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!