Weight of wrath

de M.E. Carter (2021) Smartypants Romance

Résumé : Rosalind Palmer was blessed with the perfect stage name. Or so she’s been told. There are just a few problems with it:
1) Her family doesn’t know she’s a stripper
2) She’d like to keep it that way
3) She got over the nickname somewhere around seventh grade.
Unfortunately—because she likes her job and she really likes her independence—her unexpected pregnancy means Rosalind’s days on a pole are numbered. Even so, she's determined to make this co-parenting thing work.

Joey Marshall never thought much about having kids until he got the text announcing his impending fatherhood. Now it’s all he can think about. But there are a few concerns:
1) He doesn't know anything about babies.
2) Adulting usually leads to disaster.
3) It’s his best friend’s cousin he knocked up.
First things first, making sure his baby’s mama is in this for the long haul. Because now he's got baby on the brain, he can't wait to make this co-parenting thing into so much more.

Now all he has to do is convince Rosalind, which shouldn't be too hard . . . right?


Dans ce roman, nous retournons à Weight Expectations, la salle de gym où se sont croiser plusieurs de nos héros des tomes précédents. Celui-ci nous raconte l'histoire de Joey, le meilleur pote d'Abel, qui travaille lui aussi en tant que coach. Sa vie va prendre un tournant radical lorsque son dernier "rencart d'un soir" lui annonce être enceinte.

Rosalind est stripteaseuse et malgré tous les préjugés de sa famille, elle aime son boulot : pour elle c'est un mélange de performance artistique et sportive, elle est plutôt douée au pole dance, oui elle le fait dénudé, et alors ? Un soir elle est repartie avec Joey, car il était gentil et il avait autre chose dans le regard que tous les autres clients. Parcontre elle ne pensait pas tomber enceinte... (précision : tous les deux s'étaient protégés)

Elle n'imaginait pas non plus la réaction de Joey, qui passé le choc, se tranforme en futur papa prêt à vivre cette aventure avec elle. Joey et Rosalind vont devoir apprendre à se connaitre avant de rencontrer leur bébé.

Cette romance n'est pas hyper couinante, mais si comme moi vous êtes pas fan des romances mit bébé surprise, elle a quand même le mérite de ne pas nous saouler niveau "baby stuff". Oui, on suit les étapes de la grossesse, mais ça sera toujours en lien avec les petits pas de la relation entre Rosalind et Joey. Ils vont certes devenir parents, mais ils vont aussi tomber amoureux pour eux et pas uniquement à cause du bébé.
L'auteur évoque aussi le sujet de la dépression post-partum, un sujet sérieux pas forcément glamour dans ce type de romance, qui est traité ici avec justesse.

En conclusion, une romance sympathique, mais à laquelle j'ai pas autant accroché.

In this novel, we return to Weight Expectations, the gym where several of our previous books heroes met. This one tells us the story of Joey, Abel's best mate, who also works as a coach. His life will take a radical turn when his last "one-night stand" announces that she is pregnant.

Rosalind is a stripper and despite all her family's prejudices, she loves her job : for her it's a mixture of artistic and sporting performance, she is rather good at pole dancing, yes she does it half naked, so what ? One evening she left with Joey, because he was nice and he looked at her in a different way than all the other customers. But she didn't think she was going to get pregnant... (important detail : both of them had contraception).

She also did not imagine the reaction of Joey who, passed the shock of the news, turns into a future dad ready to live this adventure with her. Joey and Rosalind will need to know each other before they meet their baby.

This romance isn't super swooning, and like me, if you are not a fan of baby surprise romances, it still has the merit of not having to much "baby stuff" in it. Yes, we follow the stages of pregnancy, but it will always be related to the small steps of Rosalind and Joey's relationship. They will certainly become parents, but they will also fall in love because of each other and not only because of the baby.
The author also evokes postpartum depression, a serious subject not necessarily glamorous in this type of romance, which is treated here with sensitivity.

In conclusion, a nice romance, but one I wasn't into very much.

 

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Cutie and the Beast

de M. E. Carter (2020) SmartyPants Romance

Résumé : Living with her mother seemed like a good idea at the time. But Elliott Donovan’s living arrangements are not working for her anymore. Desperate to get back on her financial feet after a divorce and out from under her mother’s thumb, Elliott takes a job in the child care center at Weight Expectations, a local gym.

It has everything she needs – family friendly hours, more pay than she expected, and a super cute trainer who just happens to have part of his house for rent.

