Take Me by Bella Andre

An appetite for sensual pleasures must never be denied...

Lily Ellis has curves -- soft, beautiful curves. The kind of voluptuous body she fears Travis Carson, the man she's always loved from afar, would never crave. But Lily is about to be proven wrong. Her adventure begins when the demure San Francisco interior decorator agrees to model a plus-size dress for her fashion designer sister. Watching this sensual beauty move down the runway, Travis can't believe it's the same Lily he's always known -- and always rejected. In a whirlwind of electric attraction, Lily is soon moaning Travis's name in his bed, not just in her wild fantasies. But Lily is all too aware that she's nothing like his past lovers.

Determined to beat Travis at his own game by guarding her true feelings, Lily partners with him on a business deal that takes them all the way to Italy. In the seductive warmth of the Tuscan sun, Lily plays a game of desire with the hot-blooded Travis. Will she be burned by an all-consuming ecstasy or will Travis open his heart to the sexy, exciting, and lasting love she has to offer?


Well, I actually liked this one. Despite having read the review at AAR before reading it.

Lily has self-esteem issues, but I personally felt they rang true to her character and her interaction with Travis. I'd certainly feel insecure if a man who I'd loved from afar for ages, but he'd always pushed me away, had suddenly expressed interest in me and even professed his love. The story is as much Lily's personal journey to accepting and loving herself as it is her and Travis' relationship.

There are a few things mentioned in the review that I really thought about. There's a line that says "Lily remains insecure long after any sensible woman would have figured out that Travis loved her and thought she was a beauty." I'm sorry, but it can take awhile to figure that out sometimes. Especially when you're overweight and used to standing in the sidelines, trying to be invisible. And the whole jumping to stupid conclusions? Most of it's in her head, and honestly...I felt it fit her character to think those things. Hell, it took me a long time for me to get over my insecurities with my husband and I know he loves me. I'm also been to many boards such as Weight Watchers where I can't say how many times woman have posted about their insecurities regarding themselves and their bodies and their relationships.

So Lily may not be a sensible woman all the time, but really, who is? We may want to be, we may outwardly seem to be, but are we really?

Perhaps some part of the book just resonated with me (obviously) and that's why I glazed over many of the other imperfections in the book. It's not perfect, but I did like it alot.

6 comments:

CindyS said...

Yeah, if a guy wasn't interested in forever and then suddenly got hot and heavy with ya, then there would be some serious questions being asked.

I have a hard time with overweight heroines because I am overweight also. It does ring too true sometimes but the one book I haven't read but heard good things about has a heroine who loses weight over the course of the story. Yeah, spending a couple hours with someone who loses weight (in a couple hours because it isn't taking me the year to read the book) just makes me feel like I am not trying hard enough.

Sorry, weird rant ;) I hadn't seen this book but I will put it on the TBB list if I can handle it.

Oh and just to compare. I don't like ultra tiny heroines either or super stud heroes. I mean beautiful people have got plenty of stuff going on. I don't need to read their love stories. Just give me some normal people who fall in love and I'm a happy camper.

CindyS

Anonymous said...

Sounds really good. As an overweight person myself I have no trouble finding it hard to believe that it would take her a while to overcome her insecurities. As someone said you don't get those insecurities overnight so don't expect to lose them that fast. I definitely want to read this book!

Nicole said...

Not a weird rant, Cindy. I'm always curious as to why we like books. See, because I'm overweight, I like to read heroines who are, yet you don't because of the same reason. It's just...interesting. :-)

You might check it out used. I liked the book, but I understand why others wouldn't. So I wouldn't want someone mad at me cuz they spent full price on a trade size book.

Brandy said...

Hmmm, wondered if the overweight woman was portryed accurately. I'll have to look for this at the UBS. Seeing as how more than half the women in the US are a size 12 or over, its taking way to long for books to catch up to society.

Kristie (J) said...

I'm with Cindy on this one. Overweight heroines - too close to home. And if she is thinking of the book I think she might be thinking of, I really disliked it. And being in that position, I can say, I don't think I would ever get over the insecurities so on that I disagree with the AAR review

Nicole said...

I'm going to try to do a post on overweight heroines one of these months. Would anyone be interested in filling out a questionnaire? Feel free to email me (email on the sidebar) if you're interested. I'm wanting those who are for it and against it.