Reading Curvy Girl Summer had me laughing at the characters and their antics, remembering my own online dating horrors, and wanting to tell others about this funny romance.
Curvy Girl Summer by Danielle AllenMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
This totally cute romance had me laughing out loud and nodding along as Aaliyah braved the waters of online dating.
The premise: Aaliyah is about to turn 30 and unlike her older sister (who’s passed away), she doesn’t have a fiancé or plans for children. Her family’s worried. She’s plus size and they think she’s very picky, so they’re concerned no one will want her. Aaliyah insists she’s confident and has high standards, but she wants love, too. After she gets stood up at a bar by a blind date, the bartender Ahmad, agrees with her friends that she go on Tenderfish and suggests she meets her prospective dates at the bar where he agrees to look out for her.
What I loved: The insults that Ahmad and Aaliyah threw back and forth at each other were deliciously shady. They started off picking at each other and didn’t let up the whole novel. I was laughing my head off at these two!
The steamy spiciness of this one is high, just like I like them. The book starts off with a particularly steamy one-night stand (apparently, s-xual chemistry was not their problem) and goes on from there.
I love that despite the fatphobia that came her way (even from family), Aailyah kept her confidence and wasn’t concerned about her weight, and had an educated argument for every ridiculous negative point that was made.
The main characters (MCs) also had some serious tragedies in their past and promoted therapy for dealing with these issues. I love that there’s positive mental health rep.
Aaliyah’s girlfriends were hilarious and I can’t wait to see if there are future books about them.
Overall: This was a page turner! I finished it in 2 days, because I just wanted more of these folks! (Except the uncle. you can have him. ugh) I can’t wait for the next adventure in Richland!
If you liked Curvy Girl Summer:
My blog series #MyTinderSeries is a real life account of online dating and my experience ended up pretty much like Aaliyah’s (except like 100x less volatile). It inspired me to write my debut novel THE ACCIDENTAL SWIPE which is available everywhere now.
