I love to see more books normalizing different body sizes. I’m always excited to read books with normal people who have been through hard things. This book was funny, and a great read.

Watch my Amazon Live interview with Alison: https://amazon.com/live/broadcast/4f09b14f-22b3-4726-bf69-1325f38a9713?tag=erinmbransco-20&linkCode=ilv&ref_=social

I enjoyed this book so much! Adam is sooo sweet and caring! Preslee is a bit unsure of herself and dealing with a lot of doubt and insecurities.

She's sweet, funny and determined once she starts and gets into it. And Adam is there helping her at every turn and with every obstacle.

This is a slow burn which I really enjoyed too.

I loved the banter with the characters and even when they were talking to themselves.

“he glanced down with a frown. Nope. Not happening, buddy. She’s a client, and you know we never…Oh dear God. Now he was trying to reason with his penis. Had he lost his mind?”

Adam and Preslee really got to know each other and trained together. Preless opened up and started trusting Adam in a way she hasn’t really trusted anyone besides her dad.

I loved watching her become more comfortable in her own skin and really want to get healthier and fit for herself and her health. It was so awesome to see that confidence grow within her.

I loved that Adam really like Preslee outside and inside, the whole package and he didn’t look at her weight like it was a reason to not like her.

He treated her so well, I just loved the relationship they built over the weeks of training together.

“You’re right. But there are plenty of men out there who love curvy women. And yeah, there are some who don’t. But you don’t have to check any boxes for that guy. He doesn’t matter. You do. Don’t ever think you need to shrink yourself just to squeeze into some narrow-minded view of an unrealistic beauty standard.” He smiled at her. “You’re beautiful just the way you are.”

And I really just enjoyed them being together. This book made me feel good all over and just gave me all the feels.

They could both be themselves and enjoy one another.

Just ask her already. All right. He could do this. Adam ran a shaky hand through his hair and then blew out a long, slow breath. Here goes nothing. “Preslee, I…would like to, um…do you.” Her eyes widened. Oh dear God. Realizing what he said, Adam shook his head furiously. “No, that’s not what I meant. What I’m trying to say is that I want you to do me.” Her mouth hinged open, and she blinked at him rapidly. Nope. Not better. So he spit out, “I mean, we’ll do each other.” Holy shit. Stop fucking talking already. Had he really just said that to her? How the hell did he mess that up? Out of all the things he could’ve chosen to say…

I would definitely recommend this book. It was great to see a book where the heroine wasn’t a model but someone real and dealing with issues of her own and learning how to be better and have confidence while being comfortable in who she was.

The Hero was so swoon worthy. Ever time Preslee tried to put herself down or didn’t believe in her capabilities he was there helping her and helping her build her confidence. I love the way he was with her.

2.5 stars rounded up.

Despite the fact that she’s never set foot in a gym before, Preslee Owens knows she needs to make some lifestyle changes for her health and today is the day that begins. What she didn’t expect was to accidentally broadcast her Stairmaster mishap live on her vlog, giving strangers, plus everyone in her small town, direct access to her fitness journey.

She’s shocked and embarrassed to find that she’s actually a huge hit and most of the feedback is positive, so she returns to the gym, albeit reluctantly, bolstered by the fact that her coworker and crush, Josh also works there. It also doesn’t hurt that the gym’s owner, Adam, has offered to be her personal trainer and make sure she doesn’t her herself. He’s even offered to flirt with her a little to rouse Josh’s interest.

With Adam’s help, Preslee gains confidence little by little, until she almost doesn’t recognize herself. She’s also becoming way too attached to Adam and her feelings growing entirely too real, but her recent confidence boost doesn’t mean she’ll have enough gumption to be honest with him about her true feelings for him.

I really enjoyed this book for the first half or so. I liked the dual narration which really pulled me into the story, and I was utterly charmed by the relationship between Adam and Preslee developing as the two worked out together. That made this a great book to listen to on my daily runs and I was really getting into it up until too many side characters started getting in the way of the feelings developing between these two. With Adam’s older brother Michael being introduced it was this weird shot of masculine competitiveness in a book that otherwise had rather watered-down male leads and seemed to just come between Adam and Preslee for no good reason other than to perhaps introduce Michael before giving him his own book later in the series. This wouldn’t have been a big deal for me if it weren’t for the fact that we already had other man drama going on with Preslee’s attempts to get her newly hired coworker Josh to notice her as more than a friend and her using Adam to catch this other man’s attention. I probably wouldn’t have minded one of these tropes, or even both of them, if they’d been handled differently, but the whole Preslee/Josh situation just went on too long, with Adam still thinking Preslee was in love with Josh long after the reader knew better and long after I wanted to see her being honest with Adam instead.

For all this confidence Preslee supposedly gained, I sure didn’t see much of it in her behavior towards Adam, or really anyone, even the women of the town who were trying to befriend her. I also never really got Preslee’s hang-ups about everyone leaving her which mostly stemmed from a childhood friend moving away. This just seems like something that shouldn’t still be holding back a 28-year-old adult to the extent that it was here. At times Preslee’s character read more like a new adult just moving out on their own than an established woman seeking to better herself. I also think it was weird that crash dieting and unhealthy supplements were thrown in here almost as a teaser and not really given a lot of page time, with Preslee mostly brushing off both Adam’s and Michael’s concern for her health.

There may be some mild spoilers in this part for some. For the most part, I just found Preslee to be overly and annoyingly judgmental and very unfair to Adam. Even when Adam tells her repeatedly of his attraction for her and he’s given her absolutely no reason to doubt him, she’s still so quick to jump to conclusions about him. I loved that he called her out on some of this, as that, along with his continued niceness to her made him a more likeable hero. Her insecurities and struggles with her body image were so relatable that I desperately wanted to connect with her and root for her and then she would make these terribly, nasty comments to him and I just couldn't do it. I just found her to be overly dramatic and repetitive in her reasoning much of the time. Sure, Adam and his friend shouldn’t have done what they did to get the ball rolling on Preslee’s personal training, but it was (a) before Preslee and Adam had ever even met, (b) not something that was harmful to her and (c) something that she actually also benefited from, though of course she conveniently forgot this in her overreaction. She was justifiably angry, but she blew things way out of proportion and never even gave him a chance to explain and then froze him out for way too long. I was also not on board for the description of him having sunk into a depression and gained twenty pounds over the month they were separated. This just seemed like an unfair plot device that didn’t give depression the weight it deserves and more or less glossed over Adam’s pain. For me, this actually came off as a way for Preslee to “win” the relationship as the person who cares less, with Adam clearly desperate to be with her again, meanwhile she’s had this drastic glow up in their time apart, and it just felt wrong. This rather killed the romance for me because when you love someone the way Preslee claimed to love Adam, you don’t let them suffer like that knowing you’re the cause. Rather, Preslee was just focused on her on hurts so much so that she was oblivious to or uncaring of her capacity to hurt others. The whole basis of their relationship development was how they made each other happy and brought out the best in each other so this just undid all that charming groundwork for me.

Overall, there were too many mixed signals between these two to be plausible and so many missed opportunities for the mature, healthy communication that I so long to read in romance, and instead we get a separation just as these two finally get it together. It just didn’t jive for me that she couldn’t face Adam and talk things out in a mature way even after all the great confidence she’d supposedly developed. I found the ending to just be bizarre and abrupt. After way too long of a separation, it just felt like it was meant to provide gratification for Preslee in that she met her goals on her own and not with Adam’s training, which just undermined the whole premise of their relationship for me. This made the ending not feel satisfying and made Preslee and Adam feel uneven in their relationship. There was such a good build up of tension between these two and such capacity for honest communication that it makes me sad to see the romance die the way it did. Other than that, I did enjoy the writing and the small-town setting so I may try another of this author’s books in the hopes it was just Preslee’s character that threw this one off for me.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book and its audiobook. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

If it wasn’t for NetGalley, I would’ve DNF this book. It was so painful for me to get through this book, and I found myself skipping paragraphs to get to the end. I hate when authors try to do too much in a book because it all ends up feeling half-baked. That’s essentially what this book was, a half-baked attempt at everything.

I literally laughed out loud when I saw the proposal because NO ONE on this green Earth believed it. I also laughed at how genuine she thought Adam was throughout the entire story even after learning about the lies. Adam was worse than a teenager fresh out of puberty, and Preslee was everything and nothing at the same time. It was just a big no.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book was just an OK read for me. Some parts were good and other parts feel flat. Please don't let my review stop you from giving this book a chance, you might love it.
I received a complimentary copy from Forever (Grand Central Publishing) via NetGalley and was not required to write a review. All opinions expressed are my own.

