As an avid fan of The Bachelor and all of its spin-offs, I'm well acquainted with Emily Maynard. I remember loving her on Brad Womack's second season (yes, the man did get to be the Bachelor twice, though neither turn led to lasting love), and I enjoyed her season of The Bachelorette (though I cared more about the guys than I did about her quest for love). Now Emily has written a book about her life on and off TV, and I jumped at the chance to read it.

While the description of I Said Yes makes this book sound it will be about Emily's spiritual journey, it really isn't ... for the most part. The first third of the book talks about Emily's childhood and her romance with Ricky Hendrick, who died in a plane crash when Emily was pregnant with their daughter. Much of the rest of the book outlines her time on The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, while the final pages discuss her growing relationship with Christ and her romance with her now-husband, Tyler.

By far, my favorite section of the book was when Emily talked about her time on the shows. (Would I have d more details? Yes.) The tidbit that I found most interesting was that she was annoyed by Kalon from the very first night (she says his helicopter entrance was "a tacky, off-putting gimmick that came across as pretentious"), yet she kept him around because "can you imagine how boring the show would be if I only kept the nice guys around the whole time?" I wanted her to go one step further and confirm what I've long suspected, that the producers "encourage" the lead to keep certain people around, but she didn't.

As far as details about the show and the resulting relationships go, Emily probably spent the most time talking about her relationship with Brad. She pretty clearly explained what went wrong in their relationship, which is something I had been curious about. Her Bachelorette relationships, though, were kind of glossed over, and I found that disappointing.

After I finished reading I Said Yes, I got to thinking: why do we read autobiographies? This marks the third one I've read in a year (after Sean Lowe's For the Right Reasons and Candace Cameron Bure's Dancing Through Life), and in all three cases, I chose to read the book because the author is a "celebrity" whose life and experiences interest me. When I read an autobiography, I'm looking for insight into someone's life. While I got that with both Sean and Candace, Emily's story felt more surface-level to me. Sure, it was entertaining, but I didn't feel that I finished the book with a deeper understanding of Emily. I think the biggest reason for this is the writing style, which is fairly simplistic. I felt I was getting a basic sketch of the events as Emily experienced them, rather than an insider look at her thoughts and feelings. She tends to talk in vague terms about her various relationships, including her relationship with Christ. This book feels it just scratches the surface of who Emily is, making for an enjoyable, yet ultimately unmemorable, read.

Bottom line: If you're looking for a Bachelor/ette tell-all (which, let's be honest, I was), you won't find it here.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLook blogger program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. read-in-20169 s Mediaman1,057 59

This book is a major fiasco. What purports to be about faith and love is really just a whitewashed life story that attempts to improve the public image of the woman who was once the Bachelorette. It's "co-written" by a woman who gets overly descriptive about minor little things that Emily could never have possibly remembered (she can't remember many details of dates or even the name of one of her finalists so how can we trust she remembers such tiny fake details?), making this creative non-fiction. And there are huge gaps where negative details are conveniently overlooked.

The fact that it's from a Christian publisher makes the premise disturbing. They have turned Emily's life story into something it's not, ignoring who she really is. She is a spoiled rich girl, a bit of a drama queen (who repeatedly says in the book she's not a drama queen), who was given everything she ever wanted, went to boarding school, had mental issues in high school (in psych wards twice!), started dating (and having sex?) at age 16 or 17 with a much older rich race car driver, got pregnant while still in high school, then was a single mother after the guy died in a plane crash. All of that makes for an interesting story, if enough details are given and the outline not turned into an opportunity to preach at readers about a shallow faith for which there's no evidence of depth. Nowhere does she address that as a "Christian" high school teen she was sleeping with an older man and drinking while still claiming to the two of them being drawn to God together. The entire book is this--glossing over her faults and sins by turning them into little inspirational moments (and I mean little!).

Most of the book is devoted to her being on the Bachelor and Bachelorette, but there is little here that is detailed enough to make it interesting. You get nothing about the fantasy suites--nothing. You get her saying how wonderful all the other contestants were and avoiding hurting anyone's feelings. There are four or five surprising behind-the-scenes moments (where producers put words in her mouth or edit things a certain way or leave out some really good meltdowns or let her see her daughter for a whole week during the middle of the production). Everything is extremely vague. Some of that may be for legal reasons, but much of it appears to be because this is all about her keeping her image in place and not wanting to reveal what really happened. Her breakup with Jef is barely mentioned and we're never sure why. Before you know it she is dating a handsome guy from her church.

She doesn't seem to know herself well. She never learns lessons and keeps says "yes" when she should be saying "no." The title of the book makes no sense if they think it's positive because her main problem in life is that she says "yes" when she should say "no."

They have tried to turn her life into some type of inspirational story but it's not. A number of Christian memoirs have recently gone this route of creative non-fiction and it does nothing but detract from the truth. Instead this comes across as a cheap, incomplete way to make a quick buck by avoiding dealing with reality and trying to convince us that she's not the person we saw on reality TV. Not only is she as bad as people criticized her for on TV, she comes across much worse in this book. She should have said "no."autobiography tv8 s Hallie (Hallie Reads)1,549 128

3.5audiobooks books-for-review7 s Callie383 134

I never watched Emily Maynard's season, but I spotted her book, I Said Yes, recently and picked it up to review. I knew nothing about her story going in, but to give you a quick recap, she lost her fiancé in a plane crash when she was 18, and then found out that she was pregnant. After a few years of being a single mom, she was nominated to be on the Bachelor, and later become the Bachelorette (spoiler alert: her Bachelor relationships didn't work out - what did I tell you about the track record?).

What interested me most about this book was the fact that Emily is a Christian, and I wondered how being on the show fit in with her faith in Jesus. This book is not just a story of how Emily Maynard eventually finds love, but ultimately it's a story of her Christian testimony. Though I was skeptical going in, it was refreshing to read how she eventually comes to find a relationship with Jesus and live out her faith.

I appreciated that Emily struck such a nice balance between describing her daughter as a wonderful blessing and also not condoning sex outside of marriage. Her relationship with her daughter is such a sweet part of her story, and it was so interesting to me to see how being a single mother fit into being on the Bachelor.

If you watched Emily's season, some of the story may be redundant. Originally I thought it might be hard to get interested in the book since I hadn't seen her season, but I think I enjoyed it more not knowing how her stints on the show were going to play out. But whether you have seen her season or not, reading about the "behind the scenes" of the show makes this book worthwhile. The show is even more scripted than I originally knew. I think what was most shocking to me is hearing about how they just pack up and leave after the final rose is handed out and leave this new couple totally on their own. Come on, Bachelor producers, some follow-up might increase your success stories!

If you have watched the show at all, I think you would find this book interesting. I recommend it to fellow Bachelor fans, even if you are a reluctant fan me.

Note: I received a copy of this book for free in exchange for a review. This is my honest opinion.read-in-20164 s Hannah (inspiredtoread)179 40

I adore Emily and I adored this book! I figured I would enjoy this book considering Emily was and still is my favorite bachelorette!
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