Book Review: “Almost Meri’ed” By ‘Sister Wives’ Meri Brown’s Catfish Scammer [Part 1]

Yes, I read THE book. Almost Meri’ed tells the story of Sister Wives star, Meri Brown’s tiptoe into the land of the monogamous. 

“Sam Cooper,” a sensitive, yet virile leading (wo)man penned the book, and gives his readers a glimpse into the complicated mind of a scamming catfish, one who splashes back and forth, between fantasy, and gritty reality. Sam is also known as Jackie Overton, an Oklahoma sad-sack, who bamboozled Meri within inches of leaving her spiritual husband, the perpetually icky Kody Brown. 

To begin, much of the book was what I suspected, a regurgitation of Batman Sam’s blogs, which unfolded during the course of the fascinating clash of reality and fantasy. I will spare you the rinse and repeat….a rehash of their electric meeting on Twitter, the gloriously breathtaking honeymoon phase, the laughter, the texts, the Disneyland jaunt, and the supposed dirty sex. Mare was snagged, reeled in and caught, and she bought Sam’s romantic game, hook, line and sinker. 

The banana made a cameo appearance, and the book’s acknowledgement gives a shout out to himself, as Lindsay, and that wildcard Kendra. The lunacy of Kendra being mixed up in this crapstorm will be saved for another day. 

Sam runs down his childhood, and his Catholic upbringing. He claims to have no living relatives, real or imaginary. He describes Meri’s plight as a misunderstood reality star, writing about the financial strain, her uncertain future, and the intense pain she holds in her heart. Then the story finally gets more interesting. Sam begins to dish about what Meri told him about her relationship with Kody. The TLC facade is blown anew, and what viewers have suspected for years is backed up, and likely by ol’ Mare herself. 

“She told me she had went mute for several years because it’s easier.  She told me anytime she tried to speak or defend herself he would start a fight and begin yelling at her.  She would cry and try to fight back, but it’s no use. She said he stopped listening and just yelled then stormed out.  That’s the kind of guy he is.”

“She said she didn’t want to be intimate with him anymore because of how he treats her, and that’s why she hadn’t been intimate with him in months.”

Sam blasts Kody, claiming that he treats Meri like an assistant. He oddly switches between ranting about Kody, and describing his and Meri’s guilt-ridden, though scorching-hot sex life. Ummm…ok. He then addresses the obvious disconnect that Mare openly exhibited throughout the filming period. 

“She said she felt that it would be dishonest to keep pretending she was happy with him and she didn’t want to say anything to start a discussion about her relationship. She told me she talked to a producer and told him she would not be talking about her relationship with him anymore. She said she wasn’t his Meri anymore. She was my Meri and she was no longer going to protect him.  She said she had been protecting his image on the show for years so everyone would think they were all happy all the time.”

“She said the show wasn’t fake, it just didn’t get into the deeper issues that they had.  She said that’s what the show was about.  Making this special family look normal to the viewers.”

Epic fail, TLC. Sam goes on to break down the voicemails that America has already heard, then explains what allegedly unfolded when Kody supposedly moved out of Meri’s house.

“She began to ask him to move his stuff out, and not be there.  He fought it. He told her it was his house too.  He argued that he didn’t take up much space in the bed what was the big deal.  She said I don’t want you sleeping here anymore. He fought it for 2 weeks and finally gave in.  He began began spending more nights at the youngest sister wives house…….”

It’s interesting to note that Overton never mentions any of the other sister wives by name, only by description, a glaring difference from her blog posts, under her “Sam” identity. 

The answer to the big question asking if Sam’s half-face found it’s mate in the book, is an unsurprising…no. 

Stay tuned for Part 2, when it all falls apart, and Sam concludes his story of slippery true love.      

 

“Like” us on Facebook  “Follow” us on Twitter and on Instagram