Review: "Big Girl Panties" by Stephanie Evanovich

Holly Brennan stayed by her husband's side as he died, and when he did pass away she comforted herself with food and the couch. Now 32, widowed, and weighing more than she ever has before, Holly knows that she needs to get her life back but she isn't quite sure how to. When she sits beside personal trainer to the stars Logan Montgomery on a flight she is surprised when he offers to get her back into shape. As she channels her grief and the residual feelings from her sad childhood into her workouts Holly begins to lose weight at a rapid pace and when other men suddenly begin to notice the new Holly, Logan discovers that his feelings for Holly are more than friendly. Can a relationship between two people who are so different work for more than a short time? Holly and Logan are about to find out.

I both loved and didn't like Big Girl Panties. I'll start with why I loved it. I loved Holly. She remains so vulnerable and true to herself throughout the book. At times she is the most real thing about this story! She loses weight by working hard and by never giving up, even when the going gets very tough. I loved that she didn't magically transform, but transformed through hard work over time. That part of the book was very inspiring and a great message to those who are reading it. Losing weight takes effort, and it's not going to happen without that! I also liked Amanda, a celebrity friend of Logan's. Despite the fact that she was often in the spotlight she was a kind person and she didn't become plastic or fake. The best part of the book comes as Holly begins to work through her issues. Gradually she deals with the pieces of her past that were painful to her, and I loved seeing the new Holly emerge from her shell.

There were a few things that I didn't like about Big Girl Panties. My least favourite part was Logan. He seems to feel that he is a very special gift to the women around him, which is realistic in a way but it didn't exactly make him your typical romantic hero. He seemed to develop feelings for Holly only after she lost the weight, and even after she loses weight he seems to think that the fact that her natural shape will always be curvy is unacceptable. The message that we get from all of that is that curvy is unnatural and not desirable, which I found sad. It may be the way that some people feel but it is far from a universal truth! Beautiful comes in many shapes and sizes and Big Girl Panties seems to accept this, but only grudgingly.

That being said, I still really enjoyed the book. I can admit that I am an absolute sucker for your typical transformation story and I love seeing unhappy people change into happy people, no matter what the reason! Would I have liked a few things to turn out differently in the book? Sure! However it's nice that books don't always end exactly the way that I think that they should, it makes for some food for thought. My thanks to the publisher for providing me with a review copy of this book!