Customer Reviews

The Package Deal: My (not-so) Glamorous Transition from Single Gal to Instant Mom

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Izzy Rose has written a delightful book: The Package Deal about her journey from independent career woman to taking on an instant family with two teenage boys! The role she finds herself in is peppered with "Rules" she is learning along the way and some great recipes for coping - check out Gram's Rum Cake. Izzy combines warmth, humor and the hopes and dreams of most women who decide to take on this challenge for the man they love. From the time she makes her decision to move across the country, away from career, family and friends for love, you are in the struggle with her. The Rules that evolve along the way are rules so many in steplife learn, and usually the hard way: Rule #10: Surrender your expectations; Rule #12: When the Kids have a "tude, suck it up and don't take it personally; Rule #16: Compromise but don't sacrifice yourself. Wisdom she is gaining as she moves through the process.

Hank and Izzy's relationship is what stands out though because with a good partnership, the bumps and grinds, stresses and hurts are bearable, even when they seem unbearable. Early on they developed their House Rules, which included the rules the whole family follows and the couples' expectations of the kids; the entire family signed it (kids and parents) and both parents enforced the rules, establishing themselves as the parental heads of the household. Hank is also a partner who realizes the sacrifice she is making to be with him and supports her; he pays attention to date nights, to showing appreciation and to letting her go when she needed to go . Their relationship is one of openness with another, an openness that allows for honest communication, honest expression of feelings and paying attention to one another's needs. So when the turbulence comes, which it always, always does, they are learning to navigate it together and to weather the storms.

Wishing Izzy and Hank a long and happy marriage and I suggest that you pick up this book, laugh with her, cry with her, get yourself some good girlfriends (or at least l) who is a stepmom and poor your hearts out to one another. I know my girlfriends have helped me survive it all!

Attention everyone who has ever told a woman with stepkids, "You just need a sense of humor." Calling all those who presume that the whole problem for those of us having problems with stepkinder is that we just don't know how to laugh it off. Clearly you've never met Izzy Rose or read her book, The Package Deal.

It's not easy to make stepmothering funny, because the difficulties can be so, well, aggravating, consuming, unremitting, and un-funny. Particularly in the first year or so, as the woman with stepkids endures everything from insults to her cooking from kids in a loyalty bind to the insult of stepfamily architecture in which she is the stuck outsider to all the persistent cultural dumbthink about stepmothering ("You'll get back whatever you give"; "All you need are good intentions," "Just love them and they'll come around," etc).

In spite of all she's (and all stepmothers are) up against, Rose pulls of the seemingly impossible: she writes about the frequently bruising and brutal first year of going from single gal to insta-stepmom in a book that is hilarious, smart, and compulsively readable. Never one to feel sorry for herself, and always one to find the silver label lining in any bad situation (Izzy has a thing about adult beverages, bless her), she's more than just a wisecracking protagonist you root for and want to go shoe shopping with. Like a true friend, Izzy makes you laugh, it's true; but she'll also make you cry, make you think, and help you feel profoundly understood.
Wednesday Martin, Ph.D.
author, Stepmonster: A New Look at Why Real Stepmothers Think, Feel, and Act the Way We Do

Izzy Rose has given us a delightful story about being a new stepmother. She tells it like it is. She amuses us with her funny,and/or painfully honest stepfamily situations. It's from those stories the reader can gain valuable information and wisdom...as well as hope

Hers is a timeless and touching tale. There's nothing like that shocking first year in a new stepfamily! Like many of us, Izzy was uprooted by love. She moved from an exciting career in a perfect locaton with built in best friends to WHAT? - a strange place with no friends, no family, and the expectation of raising someone else's half grown children. She goes back and forth from cocky confidence to feelings of failure and fear of being miserably stuck.

My favorite part of The Package Deal is how beautifully she portrays the strong love between her and her fiance. It's that force that propels them to the next level of connection, communication and confidence that makes it all worthwhile.

Thank you Izzy Rose for this great contribution to the latest stepmother and stepfamily literature. Your story is thoroughly enjoyable.

Susan Wisdom, LPC
Author of Stepcoupling

This book is a must buy for single gals entering true love with more than one person as a stepmom. I am a single girl who has fallen for a fantastic man with 3 kids and an ex who is unbearable and this book put it all in perspective - andgave me hope it will work with humour! When you feel alone this book will let you know you are amongst millions in the same boat. Also check out the website [...]
Fantastic!

