An important work! I recommend that all triad members and adoption social workers read it. Jones is not a member of the adoption triad (i.e., she's not a birthmother, an adoptee, or an adoptive parent). The author interviewed birthmothers and put important nuggets of their experiences into this book. Though we don't get to know any of the birthmothers in depth, we do learn how they felt about relinquishment long-term, feelings ignored by our entire society for much too long.

I wasn't so sure how useful I would find this book since it's about closed adoption birth mothers (and doesn't include research on semi-open or open adoption birth mothers.) However I found that so many things in the book apply to ALL birth mothers!! I especially think the author did a GREAT job talking about the depth of grief and life long effects it has on birth mothers. I haven't read a book on adoption yet that even comes close to being as accurate as this book is on the subject of birth mother grief and pain! Highly recommend this book for ALL members of the Adoption "triad"!

As a birthmother, I can fully relate to the level of pain and remorse described in this book. Entrusting one's child to adoption is the most heartbreaking decision anyone could ever have to make, and it is further complicated by the fact that for many women, there was no choice. Coercion in adoption remains rampant.

All would-be adopters need to read this book to fully understand what they have taken away from their children's birthparents. If they do, they will learn to treat the birthfamily with love and respect, and welcome them in via a truly open adoption.

This book not only made me break out in loud fits of laughter, but it reminded me of all the complaints I have had or still have about my own parents. This is a great gift for kids who are frustrated by their parents and for parents who can't seem to understand what is ticking their own kids off so much! Highly recommended.

As the future stepmother of an 8 year-old boy who sees me as a threat to his relationship with custodial dad, I did not need a book telling me to smile and be nice to the boy, and everything would be all right. I needed a book of true-life accounts of women who have walked in my shoes, dealing with the challenges of dealing with a resentful child, a difficult ex-wife, and a husband who doesn't fully understand what his wife is going through. I felt like I was in group therapy with women dealing with, or who dealt with challenging children, lax discipline by guilt-ridden bio-parents, jealous ex-wives, husbands who don't seem to fully understand the plight of stepmom, the prospect of writing a will, and other issues I'm experiencing. In addition, the book deals with issues I don't have such as blending a family with stepmom's kids + husband's kids, the dynamics of seeing the stepkids every other weekend, and hostile adult stepchildren.

I found the book therapeutic not only by all the "aha's" of finding women who have had similar experiences, but by studying how the stepmothers and their husbands handled the situations. Some folks handled the situations with impressive common sense and maturity, while others were at the opposite end of the maturity spectrum, like the stepmother who refused to even meet her stepchildren and resented the time her husband spent with his own kids. I was able to learn from the mistakes and triumphs of others to help improve the relationship with my partner and future stepson. Also, I shared the experiences of some of the husbands in the book with my partner, pointing out how they helped or hindered the relationship with between stepmom and stepchild. For example, there were husbands in the book who totally ignore their wives when the child is around or who gave their wives no authority in the discipline of the children, yet expected things to go smoothly when they left the child alone with stepmom. Now he's more conscious of not ignoring me in the presence of his son, and allowing me some disciplinary authority, and family dynamics have improved considerably.

Another helpful feature of the book is that at the end of each chapter dealing with stepparenting issues: expectations, legal issues, coparenting, etc., is a list of advice pointers from stepmothers. I found the advice compassionate, and full of common sense, striking a realistic balance of being true to oneself and a good parent and partner. I highly recommend this book to future, novice, and experienced stepmoms.

You must read this book and its companion, "I LOVE HER, BUT..." You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll love it. (It's not great literature, hence only 4 stars, but it is great!) And ... you will know what you're getting into! (After being married 25 years, I can speak from some experience.) Share it with your married friends, share it with your parents, share it with your adult kids.

When this book first came out, my mother and I were standing in a very busy Books-A-Million check out line. I grabbed it and sort of flipped through it, then started laughing so much she grabbed another copy. She insisted on buying this book, which I managed to keep in my room until I moved out and she caught me! :) I am not married but I find these anecdotes hilarious! Each one makes me laugh. It's one of those rare books you actually want to read over and over again and you never get sick of it! I only own about 3 of these books, sad to say. I don't dare show it to my boyfriend since he won't see the humor, but I highly recommend this to any female who HAS a sense of humor.

BUY IT! You will not regret it!!:)

One of the funniest books that I have ever read! I just ordered one for every woman in my book club. It is a collection of very brief, hilarious descriptions of husbands from the women who know them best. What seperates this book from the typical battle of the sexes genre is that "I Love Him But" is devoid of the usual sarcasm and bitterness. The women quoted in this book have truly learned to love their husbands - peculiar traits and all. It is really sweet, and funny and helps you realize that a good sense of humor can make your marriage happy for a long, long time.

My fiancee and I have read these little date anecdotes out loud to each other and have constantly burst out laughing. It's even funnier thinking that we both experienced some of these goofy dates ourselves!

My aunt and uncle gave this to me for Christmas. They are so out of touch.

Anyone who has a best friend or a pack of girlfriends will completely recognize themselves in this book. I laughed out loud and passed the book along to several other friends, all of whom love it. The funniest part was about parenting--it just rang SOOO true! Very very funny.