Abel DiSoto was living the good life until his wife walked out taking half of the family income with her. The blow to his ego was bad enough, but after a fire at the gym scattered Abel’s clients, and consequently his commissions, he’s stuck figuring out how to make ends meet, too. Renting out the master suite of his house to his new co-worker seems like an easy solution. They’re both mature adults, they both have eight-year-old daughters, and their work schedules coordinate so they can lend each other a helping hand to ease the burden of single parenthood.

The only downside? Living like a blended family when you’re not actually a family can present some challenges.


Dans un monde de romance où les héros ont entre 20 et 25 ans, qu'est-ce que ça fait du bien d'en avoir une avec une héroïne qui en a 42 et un héros à 36 (je sais plus combien exactement mais il a pas encore passer la barre des 40 ^^), chacun divorcé avec un enfant. Des héros qui ont donc déjà vécu une première vie et qui ont plus vraiment l'illusion du grand amour.

L'arrangement de collocation chez Abel, tombe à pic pour lui et Elliott : déjà pour leur finances, ensuite comme ils ont tous les deux une filles du même âge et qu'ils travaillent au même endroit, ils s'entraide aussi pour l’organisation domestique. Leurs filles sont les meilleures amies du monde, ils ne manquent pas de réaliser (chacun de leur côté) que leur fonctionnement ressemble quand même à celui d'une famille... et à partir de Elliott et Abel ne peuvent s'empêcher l'un à l'autre ^^

Malheureusement, si l'histoire poursuivait comme ça serait trop simple et pas vraiment intéressant à lire... Ils ont tous les deux des ex qui leur facilitent pas les choses, et surtout vis-à-vis de leur enfant respectif. Les deux petites filles vont pas vivre l'histoire d'Abel et Elliott de la même façon.

J'ai bien aimé ce roman parce que les héros sont plus proches de moi en âge et pour le traitement de la famille recomposée et les challenges que cela crée au quotidien.

autre détail que j'ai apprécié : aucune scène de sex ! elle est suggérée, ça s'arrête à des bisous torrides mais après pouf ellipse au lendemain ^^ . je le mentionne car le bouquin lu juste avant en avait beaucoup à mon goût xD

In a world of romance where the heroes are between 20 and 25 years old, it is great to have one with a heroine who is 42 and a hero who is 36 (I don't know how many exactly but he has not yet passed the bar of 40 ^^), each divorced with a child. Heroes who therefore already lived a life and who no longer have the illusion of True Love.

The roommate arrangement at Abel's house, is timely for him and Elliott : for their finances, then since they both have a daughter of the same age and they work in the same place, they also help each other for the domestic organization. Their daughters are the best friends, they quickly realize (each one on their side) that their functioning resembles that of a family... and from then Elliott and Abel can not help thinking about the other "that way" ^^

Unfortunately, if the story continued like this would be too simple and not really interesting to read... They both have ex-es who do not make things easy for them, and especially for their respective children. The two little girls will not react to Abel and Elliott's growing feelings in the same way.

I liked this novel because the heroes are closer to me in age and how the blended family is treated with the challenges that it creates on a daily basis.

another detail that I appreciated: no sex scene ! it is suggested, it stops at hot kisses but after we have an ellipse to the next day ^^. I mention it because the book I read just before had too much of it for my taste xD


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Weight Expectations

de M.E. Carter (2019) - Smartypants Romance

Résumé : Rian Thompson thought she joined the gym to get healthy. Little did she know she was about to add hundred and ninety pounds of swoonworthy abdominal muscles and arrogance to her life.

Every day in Rians’s life follows a predictable pattern, and she wouldn’t have it any other way. She’s got a nice job, a nice place to live, and a nice family – even if they are a little wedding-zilla-ish at the moment.

She doesn’t need anything spectacular to be happy. She just needs to get healthy – mentally, physically. . . and maybe spiritually if that happens. But she’ll settle for two out of three until her sister finally gets hitched.

Carlos Davies thought his life was perfect. Little did he know it was about to be turned upside down by a woman who is not his type.

In Carlos’s mind, his life is damn near perfect. He’s got a great job, a great place to live, and a great stash of pick up lines that always work. It has occurred to him that maybe no one actually takes him all that seriously. But with these bulging biceps and thick, dark hair, does that even matter since he’s never sleeping alone?


