Being Kendra: Cribs, Cocktails, and Getting My Sexy Back [Hardcover]

Kendra Wilkinson (Author)

Book Description

Release date: September 20, 2011

Kendra Wilkinson has revealed herself before—in the pages of Playboy and on her reality show, Kendra. Now she reveals her private side, sharing the ups and downs, the joys and challenges of motherhood, marriage, and life in the spotlight.

In this intimate follow-up to her New York Times bestseller, Sliding into Home, Kendra confides her most candid thoughts and feelings on her experiences as a new mom, and she divulges her secrets on how to do it all and make it look easy, sexy, and fun—even when it’s not.

Now with a husband and baby in her life, a booming brand to manage, and her own needs to think about too, Kendra is learning the art of balance, sometimes the hard way. Not wanting to pawn her child off to nannies like so many other stars, Kendra relishes the role of supermom—kissing boo-boos, making lunches, scheduling playdates—all while juggling appearances, workout videos, and even training for the ultra-competitive hit show Dancing with the Stars.

While Being Kendra is full of humor and true stories that women can relate to, it’s also a heartrending look at Kendra’s very personal journey through some dark places, including a private struggle with postpartum depression and a very public tussle with post-baby weight loss. Kendra, who has always been known for her athletic (and enhanced) figure, opens up about her efforts to get her bikini body back and the difficulty of not looking sexy, which she believed was her most valuable quality. Her fight to lose weight at any cost, chronicled on the covers of countless magazines, has become yet another triumph for Kendra as she continues to succeed in the face of adversity.

From dental assistant, to Playboy girlfriend and face of a franchise, to wife and new mother, Kendra has embraced what life has thrown at her with determination, fortitude, and a ready laugh. This daring and honest memoir captures Kendra and her family in their best and worst moments as she lives, loves, rebounds, and, ultimately, finds her place in her new world.

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Product Description
Kendra Wilkinson has revealed herself before—in the pages of Playboy and on her reality show, Kendra. Now she reveals her private side, sharing the ups and downs, the joys and challenges of motherhood, marriage, and life in the spotlight.

In this intimate follow-up to her New York Times best-seller, Sliding into Home, Kendra confides her most candid thoughts and feelings on her experiences as a new mom, and she divulges her secrets on how to do it all and make it look easy, sexy, and fun—even when it’s not.

Now with a husband and baby in her life, a booming brand to manage, and her own needs to think about too, Kendra is learning the art of balance, sometimes the hard way. Not wanting to pawn her child off to nannies like so many other stars, Kendra relishes the role of supermom—kissing boo-boos, making lunches, scheduling playdates—all while juggling appearances, workout videos, and even training for the ultra-competitive hit show Dancing with the Stars.

While Being Kendra is full of humor and true stories that women can relate to, it’s also a heartrending look at Kendra’s very personal journey through some dark places, including a private struggle with postpartum depression and a very public tussle with post-baby weight loss. Kendra, who has always been known for her athletic (and enhanced) figure, opens up about her efforts to get her bikini body back and the difficulty of not looking sexy, which she believed was her most valuable quality. Her fight to lose weight at any cost, chronicled on the covers of countless magazines, has become yet another triumph for Kendra as she continues to succeed in the face of adversity.

From dental assistant, to Playboy girlfriend and face of a franchise, to wife and new mother, Kendra has embraced what life has thrown at her with determination, fortitude, and a ready laugh. This daring and honest memoir captures Kendra and her family in their best and worst moments as she lives, loves, rebounds, and, ultimately, finds her place in her new world.

---

A Look Inside Being Kendra
Click on the images below to open larger versions.

It’s all about multitasking.	Fun in the sun with baby Hank at a park in San Diego. His first time at a park and paparazzi, of course, were there!	On the set of DWTS. Hmmm… wonder why I’m smiling?	Hank Jr. loved this dress, which I wore to the cast reveal of Dancing with the Stars. I think he just liked the sparkles.