This 👏🏻 was 👏🏻 so 👏🏻 CUTE 👏🏻

My heart was just bursting as I read this heartwarming story 💖

I loved Preslee! She was a passionate, strong willed, independent women 💪🏻 and I loved her journey from beginning to end. Hearing of her past struggles & how she overcame them was fabulous 🥰 AND Adam was a breath of fresh air 😍 a don’t judge a book by it’s cover kind of guy, who cares about your well-being! YES PLEASE 👌🏻

I loved the banter, the LOL moments, the gym setting, the body positivity, the real world issues & health concerns people face! So well done!!

I didn’t realize this was book 4 in a series before I read it (but it can be read as a stand-alone), so now I want to dive into the rest!

Overall verdict: a cute, flirty, butterflies in the tummy kind of story 💕

Thank you so much @readforeverpub for sending me a copy 💖💖

Alison Bliss has a fantastic writing style and I’m so excited to check out her other books. This book was well done, and I was rooting for the main characters throughout the plot. If you are looking for a feel good love story, I would recommend this book!

This is the fourth book in a series but it is the first one I have read and it was totally fine to be read as a standalone. Preslee is overweight and her doctor says she is pre diabetic. She realizes she needs to make some lifestyle changes and eat better and get fit. Preslee joins a gym for the first time and is overwhelmed by the equipment and atmosphere. The handsome gym owner offers to help her get fit and eventually a romance ensues. This was an interesting book with great characters. I enjoyed the storyline and it was inspiring when Preslee started to be comfortable in her body and her life which in turn elevated her self esteem. This was an easy and likeable read and I would definitely like to read more from this author.

This was cute, easy to read, quick and somewhat witty.

I don't love that a plus size woman always has a story line of having to lose weight...maybe we can be more original? I think this is why I didn't love this the way I was hoping I would.

Overall the writing was fine, the story was fine, but I would love to see an "inclusive" book about an overweight women not revolving around a gym.

Out of the Blue is a new book out with a plus size main character. I love books with diverse sized characters, but this was not the best representation.

Preslee decides to get in shape after receiving not great health news. She wants to start working out and eating better for her own health. This is wonderful and responsible! She joins a local gym even though she’s hesitant because she’s afraid people will be looking at her. She has a mishap on a piece of gym equipment that is recorded and goes viral and the handsome gym owner, Adam has to help her. She’s mortified, but he charms her and she decides to hire him to be her trainer. Meanwhile, Adam bets his employee that he can help her lose weight as advertisement for the gym. In exchange, he’ll flirt with Preslee to get the attention of Josh, Preslee’s crush.

I like the premise of this book, but it just didn’t feel that original to me. I’m very happy Preslee decides to get in shape for her own health, but the whole bet was just the worst. I didn’t find Adam charming or even that helpful. He completely judged her when he came to clean out her pantry. Adam and his brother are very competitive with each other. They decide to complete a mud run and invite Preslee, who says yes without even looking up what is is? If she’s so self conscious, she agrees so quickly to joining the run. It’s obvious that they get together, but when they do, there’s a lot of talk about whether her dad would approve of Adam spending the night. Preslee is 28 years old and she can make her own decisions. The ending was also such a jump that it doesn’t make sense. There were just a lot of cringey moments in this book.

As a fellow plus size woman, I just felt like the author made the leads so stereotypical of what a fat person and fit person would be. The scene where he’s cleaning her pantry was mortifying to read.

Thank you to @readforever and @netgalley for my gifted copy.

I have been waiting for another book in this series, and I'm so happy to get my hands on it.

Preslee is a wonderful character and someone I feel like I can relate to. As a bigger person and knowing I need to make some lifestyle changes but just not wanting to. One of my favorite scenes was her first time in the gym on the stair stepper. The reason is, I feel like this could have easily been me. I understood her feelings and also her reservations and assumptions about Adam. Here is this hot, fit, and good-looking man interested in her.

Adam is a great character. He is the perfect book boyfriend. He is caring, says all the right things but also is human to the point that he makes mistakes. I loved reading about him being both kind and funny yet stern in her training.

I really hope there is more in this series.

I am deeply unhappy about this book, and this might just be my biggest rant yet. Here are my issues, listed in no particular order:

1. More minor than my content concerns was my dislike of the writing, relying on telling rather than showing when it comes to emotions, backstory, and any deeper issues. A particular facet that got under my skin was how frequently love interest/personal trainer Adam gets to monologue to protagonist Preslee about fitness, health, or her confidence, and we all just have to listen to it.

2. Before we talk about Adam, and boy, do I have a lot to say there, I did have some struggles with Preslee. Her personality is pretty cookie-cutter romcom fare. She's so clumsy she trips and/or hurts herself SIX times in the opening chapter. This quality is dropped once excessively established and never has any bearing on the plot again. Less typical but still a source of casual ire for me was her constant use of "jeez."

3. So Adam. He smells like testosterone? Whatever that means. Probably gross. So I guess he's the manliest man to ever man. He's also the type of caveman to use the phrase "my woman" even before being romantically linked to Preslee, so I suppose I shouldn't be surprised by his scent. Adam decides to be Preslee's personal trainer to win a bet with his friend that he can help her get fit. And I have so many problems with that I can barely function? Because it feels like it's trivializing something very serious for her. And it implies a level of challenge in helping her meet her goals as a fat woman. The bet changes the texture of all their interactions. After a bad first day, he shows up at her place of work to pressure Preslee into coming back and then uses her obvious crush on another guy to trap her into publicly agreeing to return. Adam also claims the only reason he insists on a weight-based goal for Preslee is so he can determine if he won the bet, a restriction he admits he would not have placed on the goals of most clients. Halfway through the book, he realizes he didn't consider Preslee's feelings when making the bet *cue fake shock* and makes a half-assed attempt to put a stop to it. He only truly calls it off once the two have slept together and he fears it will jeopardize a future together if he doesn't come clean. TL;DR Adam sucks.

4. I had a lot of trepidation going into a story where I knew a health/fitness journey would be at play, especially for a fat woman protagonist. I was ultimately swayed to try this one because of the ownvoices component focusing on Preslee's prediabetic diagnosis. There's a conscious effort to frame Preslee's weight loss journey as health-motivated, but it's all mixed up in her desire to gain confidence and feel more attractive, as well. No person or character owes us unrelenting body positivity, especially when society is scrutinizing and commenting on their appearance as a matter of course. However, I was concerned with how this book might perpetuate toxic mindsets. Preslee spends a lot of time thinking about how Adam couldn't possibly be interested in someone who looks like her etc. and A) gains confidence from his approval and B) is convinced by him that he also suffers because people judge him by how fit he is *rolls eyes so hard that they break.* Adam forbids the word fat in his gym. He throws out all of Preslee' junk food, at odds with his verbal proclamation that everything's fine in moderation. He insists on weigh-ins despite her aversion to them. Preslee crash diets for a week to impress Adam and almost faints running three miles. When she cuts things off with him, Adam gains twenty pounds in a month through depressive eating habits. While Preslee acknowledges she should seek therapy to disrupt the impulse towards disordered eating, Adam's situation is ignored because ~yay true love depression cured!~

5. On a personal note, some casual acephobia hit me hard. One, the book relies on the false notion spread in some romance novels (out of what I can only assume is laziness) of "the law of universal attractiveness" when Preslee comments on how any woman would find Adam attractive due to his vague but apparently transcendent good looks, erasing all kinds of experiences including ones where attraction doesn't work that way. Worse, Preslee ruminates that "sex is like oxygen," and suggests a person might lapse into a vegetative state if deprived too long, which just felt really shitty to read on a lot of levels.

6. Last and far from least, Preslee has trauma from being given up for adoption as a baby, which is of course a valid, understandable emotional situation. However, it turns out that her bio mom was "drugged out" and gave her up to support her addiction. While I can respect that Preslee would struggle with being seen as a burden, I don't have patience for how the author was quick to label her mother's actions as unforgivable and not deserving of compassion (these are real words that are thrown around), fueling a toxic perception of drug addiction as a moral failing for our honorable hero to perpetuate in his high horse indignation on Preslee's behalf.

I am SO MAD.

