Plus size heroines + romance novels = a happy reader aka me

I loved how authentic Rose was and how Angus and Rose were written - how they had more to them than a big guy who works as a contractor and a plus size rich woman. They each had their own, difficult upbringing that felt well developed.

All the insecurities Rose voiced to Angus were ones I definitely experienced as a plus size woman who also was sexualized after developing early in school. I loved that she grew into herself by experiencing love with her friends and Angus, not by losing weight. Also loved her standing up for herself at the diner!

Will definitely be following this author and reading their next release!

Curves for Days is much more than just a book with a plus-size character. I assure you! Write down the date: August 22nd!

In this book we know the story of Rose, who was previously Alice Rose Barnes. She lives in Indiana, and wins the lottery thanks to love: her only friend in life, Mr.Brown, is an old man and a lot of wisdom...
For reasons that you'll have to read to find out, she decides to look for a new place and start her life over again. That's where Galway arrives and is adored by everyone in the city.

Rose is a simple woman, who has gone through a lot in her life and who never changes her pure way of being. That's why the 8 million in the account worries her, because she wants to use it for the good of the community and still doesn't know how, keeping the secret of her fortune well hidden. It's when he arrives in Galway that he meets Angus, a veteran who now works as a psychologist for other veterans with trauma in his spare time, and remodels houses.

This story is much more than a story of love, trust and companionship. It's much more than a story about how a girl out of the norm starts the process of self-knowledge.

It's a book about community, friendship, how to do good in small actions. It's a book about acceptance, starting over, moving beyond the past.

Rose is not the typical plus-size character that, unfortunately, the authors exaggerate in an attempt to demonstrate the mind and problems that society still has with non-standard people. Rose is an authentic character, who has her issues of insecurities but written in a perfect way. We know how she is physically, we know the problems she faces, we know how she thinks of herself without the exaggeration and boredom that I sometimes see in books with plus size characters.

I highly recommend it because it's a wonderful book, which will certainly stay in my heart... because Rose taught me a lot in a mere 336 pages 💜

I picked this up because the cover art was so good, and ahhh the book lived up to the expectations from the cover 😭 this was such a sweet slow-burn book, with lots of lovely banter and vulnerable moments. It's a slow-burn romance in a small-town between two people who sort of antagonized each other on their first meet.

💫 The FMC is plus-size, and her representation + the transformation from her insecurities into self-confidence was written so well 😭 she also has trauma from sexual assault and bullying, and the author has also done a great job of handling the trauma and the slow, subsequent healing.
💫 The MMC is ex-army, who's a part time contractor as well as a therapist for newly ex-army vets. He's mostly healed from his own trauma, and he works to provide better aid to other people similarly affected - his arc was more of a slow emotionless to emotion, and I loved the journey.
💫 The third-act makeup conversation was one of the best ones I've ever read 😭

TWs - sexual assault followed by bullying, extreme bullying in high school, death, PTSD faced by ex-army people, fatphobia

-- ty to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for an advanced copy!

I really wanted to love this book. I loved both main characters and the growth that each had. I loved the Angus being a grumpy sunshine. I loved the small town vibes this book gave. However, the “plot,” if you can even call it that, did not do it for me. The first 60% I struggled to get through unless the characters were talking to each other. Then they miraculously have a fight and breakup, which is bit dramatic in my opinion. I think I struggled the most with the fact that this book was not written over a long period of time and he already proposed to her?? The first 60-65% was slow, then the remaining went off the rails. I wish it was paced a bit better with a bigger plot twist. 3/5

Oh this book was so cute. I love a plus size romance. I feel big girls don't get put in books often. It was a cute book and I read it pretty fast.

I ended up reading this book for two reasons; the curvy representation and the billionaire romance. I love reading billionaire romances, but they always revolve around the man being a CEO and spending obscene amounts of money on his love interest. This was different because the woman was the one with all the money and she chose to hide the fact that she had all this money and settle down in a small town. Watching these two fall in love and break down each others walls was so cute. Laura Moher is a great author that I could see myself reading more books by in the future.

