Curve Couture: A Beautiful Romance by H.M. IrwingMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
Curve Couture by H.M. Irwing is a contemporary romance featuring a plus-size woman in the fashion industry, hence the title 'curve couture'. Erin and Claire. I'll be honest, it took a bit for me to get used to thinking of an Erin as male. I kept thinking about the name Claire. I think Judd Nelson said it in Breakfast Club, it's a fat girl name. And the woman on the cover? Not exactly a plus size woman, which 78% of American women actually are but only represented 2% of the time by women in magazines. So, I'll be honest, I went in with a crinkled nose.
The character names aside, Curve Couture is actually pretty good. Claire is a woman who, if not at complete peace with herself, is well on her way. Of course she has anxiety and hang ups about her body but we need that for her to be relatable. Claire is definitely relatable. She's snarky and funny and she was fun to get to get to know. Janice was annoying and a bit of a monster, as was her fiance, Colin. I care so little about them that I breezed over their parts, to tell the truth.
There is a lot of humor in this novel, the dialogue is good and feels real in many places but also falls into the cheesy category at times. Some of the issues that come up are a little contrived, such as when Erin has taken too many of his anti-depressant before he has sex with Claire and she freaks out... Sorry but that rang way too true to Jessie and her caffeine pills on Saved By The Bell.
All in all, though, Curve Couture was the perfect book for an afternoon on the beach or on a rainy evening on the couch, those times when you just want to float away and let another world and it's people perform for you.
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