Rating 4

I have been wanting to read this series for some time, which means of course I started with book 4 lol. But, it really is a a stand-alone with the other characters popping up and making me want to read their stories even more. Now, on to Preslee and Adam…I LOVED them! The story is real and timely, and just wonderful. Both have their own obstacles to overcome and I loved going on their journey with them!

I am so thankful to read a book where the heroine starts her health journey due to actual medical concerns rather than solely based on trying to fit social norms. Preslee was sucha relatable character and her thoughts about her body and her health journey felt so familiar.

I adored Adam and how genuine he was. He fell for Preslee from the get go and wasn't afraid of those feelings, despite hiding them in order to try to keep their relationship professional. I loved his goals for his gym and those who worked out there and his desire to give EVERYONE a safe environment to work out.

Overall this was a fun, slightly steamy romance that tackled some complex topics without being too preachy or too flippant. The characters were great and the world building made for a great read.

*I received an ARC from NetGalley for voluntary review

I am always here for a romance starring a plus-size lead. As a plus-size woman who is also making some food and fitness changes for my health, I was interested to see how Alison Bliss would handle this romance, and for the most part I wasn't disappointed in the handling of fat rep in this one.

Preslee joins a gym in an attempt to lose some weight as her family doctor just told her she's pre-diabetic, and she wants to nip that in the bud. Adam is the extremely built, extremely sexy owner of the gym she joins, and he is very into Preslee from moment one. He thinks she's gorgeous exactly as she is, and is supportive of her weight loss journey because it's her choice for her body, and he supports her improving her overall health. There is a moment where he thinks about not wanting her to lose too much weight and lose her curves that was a smidge objectifying, but he's a dude in a romance novel so eh.

The chemistry between Preslee and Adam was cute at times. There's a little element of fake dating in here so you get some of that delicious "oops, feelings" and "did he do that because he wanted to or was he faking for show?" type of goodness. That being said, there are several spots where the pacing is pretty off, and what felt like big jumps forward in time.

This was a solid 3 stars most of the way through, but then the ending had me rolling my eyes so hard it quickly dropped to 2.5 stars, then 2. -_- Throughout there are some concerning issues that are just sort of brushed aside (disordered eating/crash dieting, excessive exercise), but then the final bout of depressive weight gain (20 lbs in a month?) without addressing that at all was just too much. I own one of the other books in this series but I'm not sure if I'll read it or not at this point.

A digital ARC of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley for review. All opinions are unbiased and my own.

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Preslee, who finds out she has pre-diabetes and slightly high blood pressure, hires a personal trainer, Adam, to help her be more active to improve those numbers. They are attracted to each other from day one but fight their feelings and end up falling for each other. However, there was too much diet culture for me. Weight loss and weigh-ins were a big focus and he gave her a “diet,” which is outside of the professional scope of a personal trainer. There was also some disordered eating mentioned throughout the story.
I did enjoy Preslee’s growth with her friendships throughout the story, and liked her interactions with her dad. It was well-written with believable chemistry between the two leads, and would be an enjoyable read for someone who is not bothered by the content I mentioned above. I would be interested in reading more from Alison Bliss in the future if there wasn’t a weight loss plot, as I enjoy stories with diverse body size representation and a body positive message.
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Thank you to Netgalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for the advanced copy of this book. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

3.5 but worth the round up.
I'm a sucker for a story about a girl with some self image and self esteem issues. So relatable. Through a supporting, encouraging man in the mix - I'm in!
Preslee receives a phone call from her dr - she needs to change her lifestyle or her health will decline. Shortly after, she joins a gym. Though the gym may not want her - Preslee falls amd scraps her knee, literally body slams against the owner. While filming her antiquing vlog on the stairmaster, Preslee accidently ups the workout.
Adam rushes to her help- and offers his personal training services for free. Though he fails to mention he hopes Preslee keeps vlogging about his gym.
Great romantic story about two people attracted to each other, trying to stay professional and reaching their goals.

Super fast read with charming characters with a hea. A 28yo overweight (not obese) woman who has never broken before, has been diagnosed with prediabetes. She joins a local gym and while there she meets the gym owner who becomes her personal trainer.
She didn't have any self-esteem and couldn't understand why any man would ever be attracted to her in her body. I did appreciate how Andy explained to her that curves were sexy and many men love them.

Note:
There was a very unrealistic part in the story that I would've rather not read because as women it's what we believe in our heads that would happen.
As adults, 2 grown men would never heckle, laugh, joke, and make fun of a woman who is overweight (most men are scared of women and she could've been pregnant) at a gym for an entire session! That stuff is for kids!

This