After reading this book, I put it in the waiting area of my office because it's hilarious for anyone to read, even if you're not a step parent. I can hear my clients giggling as they read it and they all want to take it home after reading just a short bit so I had to get more than one copy. -Kori Morehouse

food
recipes
friends
family
in-laws
step-parents
Step- MOM
basically the Mom
step-kids
marriage
career
location
a California girl
and a Memphis gospel choir

oh yes, and the cats

It sounds like the makings of a good southern novel, or a county music song.

A few minutes ago, I read the last page of "The Package Deal - My (not-so) Glamorous Transition from Single Gal to Instant Mom" by Izzy Rose. Who of us cannot find ourselves some place in that mix-of-words title?

Here's the link to the book on Amazon and here's the link to the short video promotion of the book.

This book is Izzy's memoir. I have had the honor of watching this life story unfold from prior to the birth of 'the Tall One.' You see, I'm a friend of the 'mother-in-law.' Have you ever had the opportunity to read a book about the life of someone you know - someone you really know? It's a strange feeling, seeing life written on the page. We read fiction, we read biographies, we read autobiographies, but how often do we read about real people with whom we talk and laugh and cry and hug and interact?

Izzy's style of writing keeps the reader engrossed in the page. I couldn't put the book down. I'm sure part of that was because I wanted to see how she would tell the family saga. But, her use of words had me laughing out loud (sitting in a room alone; that's a strange feeling to laugh out loud when no one is around) one moment, and wiping tears from my eyes the next. And I knew the basic story line! I knew what was coming next. And I still cried!

I think I gave Hank and Izzy a cake stand as a wedding gift. It was one of those pastel stands from Williams Sonoma. I hope it was pink; I just don't remember the color. Perhaps it has had the honor of displaying Gram's Rum Cake (page 202).

You have to read the book. Whether you are interested in the recipe for Gram's Rum Cake or the 21 Stepmom rules, there's something in the book for everyone.

Izzy, what's next? I'm (im)patiently awaiting your next book...

(from my blog post: http://bakingpictures.blogspot.com/2009/05/its-all-in-book.html)

A GREAT read that made me laugh and cry and laugh and laugh. Thanks so much Izzy for sharing your love story, and for your funny and heartfelt insight into parenting (not just step-parenting!) and relationships. Your tale is a reminder that we are all just out here, learning as we go along. People, buy this book! Izzy, write a sequel! :)

Book review of The Package Deal: My (not-so) Glamorous Transition from Single Gal to Instant Mom

I saw this book after reading Izzy's blog, and was so happy that there was a kindle version. I downloaded it immediately and read it without putting it down until it was finished. In fact at one point I had to stop, plug the kindle in, and keep reading.

This book is powerfully written. As a stepmom myself I found myself identifying with the main character on more than a few occasions. From her struggle to maintain her relationship with her husband to her relocation to another part of the country this character spoke to me. The transition her life took after she got married put her in a tailspin as everything was different. I laughed at some of the predicaments that she had to put up with..."Putting up with man smell in the house." I cried at other parts...her wedding and when her young stepson chose to go live with his mom. I felt like her sister when she described her first mother's day. It was very similar to my first mother's day, and I was very much conflicted by the avalanche of emotions I felt.

I have something else in common with the author I have no bio kids myself. It makes the challenge from being a carefree girl in the city to wife and mother of 2 boys in the south especially exciting and challenging.

I was even jealous that she got to live in Austin. One of my most favorite places in the world. I am an avid reader and probably read over 200 books a year. I have a criteria system that I use to rate books, and part of the criteria is whether or not I would like to go to lunch with the author. I identified so well with this story I already feel like the author is my friend. I hope that there is another book in Izzy because I want to be the first to read it.

One other thing I liked about this book is that she didn't make it all about the bio mom and the struggles that can happen in a blended family. I think so often blended families get caught in that rat trap. This book was about her experiences as a stepmom and her relationship to her husband.

The author also realized her career calling because of her experiences as a stepmom. I think that puts such a positive spin on situations that usually only get negative attention! What an inspiration for us all!
This book is for you if you are a stepparent or you want to know what it is like to have to walk in the shoes of a stepparent. It also shows you that blended families do not have to mean fighting and court battles that everyone can get along and work out the issues that come up as close to amicably as possible.

Unfortunately for me I have no friends that are stepmoms. If I ever have a chance to make some...I intend to buy them this book. They are going to need it!

I don't come from a blended family, nor have I married into one, but I absolutely adored this book. It made me laugh out loud, and tear up, and relate. I devoured it, heading to bed a half hour early to curl up and step into the story. It was great fun, and a great inspiration. It's a great read that anyone can relate to, full of self-ironic anecdotes about adaptation and discovery, written with such cleverness and grace. Loved it!!

This book is a hoot. I loved it from beginning to end. There is humor, drama and real, honest truths in this memoir. I recommend it highly!!