3.5 stars. This was a really cute, sweet novel. I loved the protagonists, Sam and Leah; their banter was top tier. The inadvertent double untandras had me giggling. This was a good listen. ( )

Exactly like I like 'em! I laughed out loud several times. Great example of what I am looking for in contemporary romance (if it doesn't cater to my favored tropes, I'm not interested). GREAT misunderstandings, delicious angst, hot sex, and a relatable, insecure heroine! If only the other two books in the series were more up my alley. ( )

Sam comes to Leah's rescue by telling her overbearing mother that he is her fiance when his is not. They decide to pretend for a few weeks and then break it off. Leah is a plus-sized heroine with confidence issues and Sam is a handsome contractor with relationship issues.

I liked this book well enough, but felt it dragged on for a little too long and enjoyed the first half more than the second half. I liked how Sam stood up for Leah against her mom, but I wished he could have gotten his act together sooner for both of their sakes. ( )

I love Alison Bliss, i think she is so funny and is an excellent author.
This book is based on a sensitive subject, size. So any author in my opinion is brave to go there.

One thing i felt was a mistake was the photo on the cover. Size is a huge issue and a massive bone of contention but by putting a picture of the size of the woman in question on the cover, as an author you give a scale chart to compare yourself with. Size is prospective to each person as in reading we all form our own images and pictures of the things written about drawn from our own experiences and surroundings so what is a larger size to one person may not be to another, by having a picture of the person who is considered larger i felt it set the gauge. Apparently this is sometimes dictated to by the publisher. The author Does NOT at any time mention a specific size, in fact the book is dedicated the book "To women everywhere, of all shapes and sizes".

At first i got to say i am not sure i liked Sam. He likes Leah but he's just got out of a bad relationship, he wants to settle down but for some reason has talked himself into not pursuing Leah even though he finds her attractive. She says at one point isn't that the point of dating to see if you want to be with someone and she is absolutely right, i was a bit annoyed with him.
Also he keeps saying the wrong thing which to be fair Leah is super sensitive, so its not difficult to cause offense and its quite clever that some of the things he says, can indeed be taken either way, but if he really cares about her he would make sure she knows that, instead he really cuts deep in her already damaged ego. This starts with the first meeting when he is really sweet then hurts her when they are dancing. I don't really think i forgave him for that, even though technically he didn't know here so wouldn't realize how much it would hurt Leah.
He justifies this by saying he doesn't want her to think there is more to them than there is but i think he just comes across as a coward and i didn't like him for it.

Leah... I get she's been pressured about her weight and at times i really felt for her, particularly the dance scene at the beginning with Sam, but at the same time she got on my nerves at times with her self depreciation comments. It doesn't stop and i am not sure if you thought that badly of yourself you would voice it for others to hear.

I felt some things were handled really well, for example the assumption because Leah goes into a bakery she eats a lot, when in fact she owns it. These miss conceptions come up a lot and show societies opinions which i liked.
That said the book has some really funny moments and is well written. ( )

Meh. Sam was an idiot, Leah was a doormat and the "body image issues" stuff was over the top cliche. But, the writing didn't suck, the editing didn't make me want to slap anyone and I laughed out loud multiple times. ( )