Title: Size Matters

Series: A Perfect Fit, Book #1

By:   Alison Bliss

ISBN: 1455568023 (ISBN13: 9781455568024)

Author’s Website: http://authoralisonbliss.com

Brought to you by OBS reviewer Andra                   

Summary: 

The rules of (fake) engagement . . .
Leah Martin has spent her life trying to avoid temptation. But she’s sick of low-fat snacks, counting calories, and her hyper-critical mom. Fortunately, her popular new bakery keeps her good and distracted. But there aren’t enough éclairs in the world to distract Leah from the hotness that is Sam Cooper – or the fact that he just told her mother that they’re engaged . . . which is a big, fat lie.

Sam sometime speaks before he thinks. So what started out as defending Leah’s date-ability to her judgmental mother soon turned into having a fiancée! Now the plan is to keep up the fake engagement, stay “just friends,” and make Leah’s family loathe him enough to just call the whole thing off. But Sam has an insatiable sweet tooth, not only for Leah’s decadent desserts but her decadent curves. Her full lips. Her bright green eyes. Yep, things aren’t going quite according to plan. Now Sam has to convince Leah that he’s for real . . . before their little lie turns into one big, sweet disaster.

Review:

A truly fun read.  It had me laughing so hard at times, I thought tears would fall. It also had me take a look at how a person can be self-deprecating in small doses and do extensive damage to one’s self-confidence.  I can relate partially to Leah….I am a petite but overweight woman.  

Leah has been struggling with her weight all her life.  Leah is frequently reminded by her mother that she needs to lose weight (this constant reminder by her mother is actually a pet peeve of mine, it annoyed the heck out of me!).  This of course only plays on Leah’s self confidence.  One evening Leah is in a bar with her bestie Valerie and notices Sam (a hunk); but, of course with her negative self talk, figures he could never be interested in her.  Little does she know, but Sam has his own issues with relationships and the opposite sex.  Sam and Leah meet in the bar and might I say, the rest is history?  Well, not as you would think actually and this is the first sign that I took to mean that while Sam seems to step in his own way a lot…he is a nice guy.  Leah was too drunk to drive, she then joined Sam in his truck to talk and then passed out.  Sam did not know what to do with Leah nor where she lived, so he took her home.  Now I can say…and the rest is history.

Through miscommunication and wanting to help a bad situation, hilarity ensues.  Leah must deliver a wedding cake, her ex’s to be precise.  And at this time, her car breaks down but as luck would have it, Sam is driving by and lends a hand.  Once the cake has been delivered and set up at the wedding, things turn odd and at one point, when Leah talks with the groom (Gavin) Sam ends up introducing himself as Leah’s fiancé in an effort to help her.  Trying to explain himself:

“Look, I was trying to help. You were saying such awful things about yourself.  I didn’t want him to—“

“To what? Think I’m pathetic? I’m not your charity case. And what about tomorrow when he learns I’m suddenly no longer engaged?  What then, huh?”

“I guess I didn’t think it through that far.”

“Leah sighed. “Look, I know you were trying to help, but Gavin’s mother is the town gossip and sits on the City Council with my mom.”

……

Sam cringed. I’m sorry, I just didn’t want him to make you feel bad about yourself”.   

She shook her head. “That’s funny seeing how the only guy who keeps making me feel bad about myself is you!”

 

Now, how to extricate oneself from this situation and still save face?  Much mayhem ensues and this is where a LOT of laughter takes place.  These two are both so socially awkward.  Yet they both have such caring and loving hearts…never want to hurt anyone if possible.

I love how Sam’s feelings grew and evolved.  You could see his appreciation of Leah grow and evolve. Sam’s thoughts:

“She was warm, genuine, kind, and al all-around decent human being. Her easy charm, laid-back personality, and remarkable sense of humour were some of his favourite things about her.  Leah always went out of her way to keep from hurting other people’s feelings, even if that meant taking a lot of flak in the process.”

The weekend away with Leah’s family was funny.  Getting themselves into this situation as a result on not wanting to hurt others did afford them the time to actually get to know one another.  The scene along the beach (when Leah gets hurt as a result of crashing waves) definitely had me see that they were actually developing true feelings for each other.

“Leah’s limp body stopped abruptly when her pelvis banged against a piling….”

“Damn it, Leah. Answer me. Are you all right?”

“Yes”, she whispered breathlessly.

I’m fine. I’m pretty sure I took out an ovary though.”

“But you didn’t hit your head or anything important, did you?”

She scowled at him. “I have news for you. I consider my ovaries very important, thank you very much.”

Sam grinned. “Well, if you lose one, it’s not necessarily considered life-threatening.”

“Oh really? Do you want to be the one to tell my grandma I can’t conceive your children? Trust me, it could be life-threatening.”

I liked the fact that even when things were tough, they could find humour in the situation.  Even through the self denial of feelings, you could see that they both were truly falling for each other.  The question is….could they make it work?  You will just have to read the story to find out yourself.

As an introduction to the writings of Alison Bliss, I could not have found a more enjoyable first read.  I can hardly wait for the second book in this series “On The Plus Side”.

*OBS would like to thank the publisher for supplying a free copy of this title in exchange for an honest review*