Rating: 
Summary: A great guide for new step-moms
Review: I just love this book. I felt such validation of my feelings. The author has really been there, so her opinion is personal and also universal. With this book's help, I was able to name my feelings and know that I wasn't alone. There are also great marriage tips too. I highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderfully honest and POSITIVE
Review: I just want to confirm that this is one of the best books on not only stepmothering, but relationships/marriage. I constantly refer to this book, it helps center me and see situations through a loving eye. It is humorous, and honest, and has helped me face the decisions I have made. I highly recommend it as a trustworthy positive guide. It is realistic in telling you what is necessary to make being a stepmom work--and shows you how if you have all the right ingredients. It has helped me approach my life with love and honesty, and in turn enabled me to receive what I need.
Rating:
Summary: Indispensible!!!
Review: I read this book right before I became a stepmother, and it was absolutely critical in helping me establish myself comfortably within my new family and within myself in my new role. While other books I read outlined common situations and concluded, "open communication and low expectations from the outset help avoid these problems," Sue Thoele takes the need for open communication and low expectations as her starting point, then delves deeply into HOW to accomplish these difficult tasks, with a great deal of emotional realism and insight. I found myself turning to my partner and discussing points she had brought up on almost every other page, discussions that helped the two of us establish exactly the open communications that all stepmothering authors recommend. She sets exactly the right positive tone to inspire you that you, too, can avoid and survive the landmines of stepmotherhood.
Rating: 
Summary: Uhhhhhh, What. . . . . .
Review: I went into a bookstore looking for somthing to help me cope with what I was going through as a stepmother, sorry to say that this was the only book there. This book told about all the stuff that could, would or might happen to you but that is where it stopped. I didn't get anything from it. It was a totally useless read.
Rating:
Summary: The friendly hug that stepmothers have been waiting for!
Review: In a candid, warm, and down-to-earth tone, Sue Thoele explains her own struggle with stepmothering and gives no-nonsense advice on how to create and nurture a healthy family while nurturing yourself, also. This is a must-read for every woman who finds herself in the stepparenting role. This is the warm hug and friendly smile that stepmothers everywhere so desperately need!
Rating:
Summary: She wrote this about me
Review: It is unbelievable, I have not yet completed this book. I am on page 149 and I feel so connected to the author. She touches on so many feelings and points about stepmothering. I recommend this book to any woman in a relationship with a stepchild. I promise you will think she wrote it about you too! Good Luck to all those out there!
Rating:
Summary: At last! Both realistic AND hopeful...
Review: My new husband teases me good-naturedly for my collection of 16 stepparenting books (and counting), but it's important to me to do the best I can. I've read a ton on this topic, and though I think it's important to do that, the reading often drags down my spirit and I find myself anxious and saddened by the enormity of this undertaking. It's particularly difficult and overwhelming as a never-married, no children wife.This book is has been an incredible relief. Ms. Thoele manages to candidly acknowledge the difficulties faced by a stepmother and to offer some accurate and helpful insights without ever losing her underlying message that this is possible, we CAN do it, and there are steps you can take to make this a positive adventure. She reminds us that the rewards we reap often correspond to the effort involved, and so there is great hope. I find myself wanting to highlight far too much of the text to make highlighting worthwhile! I'm tremendously relieved that this book arrived shortly before my wedding, and I rate it in the "top 5" stepfamily books in my growing collection. Do yourself a favor if you're a stepmother: grab this book, sit down with a cup of coffee, and allow yourself some grounded encouragement from someone who has been there.
Rating:
Summary: At last! Both realistic AND hopeful...
Review: My new husband teases me good-naturedly for my collection of 16 stepparenting books (and counting), but it's important to me to do the best I can. I've read a ton on this topic, and though I think it's important to do that, the reading often drags down my spirit and I find myself anxious and saddened by the enormity of this undertaking. It's particularly difficult and overwhelming as a never-married, no children wife. This book is has been an incredible relief. Ms. Thoele manages to candidly acknowledge the difficulties faced by a stepmother and to offer some accurate and helpful insights without ever losing her underlying message that this is possible, we CAN do it, and there are steps you can take to make this a positive adventure. She reminds us that the rewards we reap often correspond to the effort involved, and so there is great hope. I find myself wanting to highlight far too much of the text to make highlighting worthwhile! I'm tremendously relieved that this book arrived shortly before my wedding, and I rate it in the "top 5" stepfamily books in my growing collection. Do yourself a favor if you're a stepmother: grab this book, sit down with a cup of coffee, and allow yourself some grounded encouragement from someone who has been there.
Rating:
Summary: Thank God I'm a normal human being
Review: One of the most reassuring books I've ever read. I was prepared to parent my husband's children, to help him to raise them and pitch in with all the tasks so necessary to healthy childrearing. What I wasn't prepared for was how I would actually feel about it! I was in tears so often I didn't know which end was up, and that wasn't healthy for anyone in my stepfamily - especially the kids. Sue Patton Thoele's book reassured me that my feelings about being thrust into a maternal role were perfectly natural, and once I was okay with ME, I was able to move forward and be the kind of stepmother I wanted to be. Many thanks, Sue, for letting me know I'm okay just the way I am, and that I have what it takes to be a terrific stepmom.
Rating:
Summary: The most loving support anyone's given me!
Review: Only just a few pages into this book there were stories from other stepmoms that shared experiences which sounded just like what is going on in my new stepfamily. Sue is so kind and understanding and she even made me laugh at my situation which gave me so much relief! I would recommend or buy this book for anyone I knew was becoming a stepmom or already trekking down that difficult road.
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