DNF @ 10%

Thank you to the publisher for gifting me an arc via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

As a plus-size person, I’m always hesitant to read book featuring plus-size characters. Unfortunately, I couldn’t connect with the characters in this one. I understand why the book was set in a gym but I hate that plus-size characters always have to have a gym moment. Even if authors aren’t trying to, there’s focus always put on the person’s appearance. I just wish a character could be plus-size without a gym moment.

I’m still waiting for the book with the plus-size heroine who gets to be who she is without others focusing on her appearance and weight.

Do you ever just need to read a good spirited book where you know it will have a happy ending? Well with the current World climate, I was wanting to read a book that would take me away, make me laugh and forget the troubles of the world. I am so thankful to NetGalley, Forever/Grand Central Publishing and Alison Bliss for my arc of Out Of The Blue, as it lifted my mood and made me laugh.

The main character, Preslee Owens, is so relatable and admirable. Preslee receives some shocking news from her doctor and decides she must do what ever it takes to make herself healthy again. Even if that means stepping into a gym for the first time in her life and making a complete fool of herself, in front of the handsome gym owner Adam . She isn’t perfect; she is klutzy, goofy and awkward at times, but this is what makes her so endearing.

A love hate relationship develops between Preslee and Adam as he becomes her personal trainer. After many bumps and hiccups, Adam and Preslee finally find what they are looking for; love, happiness and a future together.

Out Of The Blue is a romantic comedy full of laughs, love and a happily ever after. This is the first book I have read by Alison Bliss, but with her witty heartfelt writing style, it will not be the last book I read by her.

Hmmmm.

Thank you to the publisher for my review copy.

This title should have worked for me. I'm a plus size woman and love inclusive characters. For whatever reason....it just didn't work. I felt like it was too staged. I know, I know. I'm not explaining it very well.

At the end of the day. I read 20% of this title and put it down.

I tried very hard to get into this book, picking it up many times, but something about the tone of the writing really rubbed me the wrong way and I just couldn't quite finish it. I will try this author again in the future though

Cute and witty banter, charmingly clumsy character, chemistry galore, but one flaw, which is the same with any plus size character, and it is that she lacked confidence. While she was joining the gym for her health, there was also the added pressure of thin being more desirable. Just once it would be nice if the character didn't need to lose weight to be seen as desirable. The extreme weight loss and gain are eating disorders that the author doesn't address. This was my first book by this author and even though it is #4 in the series, it is a standalone and I did not feel like I missed anything. Bottom line there is a lot to like in this book, but the negatives may detract some readers.

Give me a plus size leading lady in a romcom and I'm here for it! This was my first time reading anything from this author and I will be picking up more of her books. Being a plus size lady myself I think that the author gave Presley's voice a very authentic representation.

I’m seriously loving all the body positive and health focused romance books right now!!! So grateful that romcoms are shifting to normalizing and including all sizes!! What a huge win for the genre.

This was definitely an inspiring story and I think women on their own health journey will find themselves relating to Preslee so much! I loved the gym setting, the vlogging, and Adam!! What a dream guy - he was seriously so sweet, patient, and kind 😍 I think I was looking for more development from Preslee’s character. I did really enjoy the major scene at the end with her Dad, but I wanted more of him throughout! I found myself a bit bored by the conflict and I just wanted these two to TALK!!

Ultimately, in the recent sea of exercise themed and body positive books, it wasn’t my favorite of them. I definitely still recommend it for those who enjoy a body positive romance!

There have been a few books I’ve read recently where a curvy MC meets a personal trainer while working out and they fall in love…and I’ve loved them. So when I saw the premise of Out of the Blue I thought for sure this great streak would continue. Unfortunately, it did not. I wanted to love this book, but there were so many things that didn’t sit right with me. First, the lack of honesty and communication between the main characters would be a red flag in a real life relationship, so seeing it between Preslee and Adam made me feel they weren’t a good fit. The reason behind Adam offering to be Preslee’s trainer also really bothered me, and for some reason I just couldn’t get beyond that. Then there was Preslee’s journey. There were some unhealthy moments such as crash dieting and disordered eating, which I feel were not fully addressed in a way that showed how problematic those behaviors can me. They felt glossed over and it seemed like the book moved on too quickly from those moments.

Thank you to Forever Publishing and NetGalley for the advanced copy.