Monday, May 14, 2012

55 Books in a Year: Book #18 Bet Me

It took me a minute to realize that Bet Me is a romance novel for fat people. And, no I don't think fat is an offensive word. IT is just a word, like any other word. This book just happens to be for people above a size 8.


And...I'm not in the "thin people" category.

It did take me a few chapters to get over the blatant way the novel panders (yes, panders) to the not so thin (I guess there's a whole genre of books like this, and this is not the place for me to get on that soapbox)...

Min's boyfriend thinks she 'overweight' and weak. Cal thinks she disarmingly curvy and Cal is hot...and, not regular Soap Opera hot, more like George Clooney hot. Crusie goes out her way to focus on Min's cute haircut, "short loose curls" thick and silky", her lovely toes and great taste in shoes, "'Nice shoes,' he said, and she looked down at her frosted-plastic open-toed heels tied with floppy black bows." (and, those are shoes with cherries for straps on the cover not spoons and cherries...just in case you, like a certain someone else, *cough, cough* thought otherwise). Everyone picks on Min for being overweight this includes her thin, bitchy, younger sister and her even thinner "I haven't eaten real food since the 60s" mother. Both of which would hate it if Min ruined the former's wedding by being too big for her dress.

And, here's what Cal says to it all:
"The reason you can't lose weight is that you're not supposed to lose weight, you're not built that way, and if you did manage through some stupid diet to take the weight off, you'd be like that chicken mess you just made. Some things are supposed to be made with butter. You're one of them." He goes on to say, "You want to be sexy, be sexy. You have assets that skinny women will never have, and you should be enjoying them and dressing like you enjoy them. Or at least dressing so that others can enjoy them. ...You're the kind of woman who looks better naked than dressed. I'm assuming..."
No guys is ever going to talk that way. And, if you've found one, I'd like to meet him just to make sure he's real.

But, once I got over that. Once I turned off my analyzing brain and remembered I was reading a romance novel, everything about this book became marvelous.

First, there are about 20 pairs of shoes that I want to see in person (and, I'm not a shoe person), nothing bad happens, but all the nay-sayers kind of get theirs kind of like in "The Wedding Date", Cal looks like George Clooney circa "One Fine Day", Min loves food and there's this scene with a cupcake that felt like porn, food porn, there's lots and lots Chicken Marsala..and, there's Elvis...Presley. Sigh.

Actually, when I got finished reading this book I, and my curvy, self felt pretty swell.

This is also the first book I read for my Why Buy The Cow? book challenge, as it was free on the Nook for a time, sadly it is not free now.


Here's an adorably cute and spot on review of this book. Love it!

5 comments:

  1. You know, I need a guy like Cal in my life, to help me accept my curves. Fictional boys are the best! LOL

    And the shoes sound great!

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  2. I wouldn't really say that Bet Me is specifically geared towards fat people, any more than all other romances are geared towards skinny chicks. I think that's what makes Jennifer Crusie a great author is that her characters are usually so different in some way.

    That being said, I love the celebration of a healthy body image, good food, and sexy times in this book. This is actually in one of my top ten favorite books ever, it just makes me smile the whole way through :-)

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    1. i've only ever read this one book and in looking at other reviews on the interwebs that just what i read. i wasn't going to read any of her other books because of this fact (not because i didn't like the book, i thought all the things you did--after a time), but after reading your comment it sounds like i may find them all very fun! thanks! i'll have to check the other books out at a bookstore.

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  3. Hi Steph! Congratulations! You are the May winner of the Why Buy the Cow? RC! The prize is a $10 Gift Card for Amazon (which can be substituted for a gift card from B&N).

    If you’d like to accept this prize, please e-mail. If you do not respond within 48 hours a new winner will be selected in your place. Thank you.

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    Replies
    1. oh man! sorry i missed i've been out of town! well, at least i can say i won...one time...sorry i didn't respond at all! :D

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