My Reality [Hardcover]

Melissa Rycroft (Author)

Book Description

Release date: June 5, 2012

The star of The Bachelor, Dancing With The Stars, and special correspondent for Good Morning America shares her story with warmth, enthusiasm, and humor.

Best known as the girl who was proposed to by The Bachelor star Jason Mesnick and then dumped on national TV six weeks later, Melissa Rycroft immediately turned her life around. Now married to her original love, Tye Strickland, and expecting her first child, Melissa shares her “Cinderella” story of overcoming heartbreak and finding happiness.

     Melissa Rycroft got her start on the CMT reality TV series Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team and was selected for the 2006-2007 NFL Season. That’s when her personal life first fell apart, and the man that she was in love with broke up with her. To help her get over her heartbreak and overcome depression, her friends nominated her to participate as a contestant on The Bachelor. When Mesnick revealed that he was breaking his engagement off with her because he chose the wrong girl, she garnered a lot of respect for handling the shock with such grace and decorum even though she was angry and heartbroken. Two days later, Melissa clinched a spot on Dancing With The Stars, placing third in the competition, and reconciled with her true love. In a “girlfriend to girlfriend” voice readers love, Melissa shares entertaining stories and valuable survival tips from a woman who has “been there and back!”

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Melissa Rycroft, born in Dallas, Texas, is a reality TV star and former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader. She participated as a contestant on CMT reality TV series Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team ABC's The Bachelor, and Dancing with the Stars, and is the co-host on The Bachelor Pad and a special correspondent for Good Morning America.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Gallery Books (June 5, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1451631634
• ISBN-13: 978-1451631630
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #362,255 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars pathetic August 7, 2012

By Patricia Haberfield

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Not a very interesting read. Melissa comes across as extremely needy and superficial. Her husband isn't much better. Hope they have matured recently since they now have a child.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Waste of Time September 16, 2012

By kayeffect

Format:Hardcover

I picked this book at from the library because it was...well, just sitting there while I was checking out and I thought, "Why not?" I watch "The Bachelor" and "The Bachelorette" shows on and off and have even had a friend on "The Bachelorette" so I'll admit it can be good TV --- a guilty pleasure. So, I was familiar with Melissa as I watched the season she was on. This book ----- blows. Not sure whose idea it was to give this girl a book contract but it is BORING, pointless and I felt like I was reading a Teen People magazine article. Oh wait, those articles at least give somewhat decent advice, whereas this book gives none. I don't think it's okay for women to chase after men who have no interest in them and then write a tell-all book when they "capture" the guy of their dreams. Bad message for women!! I agree with previous reviews that her now-husband sounds like a jerk or was truly not into her (flash over to "He's Just Not That Into You") until she got her 15 minutes in Hollywood. I think it's pathetic and sad that she went back to Tye after his non-chalant, uncaring ways. Really...just such a poor read... I had thought Melissa was a nice reality TV person, but this book shows her to be simple, sexist and kind of plain ol' sad when it comes to being with men.

10 of 14 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Stream-of-Conciousness Ramblings From A Psychotic TV Star That I Used to Like August 5, 2012

By Mediaman

Format:Hardcover

I used to like Melissa Rycroft until I read her book--instead of the innocent girl-next-door she comes across as a complete whackjob who does nothing but blabber on and on about her insecure feelings about men. This book sounds like she just talked into a tape recorder as she'd be talking to one of her girlfriends, then they transcribed the words without proper editing because it's filled with contradictions and repetitiveness. And the thing you're most interested in, background details on The Bachelor and Dancing with the Stars, are almost completely missing.

This book is about one thing--Melissa Rycroft falling for a Texas guy named Tye. It's really their story but we're only hearing Melissa's side of it. The first 44 pages could be summarized in one sentence: after a year of dating occasionally she wanted a love commitment and Tye wasn't interested. There--I just saved you having to trudge through her acting like a basket case in crying over a guy she liked.

Then she went nuts and flew into a screaming rage. When she got no reaction from him she spent the next few months rehashing the breakup with others before one of her friends put in an application for her with the TV show The Bachelor. Her behavior during this time period is so psychotic that it's hard to believe any of her friends would stick by her. Maybe they sent her away on The Bachelor to stop having to hear her crazy rehashing about Tye's faults over and over again, which is what she does throughout the book.

When it gets to the section on the show, there are few details as to what went on. She does not give any specifics beyond the first night and the final rose ceremony. Possibly she was contractually barred from it but it makes the book much less interesting. When she gets back from being engaged to Jason, Tye is waiting for her and has suddenly decided he wants her! He must have caught her psychosis, or he was just a typical competitive guy who wanted to prove no Bachelor star was going to beat him. So she goes out with him. Huh? She's secretly engaged to another man! This is a woman who has no idea how to deal with men or handle relationships. She blames it all on the two guys (who end up going stone silent when she starts verbally assaulting them) but in truth this book shows exactly how not to be a female in a relationship. Her needy, insecure ramblings do nothing but turn guys off. And Tye is a textbook silent egotistical jerk that preys on insecure women and they fall for him.

She eventually gets to the part where Bachelor Jason breaks up with her, she goes back to Tye, she turns down being the Bachelorette and does Dancing with the Stars, all without saying much about any details. She marries Tye and turns into an entertainment correspondent who loves meeting celebrities, which is ironic since she says she first started to dislike Jason when he went on interview shows and began to like becoming a celebrity. It appears that this is just a woman who wants all the attention to be on her.

The contradictions in the book are numerous. At one point she said she never thought about people back home while on The Bachelor, then a couple paragraphs later says she thought often about Tye or her parents (who refused to be part of the show). She said when she got back she was no longer interested in Tye and didn't talk to him, then turns around and says she went out to eat with him or picked up the phone when he called. She claims to have morals and faith (and on her TV show is a vocal Christian) but she lies on her Bachelor questionnaire (failing to report her relationship with Tye). This woman is not being honest with herself.

The book is so poorly conceived and edited that much of the blame must be put on the editors who oversaw the production of the book. There is little in it beyond "I'm mad at Tye and confused why men act the way they do." It may be worth reading for those hungry to hear anything about what it's like to stay silent for five months about your engagement (no wonder these TV couples break up--it makes sense after reading this!). But it could have been an interesting behind-the-scenes story of what happens when a girl is plucked out of nowhere to become a TV personality. Instead it's just another story of a woman who wants to be Cinderella but doesn't know how to pick Prince Charming. She may call it reality but she still very much wants to live in a fantasy world.