This was a fun lighthearted romance. The character development was great. It’s rare to see a plus size female main character, and that was handled well. It came up in a few areas of her life, but was not ALL the book was about, similar to how it is in life. I would definitely read more by this author.

I loved this book! It was laugh out loud funny, the main couple was sweet (and sexy) and they felt like actual adults. Their development from strangers to friends and then to a couple was fantastic. The tropes (expected in romance) were well done. If you enjoy grumpy/sunshine and what could read as forced proximity, this one's for you. It was refreshing to read a male MC who understands and advocates for boundaries.

I hope the author is planning to do more in this series. There were definitely some hints dropped and I will snap up any book she writes!

Book Name: Curves For Days
Series: NA
Author: Laura Moher
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

After winning a whole lot of money in the lottery, Rose flees her boring life to start somewhere new. A snow storm forces her to stop in a cute little town that she ends up calling home. Angus is grumpy and quiet but working for Rose to help her fix up her house forces them to open up to each other.

Though I’m not totally sold on the name (as it doesn’t really have anything to do with the story, other than the FMC is “curvy”) I enjoyed Rose as a fat FMC. As a fellow fat woman I liked how her size was handled throughout the story and it didn’t leave me cringing like some other books have. He body was just one thing about her, among a whole range of other, more interesting things.

Rose and Angus were really cute together and I liked reading how their relationship developed along the way. I love a grumpy/sunshine and this also had a smidge of enemies to lovers and forced proximity with them working together on her house.

It was funny and sweet while also talking about some pretty heavy issues facing communities, like housing shortages, PTSD, mental health and food security. It had those small town vibes where you feel welcome, accepted and everyone knows everyone, therefore everyone cares about everyone.

I read it all in one day, so it must have been good. Is this a series? Is there more? I feel like we will be getting stories about side characters in the future, which I would be happy to read.

Thanks to #netgallery for the ARC for my honest review.

Genre: Romance
Format: Digital
POV: Dual
Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️ /5
Age suggestion: 18+

Curves for Days by Laura Moher
Content warning, Rose the female main character was raped, aggressively bullied in high school, and contemplated suicide. She shares this part of her past with Angus on the page, in her voice. As a trauma survivor, it wasn't triggering for me, but please be gentle with yourself. Angus is a military veteran who had PTSD when he got out of the military, he counsels veterans, and he has a client who was sexually assaulted in the military. No descriptions take place on the page. I did not find this book triggering or violent, but take care.

Now that we have the formalities out of the way, I can tell you that I adored this book. Two broken people, healing each other, swoon!

Things I am here for:
Rose is a gorgeous curvy female main character who is NOT a doormat. She has spent time in the past trying to be invisible, but she blossoms in Galway.
Angus is so respectful, moves so slowly with Rose, builds her trust, and lets Rose be in control of their physical relationship. Swoony swoon swoon swoon.
The way Rose and Angus blossom together.
Weird or not weird babies.
Rose's stealth missions.
A fancy lingerie store that caters to ALL bodies.
Rose is so full of life! Her curiosity, passion for learning, making new friends and found family, I totally want to be her friend.
Miz Ames, demon, nemesis, or just a woman from another generation?
Throwing books in the pool that don't deserve to be read.
A grown woman not wanting kids, and her partner being absolutely fine with it!!!!!!!!

I received an advance review copy for free from NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Thank you to the author and Sourcebooks Casablanca for the eARC.

The premise is one we've all seen before (lottery winner flees their established life because they're being harassed due to being a lottery winner) but the main characters are nuanced enough (inside and out) to offer a new perspective.

I really enjoyed the way this book was written. Not only the writing style and character voice, but the setup. But the writing style and author voice was what really kept me reading. When it comes to (let's be honest--hard to be unique) Romance novels, style and characters will make all the difference. And this author pulled me in with her easy to read without being simplistic writing. The writing is clear and concise with no line wasted and was refreshingly not overwritten. The internal struggles of the main characters and the paths they forge for themselves fill the pages rather than frivolous description--a sign of a great author.

