When blindsided with a breakup that is presented as being “it’s not me, it’s you”, Savvy Sheldon decides it’s time for a change. A dedicated employee and hobby home cook, Savvy realizes that she has lost herself in herself. Spurned by a need for revenge, she decides this is the perfect time for a makeover and to work for her “revenge body”. With the help of her spirited friends, Savvy gets back into tennis and is a frequent flier at her local hot yoga studio. When she decides to give her home a bit of a facelift, she meets Spencer, a handsome contractor (who Savvy previously thought was a friendly homeless man in her neighborhood). Spencer and his irresistible pup Teddy help Savvy navigate through the tough breakup, work troubles, and learning to fall in love with herself.

The premise and the story were cute, but there were some awkward holes in the storytelling that left me wanting more. The dialogue between characters often felt a bit forced. I appreciate the fact that the main character is a plus-sized woman, but it breaks my heart that much of her story is focused on feeling like she needs to change her body to be lovable. In the end she does find the love and confidence within herself, but only after she sees her slimmer and more muscular figure in the reflection. I would have loved for Savvy to find the love and validation that she sought and given up on the idea of a “revenge body” earlier on.

Thank you Harlequin Trade Publishing, MIRA and NetGalley for allowing me to read the digital ARC of this book!

First off, I requested to read based on the cover - something about it really caught my attention! However, I was not sure I enjoyed this book even though I finished it. The amount of Fat shaming and the suggestion that the way to better yourself is through changing your body did not resonate well with me. Plus the boyfriend was a jackass!)

Its great thats Savvy was about to workout and improve but by no means is this a message that supports women feeling comfortable in their own body

On the flip side the book had a great steamy side - but it was a bit unrealistic too

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for providing me with an arc of the book for an honest review.

This story follows Savvy Sheldon as she revamps her life and redefines what it means for her to be herself and to feel good in every aspect of her life.

I picked this book up expecting it to be a romance novel. However this book is much more in the realm of general fiction/contemporary. While there is a romantic sub-plot this is not the focus of the story. Given that my expectations were not at all the the right place when I began reading the story I felt disappointed while reading it. It took me until about halfway into the book to accept that I simply would not get what I was seeking. From that point on I adjusted my expectations but it was too late unfortunately for me to come back from my sense of let down.

The writing style was fine to me. It was easy enough to follow and clear. I found the writing direct and simplistic but not particularly unique or compelling. I found there were many side characters whom never really felt fully fleshed out to me. There may have been too many of them for the story. The relationships in the book didn’t grab me or help me connect with the characters and feel invested in them.

I found the plot moved at a good pace though some portions were a tad unrealistic to me. I also found some aspects of the story repetitive. Namely the several tennis matches described almost play by play.

I found the LI interesting enough and sweet but did not feel the chemistry between him and our MC. I didn’t see how or where they fell for each other because the story focused on other things which I understand given that this is not a romance novel.

Some of the conversations around food and body image and exercise made me uncomfortable but that I think will vary from reader to reader because food and bodies are such personal parts of life.

Overall I thought this book was just ok. I wish I had gone into it with the proper expectations and that it had been marketed differently. I would be open to reading more from this author in the future now that I have gotten to know their writing a bit!

Unfortunately Savvy Sheldon Feels Good as Hell missed the mark for me.

My reasons (SPOILERS):

1. Everything to do with Jason. He's an ass and breaks up with her, but she keeps running into him everywhere. He then reaches out "to talk" and she's actually considering it.
2. She thinks the love interest is homeless, because he is wearing dirty clothes and she's never seen him in the neighborhood before. When it comes out he is unbothered by it? I would be very bothered.
3. Her friends. They aren't exactly the super support friends. Savvy wants to take a long weekend for a staycation to think about things and one of her friends is telling her that it's a terrible idea and is an avoidance tactic. Savvy is working beyond hard at work (lots of extra hours) and also deserves to take the time for herself.
4. Spencer. She told Spencer she needed space, and he said he "respected that" however he still pushed to talk to her.
5. Her work situation is ridiculous, and she gives one potentially mediocre presentation and he goes off the deep end and says he's disappointed in her because she's not putting in the ridiculous hours that she was before her promotion and says she can't handle the new job. It's been like two weeks in the new position.
6. I thought this would be very body positive, but for me it wasn't. She was determined to get a revenge body and went all out, full steam ahead, with no set backs. I would have liked to see her work more towards moderation and not "clean eating" from the get go, but this is a personal thing.
7. The writing was good, and the plot moved swiftly. I liked her cooking and her fitness coach.

