This was cute. But almost too cute. I loved parts of the book, mainly about working hard and fixing up her house and her mom. However, Spencer was just too into her and seemed pushy, and I hated that the premise of the book was for her to change her body.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

4*

I enjoyed Savvy Sheldon Feels Good as Hell. Savvy is a smart successful woman who is dumped by her long term boyfriend. While initially Savvy starts working on a revenge body, the story is really about her personal transformation into a better work/life balance and self discovery.

Savvy is an incredible cook with a wonderful group of friends. I wanted to join their dinners. Taj McCoy should add some of Savvy's recipes to the end of the book!

Savvy Sheldon Feels Good as Hell is story about falling in love while falling in love with yourself. I couldn't have loved this book more. A plus size leading love who learns to love her body, hell yes! This story is full of great characters and it's funny. The writing is great and easy to follow. I honestly adored Savvy and her friends so much. While Savvy Sheldon Feels Good as Hell is a romance there's so much more to this story. It's full of heart, wit and self love.

I wasn't sure what to expect. The summary actually gives away a huge chunk of the plot, and there isn't really a major struggle. Instead, it's a long-term growth for Savvy, who learns how to love herself. This is the body positivity story we all need.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin for the ARC.

Very readable, good dialog, great friends, sexy guy, spot on humor, protagonist with a healthy approach to self-improvement, good message. But in the end, it was the message that wore me out. We all need a good, balanced notion of our own worth and self-image and incredibly supportive friends. Savvy’s journey was admirable and successful, her head was in a good place and the story ends on a positive note. I just couldn’t get past the feeling that I was being preached at.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was an absolute DELIGHT. The female friendships, the humour, the perfect man, a chocolate lab and THE FOOD - omg the food; they say don't go grocery shopping hungry, don't read this book hungry.

Savvy Sheldon is a young woman who is career-driven, family-focused, and loves to cook. She is crushing it at work, but all her boyfriend sees is that she now has less time for him and has been gaining weight - so he dumps her, citing his need for an upgrade. Savvy decides the best way to respond to this is to start working on her revenge body. She makes a decision to eat healthier and start exercising on a regular basis, along with the support of her friends who commit to those goals as well. As Savvy works toward her goal, she finds herself thinking less and less about getting her revenge body and focusing more on the fact that she feels more like herself than she has in years.

I was a little skeptical going into this book because I was worried that the focus was going to be on weight-loss, but how could I say no to that cover? Luckily dieting was rarely mentioned and I actually saw this book as a celebration of food. Savvy loves to cook and I'm assuming Taj McCoy does too because they way she describes all of the dishes Savvy prepared and/or ate, it felt like I was experiencing it too (I wish!). I loved Savvy's friend group, they were so sweet and supportive and hilarious; a lot of authors look for the drama amongst groups of women, but McCoy didn't go that route and I am so glad. The love interest, oh my, he was perfect - like literally perfect, and exactly what Savvy deserved after being with such a douche, plus he had a chocolate lab. One of the aspects of this book that made it so enjoyable was Savvy herself, I couldn't not root for her, she was so genuine, caring, hard-working, and amazing at making friends - my god, this woman can network, no wonder she crushed it at her job.

If you are looking for a smart, cheeky, sweet, albeit a little predictable romance that will make you crave a new food with every chapter, add Savvy Sheldon Feels Good as Hell to your pre-orders.

Savvy Sheldon Feels Good As Hell was a wonderful start to my year of reading. It’s full of wonderful food descriptions, self-growth, and healthy romance. At first, I was worried because a lot of the book was focused on losing weight for a “revenge body” but it got better as Savvy realized that a revenge body wasn’t what was going to make her happy. It was more that other people’s words had affected her in a way that made her feel like that was what she needed to do. In retrospect, I can see that that is a more realistic response and probably how I would respond as well, but it definitely made me weary in the beginning.

Though that depiction made me weary it opened the door for so much character growth. Savvy really starts to accidentally feel more confident as she becomes healthier and makes an active effort to love herself and find her passions. In the end, it was really nice to be able to see so much character growth from Savvy. I absolutely love how she began to follow her passion for cooking. And for no one but herself. So comforting!

This was a delightful, empowering, steamy romance—I loved watching Savvy recover from her heartbreak and regain her confidence and love in herself! It reminded me of my favorite feel-good movies!

The book was well-written and the main character was relatable. The storyline was a bit predictable and the pacing was a little slow. I would have appreciated more character development. Overall, I enjoyed the book.

Savvy Sheldon spends a lot of time tiptoeing around the cracks in her life: her high-stress and low-thanks job, her clueless boyfriend and the falling-apart kitchen she inherited from her beloved grandma—who taught her how to cook and how to love people by feeding them. But when Savvy’s world starts to crash down around her, she knows it’s time for some renovations.

Starting from the outside in, Savvy tackles her crumbling kitchen, her relationship with her body, her work-life balance (or lack thereof), and, last but not least, her love life. The only thing that doesn’t seem to require effort is her ride-or-die squad of friends. But as any home-reno-show junkie can tell you, something always falls apart during renovations. First, Savvy passes out during hot yoga. Then it turns out that the contractor she hires is the same sexy stranger she unintentionally offended by judging based on appearances. Worst of all, Savvy can’t seem to go anywhere without tripping over her ex and his latest "upgrade." Savvy begins to realize that maybe she should’ve started her renovations the other way around: beginning with how she sees herself before building a love that lasts.- Goodreads

I wanted to like this book but I couldn't get past Savvy. I didn't like her. I didn't connect with her and although her low self-esteem was understood and at some points relatable, she is needy, frustrating and whinny. I thought the romance left much to be desired and I would have liked there to be something else of Savvy other than her being defined by her weight, lack of work boundaries, and cooking.

