Enough Already, is a book most women are going to relate to. Valerie shares her life with us, her thoughts, her losses, grief, and some grief as she is letting go of who she was as she became who she was becoming. Now that she is in her sixties, she has realized that age has given her what she has been looking for all her life. It has given her-her.
Being in my sixties, I could relate to her journey, as she traveled along hers. The day comes when she realizes what she really wants is for her soul to be fed with compassion, forgiveness, gratitude, kindness, and love. We each have our own journey, but sometimes, we are alike in many ways. Sometimes in life, you feel like you are alone, and no one would understand what you are going through. Reading Valerie's book, she is honest with what she has been through, how the little voices in her head has hurt her, and it was comforting to realize someone is talking about the journey, the evolving into who you are to become, and all that goes with it. Even though people told her how amazing she is and how good she looks, it comes down to you aren't going to see yourself that way, until your brain, heart, and soul are on board too.
Valerie gives us some of her recipes and I have tried some of them, and they are good.
I received an ARC from Mariner Books through NetGalley.

From her earliest days on “ One Day at a Time”, I’ve always thought of Valerie Bertinelli as a living, breathing, approachable, everyday kind of person, albeit one who is beautiful, talented, and a very successful TV star. She always just came across as so kind, so real, and so “normal”.

Reading this fascinating and heart-wrenching memoir, penned at a time when the author was still suffering from the effects of Covid lockdown; the declining health, move into care, and rapid and unexpected passing of both of her parents; and finally, the cruel and devastating loss of her ex-husband, Eddie Van Halen, to his decade-long battle with cancer - confirmed my earliest impressions, as the author, with the rawness and no-holds-barred approach she has taken to telling her story, creates a mood that is intimate, compassionate, grief-soaked, soul-searching and deeply vulnerable, - inspiring all of these emotions, in spades, back from this reader.

“This book is about letting go of certain behavior that no longer serves me, recognizing that perhaps it never did and trying to find new ways of channeling my thoughts and emotions.”

The narrative shared is brutally frank, confirming that the author, like all of us, is not immune to heartache, struggling with the same issues most of us face regarding our own mortality; the aging of our parents; self-esteem and identity; weight control; and the crumbling of trust and alignment with our life-partners.

Anyone who has wanted to lose ten pounds, struggled with pervasive unhealthy body issues stemming from childhood, or found themselves deeply lacking when comparing against friends (which should just about cover most of us?) will relate to the author’s self-image and identity struggles and their impact, particularly for someone so exposed to the public arena through her TV and media appearances. As the author leans into her sixty-first year, - a year preceded by catastrophic changes and a desperate need for new coping tools and growth - her thoughts, recipes, memories and yearnings laid out in this diary-like memoir paint a picture that is tragic, utterly engaging, and keenly inspiring.

“As I move forward in life, I continue to learn it’s only and all about love in the end “

Throughout it all, the author (and her ex-husband’s) love and wonder in their child, Wolfie, now an adult and a successful musician on his own, shines throughout the narrative with such depth and sincerity that, in several places, it brought a lump to my throat.

“I am trying to get to a place where I look at myself the way Wolfie did when he was a little boy - with pure love.”

Clearly at a point where she is ready to tackle her inner demons, once and for all, “Enough Already” is a probing, sensitive and intensely touching reminder that we are not alone - each of us, on our own individual timeline and with our own particularities, will face and be obliged to manage many similar life-events as those so generously detailed here, (perhaps now, as I’m sure is the author’s intent, with a little more foresight, and a lot more permission to allow ourselves to be.)

I’m grateful to the author for her courage in sharing her story, highly recommended to readers everywhere, and in particular, women facing their mid or twilight years with unanswered questions and a still-bruised self-image.

“It was about giving myself permission to connect to my heritage and enjoy food and everything associated with it. It was about being me.”

A great big thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for an ARC of this book. All thoughts presented are my own.

Top 5 Reasons to read Enough Already by Valerie Bertinelli. 1. You want a refreshing take on weight loss and body image. 2. Her very best recipes (that chocolate cake!) 3. Lines like this “Joy is not going to come to me. I have to intentionally pursue it everyday.” 4. You love cat videos on Tik Tok too. 5. Her candid and heart wrenching story about her ex Ed Van Halen’s death. 5+ You’re looking for a book with a lotta love.

This book packs a powerful punch. I'm a few steps behind author, but I'm learning.
Thanks so much for this wonderful book.

Thanks to author,publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book. While I got the book for free, it had no bearing on the rating I gave it.

