Helpful Score: 2
Very entertaining story about a plus size girl who decides to grab life by the horns and chase her dreams. Magazine editor Nola Devlin is like most of us; haunted by her weight problem and her habit of comfort eating and no exercise, she is viewed with disgust or indifference by people around her. Her supervisor practically ridicules her when turning her down for an opportunity to write a column so Nola decides to exact a little retribution and invents a fictional columnist who gets the job instead. Nola doesnt count on Belinda Apples global popularity and when questions begin to arise regarding the validity of Belindas identity and resume, Nola is faced with an internal investigation that could cost her not only her credibility but her career and freedom.
While this is occurring, Nola finds herself and her friends treated in a discriminatory fashion at a restaurant when they want to sit closer to a window. The friends make a vow to lose the weight and come back to the restaurant thin, gorgeous and all made up (a la Pretty Woman) to let the snide employee know what a horrible mistake he made in treating them so poorly.
Unfortunately, its not just her employer, coworkers and restaurant wait staff who treats her badly. Nolas mother and sister are convinced that Nola is jealous of her sisters upcoming wedding and upset that Nolas sister would invite Belinda to be her maiden of honor. Nolas soon to be brother-in-law seems to take every opportunity to guess Nolas weight and makes sure everyone within hearing distance knows too.
After a particularly mortifying day wherein Nolas car catches fire and she busts out the back of her pants, she accepts a ride home from one of her coworkers, Chip. She likes Chips easy-going, laid-back manner and is surprised that he seems to like her as well. She discovers that Chip isnt who she thought he was, literally. The man she thought he was worked in the technical assistance department but is much shorter and speaks with a Scottish brogue. So now Nola finds herself attracted to a man whose identity is a mystery. Nobody could use the services of a Fairy Godmother more than Nola Devlin.
I really enjoyed the story and loved Nola and her friends Deb and Nancy. I, too, found myself with a bit of a crush on the mysterious Chip. I especially liked that he did not appear to give a flying fig about Nolas weight. He comes across as liking her for who she is and that scores major points with me. There are a lot of supporting characters that add to the story, such as Nigel, the presumed boyfriend of the fictional Belinda. He ends up saving the day for Nola in more ways than one. There are many laugh out loud moments in this story; my favorite is when Nola rips her pants at work.
The only problem I had with this book was the blatant in my face intrusion of Bubbles Yablonsky into this story. Not all readers may pick up on it, but I did. Having Bubbles show up more than once in this story was like having ice cold water dumped on my head. Her appearance has absolutely no relevance to Nolas story and it actually pulled my attention out of this book. Bubbles has a series of her own. Ive read them and enjoy them, but I dont want to see Bubbles getting air time on someone elses story.
Overall, I found this book very enjoyable and great entertainment. If you can ignore the party crashing of irrelevant characters, give this one a shot. I enjoyed the way Nola resolves all of the dilemmas she faces without losing her charm.
While this is occurring, Nola finds herself and her friends treated in a discriminatory fashion at a restaurant when they want to sit closer to a window. The friends make a vow to lose the weight and come back to the restaurant thin, gorgeous and all made up (a la Pretty Woman) to let the snide employee know what a horrible mistake he made in treating them so poorly.
Unfortunately, its not just her employer, coworkers and restaurant wait staff who treats her badly. Nolas mother and sister are convinced that Nola is jealous of her sisters upcoming wedding and upset that Nolas sister would invite Belinda to be her maiden of honor. Nolas soon to be brother-in-law seems to take every opportunity to guess Nolas weight and makes sure everyone within hearing distance knows too.
After a particularly mortifying day wherein Nolas car catches fire and she busts out the back of her pants, she accepts a ride home from one of her coworkers, Chip. She likes Chips easy-going, laid-back manner and is surprised that he seems to like her as well. She discovers that Chip isnt who she thought he was, literally. The man she thought he was worked in the technical assistance department but is much shorter and speaks with a Scottish brogue. So now Nola finds herself attracted to a man whose identity is a mystery. Nobody could use the services of a Fairy Godmother more than Nola Devlin.
I really enjoyed the story and loved Nola and her friends Deb and Nancy. I, too, found myself with a bit of a crush on the mysterious Chip. I especially liked that he did not appear to give a flying fig about Nolas weight. He comes across as liking her for who she is and that scores major points with me. There are a lot of supporting characters that add to the story, such as Nigel, the presumed boyfriend of the fictional Belinda. He ends up saving the day for Nola in more ways than one. There are many laugh out loud moments in this story; my favorite is when Nola rips her pants at work.
The only problem I had with this book was the blatant in my face intrusion of Bubbles Yablonsky into this story. Not all readers may pick up on it, but I did. Having Bubbles show up more than once in this story was like having ice cold water dumped on my head. Her appearance has absolutely no relevance to Nolas story and it actually pulled my attention out of this book. Bubbles has a series of her own. Ive read them and enjoy them, but I dont want to see Bubbles getting air time on someone elses story.
Overall, I found this book very enjoyable and great entertainment. If you can ignore the party crashing of irrelevant characters, give this one a shot. I enjoyed the way Nola resolves all of the dilemmas she faces without losing her charm.
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