Overall, I can see a lot of people liking this; especially as some form of empowerment read for its not for me.

2 Pickles

In SAVVY SHELDON FEELS GOOD AS HELL, we follow Savvy's journey after a breakup with a longtime (and no good) partner who tore down her confidence, specifically about her weight. She creates a plan for herself, which includes getting a revenge body among other things. She thinks will help her feel better about herself and in this process, she begins to learn what is really working and not working for her and if this plan is what's really going to help her in the long run.

Meanwhile, other parts of Savvy's life is moving along, including vying for a promotion and renovating her kitchen, with the help of cinnamon roll Spencer. Savvy is hesitant to pursue a romance so soon after a breakup, but Spencer is hard to resist with his patience, cute dog, and building her dream kitchen for goodness sake's. Savvy is easy to root for because she has supportive and funny best friends who support her along the way and she cooks a lot in this book. (Be warned, this book will make you hungry.) And when we finally get to see Savvy feeling good about herself, readers will leave this book feeling good as well.

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC!

Taj McCoy takes you on a journey with Savvy Sheldon Feels Good as Hell. In this contemporary fiction novel, Savvy is a girl that always does what she's told, does the right thing and is an overall good girl trying to succeed in LA. She loves her family and her friends and is unceremoniously dumped by her boyfriend Jason who decides after a romantic homemade dinner to tear her down without a second glance. Torn between anger, devastation and self-doubt, Savvy begins a journey for a revenge body, making over herself, her home, and inadvertently her life. With the help of her two best friends and her tempting contractor, she discovers who she is and what she wants outside of that she has always thought about what she was supposed to be.

This is a wonderful story about coming back to who you are after a toxic relationship. I think many people can relate to Savvy and the path that she takes, where one decision leads to something more. The characters are also so enjoyable and really round out the story. And being a romance, it does have some scenes that were spicier than expected. This was the best rom-com book I've read in a long time and it makes you just wanna call up your girls and recreate those similar vibes. I will admit though, I love a story that has a heavy role in food and cooking, so I was very happy that Savvy was a foodie and the story showed that side of her.

This one has its ups and downs. I liked Savvy and that she wants to make a change, but I think there is still some diet culture too focused on.
Savvy Sheldon gets dumped by her boyfriend for being a workaholic and gaining weight. She focuses on self-improvement by spending more time with friends, writing a cookbook, and doing a kitchen renovation with the help of a hot carpenter, Spencer. I liked the food descriptions too. But like I said this book veers into fatophia because of the focus on losing weight, tennis, and watching what she ate.

Cute but needs some work.

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC!

A very cute debut! I have a few issues with the plot and writing that I hope will clear up with the final printing.

The romance between our mc and the love interest was very stale and I did not enjoy it. Spencer came off a bit too pushy for my liking.

I loved this story for the body positivity and how much our girl Savvy grows to love herself the way she is. And her friends were just the best!

Another thing I want to touch on is the lingo throughout the dialogue. While it makes sense for the time we are in now, I doubt it will hold up for readers years from now.

I will be looking forward to picking up more from this author in the future.

Many thanks to the publisher for the review copy!

It was refreshing to read a story written in the voice(s) of modern women of color. I could hear the dialog in my head and feel the warmth, respect, and love that Savvy and her friends had for each other. I appreciated the focus on self-care, but in its attempt not to fat shame, the book still read that even when you are overweight you still have to get a grand make over and lose weight to be loved. One thing that really bored me in the book was the constant full descriptions of every tennis workout session. I didn't need the details of each session or game play - just tell me she went to workout, and came home feeling sweaty and satisfied. The same details went into every time Savvy was cooking too, but those read more like recipes to me and didn't bother me like the tennis workouts did. It was a good, quick read and I will recommend it, but I wish there was some editing down in places.

After giving it more thought, this novel is more women's fiction. Savannah Sheldon gets dumped by her boyfriend for being a workaholic and gaining weight. She focuses on self-improvement by spending more time with friends, writing a cookbook, and doing a kitchen renovation with the help of a hunky carpenter Spencer who she initially thought was homeless.
The pacing was great and I loved the characters! The descriptions of food could fit into a foodie novel! My only complaint was that this book veered into fatophia because of the focus on losing weight, tennis, and watching what she ate.

I AM SCREAMING. I LOVE THOS BOOK SO MUCH. i had high hopes from the cover but it surpassed all expectations!!!!

I was especially excited for an ARC of this book because good fat representation in romance is rare. But unfortunately, despite the excellent and immersive writing, the sparkling characters, and the fresh vibe of this book, I would not recommend it to fat readers or those who have ever struggled with diets and/or an eating disorder. There is just way too much association of "health" with number of calories, and with purity and morality, and it pervades the entire storyline. Even though the main character's arc is all about learning to love herself as she is, those assumptions founded in diet culture are still just as present at the end as they were at the beginning.

Savvy’s long time boyfriend breaks up with her citing her weight as the reason. Savvy meets Spencer, the hero of the piece, and decides she wants to get a ‘revenge body.’
This is a wonderful romance novel but is just as much a self discovery, self love romance as it is the usual girl-meets-boy romance. I was a bit put off at first, worried about fat shaming with regard to the ‘revenge body.’ And as a fat girl myself I think a case can be made about that. But she gives up the idea of revenge body and instead focuses on self care and self love. There were a few instances where a paragraph felt like the overview she wrote for herself rather than the actual scene. Other than that small thing the book was very well written and delightful.
I would recommend this book to my patrons.

Savvy Sheldon is a goddamned delight!! A recommended first purchase for collections where contemporary romances are popular.