I enjoyed the main characters, for the most part. They're funny! There were spoilery reasons I didn't care for Angus (the characters were a bit heteronormative for my taste) or what, in my opinion, were cliche moments, but hey, it's a Romance novel. Surprisingly, I didn't mind (actually enjoyed) the mix of "romcom"-like elements with the deeper side of real life that I usually go for in a novel.

We get to know the main characters very well very quickly and I rooted for them from the very beginning. I can't remember ever being so excited for the main characters to cross paths again in the early chapters.

The depiction, in and out, of a fat woman (Rose) was realistic and relatable. Most of her experiences and thoughts were familiar on some level. Rose is for the most part a delightful character and somehow managed to not be salty or vindictive after the shit she'd been through. Angus like Rose seemed well-rounded and had a similar depth, which is unfortunately not always the case in contemporary Romance. I enjoyed the mental health aspects of the story.

Way too often with Romance novels, I end up hoping the leading lady will end up dumping the guy and happily single but I end up groaning with disappointment. But these two nerds worked things out realistically and (eventually) like fully grown adults (.....sort of...... *stares daggers at Angus*) so I actually wanted them to get back together (it's not a spoiler if it's a Romance novel lol).

I did end up dozing a little bit in some chapters when the plot slowed down, but I don't have any complaints about the pacing. I think I just got impatient for <spoiler>that early initial romantic payoff, which was excellent.</spoiler>

This is one of the very, very, very, very, very few Romance novels I'd actually consider reading again, which gives it a bump up to 4.5 stars.

This book was wonderful! The take on winning the lottery, the characters, the relationship building! Angus and Rosie are great characters, and the humor between them is funny and engaging. I love the tie in with the vets, and the crisis there. I can't wait to visit this place again, and find out what July was hiding. So many things!

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!
TW: fatphobia, rape/SA, death, suicide ideations, bullying, military PTSD

Tropes:
Grumpy/sunshine
Small town romace
Friends to lovers
Slow burn
Found family

Oh. My. GOSH. This book was just what I needed. Reading this felt like sitting in the sun on the first warm day of the summer.
Alice "Rose" Barnes has lived her entire life as the "invisible fat girl", so winning the lottery and getting tons of attention from countless people (landlords, random people on the street, and even worse people who were awful and bullied her in high school) was not in her plans. She devises a plan to run off and start a new life in the middle of the night and because of a snow storm (and a burly, giant man helping her out of the snow) she gets stranded in a town called Galway that quickly starts to feel like home. After buying a house that needs some work, she hires a contractor who turns out to be none other than the burly grump of a man named Agnus who helped her with her car in the snow storm! As the renovations progress, so does their friendship and Rose realizes that Agnus isn't so grumpy after all.

I absolutely LOVE a good grumpy/sunshine and this was PERFECT. You could see Agnus slowly starting to let down his guard with Rose and it was so heartwarming. Rose was such an amazing FMC. I loved her depth and her personality and the fact that the author gave her an amazing one. I have read way too many books where the fat FMC is just that, fat. As a mid size/plus size woman myself, it was so great not seeing any dialogue/inner monologue about or too Rose saying "even though shes fat" or "because she's fat" in regards of why she's such an amazing person, any activities she does, or her actions or to use words like "rolls" or "curves" using to describe her body. I cannot express my gratitude enough because I have DNF'd books for the ick I've gotten from how fat women have been described. There are confident fat characters that aren't self deprecating the whole book. Does Rose have small instances of self doubt, yes everyone does. Things like "I bet they don't think I can do this because I'm fat" but it's never followed by "they are right" its always "and I'm going to prove them wrong". I loved how confidence, kind, and so relatable Rose's character was.

Angus, oh sweet baby, Angus. I could tell he's the type of person who just wants to give and give and help others But his saviour complex and his need to "even the scoreboard" definitely got in the way sometimes. He works as a contractor and as a PTSD therapist for veterans while being a veteran himself. In the chapters of him at work, you could tell that he cares about his cause and values the work that he does with veterans that were in the same position as him.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and hope by some of the clues with some of the characters that this will be an ongoing series!

Curves for Days by Laura Moyer | 18+ check tw!

2 out of 5 🌟 | 🌶.5

⚠️Potential Spoilers ahead! Proceed with caution! ⚠️

*A very special thank you to Netgalley and Sourcebooks for allowing me to read this book early in exchange for an honest review*

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There is nothing I love more than a plus size heroine. Literally, nothing. I was excited to read this one, and unfortunately, it fell short.

Starting off with what I liked:

Rose was a great character. Her personality was infectious and I enjoyed her selflessness with her new found wealth, considering where she had come from. I liked seeing her become more confident in herself and more assertive, specifically before Angus and her became a thing— because then she started giving him the credit she deserved for rebuilding herself.

The small town aspect was also really well done. I liked seeing how all of the characters connected to each other in some way or another. It built a good sense of community, which definitely added to the plot. I really liked all of the characters within the town, though I’m unsure how the conflict with Miz Ames and Ahmed added to the story.

Now on to what I didn’t particularly like:

I felt like the romantic climax (ie. them getting together) came quite early in the story, which made the domestic part feel very long and drawn out. There was a point when I was hoping for something to happen to kinda break up that part of the plot. This also made it hard to tell how much time had passed in the book.

While I love a book with representation— and one that deals with heavy topics— all of the issues felt like they were dealt with in a very surface level way. You don’t really read about Rose’s body image evolution, which is somewhat implied by the title. It similarly touched on PTSD and SA very briefly, but they didn’t feel like main plot points.

Finally, the third act conflict just bothered me. It very based in toxic masculinity. Like Angus was mad that he couldn’t be Rose’s knight in shinning armor. It was all based in miscommunication. And considering that Angus was a therapist, you would have expected more.

Overall, there were parts of this that were enjoyable. I found the book cute. But the pacing and some of the plot lines just didn’t work for me.

I knew I wanted to read this when I saw a curvy lady on the front cover. I was hopeful that the book would be good because normally books with plus sized women aren't written well. Safe to say, I thoroughly enjoyed this book! I thought it was a perfect summertime read. The romance was cute, and the body positivity in the book blew me away! I definitely think everyone should read this book. I picked this book up and had a hard time putting it down. I think I've found my new insta-buy author! I love the way Laura Moher wrote the book.

Definitely recommend!

Cute and sweet. Angus and Rose had wonderful chemistry and are perfect for each other. It was a little too "goody-goody" for me. There's no way Angus and Rose would be real people because there was not one selfish cell in either person. It was like an over-the-top Hallmark movie in book form filled with philanthropy. Obviously, helping people and being a good person is important, but you still have to be human... humans make mistakes and they want things. Like, Rose never once thought of buying something outrageous for herself? I doubt it. Definitely a cute book, but lacks substance.

I'm always looking for plus size representation in the books that I read and recommend to patrons. I think it is very important for everyone to be able to see themselves in books and this book does just that. As a plus size reader, I loved reading this book and felt very connected to the main character. I highly recommend this book to anyone!

This was a nice little Southern romance about a curvy girl that wants to start life anew and afresh! The story starts off with Rose, a waitress inheriting a fortune from one of her regular customers, Mr. Brown. Just before he dies, he gives Rose a bag with a winning ticket. With her fortune Rose heads to a small town in North Carolina where she makes new friends, buys a house, reinvents herself and meets the grumpy big burly Angus, who has been contracted to work on her new house. Angus is a man of all trades and does many odd jobs, fixer uppers and counseling on the side. The story is told both from Rose and Angus point of view which I really appreciated. I also liked the fact that they were an interracial couple that everyone accepted and never did this small-town object or have any issues with them being a couple. I pictured Angus looking a lot like John Coffee from The Green Mile.

I think the book failed on further exploring the relationship.between Rose and Mr. Brown, who is at the forefront of this story since essentially creates Rose's new life. We do not know how Mr. Brown died, the extent of his relationship with his family and kids and just what happened to him on the day of question. I think the readers would have loved to see more about Rose and Mr. Brown's relationship. We only have Rose's Pov, so we have no idea if Mr. Brown gave her the winning lottery ticket or if she stole it. Did she cause his accident? Also, I thought the character of Mrs. Ames character was could have been utilized more, perhaps as a twist. They had Mrs. Ames leave a letter for Rose; I thought maybe she would turn out to be a family member of Mr. Brown. To me Mrs. Ames could have just spoken with Rose and given her the message instead of the mysterious letter. It is nice that she wishes the best for Rose, but we the reader do not know what happened to Mr. Brown. One would assume that the family would contest or put a claim to the lottery winnings. Of course, Rose never told the family about the ticket, which really leaves the reader to speculate whether or not Rose killed Mr. Brown.

At any rate I enjoyed this quick read romance story and I absolutely love the cover. It is the reason I chose this book. The cover is gorgeous and stands out and the story is a really nice romance. It gave us a lot of insight into Rose's character and why she would want to start fresh some place new. I really love second chances and this one told a great story and loved that it was in a small town.

This was amazing!!! I loved this so much. I devoured this quickly because it was so good. Love it!!
I just reviewed Curves for Days by Laura Moher. #NetGalley
[NetGalley URL]

𝟐.𝟓 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐬

This book is a small town romance, that follows a woman, Rose, who’s trying to find someplace she can call home. Rose hasn’t had a good life, she was bullied very badly in high school because of her weight and then something huge happens in her life - she wins the lottery - and suddenly everyone wants to be her friend. Tired of all the attention and lack of privacy, Rose decides to leave and find somewhere else to stay and start building the life of her dreams. And then she meets Angus, this big grumpy man, and sparks fly and they fall in love. That’s the gist of it.

I was enjoying this book up until the 50% mark. I had some issues, I felt like everything was too perfect, but it was making me laugh and put a smile on my face. But then the couple gets together and my enjoyment vanished.

The good

- The small town vibes were great, I’m a fan of this type of romance, because i think it’s cute to read about small towns were everyone knows each other and become a family.

- I loved the plus size rep, because it’s not something I see in a lot of romances.

- I liked the main character, she had some depth, and I enjoyed her journey throughout the book.

The bad

Where do I start?

- Angus is not grumpy, he’s more of an asshole. Then he gets better and is actually very respectful and kind towards Rose. But, in the third act drama, the man turns into a huge sexist. First of all, the drama is so ridiculous and the fruit of unnecessary miscommunication. Rose is hiding a secret and she doesn't want to say anything to Angus, because she fears he’ll look at her different. But of course he finds out and instead of being upset because she lied, he’s upset because he realizes she doesn't need him to play white knight and save her. The sexist bullshit made me so angry, he’s mad at her because she doesn't need him, because she's an independent woman? WTF? Get me out of here, please!

- The romance. It was just too cheesy for me, there’s not much development in their relationship and they behave like two teenagers, I’m just not a fan of this type of romance. It made me cringe and the pet names and the cheesy lines were too much for me.

- During most of the book, everything is just too perfect, the MC’s dreams all come true, one after the other. I like a little struggle, a little bit of realism. Even her issues with her body image, everything's just surface level. The author tried to delve into a lot of themes, like sexual assault, PTSD, fatphobia. But nothing was talked about in depth, for me it seemed like she put this things in the story to make it more serious and emotional and not seem too perfect, but it didn't work. She barely addresses these topics and they’re just swept under the carpet.

- The writing. I don’t like it and it’s my main issue with the book. It’s very basic and at times it felt like I was reading a YA romance. And there’s abrupt scene and pov changes that just make no sense.

- To wrap it up, the plot of this book, the main conflict the MC has, is that she’s won the lottery and doesn't want the money. Let me repeat this, all the drama happens because Rose does not want to be rich. I honestly have no words.

I don’t think it’s a terrible book, and I thought about giving it 3 stars, because I enjoyed some parts, but the second half of the book and the third act conflict infuriated me and I can’t give it a higher rating. I think it’s one of those cases where the book just didn't work for me, but I believe other people might enjoy it.

Thank you NetGalley for the e-arc.