This is the 2nd book I’ve ready by Bertinelli and I really enjoyed them both. I like her writing and how she tells about her life, challenges, and her deep dive into cooking. I found some of her recipes throughout the book. She also shares about her relationships with her son, ex-husband Eddie Van Halen, and others. This book is also about her getting over the life-long diet habit and accepting herself as she is. A very good memoir. Advance electronic review copy was provided by NetGalley, author Valerie Bertinelli, and the publisher.

I have read all of Valerie Bertinelli's books and they are all great including her two cookbooks. I actually met her at a book signing for her cookbook One Dish at a Time. She is a lovely and personable lady. This book really interested me because she included her personal struggles as well as her personal life with ex-husband Eddie Van Halen. Because I grew up listening to his music and also watching her shows and movies, it was of particular interest to me.

I appreciate how she did not speak negatively of anyone and just told her story in the most raw and forthcoming way. She took us behind the scenes of her current show Valerie's Home Cooking and also promoted her son Wolfie's music career. She is one proud mama and rightfully so. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I think anyone with personal weight struggles, painful divorces, those who love to cook, moms, and so on will love it too. It encompasses so much.

Thank you to NetGalley, Tuxedo Ltd., and HarperCollins Publishers for the ARC of this book.

Enough Already by Valerie Bertinelli is an excellent memoir that gives the reader an honest, raw, and hopeful look on aging, acceptance, and finding happiness.

I loved reading Valerie’s first book, so I knew I had to read her newest book and the updated reflections she now offers in the years since the previous was published. She is just as down to earth, honest, positive, human, and open as she was before. She has a way of drawing the reader in as if you are a friend sitting on her couch with a cup of coffee passing pieces of advice back and forth.

She doesn’t make excuses, admits her faults and her imperfections, and admits she will always be a work in progress (as we all are). It was entertaining and enjoyable and I hope she continues to keep her wonderful attitude, outlook, and writes another book in the future.

(The recipes throughout were a nice addition as well.)

5/5 stars

Thank you NG and Mariner Books for this wonderful arc and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.

I am posting this review to my GR and Bookbub accounts immediately and will post it to my Amazon, Instagram, and B&N accounts upon publication on 1/18/22.

I like Valerie Bertinelli and I enjoyed reading about her life as a daughter, wife, mother, and celebrity. This is a great look into her life and the things that have made her who she is today. She is in her sixties and finally feels that she has found herself. I liked her look into all things life and how they create and shape us.
A good memoir that women can relate to.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC!

Valerie Bertinelli has authored a most engaging and honest examination of her sixty years as daughter, wife, mother and actress. She shares stories about her struggles with weight and self-acceptance and the reader meets the people and the heartfelt experiences that have influenced and affected her on this journey.
Valerie’s solace was often food and the comfort that it provided her was frequently her enemy when the scale revealed more than she wanted to see causing harsh judgement on herself.
She managed marriage, motherhood, a successful acting career, a popular show on the Food Network and well received cook books yet her quest for perfection never ended. One of her most powerful moments was finding her mothers recipe box after her passing. Within this box, she found not only the recipes of those before her but the lives and strength of these women. Her personal memories of her mother and grandmother were woven into each card and was at the heart of the culinary perfection that she tasted throughout her life. Only then, did she walk the path to face the fact that who and what she is is enough.
Valerie’s warmth, charm and candor jump from each page and her words are identifiable and refreshing. Her beauty inside and out shines and I feel as if I have gained a wonderful new friend.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to NetGalley, Mariner Books and Valerie Bertinelli for an ARC in exchange for an honest book review.

This memoir was written with a lot of sincerity, soul searching, grief and love and it shows.... in good ways and in not-as-good ways. I related to Bertinelli's "enough already" mantra - enough with trying to lose those 10 pounds, enough trying to be perfect, etc. I appreciate her sharing her experience, ideas and advice on how to find joy in life, as well as her opening up about her love for food & cooking, her son Wolfie and her ex-husband Eddie Van Halen. Some parts of the different essays/chapters do tend to get a bit repetitive. And, I can only imagine how Eddie's widow Janie or Valerie's now estranged husband Tom feel reading Valerie's words about EVH and their unending love for one another through the ups and downs of the 40 years of their relationship. But I read this book in a day and would recommend it to anyone who either wanted to be Valerie Bertinelli or date her in the 80s... or who just want to see a celebrity open up about facing and shedding her own insecurities and embracing life in the moment.