J'ai eu un peu plus de mal à entrer dans ce roman, pendant une bonne moitié j'ai trouvé qu'il se passait pas grand chose, que c'était long, que les deux héros mettaient trop de temps avant de se rencontrer et à interagir ensemble... la personnalité de Rian ne m'intéressait pas et Carlos ne me faisait ni chaud ni froid. A vrai dire, pendant cette partie, c'est plus les persos secondaires qui m'intéressaient xD

et puis alors tout tourne autour de la salle de sport, et la vie perso et pro qui s'organise en fonction de quand sont les séances de cardio, j'avoue que je suis pas du tout dans l'esprit "les altères c'est la vie". alors même si pour Rian, c'est pour des raisons de santé, ça n'empêche que l'histoire se passe dans un "monde" qui me passionne pas du tout...

après, dans la 2e partie du roman, Rian et Carlos sont enfin en mode séduction ce qui a rattrapé mon avis. ils ont une bonne alchimie ensemble, et Carlos se révèle parfait dans sa la façon dont il aborde ses nouveaux sentiments pour Rian.

une chose qui m'a titillé quand même, j'ai trouvé que ce roman était un peu trop lisse dans le politiquement correct et que l'auteur hésitait à écrire les choses clairement. Rian est décrite, dès le début, comme obèse, et pour prévenir d'éventuels problèmes de santé elle doit changer certaines habitudes (manger plus sain, faire du sport) mais pas forcément dans une optique "perte de poids".

Quand Carlos rencontre Rian, il est attiré et ça le surprend car elle est pas du tout "le genre auquel il s'intéresse à la base" lui qui est habitué aux aventures d'un soir, et ça il se le répète plusieurs fois et toujours formulé pareil. sauf que le lecteur a bien compris que Carlos parle du physique comme critère premier pour aller aborder une femme... mais il se l'avoue même pas à lui-même dans ses monologues internes, alors que ça ne l'aurait pas forcément fait passer pour un plouc. Ce qui est dommage, car Carlos change, il évolue, il comprend que Rian l'attire pour des raisons plus profondes et plus sérieuses et il ne veut pas laisser passer la chance d'avoir trouvé sa moitié (voilà pourquoi j'ai mis qu'il était parfait ^^). de plus, il n'hésite pas à mettre au défis les gens qui doutent de ses sentiments car ils jugent Rian sur son physique. mais pareil, c'est écrit de façon détournée, on le comprend, mais c'est pas dit clairement...

je pense que je roman aurait été beaucoup mieux si l'auteur avait osé être plus directe dans certaines scènes, quitte à avoir des personnages ayant des préjugés au départ : la qualité principale de Carlos c'est qu'il se remet en question, et c'est bien :)

this novel was a bit difficult for me to get into, for the first half not much happened, I though that it was long, that the two heroes took too long before meeting each other and interact together... Rian's personality did not interest me and Carlos was irrelevant to me. In fact, during this part, it's the secondary characters that interested me more xD

Also everything revolves around the gym, the personal and professional life of the characters is organized according to the cardio sessions, I admit that I'm not at all in the spirit "barbells are life". so even if for Rian, it's for health reasons, that does not prevent that the story happens in a "world" which does not fascinate me at all...

later, in the second part of the novel, Rian and Carlos are finally seducting each other which has leveled up my opinion of the book. they have good chemistry together, and Carlos is perfect in how he approach his new feelings for Rian.

a thing that tickled me anyway, I found that this novel was a little too smooth in the politically correct and that the author hesitated to write things clearly. Rian is described, from the beginning, as obese, and to prevent possible health problems she must change certain habits (eat healthier, do sports) but not necessarily in a "weight loss" perspective.

When Carlos meets Rian, he is attracted and it surprises him because she is not at all "the kind that he likes", he who is used to one night stands, he repeats it several times and always with the same wordings. except that the reader has understood that Carlos speaks about physical appearance as the first criterion to go to a woman... but he does not even admit it to himself in his internal monologues, even if it would not necessarily have him pass for a asshole. This is a pity because Carlos changes, he evolves, he understands that Rian attracts him for deeper and more serious reasons and he does not want to miss the chance to have found his partner (that's why I wrote that he was perfect ^^). moreover, he does not hesitate to challenge people who doubt his feelings because they judge Rian on her physique. but here too, this is written in a roundabout way, we understand, but it is not the rights words...

I think that it would have been much better novel if the author had dared to be more direct in certain scenes, even if the characters would have had prejudices at the beginning : the main quality of Carlos is that he questions himself, and it's good :)

****

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