Size Matters

October 31, 2016
This mostly successful contemporary romance, set somewhere in the American South, piles on the appreciation for women of size. Sam Cooper, a gorgeous contractor with a sweet tooth, thinks bakery owner Leah Martin is delightfully curvy, but Leah keeps harping on her own weight, a habit she learned from her blithely critical mother, Nancy. To prove to Leah that she’s desirable, Sam impulsively tells Nancy that they’re engaged. Bliss’s humorous writing extends to the title, a double entendre referring as much to Sam’s rumored tiny package as Leah’s weight. Readers will cheer when Sam goes after Nancy; he may have commitment issues, but he will not allow anyone to dis his fake fiancée. Some sour moments intrude: Bliss (Playing with Fire) definitely takes Leah’s self-deprecation over the top, and an overused plot device sets the final romantic conflict in motion. Even so, two well-matched characters finding love without too much angst makes for a fun read.

November 1, 2016
Romance novels with heroines who are not model thin are hard to find and valuable. Happily, Bliss has launched her Perfect Fit series. Leah owns a bakery and is subjected to constant comments from her mother about the need for her to lose weight. She likes Sam Cooper but feels that he is put off by her size. Then Sam tells her mother that they are engaged in an attempt to help after overhearing her mother say that Leah is undesirable, and the pair is stuck in a faux relationship and forced to struggle through a family weekend. In a series of humorous scenes, Sam tries to act obnoxious so her family won't like him, even as he realizes that he does actually want to be in a serious relationship with Leah, and not just because he can't stop eating the delicious desserts from her bakery. Leah's mother is over the top with her insults, but Leah and Sam are appealing in their fumbles and assumptions on the path toward together-forever. Fans of Jennifer Weiner will enjoy Bliss.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)