Thank you for the opportunity to review Savvy Sheldon Feels Good as Hell.

A large and diverse cast of friends and family support main character Savvy as she finds her own worth after her fatphobic and casually cruel ex says he is leaving her for "an upgrade."

Taking his hurtful words and turning them into a mission, Savvy decides to "upgrade" herself, but finds self-acceptance and love along the way, including a romance with a carpenter and a renovated kitchen.

This bordered close to the women's fic / romance line, with most of the story spent on Savvy's internal and external journey to finding work-life balance and incorporating fitness into her life. For me, the talk of "cheat days" and weight was not personally something I was hoping to read, and Savvy's ex's comments were really rough. The author does a great job of balancing that hurt with all of the love and validation Savvy finds within herself and from her friends and her love interest; I just wanted more romance.

The romance between Savvy and Spencer Morgan, who turns out to be a carpenter, not homeless like she at first believes, was cute. There's some misunderstandings about why Spencer won't sleep over and when he drives an ex to an airport, but overall he is a cinnamon roll and their love scenes are steamy and delightful.

Overall I enjoyed the writing, but the story became bogged down in too many plot threads and characters.

A really cute rom-com that follow Savvy Sheldon someone who thought she had it all until her long-term boyfriend dumps her for an upgrade. Savvy goes on a quest to upgrade herself(which I was skeptical about but it turns out well), with the support of her friends. During this process she has a decidedly not meet-cute with her future contractor. From there sparks fly but I would definitely call this a slow burn after some miscommunication and other difficult situations Savvy figures out what she really wants and learns how to feel good as hell.

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an arc for an honest review!

This is a unique book that I think a lot of women, young and old alike will benefit from reading. It has a wonderful message wrapped up in a love story, full of affirmations for Black women especially, and an MC who everyone will want to root for. I read it in one sitting and couldn't recommend it more!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher and Taj for this free advanced copy! Honestly, Savvy is one of my favorite characters ever written, and I'm going to call now that this book will be in my top ten of the year. Between the friendships, the family dynamics and oh yeah the spicy love story! And the general theme of loving yourself is so nice to read. Plus, Savvy (and the author herself) love food and that love really comes through in the descriptions of cooking and eating.

Taj does not disappoint with this debut. The writing style is clean and well thought out. The plot is super flushed and entertaining. I felt grabbed and engrossed the whole time. The body positivity and representation was perfection. I loved everything about this book

𝘚𝘢𝘷𝘷𝘺 𝘚𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘥𝘰𝘯 𝘍𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘎𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘈𝘴 𝘏𝘦𝘭𝘭 by Taj McCoy made me all sorts of emotional. It was such a cute, fun, from-the-heart, uplifting story with the best friendships. You’ll fall in love with Savvy and her friends. I adored this book. READ IT. 💕

𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝑨𝑹𝑪 𝒄𝒐𝒑𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒃𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒃𝒚 𝑯𝑻𝑷 𝑩𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒔 (𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒌-𝒚𝒐𝒖!). 𝑨𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒗𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒚 𝒐𝒘𝒏.

I’m not entirely sure what to say about this book. I liked the characters (except the jackass boyfriend in the beginning), and the lessons about chasing after your dreams and making time for yourself and your own self care. The line in the book about taking care of yourself before you can take care of others truly resonated with me.

But at the same time, this book presented a TON of fat-shaming and body-shaming, and suggested that the only way to overcome this feeling of shame and societal pressure is to change your body. To workout. To get fit. To lose weight. And I’m glad it ended up making Savvy feel better, but it’s not an option for many and the messages conveyed can be incredibly triggering for a large population of people.

