The struggle, often times, with writing a review is that the energy required to write one is more than the experience of having read the book. This is the case for me with Gretchen Galway's Love Handles (2011), claimed to be a "Romantic Comedy." It is neither.
Love Handles is book 1 of the "Oakland Hills" series and stars Beverly Lewis, a trained teacher, and Liam Johnson, former Olympic swimmer. Beverly has just inherited her estranged grandfather's fitness company, of which Liam is executive vice president. After more than ten years working for the company and having had a close relationship with Bev's grandfather, Liam expected that he would inherit the company. Grandpa had other plans.
The story is essentially about...I'm not sure.
Bev is a supposed nice girl who is out to prove to her critical family that she's no pushover and can save her grandfather's company by creating a positive work climate. Liam, her aunt, and everyone else seem to be in her way.
At 361 pages, this story is too long, especially because it's hard to identify what was driving the plot. Most of the characters are unlikable and character development is also unclear: Bev is still a sucker from beginning to end, allowing family members to criticize and walk all over her.
Though categorized as a romance, Love Handles doesn't follow the script. Beverly and Liam do get together, but not as the result of any actual courtship. They just admit that they're attracted to each other and choose to sleep together. They end up together but romance played no part.
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