Review: Will She Find Love As A Woman of Substance?
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 02 6, 2013
I received a complimentary copy of this book as a part of a book tour in exchange for a fair and honest review.We're all used to being judged on a daily basis; our bosses judge our performance, our friends judge our behavior and our loved ones judge how we respond to them. While our society has made strides in judging people based on race and gender, we still have issues based on judging a person's physical appearance. Are they fit and thin or are they overweight and out of shape. Annette Bower's contemporary romance, Woman of Substance, touches on this topic, how it affects us, and on our capability to love and be loved based on the size of our bodies. Set in Saskatchewan with likable characters, a touch of professional jealousy and just the right amount of emotional angst, Ms. Bower reminds us that when it comes to love, size doesn't matter, only your health does.Grad student, Robin "Robbie" Smith is determined to complete her thesis and obtain her master's degree. When one of her research subjects tells her she'll never understand what it's like to be overweight, Robbie hatches a plan to confirm her results. She dresses in a specially made "fat suit" to see if people treat her differently when she's overweight. While not surprised with her first day's results, she finds herself becoming friends with an older man. She never planned on becoming emotionally involved or on falling in love with his college professor grandson.Jake Proctor has come home to spend time with his dying grandfather. When an overweight woman befriends his grandfather, Jake finds himself remembering his grandmother, who also had issues with weight. While no longer a child, Jake is forced to remember his embarrassment over his grandmother's weight and realizes how much more important "Robin's" friendship for his grandfather means. Finding himself attracted to her is completely unexpected.The scenes between Robbie, Jake and his grandfather Frank are well written and really drew me into the story. As Jake and Frank get to know "Robin", the young overweight woman, they find themselves going down memory lane and remembering the best times they had as a family and how much they miss Frank's wife and Jake's grandmother. While "Robin" knows it's not honest to include them in her research, she doesn't want to risk hurting Frank's feelings by telling him the truth, or ruining her growing friendship with Jake.Ms. Bower did a great job with both Jake and Robbie's emotional growth. As Jake is forced to look back on his life, due to the short amount of time he has left with his grandfather, he realizes how much time he's spent away from family, how he let his fear of peer pressure dictate how he related to his grandmother, and how much he wants a family of his own. Meanwhile, Robbie realizes how difficult it is to live in a society where being obese is considered to be the result of a woman who either can't control her appetites, is too lazy to exercise, or just doesn't care. She also sees how it impacts a woman's choices when it comes to love.Will Robbie be able to tell Jake and Frank about her unintentional deception? Will Jake realize he's just as in love with Robbie as he is with Robin? You'll have to read Woman of Substance to find out. I enjoyed it and I think you will too.