On another note, while I loved the steamy factor of this book, it happened rather quickly. It seemed as though every time these two characters kissed, they were instantly having sex with one another. There was no in-between or middle ground. Don’t get me wrong – I love the can’t-keep-my-hands-off-of-you trope, but this wasn’t only that. There was no conversation about it either. I kept flipping back pages to see if I skipped parts of the scene, but nope – they just didn’t exist.

I read the entire book, which I wouldn’t have done if I didn’t enjoy it, but the messages and timespan of the story were disappointing for me. I hope others enjoy it more.

OMG when I say this book is amazing, it is an understatement. This book has such good messages about self-care and learning to love yourself. I am so happy Savvy was able to come into this herself and not because of the man she began to date. It made the message so much more powerful by her saving herself.

A delightful book full of adventure, action, and thrills. Fun to read, engrossing world building, and very descriptive imagery made it feel like it was cinematic. It's hard to resist the story as it drives forward. Would recommend.

This book started so strong but then lost it as it continued for me, unfortunately.
Also, I have never had an eating disorder or terrible body image issues, but I certainly feel like this book may need trigger warnings to be safe.

The story has excellent female support with friendships and encouragement. The food and recipe descriptions are fantastic, and the family dynamic is both sweet and frustrating, aka VERY realistic, which I thought was good!
Sadly the last 1/3 of the book seems to drag on, and while I know from experience how much of a toll a lousy past relationship can affect you, I wanted the reminds of Jason to end -ore my personal feelings and not the book's fault.
The big kicker for this book is that I could not get into Spencer, the love interest. He felt so bland and just two dimensional to me. The spicy scenes with Mr and Miss were delightful, but I felt nothing for him as a character.

I was so excited when the spring romance books came across my email. I think I took three or four of them to review….and honestly, I am not embarrassed to say that. I thought that this one looked so good. From the foodie perspective to being a plus-size person who needs to learn to love her body I knew that this was the book for me. I couldn’t wait to start it.

Savvy works her butt off for little praise at work, she comes home to a boyfriend who one day dumps her because she has let herself go and is too fat. He needs an upgrade. This kick starts something within Savvy and she takes up tennis and hot yoga. She works on herself first and the rest falls into place. This book was AMAZING. I loved every second of it. I truly found some of myself in Savvy and could relate to her inner battles. My only thing, and it wasn’t even a big thing and it also didn’t matter to the story, is I wanted to know how much weight she lost or what her new clothing size was. We saw her excel on the tennis court and in the yoga studio but how I wanted to see the fruits of her labors. I mean we did in a way when her ex started to text her again but thankfully she ignored him because she had a much, much better man in her life.

I fell in love with all of the characters. I honestly want it to be a series and we see each of her girlfriends get their own books. I need to know what happens with Joanie and Beth. Does Mags end up with one of Beth’s guy friends? Questions need to be answered!!! I really liked watching Savvy grow as a person throughout this entire book. She started so small and in the end, she was able to decide what she wanted for herself and she wasn’t afraid to go for it at that point. The development of the relationship between her and Spencer was so sweet, she truly seemed shocked that he would fall for a plus-size girl and love her and her curve. To me it gives me hope that my significant other loves my curves even if I don’t. The authors writing style is really good everything flowed nicely, I really enjoyed it. I will be on the lookout for any more books by this author and hopefully, questions will be answered.

Incompatibility issues. Six years. Yet Jason tells Savvy Sheldon that their relationship is over. In truth, he is not pleased with her appearance and tells her that he needs to start looking for an upgrade.

Well, Savvy is going to start over herself. Project Upgrade. 1. Revenge body. 2. New look - hair, clothes. 3. Meal Prep. 4. Find balance.

Yes, Savvy is going to change her appeararance. Yoga and tennis, here she comes. Better food choices and meal planning. Check. Ditch the glasses. Get Contacts. Check. Cut her luscious hair. Done.

While Savvy is making all of these changes with regard to her appearance - after all, she wants to be appealing to the opposite sex - she has another project. She needs to have her grandmother's kitchen renovated. She cannot help but ogle her contractor. More than that, he treats her with the utmost respect. But, he goes further than that. He finds Savvy just gorgeous and doesn't hesitate to tell her that.

But, is Savvy ready to trust another man, especially when she finds herself running into Jason one too many times, with his upgrades?

