Realistically Ever After: Finding Happiness When He's Not Prince Charming, You're Not Snow White, and Life's Not a Fairy Tale (Hardcover)

~ Christina Ferrare (Author) "MY DAUGHTER ALEX interrupts my packing to tell me she has found a box with pictures from when I was modeling..." (more)
Key Phrases: New York, Kathie Lee, Los Angeles (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

’This memoir cum self-help guide combines humor and pathos to relate the ups and downs of marriage, divorce and remarriage. Ferrare, a talk show host, former supermodel and author of So I Don’t Have a Headache, married twice before she met her current husband, Tony. (Her second groom was John DeLorean, the car entrepreneur arrested in a sting operation for dealing cocaine.) Now she and Tony have been together for 20 years, blending three children from his former union with two from hers, along with two daughters they had together. Ferrare details how, on starting out, her fantasies of a harmonious Brady Bunch-like family were soon overturned by the realities of integrating people with differing feelings and needs. Her six-year-old daughter, Kathryn, showed her disdain for stepfather Tony by kicking him in the shin at their first introduction. The family’s first vacation in Hawaii with all the kids was marred by childcare problems and arguments that taught everyone nothing. As the book progresses, Ferrare describes how she and Tony handled the difficulties of raising teenagers, including incidents involving drug use and abuse. According to the author, however, living in reality has brought them closer to one another, in a marriage that Ferrare states is based on "spirituality and commitment to God."
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Product Description

What if living happily ever after isn't the fairy tale you thought it would be? Who would have guessed that Prince Charming snores, or that his horse was a car with a cracked windshield? Cristina Ferrare shows us, with the trademark wit and candor that have made her a beloved media personality and bestselling author, that life isn't a fairy tale. But look at it the right way (and you will after this book) and the reality is wonderful in its own right.

Using examples from her own life, Cristina illustrates that the dirty dishes, hungry kids, cranky boss, and messy house can be just as much a part of joy as rare romantic moments, perfectly behaved children, a well-earned promotion and raise, and a spotless home. Her journey through "a fairy tale interrupted" is one that will strike a chord with both working women and stay-at-home moms.

Thousands of women with low libido identified with Cristina's voice in Okay, So I Don't Have a Headache. Reading Realistically Ever After, women everywhere will see themselves, their families, coworkers, and neighbors in her stories of life's everyday frustrations and hilarious predicaments. And they'll realize that they don't need a hero on a white horse-they've already got everything it takes to be happy.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Rodale Books; First Edition edition (April 28, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1579549470
• ISBN-13: 978-1579549473
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #906,574 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars ENTERTAINING!, April 23, 2004

By	Lisa K. Ericsson (California) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Cristina Ferrare has written a very humorous and yet honest account of the realities of marriage, divorce, giving birth and blending families.

She is honest in her recount of her marriage to John DeLorean in this book (in her beauty book written many years ago she told us her marriage to DeLorean was fabulous) so in retrospect it wasn't fabuluous and she does admit now that in hindsight and with a truly wonderful marriage at present, she was deluding herself about the realities of her marriage to DeLorean.

She saw the blending of the two famiies as "The Brady Bunch" and is very candid when she discovers that nothing could be farther from the truth.

Her sections on pregnancy and childbirth are so refreshing in this day and age when women are led to believe that Lamaze is synonomous with painless and where breastfeeding is a wonderful bond between mother and child instead of an incredibly painful experience.

I loved her fantasy vacations - off they go to Hawaii and Sun Valley and Theme Parks and nothing ever goes according to Cristina's vision of the perfect family on vacation.

The book does take on a somber note when Cristina reveals the depth of her son's drug addiction and his long road back as well as her estrangement from her daughter Kathryn. These chapters don't detract from the lighhearted aspects from the rest of the book and in fact give it more depth.

I have two small problems with this book:

1. She wonders if she can love her grandchildren as much as she does her children and then tells us she loves them more! I don't think I would feel very good if my mother told me that she loves her grandchildren more than she does me and I wonder how her daughters feel about that statement.

2. In discussing her writing, she starts off with the cookbook she wrote as if that were the first book. However, she did write a beauty book back in the 80's that she has totally dismissed in this book and I wonder why. Is it because she tells us what a fabulous marriage she has to John DeLorean in that book and those words have come back to haunt her? I wonder.

Some reviewers are going to dismiss this as so much fluff but I had a smile on my face the whole time I read it and found it to be very honest despite its lightheared tone.

If you are in the mood for a fun read (mostly) told by a funny lady, this is definitely worth reading

I have enjoyed watching Cristina on TV for many years (I even love "The Impossible Years"), wish she had gotten the co-hosting spot with Regis and hope to see her on TV again soon

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Christina has done it once again!!!, May 18, 2004

By A Customer

An amazingly written, laugh-out-loud portrayal of family struggles and life lessons. I bought three more copies of this book to give to friends who share the same opinion. Everyone can relate to Christina's stories. She has an endless passion and vigor for life, a very admirable quality.

Your writing always hits home with me!!!

God Bless!

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A MUST READ FOR WOMEN OF ALL AGES!, May 17, 2004

By	Deborah Jackson-White (Olympia, WA USA) - See all my reviews

You go Cristina Ferrare, this book was FABULOUS!

Realistically Ever After was honest and humorous in a Erma Bombeck-ish way! I laughed, I cried and I giggled from the beginning to the end of this book.

As a much admired and well-liked celebrity, Ms. Ferrare has always been candid in sharing both the good and the troubling times in her life with her audiences and fans. I knew this book would reflect her warm personality, honesty and humor that she shares with us on TV. If you love to watch and listen to her as I do, you will love this book and in your heart you will thank her for opening up and sharing the good and hard times. It lets you know that we are all the same no matter who you are and that nobody has a perfect life.

Now when I need a good giggle or a little cry I don't have to wait for her to be a guest on a TV show, I can just pick up her book at anytime!

I truly recommend this book for women of all ages. I know I will be purchasing this book for my 27 year old daughter. I might add that I know my mother loves her more than me, and nothing could make me happier!
Read the book and you will know why I said this!