I Heart My In-Laws: Falling in Love with His Family--One Passive-Aggressive, Over-Indulgent, Grandkid-Craving, Streisand-Loving, Bible-Thumping In-Law at a Time

by Dina Koutas Poch

A practical, laugh-out-loud guide to adopting your man's family―from your first date to your firstborn

Girlfriends, fiancées, and wives rejoice! Here, at last, is a book you can turn to in times of stress, panic, and family vacations to the smallest cottage ever built on the island of Nantucket. Mirroring the natural progression of a relationship and incorporating interviews from women just like you, this hilarious, savvy guide will help you survive your first meeting with future in-laws, from the holidays, weddings, and new babies, to the day they retire to the house next door because "it's a great real estate investment."

Discover a wide array of sanity-retention techniques and tips on scoring major points with each and every in-law. Learn how to sweet-talk his sister, mollify his mother, and defuse potentially explosive situations―like when your pumpkin pie gives Nana a bad case of hives. Stories range from the tragic "my father-in-law just pinched my ass and not in that sportsmanship kind of way," to the triumphant "I'm now CEO of my grandfather-in-law's cement company―Thanks Pupup!"

Offering handy translation charts with curse words in Persian and compliments in Cantonese, a list of gifts and how to interpret their hidden meaning, tips for reclaiming the holidays one Bastille Day at a time, and your very own set of Mother-in-Law MadLibs, I Heart My In-laws embodies the old saying, "It's funny because it's true."

240 pages, Paperback

First published June 26, 2007

Reviews

[Dina Poch · Rating 5 out of 5]

So, I might have written this book! But I swear -- it's very funny. It's a perfect gift for friends getting married or having a baby. I love it!!

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun, humorous read that reminds you it could always be worse.

[Wisty]

The spine of this book caught my attention at the library, but I unfortunately couldn't power through. I think this had some cute elements and humorous moments, but I just wasn't in the mood for the outdated jokes. Not rating this because I didn't absorb it enough to give a fair rating!

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it! A great collection of experiences with humorous techniques to deal with the new in laws. I think this book would be great for any newly married woman (or seriously dating) just entering into a new family, but also contains stories that will make you laugh out loud if you have been dealing with not so favorable in laws for any length of time. With that said, I enjoyed the book but feel it's not one that can offer any serious help if you are looking for techniques/guidance/etc to deal with in laws (MIL in particular) if there are long standing & problematic issues. But as a light read and a source of knowing you aren't the only one out there dealing with crazy, worth the time!

[Marjanne · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was funny in parts, but (fortunately) did not really capture my in-laws. I have good in-laws. They aren't perfect, but neither am I. I do feel lucky that we all get along (for the most part), and generally respect each others choices in life. Anyhow, this book did give some good general advice. Though it mostly reminded me how different Utah is from the rest of the country (in both good and bad ways). I Heart My In-Laws was an entertaining read, though not exactly deep.