Bookworm Wednesday-Ellie Andrews Has Second Thoughts

Ellie Andrews Has Second Thoughts by Ruth Saberton

 

Just when I’ve become convinced that romance novels only show that young, devastatingly beautiful women with long shapely legs and supermodel figures can ever find love, I am introduced to Ellie. Ellie is like a refreshing breeze as she has a sense of humor, isn’t rail thin, is horribly accident prone, and seemingly down to earth. Ellie has four sisters that she was constantly compared to and often judged for coming up short in comparison. I wasn’t far into the book before realizing that most of Ellie’s sense of humor was directed at self criticisms about her weight. Witty remarks which bordered on cruelty and seemed to stem more from the mother of all self-esteem issues than an actual reality check. With the aid of creative, albeit uncomfortable, slimming undergarments, Ellie could and DID borrow her sisters’ clothes. I got the impression that Ellie is more of a “pleasantly plump” than the obese monster that she sees herself as. After losing a little bit of weight she admits to being a size 12, which is far below the range which excludes the ability to buy off the rack and the need for specialty stores for “large ladies”. This caused to me to readjust my first impression of this story encouraging larger woman to retain hope of romance on the horizon, to possibly making them even more self-conscious about their weight in light of the character’s constant fat jokes about herself.

The author shows a flair for similes and metaphors, constantly comparing situations to what I assume are celebrities who share similar attributes. I really can’t say for sure as I didn’t understand the majority of the references. I don’t know if this is because he author is from the UK and referred to British celebrities that Americans aren’t as familiar with, or that my daughter is correct with her claim that I live in a cave and have never heard of people who have become famous within the past 15 years. It could be a combination of both.

So while I do have mixed emotions, I did over all enjoy the book. It is written in a combination of flashbacks as Ellie is wool gathering while preparing for her wedding. The flashbacks keep the reader guessing as to WHICH of the four men who have proposed to her in the past couple of years that she is actually preparing to wed. We never find out until the last paragraph (HEY! No flipping to the last page!). The combination of romance and intrigue was quite entertaining as poor Ellie flip-flops back and forth as to whether or not she is making the right decision or the biggest mistake of her life.

*I received a free copy of this book to facilitate my review. All opinion are 100% my own.