Getting Naked: The Quiet Work of Becoming Perfectly Imperfect

by Valerie Bertinelli

From beloved actress and New York Times bestselling author Valerie Bertinelli, her most vulnerable book yet offering wisdom hard-won through divorce, menopause, and generational pain, with a powerful message of self-acceptance and embracing the past with compassion.

With her signature warmth and disarming humor, the beloved actress and New York Times bestselling author strips away the polished façade and shares what it’s really like to grow older, love harder, and start over. Now in her mid-sixties, Valerie reflects on the hard-won lessons of aging, self-worth, and letting go. From her experiences with menopause, relationships, and family trauma, she writes with clarity and compassion about the insecurities that have haunted her for shame and anxiety about her body, and the false belief that her value depended on perfection. Through it all, Valerie reflects on the quiet, daily work of self-acceptance—the kind that doesn’t make headlines but changes lives. Getting Naked isn’t just a story of survival. It’s a reckoning—with her past, her family history, and the generational pain that shaped her. It’s about the myths we believe when we’re young—about beauty, love, success—and how we carry them until they break us open. It’s about unlearning the script that says women must please, endure, and stay silent.

The result is a deeply personal, unexpectedly funny, and profoundly uplifting look at the inner journey we all share. Getting Naked isn’t about vulnerability for vulnerability’s sake. It’s about finally letting go of the need to be perfect, quieting the harsh inner critic, and choosing compassion over judgment. After all, it’s never too late to make peace with yourself—and to fall madly in love with the perfectly imperfect person you already are.

240 pages, Kindle Edition

Expected publication March 10, 2026

About the author

Valerie Bertinelli is the host of her own daytime series Valerie’s Home Cooking and co-hosts Kids Baking Championship on the Food Network. The two-time Golden Globe award-winning actress takes her fans into her kitchen with her new cookbook “Valerie’s Home Cooking” (Oxmoor House, an imprint of Time Inc. Books, October 2017). Her fun flavor combinations, like Brown Sugar Sriracha Bacon Bites, Lobster BLTs, and Tomato Soup with Grilled Cheese Croutons, transform traditional classics into crave-worthy and exciting new dishes to enjoy with friends and family. Bertinelli first became a household name for her role as Barbara on CBS’s long-running series, One Day at a Time. Over the years, her career expanded from acting to include hosting, spokesperson, business entrepreneur and New York Times best-selling author. She has also helped develop, produce, and star in several television movies and mini-series, and in August 2012 she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She most recently starred as Melanie Moretti in TV Land’s critically acclaimed sitcom Hot in Cleveland.

Reviews

[Maria · Rating 2 out of 5]

The queen of too much information writes another book about her quest to be comfortable in her own skin. Well, the first thing I would tell Ms. Bertinelli is this. If you choose to put your ‘naked body’ on your book cover, and the books message is how to forgive, accept and move on— do not put a badly photoshopped image of your pricy verniers, made up eyes and unlined face harking back to an image of you in your mid-40’s. The b/w’s inside the book are so much more attractive. Any one of those would have been an ideal cover. Embrace your aging like punk queen Patti Smith, not Christie Brinkley.

It TOTALLY goes against the theme Val is trying so hard to get others onboard with.

That being said; yes she still loves Ed, Wolfie & his wife. Husband # 2 is mentioned, but not by name. There is no mention of the disastrous publicly humiliating “I’m In Love” romance with an InstaGram writer/fan this past year.

The good parts I related to. The Italian parents, the cheating father, the no sex education, the numerous brothers, self image, the naïveté of one’s 20’s and throw in a breast implant reveal too. Some fans will love it.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced reader copy.

[Tina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Firstly, i admire Valerie Bertinelli for always being so honest and open in her books as well as in her various social media posts and in her life in general.

It's hard for me to think that she is 65 because she sooo does not look it.

We have shared many similar struggles, and I am just a few years younger than she is. I mention this because all these commonalities, of course, affect my review of this book.

I would classify this as a book of essays with some self-help thrown in. it's a bit of a stretch to call it a memoir. I was a tad disappointed in this as I would love to read another memoir based on her life since the last book.

