If the Boot Fits

author: Rebekah Weatherspoon

This seems to be the year of great romances between fabulous fat women and Hollywood heartthrobs. If The Boot Fits continued the party Olivia Dade’s Spoiler Alert started for me.

This second book in Weatherspoon’s Cowboys of California series returns to a luxury SoCal ranch setting, with two characters who are stuck in their Hollywood careers. Sam Pleasant is a movie star who just won an Oscar for a film he’s ambivalent about, and is burnt out and unsure what to do next. Amanda is an aspiring writer who’s let her day job as an actress’s personal assistant take over her life. Her boss is a diva whose tantrums keep Amanda too stressed to pursue her screenwriting dreams. After a friend gets Amanda a ticket to an Oscars afterparty, she and Sam have an off-the-page one night stand, with Amanda sneaking out the next morning, assuming they’ll never meet again. But Hollywood is a small place, and these two keep running into each other, starting with the wedding of a mutual actress friend that just happens to be held at Sam’s family’s ranch.

I picked up this rom-com during a week when I desperately needed a laugh, and it was the perfect comfort read. I love consent-seeking cowboys and sci fi-loving fangirls, and If The Boot Fits gave me both. They meet in L.A., but fall in love while bantering about cattle dogs and horses, in a bucolic setting that serves as a refuge. Amanda and Sam are so obviously into one another, and yet so deliciously clueless about each other’s interest. It was a pleasure watching them slowly figure out how much they have in common (including a love of SFF shows) and flirt shamelessly as they do.

Amanda initially lies to Sam, telling him she’s a busy screenwriter instead of an underappreciated assistant who has to keep answering demanding calls about lunch orders. It takes her forever to come clean, which I found stressful AF, but this obstacle is eventually resolved in a minimally frustrating way.

I appreciated the many plus-sized characters who inhabit this book, including Amanda, who is matter of fact about it. If you are looking for a fat heroine who loves her body, and has zero baggage about her size, this is your book. Amanda is confident about her appeal, even as she’s embarrassed by her job.

To my surprise, one of my favorite things about this story was the three-dimensional villain, Amanda’s awful boss Dru. She is demanding, superficial, and spoiled, but she’s neither stupid nor totally unsympathetic. Dru is a biracial woman in a tough industry, and I could understand how Amanda would get sucked into a codependent dynamic with her, even though I spent much of the book internally screaming at Amanda to quit her job, move to the ranch, and sit on Sam’s face.

This loose retelling of Cinderella is funny, charming, and felt like a down to earth fairy tale. I loved revisiting the playful Pleasant clan, with their unique mix of Black Hollywood Royalty and Western-style chivalry. My only annoyance was that a few of the secondary characters from the first book seemed to have different personalities here. For example, the laid-back teddy bear and eldest brother, Jesse, from the first book seemed glowering and tantrum-prone in this one. That shift wouldn’t stop this book from working as a stand alone, but might annoy readers of the series. I definitely recommend If The Boot Fits for fans of the “Oops, I fell for my one night stand” trope, and teasing banter between confident heroines and supportive heroes.

– Shana

Contemporary Romance, Western, Romance

The Princess Knight

author: G.A. Aiken

CW: gruesome violence, discussion of rape and slavery

I DEVOURED The Blacksmith Queen, the first book in this series. I’ve read it and reread it and will probably read it again. So it was with VERY grabby hands that I reached for this sequel. I present for your edification and delight (hopefully!) 5 Steps to Loving The Princess Knight.

Step 1: Get Ready for Some Violence
This book is brutal in its portrayal of violence. I had either not been paying proper attention during The Blacksmith Queen or my sensitivity levels have shifted (both, equally possible) but some of the violence and the glee with which that violence is perpetrated unsettled me a bit. So adjust your sensitivity levels prior to picking up this book.

Step 2: Prepare for Some Anger
A huge part of my love for The Blacksmith Queen is wrapped up in Keeley as a character: kind and protective. Gemma, her sister, is an entirely different creature with a very different vibe. Gemma is Angry, with a capital A. She’s a bit lost since she left her order of War Monks and aligned herself with Keeley. She responds to that lack of clarity of purpose with anger and frustration. An understandable response, but it is a big shift from Keeley’s default kindness.

Step 3: Standby for Bickering
Gemma’s friend and her lover-apparent, Quinn, seems to exist purely to irritate Gemma. The vast majority of their communication is bickering. Sometimes, this bickering became too much for me. If enemies-to-lovers is your catnip, then this book was written with you in mind. Quinn and Gemma snipe at each other a whole lot, all while building an unbreakable bond.

Step 4: Pay Attention to Who’s Who
The cast of characters EXPLODES in this book. Pay attention to each and every new character; they are all important. We pop into a lot of different POVs which can be a little dizzying, but adds beautifully to the immersive world building of it all. The world of the Scarred Earth clans is deeply magical, and not just because there are literal magical creatures. Everything feels real from the first page, in part because of the cast.

Step 5: Savor the Adventure
This plot is PACKED with developments and it MOVES. Try to slow down, and savour each development, rather than munch it up quickly so you can get to the next word (like I did!). There are battles and quests and journeys (of the literal and figurative kind) all building towards an earth-shaking climax.

Overall, while it might not reach the dizzying heights of my experience with The Blacksmith Queen, I really enjoyed the furious adventure and romance of The Princess Knight.

– Lara

Fantasy/Fairy Tale Romance, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy