Curves For Days by Laura Moher is an contemporary romance following Rose, a woman that recently won the lottery and has made the decision to move away from her current town to live her life in peace and without the expectations and curiosity others have around someone with money. On her drive, she gets stuck in a snow storm meeting Angus, the male love interest. Their initial meeting is rocky but they meet again later when Angus is hired to work on Rose' new house. Despite Rose' kindness and his attraction to her, Angus is consistently perturbed by her due to feeling like he has a debt to pay to the world and discomfort with others 'oweing' him. Through long hours of working together on the home, Rose and Angus strike up a friendship that blossoms into a romance. Their relationship is going well with the potential to grow into something serious... but Rose still has not told Angus about her eight million dollar secret.

Another book with an intriguing premise that was unfortunately lost in its execution. I would have enjoyed this story significantly more if somethings went differently such as Angus' actions, Miz Ames not being included in the story at all, and for the pacing to be more clear.

1) Angus is bar one of my least favorite male love interests due to his unprovoked and unnecessary anger towards Rose in the beginning the book and his strong "She can not spend money on me or give me anything because she will owe me and I hate that. I think she has financial issues and I want to help her" attitude. I think someone's financial situation is irrelevant to you unless it appears to be a severe concern to them and you. In this book, that was not happening and Rose repeatedly reassured him she was fine, just trying to be responsible and have a better understanding of how to handle money. He was insistent and stubborn, believing what he wanted and proceeded to throw a fit when he found out she had significantly more money than he initially thought. His reaction was too much for me and was frustrating on top of how he's treated Rose previously. She did not need a hero, she did not need his money, just his trust and confidence.

2) Miz Ames is a side character readers only read about when Rose is dining at a restaurant. She has maybe two lines of actual dialogue, the rest is summarized for the reader in paragraphs. This character served no purpose other than to criticize Rose about her weight and her eating habits, give a backhanded note to her later with no resolution. Readers are well aware of Rose' body from the cover, title, and character descriptions. The addition of Miz Ames was unnecessary and more hurtful to people with curvier bodies than it was helpful. If it was intended to be a "yes I'm fat and I don't care, I'm happy the way I am moment" I don't think it was done successfully nor was it necessary since I think readers would have understood that about Rose without the inclusion of Miz Ames.

3) The pacing and setting of this book threw me for a loop. The story read quickly and how events in the story were told felt quick, but it seemed like a significant amount of time had passed that wasn't told explicitly to the reader. In the beginning, Rose is caught in a snow storm. Later, she is swimming in a pool and then going camping with friends. Rose' home appears to be completely renovated or built from the ground up when each room is described but the speed each room was completed felt like it was done in a month. Also, there is a side couple that meet, get married, adopt kids, and make plans for a house that felt quick but I assume intended to be happening over time. I think the story would have benefited from a more clear explanation of time passing like Rose and Angus discussing a timeline for how long the house would take or a mention of X (time) has passed.

Overall, Curves for Days lands middle-of-the-road for me at a 3 star. While I did read an e-arc copy and these three issues I had could have been changed, reading other reviews do not give me hope.. The story included elements I was excited for and think others would love but due to the three previously mentioned frustrations I had, I would not recommend for everyone. I am interested in reading more by the author and will keep an eye out for their future releases.

Thank you to the author and Fiercereads team for this e-arc to read and review. All opinions are my own and not influenced by receiving this arc.

3.5 stars

The storyline itself was fine, for the most part, but something about the writing style of this book just didn’t quite work for me. I appreciated the body diversity that the novel highlighted, and I can’t honestly pinpoint exactly what I didn’t love, but it just didn’t all hit right for me. Not a bad book; a bit trauma-heavy, but still a story that I’m sure some others will enjoy.

This was a fun, heartfelt romance that I thoroughly enjoyed. Curves should be celebrated and this book does that. Rose has suffered some terrible things in her past. (Trigger Warning for abuse). I really enjoyed the pacing and character development. This is a great book by a debut author.

This book is a must for any lovers of romance.

P.s It is set in a fictional town in the U.S. and not in the real city/county in Ireland. The series title threw me as I'm Irish and born in Galway.
I received an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Laura Moher's "Curves for Days" is a captivating slow-burn romance featuring two wonderfully relatable plus-size characters.

Rose, a sweet but lonely woman, experiences a life-changing event when she unexpectedly wins the lottery. Faced with newfound attention and opportunists, she flees to a picturesque small town to start anew. She falls in love with the community and decides to buy a house while navigating her newfound wealth and philanthropic goals. Soon she meets Angus, a gruff but compassionate veterinarian determined to give back to society. Angus also does contractor work and, as he helps Rose renovate her new home, a friendship blossoms into something deeper.

Set against the backdrop of a charming small town with a heartfelt mission to make a difference, the author skillfully tackles real-world issues like PTSD among military veterans and the lack of mental health resources available to them. The conflicts in the story felt authentic, yet the characters showed remarkable growth as they confronted their own insecurities and worked through them. The story completely invests readers in Angus and Rose's romantic journey, and the representation of fat bodies is handled with sensitivity and authenticity, especially as Rose navigates her journey from insecurity to self-acceptance, with Angus unwaveringly supportive throughout.

There is a perfect balance between heartfelt intimacy and character development, with a focus on emotional connection rather than explicit steaminess. Moher delicately handles Rose's past trauma and Angus's patience and tenderness as they navigate their budding relationship. This delightful novel is sure to be a hit with fans of sweet romcoms and personal growth narratives.

I really wanted to love this book. But while the story itself was good, the writing style just really wasn’t for me and I couldn’t push myself to finish. Dnf at 25%.

DNF nearly 50% in. The characters just didn’t grip me enough. Particularly Rose who still is finding herself in the book and the lack of understanding so far as to what happened isn’t gripping me enough

Ok, I cannot describe to you all how much I loved this book! Rosie is so extremely relatable and I just absolutely adored everything about Angus!! This is a must read if your into a soft fluffy romance with some very strong life messages!! 5 stars, amazing read!!

This was a fun quick read. Curves for days is a storyline full of my favorite themes - alternating POV, grumpy & sunshine, friends to lovers, and a slow burn. I am looking forward to the next book in the series. Thank you for the advance copy.

CW: sexual assault and brief mentions of war

Thank you to Sourcebooks and Netgalley for an advanced copy in return for an honest review. I was genuinely surprised by how much I enjoyed this small town romance. It was a cute grumpy/sunshine with two guarded characters, who actually had genuine reason to be guarded, and had well done plus size representation as well.

Rose is looking to completely start over after inheriting a winning lottery ticket and finds herself drawn into Galway, North Carolina, a small town outside Asheville. She is looking for a new life and to do some genuine good with her winnings and soon decides to settle in town. She meets Angus, a grumpy contractor who is also a Veteran and a counselor who after working through his own PTSD helps returning service members acclimate back to civilian life.

While the circumstances for Rose's fortune may be a little far fetched, the characters both felt so genuine in their relationship and connection to one another. This book was also slightly steamier than I expected (but in a good way). I cant wait for the second book in the series to come out this summer!

I appreciated the way the author had a plus size main character. The premise was eh, but the love between the characters was fire. However, how did the male main character not figure out that he didn't know her name when he saw her passport? This book made Laura Moher an autobuy author for me.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for honest review!

Curves for days was everything I hoped it would be based on the summary. A plus sized woman who worked as a waitress for 10+ years wins the lottery thanks to one of her regulars and wants a fresh start. She winds up in North Carolina and comes across this Jack Reacher looking guy (tv series not the movies) who's all grumpy to her sunshine named Angus. He helps her renovate her who fixer upper home while she tries to figure out what to do with 80 million dollars (giving $500 tips to pregnant waitresses and pretending people in need are dropping a hundred dollars at a grocery store is NOT going to cut it)

There's some childhood trauma and pretty good love story as these two (along with a wide range of zany small town characters) take us on this wild ride. I would definitely recommend it.

Curves for Days
by Laura Moher

A really sweet story . Rosie is lonely and doesn’t have any to care for her in any way . She wins the lottery and everyone good and not so good comes out of the woodwork. Rosie just has to get way - go somewhere no one knows her or her story. She moves to Carolina and decides to buy a property to do up and employs Angus a contractor who is a retired army veteran who also does therapy for PTSD suffers. Follow the ups and downs of Rosie and Angus on there journey a lovely heart warming read .

Good story. Fun characters. I hadn’t read anything by the author the past and I did enjoy this one—definitely worth checking out anything further from the author.

I"m having an off week, because this book didn't work for me either. There were a lot of side plot things happening, and I didn't love the author's voice/style.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I requested this book initially based on the cover and it's gorgeous. It does definitely fit Rose to a T. And she was an amazingly written character. I loved her personality and her vibrance just leapt right off the page. Angus wasn't my ideal MMC. There were so many things he did or said that just came off cringy and made me wince. I just wasn't very into him at all. (Tbh I also hate the character name, but that's not my choice so LOL)

I think I would definitely read another book by this author because I do really enjoy her writing style.

I DNFd this book at 63%, I tried to persist but it just didn’t hit for me. I was looking forward to reading this one because I love a curvy girl story but this just want the right book for me. An average one for me.

I enjoyed this sweet romance. It did have the 80-ish% breakup. I saw it coming and was waiting for it and couldn't wait for it to be over. That's my only real complaint. The rest was a delight.

Wow finally a book about a plus size person which I think represents a lot of people! I smiled all the way through this totally relateable book.

Submitting my did not finish as I will not be continuing my read after chapter 7. I have lingered with this book for a long time in attempts to give it a fair review, but the characters are not resonating me and the plot is stuck even after 65+ pages. I feel like I'm reading a transcript of what the characters are up to rather than being introduced into their worlds. But thank you for the ARC, sourcebooks!

This was a very cute read. It took me a while because after the first 25% I got a little bored with the story.
However after taking a short break and getting back into it I enjoyed the whole thing. I loved seeing a plus size main character with some insecurities. I felt pretty seen. The romance was hot.

I felt like it definitely had elements missing to make me want to give it 5 stars but overall pretty good!