From the Back Cover

Kendra Wilkinson has revealed herself before—in the pages of Playboy and on her reality show, Kendra. Now she reveals her private side, sharing the ups and downs, the joys and challenges of motherhood, marriage, and life in the spotlight.

In this intimate follow-up to her New York Times bestseller, Sliding into Home, Kendra confides her most candid thoughts and feelings on her experiences as a new mom, and she divulges her secrets on how to do it all and make it look easy, sexy, and fun—even when it’s not.

Now with a husband and baby in her life, a booming brand to manage, and her own needs to think about too, Kendra is learning the art of balance, sometimes the hard way. Not wanting to pawn her child off to nannies like so many other stars, Kendra relishes the role of supermom—kissing boo-boos, making lunches, scheduling playdates—all while juggling appearances, workout videos, and even training for the ultra-competitive hit show Dancing with the Stars.

While Being Kendra is full of humor and true stories that women can relate to, it’s also a heartrending look at Kendra’s very personal journey through some dark places, including a private struggle with postpartum depression and a very public tussle with post-baby weight loss. Kendra, who has always been known for her athletic (and enhanced) figure, opens up about her efforts to get her bikini body back and the difficulty of not looking sexy, which she believed was her most valuable quality. Her fight to lose weight at any cost, chronicled on the covers of countless magazines, has become yet another triumph for Kendra as she continues to succeed in the face of adversity.

From dental assistant, to Playboy girlfriend and face of a franchise, to wife and new mother, Kendra has embraced what life has thrown at her with determination, fortitude, and a ready laugh. This daring and honest memoir captures Kendra and her family in their best and worst moments as she lives, loves, rebounds, and, ultimately, finds her place in her new world.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: It Books; 1ST edition (September 20, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0062091182
• ISBN-13: 978-0062091185
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 1.1 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (67 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #401,533 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Kendra Wilkinson is the star of the hit reality series Kendra, and former star of the massively popular show The Girls Next Door. Her first book, Sliding Into Home, was a runaway success and a New York Times bestseller. She lives in Calabasas, CA with her husband Hank Baskett and her son Hank Jr.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

53 of 61 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars I had high hopes ... and they were quickly deflated. September 21, 2011

By Dani

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

OK, let me start off by saying that I am a huge Kendra fan. I love her to pieces, watch all of her TV appearances that I can, and adored her last book. I bought this book the day it was released, eager to read more, and finished it the same day.

I have to admit, this one was a total flop.

It felt more like a 'woe is me, I'm a celebrity' and a holier-than-thou attitude about parenting and diet/exercise. She also makes it glaringly obvious that her marriage has major, major flaws and I feel bad for her husband. I never felt that way before I read this book, but I certainly do now. To constantly ask your husband about infidelity, get abusive with him - not just verbally, but physically? And you're still newly married? That's not a good sign.

And to claim that she did her research on vaccines because she asked a doctor their opinion on them? Puh-lease. That hardly constitutes as research, Kendra. 99% of all doctors you find will read you the same literature, provided by the vaccine companies, of course - so you are NOT getting an unbiased opinion. If you want to REALLY research vaccines, you have to look at both sides and put more effort in to it than making a snap judgment based on what your doctor says. Most people that choose to delay, selectively, or NOT vaccinate spend months and months (or years) reaching a decision and it isn't one they take lightly. I wish people would finally get that there is a huge difference between parents who don't vaccinate their children because they can't be bothered to care for their medical self and those who have rejected vaccines after careful research and for serious and valid reasons.

Also, making snap judgments about mothers at the playground using their cellphones is pretty ballsy, I must say. She says she is 'always' present when she's around Hank Jr - of course you are, you get a break from him from time to time! A lot of those mothers may be ACTUAL stay at home moms that spend every waking second with their child. That means morning, noon, and night, 365 - no days off and away. Maybe it helps them feel connected to other adults or family members because she doesn't EVER get to get away. When else is a SAHM supposed to check her texts? It's easy to judge another mother when you've never walked a mile in her shoes. Just because another mom takes thirty seconds to herself a few time a day doesn't mean she's not 'all in' when it comes to her kids. Some of us don't have the luxury of a night nanny and an assistant.