What a great story! I loved Savvy and I also loved Spencer, a man who ended up being much more than Savvy's contractor. Factor in a lot of tennis, a lot of cooking, and Savvy fighting the insecurities she had with her appearance, and Savvy Sheldon Feels Good as Hell left me with a feel-good feeling.

Many thanks to MIRA and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

Ugh. I wanted to LOVE this book. A plus sized woman feeling good about herself?! Yes, please! However, there were some big issues for me - Savvy is dumped by a man because he thinks she's "let herself go" and she immediately turns around and tries to attain the perfect "revenge body"; she thinks this other guy is homeless but no wait, he's a contractor and he's hot so she hires him to renovate her house AND she starts a relationship with him super close to being surprised by her breakup; there are WAY too many tennis scenes; what exactly is Savvy's job and why does she spend all of her life there?

It was not a terrible read, but it could have been better.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author, and publisher for this ARC.

Savvy Sheldon is a kind, funny, hardworking woman who has reached a crossroads in her life. After six years together, her self-absorbed boyfriend dumps her for an "upgrade," telling her she's too fat, works too much, and doesn't devote enough of her time to him. Slowly, Savvy begins to realize the toll the relationship has taken on her, both physically and emotionally. She's lost her voice, subsuming her own values and opinions to his. In her career life, she's working more and more hours, taking on projects for multiple people, as well as her own assignments, with little to no thanks. It's slowly becoming apparent that the only person Savvy doesn't make a priority is herself.

I enjoyed this story. The author did a decent job of keeping it flowing and holding my interest. There are parts that lagged a bit, and descriptions of activities that seemed to go on too long, but never to the point where I put the book down and walked away. I loved the relationship between Savvy and her two best girlfriends. We should all have ride-or-die friends who pump us up, have our back, tell it to us straight, and go after a scumbag ex without hesitation. The food in this book (Savvy is a fabulous cook) is drool-worthy. Do not start reading if you're hungry. Trust me, it won't end well. *grin*

My heart ached each time Savvy encountered her ex with another woman and took two steps back in her self-confidence. Gaining the strength to put him firmly in her past was a slow - and realistic - process. But I cheered her on the entire way. Her new love interest, and his dog, both captured my heart. I loved that he noticed her and was intrigued by her long before she began her "self improvement" journey. I was a little put off by that journey in the first chapters of the book, thinking this might be a "I'll get skinny and my ex will come crawling back" story. It may have started that way in Savvy's mind but it turned out to be much more complex. First, she did not get skinny. She got healthy. More importantly, she learned to like herself, to value herself for the person she was rather than trying to turn herself into the person her selfish ex wanted her to be. Readers should be aware, however, that the process takes most of the book and there are diet, workout, and self-blaming issues that occur along the way.

This book is marketed as a romcom. For me, it read more like women's fiction with romantic elements. Yes, there is humor in the story, and there is a romance, and a happy ending, but the primary focus is on Savvy, her growth, and her journey. McCoy's characters are fully developed, relatable, and engaging. I enjoyed the diversity of the characters (Savvy's mother is Thai-American and her father was Black. Her love interest is also black) and the cultural references. This book is McCoy's debut. I don't know what she has planned next but I'll definitely be taking a look.

ARC received for fair and unbiased review

Give me a romance with a plus sized character any day! This main character gives me life, and the characters are fabulous.

This book hooked me from the very first sentence. Savvy's boyfriend, Jason breaks up with her..he basically tells her that she has let herself go, works too much and generally doesn't have time for him...all the while he is eating the dinner she made for him. Savvy has self esteem issues and when Jason walks out, those issues multiply. All those things that Jason says is wrong with Savvy, she takes to heart and makes a plan to improve herself and she hatches a plan to workout and practice self care so she can create that revenge body. So she can make Jason see what he threw out. Along the way she learns so much more about herself and what she truly needs to do to improve and be a better Savvy. 

What I enjoyed most about this book is her relationships with her girlfriends. They are there for each other, they are honest with each other and most of all they love each other. Those friendships are like family and it shows in every page of this book! 4.5⭐

Thank you to Mira Books, HTP Books, Netgalley and Taj McCoy for the ARC/eARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.