This book strongly reminded me of Jennifer Weiner's Good in Bed which I re-read in December. Like GiB, this story focuses on a plus-sized main character's relationship with love, food, work and finding herself in the process. It had humorous bits but wasn't nearly as funny as I had remembered.
I liked the premise of editor Nola secretly writing a newspaper ethics/advice column under the fake name of Belinda Apple - unbeknownst to her readers, family or the newspaper she works for. There was a lot of opportunity for humour in her misdirection, but the humour fell flat and instead, there's a strong focus on Nola's weight loss journey, her relationships with family (and a love interest) and more than a few plot holes that readers will have to ignore (like a newspaper not being able to track down the identity of one of their employees).
In the end, this was a cute and fluffy, but predictable contemporary fiction/kinda-sorta romcom with a HEA (happily ever after) that focuses on body image, self-worth and was a nice way to spend a Sunday afternoon.
My Rating: 3.5 stars
Author: Sarah Strohmeyer
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Type and Source: Trade Paperback, TBR - Personal copy
Publisher: Berkley
First Published: June 22, 2006
Book Description from GoodReads: When Nola Devlin is turned down for her dream job because she's overweight, she decides to become thin-or, at least, pretend to be. The alter ego she creates-the thin, British, hip, and did we mention thin Belinda Apple-is a smashing success who is offered movie proposals, national television appearances and even dates...though no one's met her in person, of course.
Then Nola takes Belinda a bit too far, and is forced to join "The Cinderella Pact" and drop the pounds. As the weight comes off, however, Nola's problems begin to mount.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comments totally make my day!! I read each and every one and really try to reply to all messages posted. Thanks for stopping by my blog!