If you haven't read Butterface (why the heck haven't you?!?!) you can read this one, I STRONGLY suggest you read it before Muffin Top, but they’re both standalones.
If you did read it, this is the story of Lucy, Gina’s best friend. She doesn’t do or have anything small, she has a big personality, an even bigger rack and she is a plus size women. When she was at a bar waiting for Gina, a guy comes up and suggest that if she was eating a salad, she might improve from a 5 to an 8. Now, let’s be honest here… it doesn’t matter if you’re ok with your size, when someone points out that you are fat and it’s something you have been dealing with it your whole life it’s something that is going to bother you A LOT. Fortunately Frankie Hartigan appears and saves the day, because well, you know when you encounter a person like that on the street when you are doing your business without bothering anyone, it can definitely rend you speechless. So, Frankie sits with her and they share a lovely meal, he realizes that this was the first time he has had a conversation with a girl without trying to get laid.
The most girly part of me is offended by that, but the feminist in me is happy that this story is not just about the looks. So… she ends up telling him that she is planning to go to her reunion but she isn’t that sure that she should go, I mean, to relive the bullying? No thank you! But he practically invites himself to the reunion and she just goes along with it, they travelled in a car for almost two days to get to Lucy’s house. And that’s the beginning of the book.
I loved that Lucy was so down to earth, I mean she was far from perfect but it was so easy to relate to her, at least to me. I had have problems with my weight my whole life, the feeling that you get when someone asks you: “are you sure you want to eat that?” it’s awful and it never goes away, even when you know they are not saying it in a bad or offensive way, it’s an everyday struggle. I loved the way Lucy was portrayed in the book, what you will or just read in the book is real, those are the feelings that you get. I loved the insecurities that she had, because it was in a way about her, but also about what Frankie would want and that’s a really mature thinking. So often you read a book about “fat characters” that are describe as if they were teenagers, and those situations are not only for them, the adults also struggle about it.
Now Frankie… OMG!! I just loved him so much!! I love that this book wasn’t insta-love, they first got to know each other BEFORE he developed feelings for her. He started to feel a physical attraction to her when he REALLY looked at her for the first time, but it wasn’t just about that you know? That was awesome and it’s not every day that you read about a more real situation, it was perfect!
I do have to say… I hated Lucy’s dad a little bit, he wasn’t a bad person but he is supposed to be a psychologist and I had a conflict that he didn’t know what was happening in Lucy’s mind all those years, but well, the shoemaker's son always goes barefoot.
And that ending!? I was swooning so hard, Frankie is the master in romance.