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~The Bridesmaid's Reward~ by Liz Fielding |
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Heroine: pleasingly plump/voluptuous Textile artist Dodie Layton is under orders from her mother to drop 2 dress sizes in six weeks, or risk losing the chance of being Maid of Honor at her sister's celebrity-studded wedding. Desperate for a workable weight-loss scheme, Dodie will do anything to metamorphose from a dumpy dowd into a voluptuous vixen. Even if it means living on nothing but her mother's cabbage soup, she'll do whatever it takes for her philandering ex to see her looking devastatingly gorgeous on the arm of sexy actor and best man Charles Grey in the celebrity magazine photos of the wedding. Realizing she can't pull this miracle off on her own, Dodie makes a panic-stricken call to her best friend Gina, a gym manager, and begs her to whip her into shape. The two cut a deal: artwork for the spa's reception area in exchange for a healthier body in a hurry. Pro-rugby-player-turned CEO Brad Morgan is always hungry for a challenge, whether it's developing a new sports and leisure center or just pushing his injured body to maintain its professional level of fitness. Deciding to check up on his latest and most expensive project, Lake Spa, he's prepared to finally take a well-deserved working vacation. But while there, Brad crosses paths with a frumpy artist-type who has a rush need for a personal trainer. When the health club worker assigned to her falls ill, he jumps at the chance to take on the job. Brad is supposed to be whittling Dodie down in time for the big day, but he finds he likes her generous curves, her softness. He's drawn to them, to her dimpled smile, and her deep dark eyes. Theirs is supposed to be a short-term business relationship, yet he wants so much more. How can Brad make Dodie believe that he wants her as she is, when she doesn't even know the truth about who he is? I really appreciated the quiet humor throughout the story, and found that Dodie and Brad were very likeable people with a terrific chemistry between them. I hated to leave them at the end of the book. Size-wise Dodie was a bit plump and thought she needed to lose some weight, but all she truly needed was to bolster her self-esteem and gain some self-respect. (In the end, she toned up some, but she didn't drop the dress sizes like she'd originally planned.) What didn't work for me: We didn't see much of them, but the mum and the ex-boyfriend were easy to hate. I know it's a petty wish on my part, but I would have loved to have had more time dedicated to Dodie's newfound happiness being rubbed in their faces! Overall: This charming, well-written story was as delicious as the chocolate Dodie craved! Anyone who delights in contemporary romances with a British flavor should enjoy this one.
What worked for me:
The thing I really liked about this book was that Brad was focused not on
Dodie losing weight but having a healthier lifestyle, regaining her
self-esteem, and breaking free from the bondage of comfort eating when she
really should have been dealing with her emotions. He tells her right out
that she doesn’t need to change her body at all. What didn't work for me:
Hopefully readers won’t take this book as a
wholesale portrayal of overweight women. Not all of us are binge-comfort
eaters who never exercise. This is just one woman’s story. Overall:
The Bridesmaid’s Reward was an enjoyable read, if rather short, that shows that loving yourself is more important than how well you fit into a dress, and for that I really enjoyed it. If you liked "The Bridesmaid's Reward" you might also enjoy "Love at Large", "Coffee and Kung Fu", "The Independent Bride", "The Librarian's Passionate Knight", "Suite Seduction", "The Course of True Love", "Born to be Wild", "More to Love", "Runaway Bay", "Blushing Pink", "His Seductive Revenge", "Carried Away", "His E-mail Order Wife", "Dear Cupid", "Plum Girl", "Spellbound", "It Had to be You", or "This Heart of Mine".
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