My thoughts.....Bertinelli is extremely hard on herself. Many of the things she mentions, such as remembering all the events, in her past, which have caused and continue to cause her misery today, is something I believe we can all relate to.

This is the strength in this book - Bertinelli shares feelings and thoughts that many of us have, and it makes me feel better knowing that I am not alone. Each chapter is a little ray of hope for all of us.

Her struggles with her weight, her two divorces, losing her job, the death of her parents and how it felt to be raised by them, as well as the death of Eddie Van Halen are front and center here.


The things I loved:

Her description of how free she felt swimming in her pool was very empowering. As she described it, I could almost feel the calmness she felt at that moment.

Her love for Wolfie and his wife are obvious, as well as her love for Eddie Van Halen. These two (now3) have been a theme in all of Bertinelli's books. I have never heard her utter one bad word about Eddie Van Halen and its very obvious she still loves him. Not so much her second husband and I get it, I have no love loss for most of my relationships either, but there is always THAT one person.....

She mentions worrying about $, and I was very surprised at this. I am guilty of just assuming she has tons of money and while she questions many aspects of her life, she is doing it in a (what I assume) is a beautiful house, surrounded by lots of Hollywood friends and job offers all over the place. The 'what does she really have to complain about' thought did cross my mind, but everytime I read a book by Bertinelli, I get myself in check because, obviously you do not need to be wildly rich to have problems. I keep forgetting that, and Valerie Bertinelli is certainly not a spoiled actress without a clue about real life, which we so often see in Hollywood. In fact, she could easily be our best friend - because that is the overall vibe she gives out.

I do hope that Bertinelli writes another memoir and that she keeps doing what she is doing. It helps.

[*TUDOR^QUEEN* · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF @ 40%

I was enthusiastic to read this because I really enjoyed Valerie Bertinelli's previous memoir Enough Already: Learning to Love the Way I Am Today. There were a lot of references to her Italian family origins, cooking, her enduring love for ex-husband Eddie Van Halen as he was dying from cancer, and of course her overwhelming love for their son Wolfgang. I went back to read my review and the book rose above my expectations- I gave it 5 Stars.

I can't even bring myself to finish this insipid offering I am so bored with it. Ironically enough, I am ready to call out "Enough Already!" - which is the title of her last memoir. However, if I had to re-title this one I'd call it "Platitudes". The word means:

-A trite or banal remark or statement, especially one expressed as if it were original or significant. Synonym: cliche.

- Lack of originality; triteness. The quality or state of being flat, thin, or insipid; flat commonness, triteness; staleness of ideas or language.

While Valerie discusses going through menopause and scaling back on her drinking, she ruminates on all manner of self-care and self-discovery that increasingly became a lot of rambling fluff to me. She also included passages from her journals sort of like poetry that didn't resonate with me and made me feel kind of embarrassed for her. I just came away from this thinking that this was a poor excuse for writing a book and it lacked substance. I can't recommend this one.

Thank you to the publisher William Morrow who provided an advance reader copy via NetGalley.

[Alice · Rating 5 out of 5]

FULL DISCLAIMER:I'm a child of the eighties, i said I'd have been inhaling when I was a junior in high school, i adore wolf van halen and his band with that being said, you know I am of the school that Valerie Bertinelli can do no wrong - I have loved everything.This woman has done and written.And this book is absolutely no different i love how she is so open and honest about everything. She loves her, son, fiercely.And with no apologies, she is his number one fan and I live for it, you can tell by the stories that she obviously loved Ed very much. She speaks very little of her second husband and that's okay, we all have relationships like that. And I think for those of us that have followed the Van Halen legacy we know it just wasn't their time, not that the love wasn't there- she talks about real things.Money,getting old,feeling old, menopause, family tranua- life isn't about being perfect.Just living your best life- i thoroughly enjoyed it

Thank you.Netgalley for the arc exchange for an honest review

[Nicki - The Overflowing Bookcase · Rating 4 out of 5]

Being comfortable in your own skin and allowing the hurt from your past to make you stronger is what Valerie Bertinelli weaves into journal posts and reflections. At times these posts are hard to read as they hit home with any woman who was afraid to really see the person looking back at you in front of the mirror. Ms. Bertinelli does it with a sense of growth through laughter, love and just being honest. Overall it was a great read.