~Love by the Pound~

by Judy Bagshaw 

      Heroine: tall and abundant teen 

     This e-story is billed as a Y/A  romance, and I feel that the label suits it perfectly.   It's short and sweet and reads like a made-for-TV movie aimed at the teen crowd, complete with a mystery, big trouble, and happily-ever-after ending.  

     We first meet 18 year old Freshman Sandra Reese as she is waiting in line to receive her dorm room assignment. Her inner monologue makes it painfully clear how she feels about herself.  The more uptight she feels about her appearance to others, the klutzier she becomes.  The klutzier she becomes, the more uptight she feels.  It's a vicious cycle, and one that all people can relate to.  Fortunately for her, she discovers she has the most amazing and loving roommate, Danny, who is instrumental in turning Sandra around in her thoughts and feelings about herself.   The story has a doubly happy ending for our heroine who finds love not only with her hero, but also with herself.

      What worked for me:

     I could relate to Sandra's feeling about herself; the way she made herself invisible, while at the same time complaining that no one really ever saw her.  And the way she believed that no guy, let alone a truly handsome one would ever want a girl like her was also a point that hit home for me.

     I won't write the hero's name here and give away the story (there was a choice to be made between two guys at one point) but I enjoyed the way he bolstered Sandra's self-esteem and tried to make her understand that he thought she was a stunningly gorgeous and sexy young woman.

     Side note: The Mom in this story drove me nuts!  I wanted to send her to therapy with a note tacked to her forehead that read, "I think I am a loving helpful Mom, but am actually tearing my kid apart."   

What didn't work for me:    

           This story was very short, which didn't leave a lot of room for plotline and character development.  The story is mainly moved forward by dialogue, one of the reasons it felt script-like for me.  The other reason it felt script-like actually has nothing to do with the story itself, but the fact that this was my first time reading a book on my computer, and the long vertical, single-page format gave me the feeling of reading a play.  (I will miss the wonderfully musty smell of books dredged off the shelves of a used book store, but I realize that it is time for me to be dragged kicking and screaming into the new millennium. :^D  )

Overall:

   It was a fun, fast read for me.  I'm used to longer historical novels, so reading a novella with a contemporary setting was a nice change of pace.  Size and its impact on a woman's self-esteem remains a constant theme throughout this book, so it's a great story to recommend to anyone struggling with this issue, particularly young teenage girls. 

   If you liked "Love by the Pound" you might also enjoy "Love at Large", "Lady Blue", the Odelia Grey mystery series, "A Worthy Heir", "Teacher's Pet", "Serious Risks", "Shadows in Moonlight", "Walking After Midnight", and "Looking for Laura".

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