Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Book review: Big Girls Don't Cry by Cathie Linz


I came across this book by browsing "similar titles" on Amazon. I'd started out with some chick-lit book, and basically just started adding titles to my Booksfree queue. I thought this might be a nice light read.

When I got it in the mail and read the back cover, I got a bad feeling: "Cole is still the golden boy, a sexy charmer with commitment issues and a short attention span--until Leena and her curves strut into his life."

Nevertheless, I gave it a try. I made it about 80 pages in before I put it away in disgust. This is not a "chick lit" book. It's not an empowering story for fat girls (which is the type of book I was looking at when this popped up). It's a romance novel that was too long for Harlequin so it got published on its own.

It's full of cheesy set-ups--for instance, the main character, Leena (who just took total control of a vet's office and basically hired herself) starts hyperventilating (because her life sucks so much), and the male romantic lead who she's known for an hour solves this by .... kissing her. I gave up at the point where Leena is feeling insecure so dares said romantic lead to "prove" he's attracted to her with a make-out session. Leena's always doing things like putting her hands "on her curvaceous hips", blah blah blah.

I skipped to the end; it ends exactly as you'd expect. The "fat" girl with big city dreams realizes her home town isn't so bad, and throws away a second career chance for a guy (because, you know, you can't have both!) and a life in said town. It's a fairly standard story, but not one that impresses. I won't be checking out any more of Linz's books.

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