"
Taking you past the bedroom and into the mind and heart of your mate, astrologer Olivia provides insightful and useful information for uncovering the essence of what you can do, be, and become together as a couple. Here are but a few of the tidbits you'll find in the 254-page book Love After Sex:
* Why the impulsive Aries is a mover and shaker devoted to image
* What's behind the lethal silent treatment imposed by a Taurus
* Why Geminis crave variety and freedom-and often avoid talking about feelings
* What's under the crab shell of Cancer, including courage and fear of financial collapse
* Why flattery will get you everywhere when it comes to Leo
* Why Virgos can be worrywarts and nitpickers
* Why Librans think in terms of "we" and what's behind the charming people-pleaser tendency
* What's behind Scorpio's intensity and why they're known as both The Wounded Healer and The Phoenix
* Why Sagittarius tends to avoid "friends in need" and what's behind an oft-condescending attitude
* Why Capricorn has difficulty relaxing and what's behind the chronic pessimism
* Why visionary Aquarians bust patterns and act unpredictably
* How dependence factors in Piscean relationships and why they often find the "real" world cold and harsh
In addition to giving you the inside track on each sign, Love After Sex also provides keywords for the Good, Bad, and Ugly, instructive role-playing scenarios, delineation of mature versus immature character traits, and more. Olivia also explains real-life situations, especially in terms of how the other signs would likely react in the same scenario.
Every Zodiac sign is divided into three parts; each sign spans thirty days, and each day is one degree. Therefore, the decanates each represent ten degrees. This explains why three people born under the same sign can be radically different. While the first decanates spans the first ten days of the sign, the other two decanates are sub-ruled by different planets, which result in varying expressions of the same sign. Love After Sex gives an overview of each of the three decanates for each sign, giving readers additional insight.
As if all this isn't comprehensive enough, Olivia also gives an overview of all twelve Moon Signs and what this means for a relationship. Extensive Moon Sign Charts are found in the Appendix if you want to look it up manually, but online chart generators such as those found at Astro.com will calculate it free.
For a comprehensive profile of your mate, I suggest reading the information correlating with his/her Moon and Rising sign in addition to the Sun sign. I found my Sun sign profile (Scorpio) to be surprisingly incisive, but the information on Aquarius (my Moon sign) was even more telling, in my opinion. Coupled with the Moon Sign information at the back of the book and reading up on my Rising Sign (Aries) provided a pretty darn good analysis into my motivations, preferences, and tendencies. I read up on the Sun signs of my mother (Taurus) and father (Cancer) and they were startling accurate. However, my husband (who is a fellow Scorpio Sun and Aquarius Moon) doesn't fit the profile (as usual). Even his decanates and Rising Sign (Cancer) were inaccurate. Nevertheless, he's an anomaly that no author has ever pegged. In fact, I often joke that his birth certificate is a forgery!
Although, I didn't find the decanates to be very accurate in terms of my husband or myself, the rest of the information provided in Love After Sex is incredibly accurate and perceptive. If you'd like to know how sex, money and power dynamics play out in a relationship based on Sun sign, this book supplies you with what you need to know for understanding, nurturing, and encouraging your mate.
