GRR Reviews The Big Girl's Guide to Buying Lingerie by Amie Stuart

"The Big Girl's Guide to Buying Lingerie" is a bit of tongue in cheek title, as this is a romance, after all. It's really about a love story that what we show the world and what we reveal online are not necessarily our true selves, but which one is truer? Then the story managed to pivot right into a "fake fiancee / real love" story and the pivot was very well done.

To recap, Jade Ballard got left at the altar and retreated to her hometown, San Antonio, Texas, to lick her wounds, generally tired of her family's snooty country club life. She took comfort in food (gained a bit of weight and had problems shopping for undies) and struck up a relationship with someone called Robbie she met online. Turns out Robbie is really Rowdy Yates, who is a somewhat reformed manwhore who don't do long-term, until he found "Skye" online through a mutual interest music group. They finally met face to face, only realizing that they already knew each other in real life. She thought him as "Redneck Casanova", he thought of her as "Miss Snooty Pants". But the friendship and love they brewed online for months cannot be denied... When Jade needed to get her mom off her back, Jade dragged Rowdy into a fake engagement... and from there, things got really complicated...

Jade knew she's a bit oversized, but she doesn't let that stop her from living her life. While she'd like to be smaller, she doesn't hate herself for being her size... well, sometimes, when buying the wrong undies in a public place like Target means judge-y and pity about "huge drawers". OTOH I did find Rowdy's "former manwhore" to be a bit vague. But overall, it's a fun yarn.

Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot: Big girl brew up a relationship online with a guy, only to find she knew him in real life already!

Tropes: fake engagement, disguise, different worlds

Overall Rating:  4/5