She also contradicts herself consistently throughout this book. She'll say one thing and then flip flop in the next sentence. It's hard to keep it all straight!

It's not very well written, either. It's a jumbled mess, to be quite frank. She is all over the place in every chapter, making rabbit trails and never returning to the original topic.

It's just a really, really lackluster book. Sorry, Kendra. Love you to pieces but this would've been better off staying in your personal diary..

31 of 35 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Self absorbed mess of a book September 24, 2011

By Andrea

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Oh where to start...WHY did I buy this book? (I must have asked myself this question every few paragraphs but continued to read) First, it's hard to believe Kendra hired a ghost writer. Whoever wrote this book is a terrible writer. The book rambles all over the place. One paragraph Kendra is lecturing us on texting and driving and the next we are back to her diet (but wait, didn't we just cover two chapters on poor Kendra and her wt loss woes?) It's ALL over the place. The same boring subjects are covered over and over and over...Being Kendra is actually a great title because that's all it is. MEMEME. Here's how hard it is to be poor me (doing every day things the rest of you moms out there do) but wait...let me tell you how much I love all the free things companies send to me. Poor me, I hated being on DWTS..but wait, I loved the paycheck.

My 'favorite' is Kendra's lectures on how the whole world should eat as healthy as she and Hank do and baby Hank (this goes on forever all thru the book) and why doesn't every mom out there make homemade babyfood? Yet in the middle of this we have: Hank is from New Mexico so he doesn't know how to eat well. What? I'm sure New Mexico readers will be thrilled to hear this) Kendra cries about how she can't lose her postbaby wt (she gained nearly 60lbs. She finally discovers she has a 'condition'-hypothyroidism, which she makes sound like some rare disease (note to Kendra millions of us have low thyroid and take the same dose of Synthroid as you do..oh, and I never gained a pound from it) So THIS is why Kendra got fat and can't lose her wt. But a few pages later read all about how Kendra ate junk food nonstop thruout her pregnancy, esp donuts. Hank slept on the couch so she could sit up all night eating donuts and all kinds of crap. What about the 'condition'?? Oh, I'm so confused.

Much of the book is spent on her looks, how hard she works, how she does this all by herself, then gives the list of all the people she employees. She spends a great amount of time preaching about parenting, marriage, and family life (because she's done these for nearly 2 whole years now). She is quick to point out what everyone else is doing wrong and why she is doing it all right.
Somehow this doesn't quite work for me when she spends the rest of the time being very insecure and jealous, constantly asking if her husband is cheating on her, firing her best nanny because her baby likes the nanny too much, physically and verbally abusing her husband (one time knocking him unconscious) while drunk and checking his cellphone for txt msgs.
But she has a GREAT marriage.

Oh, and then we're back to her body/diet/clothes fitting well and how confident she is now. And then two pages later, she has a c section scar she doesn't want anyone to see....but she's glad she's curvy..and two pages later, hard to find clothes that fit because I'm so skinny...but baby Hank is doing great because I'm just a regular mom drinking coctails by the pool and oh yeah I always carry tons of babywipes with me cause I'm so prepared and such a good mom...
oh and by the way I haven't talked to my own mom for over a year after we had a big fight.

Yes, the above paragraph is a pretty good representation of this book. DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY.

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Not a very good book September 25, 2011

By Michelle

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I have always been a fan of Kendra. I loved her on the Girls Next Door, loved her first book and her show. But this book was really not very good. She is very preachy about everything (especially how they eat and come on...referring to her in-laws as big people?). Taking a hot dog out of your husband's hand because you are appalled that he would want to have 3 hotdogs? The book is so redundant, I feel like I was reading the same thing over and over again. Something went very wrong with this book, and I am not sure what or who Kendra is attempting to be. I hope being a "celebrity" has not changed her...it appears it might have.