NOTE: I received a free advance readers copy from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Valerie Bertinelli has written an honest and relatable book that most people will love. I couldn’t put this book down , I felt like I was sitting beside her through the whole book. She had me laughing and crying and wanting to give her a hug and felt I had been through a lot of situations that Val has written about. She made me feel that I was not alone and wanted to thank her for her honesty about her life, both good and bad and sad. Personally I think this will be a bestseller and will help people realize that she has problems like everyone else. Thanks Val and she includes delicious recipes and guides you to understanding what may lead you more joy in your life and I’ve said Enough Aleady.🤗👏😋🥰📕💐🙏

This is a wonderful book about the joys and complexities of life but whose love of life and family is evident in all she does. She shares more of her love for Eddie and Wolfie and her current Marriage. It’s overlying theme is hope and love and making the best of what you are given.
Wonderful book 📕

This is another terrific book by Valerie Bertinelli. She starts off with Eddie Van Halen and openly discusses the last few years of his life. This was a couple destined for each other and that love never ceased. She writes adoringly about their son Wolfie and you can tell he got the best of both parents as he is deeply caring and a fine musician in his own right. She talks of Ed's parents and his young life including recipes by "Ma" as she called Mrs. Van Halen, as well as her own mom.
She opens up on her marriage to Tom Vitale and the path that went down.
I love the way she strives for happiness and positivity--don't we all? Especially during Covid.

This is a life-affirming book, that even in pain and death, our love never dies.

Thank you NetGalley & Mariner Books for the ARC. And to Valerie.

Valerie is just so refreshing and her honesty goes down easy like one of her incredible lasagnas! There is a great deal to admire about her - she's compassionate, courageous, and appears incredibly grateful for all that life has bestowed on her. Her writing is friendly and conversational, like sitting across the table from one of your best girlfriends, sipping tea (or wine), and sharing from your heart.

I'm inspired to buy this book for my women friends and relatives who are always bemoaning, "if I could just lose ten pounds, I would feel so much better about myself..." little do they realize they are absolutely perfect the way they are - just like Valerie Bertinelli.

I’ve been looking forward to reading this. I always think it is very brave for people to be able to write their story good and bad. I think Valerie put it all out there and it will help and be relatable to those who have similar feelings and issues. I really enjoyed this book.

This books speaks to my soul. I like how Valerie opens up about her joys and her struggles. I have been a a fan of Valerie's for years. I love how she she talks about how we need to pursue joy each day. And that joy does not just come to us. It is so true we are more geared to hear the negative. And when we carry around heavy emotional baggage and do not deal with it, you become the heavy baggage. We all need to look at ourself with respect and awe for all pieces in this remarkable puzzle that is our life, including the one's that do not seem to fit. We all need to look at the good and count our blessings. I recommend this book for anyone who is a fan of Valerie's or looking for an inspirational read.

A common theme in conversations with
friends & with artists I admire... is time-how are my
grandtwins almost 6?-life goes fast, "oh how the years go
by" @amygrantofficial sang. @wolfiesmom too contemplates
this-she is 60 (I am right behind her) & she asks herself "If I had only twenty years left, what would I want to do? Why limit it to twenty years? What if I had only one day? Or one hour? What would I want to accomplish starting right now? The
answer came to me in a flash. I want to stop wasting time.
This book reminds one that life is not perfect for anyone, we are not perfect, but our time is limited so love yourself, love those who you knew & know, who are truly important to you & be discerning with how you spend your time. I could go
on & on with how much I loved this book but I need to take 3 loaves of cinnamon swirl bread out of the oven, which is exactly how Valerie would want a review to close with!

I loved reading this book.Valerie is warm open emotional real.Sharing her desire to stop worrying about losing ten pounds is something most women sadly can relate to.Reading about her close relationship with her son Wolfie and though long divorced her friendship and forever love for Eddie.Valerie is down to earth like talking to your best friend highly recommend,#netgalley#marinerbooks.

Having watched her from her early days on television I have always admired her. She certainly has had so many ups and downs both career and personally. Not everyone but some of us wake up one day and realize what is most important to us and change the way we think and approach it. Valerie is just that person, and I felt like and old friend that she was opening up to and spilling it out. This definitely was one of my favorite books I read this year.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of Valerie Bertinelli's fabulous new book, Enough Already. I thought that I loved Valerie before but I absolutely LOVE her now. So many of her personal battles resonated strongly with me, from that never-ending quest to lose ten pounds (or twenty, in my case) to the awful pain of watching a mother's health decline.

Valerie's love for her son Wolf, her ex-husband/forever friend/soulmate
Eddie ("Ed") Van Halen, and a delicious meal are constant themes throughout this fast read. The pride that she takes in her son's accomplishments, musical and otherwise, is beyond heartwarming and sincere. Valerie's undying love for Ed will bring tears to your eyes. And her relationship with food is so relatable... I'm ready to try every recipe that she shared in this book!

Enough Already shows us so many sides of Valerie... she is vulnerable, humble, funny, and genuine. At times heartbreaking but always inspiring, Enough Already reminds us all to be kinder to ourselves and to find - and truly appreciate- the love and joy that surrounds us.