Married to the Military: A Survival Guide for Military Wives, Girlfriends, and Women in Uniform [Paperback]

Meredith Leyva (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 14, 2009

The Unofficial Scoop on Military Life

Whether you're dating, engaged, or married to an active military servicemember or reservist -- or you've just signed up yourself -- you may feel as if you've somehow married the United States military! While there are plenty of orientation books for him, there are almost no handy, user-friendly resources for you. Meredith Leyva, a military wife and founder of CinCHouse.com, the Internet's largest community for military wives, girlfriends, and women in uniform, details everything you need to know to manage day-to-day issues and get on with the adventure of military life. From relocation to deployment, protocol to finances, and career to kids, Leyva offers time-tested advice about:

• Keeping your love life together during deployments

• Relocating yourself and your family around the world

• Maintaining your own career when you're expected to move every three years

• Understanding what pay and benefits you're entitled to -- and how to maximize them

• Translating those odd acronyms and jargon

Written by a seasoned military wife, this smart and savvy guide will help you take control at every point of your servicemember's career -- from filing marriage papers as newlyweds to choosing prenatal and child care when you start a family to figuring out his pension when he's ready to retire.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"For someone new to military life, adjusting can sometimes be overwhelming. Married to the Military provides great information and a commonsense approach that will help military wives and significant others make the best of their experiences." -- Sylvia Kidd, director of family programs for the Association of the U.S. Army (AUSA) and spouse of the Sergeant Major of the Army (Ret.)

About the Author

Meredith Leyva is the founder and editor of CinCHouse.com, the Internet’s largest community for military wives and women in uniform. Leyva currently resides with her family in Norfolk, Virginia, where her husband is stationed aboard the USS Enterprise.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Touchstone; Rev Upd edition (July 14, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1439150265
• ISBN-13: 978-1439150269
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (127 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #61,564 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Well...I guess it might make good fire starter?, August 10, 2005

By 

Annabelle Campbell (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Married to the Military: A Survival Guide for Military Wives, Girlfriends, and Women in Uniform (Paperback)

I bought this book because I thought the cover was cute--but that should have been my first notice that the insides would be worthless.

Every other page is filled with "check out my website for more help!" So I did, since the contents of the book certainly didn't contain any of the info I was searching for. What I found was far from helpful. The website is filled with cute designs, sappy stories, and that's about it. Upon venturing into the forums, however, I was appalled.

Phrases like "Filthy raghead" and "queer homos" littered the message boards. While the author of the book and her team of moderators are frequent visitors, they did nothing to remove these posts, therefor leading me to believe that they condone these thoughts. The drama is worse than high school.

PLEASE do not buy this book. The information contained in it is trivial--as a Navy girlfriend of less than 2 years, I knew everything in the book, due to common sense or a simple google search. It encourages young girls to revoke their life in order to support their husbands, which is not only wrong, but pathetic.

There are plenty of good books out there. This is not one of them.

42 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Bored to Tears, December 10, 2003

By 

itsmemissab (North Carolina, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Married to the Military: A Survival Guide for Military Wives, Girlfriends, and Women in Uniform (Paperback)

Having been an Army wife for 2 years and a fiancee for 2 years before that, I am always looking to learn more about how to cope with the difficulties of military life. My mother picked up this book for me because the cute cover caught her eye. Unfortunately, the cover is the only good thing about this book.

The author's tone is condescending throughout the book, and she talks down to readers, which is a real turn-off. Ms. Leyva obviously has no idea of the day to day struggles of average enlisted wives. Some of the information provided is false. [...] The book gives some cutesy information about how to act and how wonderful it is to support your man *rolls eyes*

Save your money, ladies! There are better books out there that will prepare you for the real military life...not the rosy picture painted in books.

27 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars not worth it, August 10, 2005

By 

Navy Spouse (FT Meade MD) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Married to the Military: A Survival Guide for Military Wives, Girlfriends, and Women in Uniform (Paperback)

Basically, a shameless plug for the website, which isn't any different than the many others out there doing the same thing. The Chat Forums are full of ignorant and uneducated children who give out bad information left and right, which they probably got from the book. The book itself is not much, most of the information can be found on the web or at your local Family Support Center.