Love Handles (FREE BBW romance, FREE First in Series, Romantic Comedy): Oakland Hills #1

Gretchen Galway

Jan 2015 · Oakland Hills Book 1 · Eton Field

About this ebook

OAKLAND HILLS ROMANCE, BOOK #1

When a couch potato inherits a fitnesswear company in San Francisco, sparks fly with her arrogant, Olympic medalist vice president.

The world of fitness apparel isn't ready for Beverly Lewis. She hates the gym, is nice to everybody, and shops at Ross Dress for Less. When she's not teaching preschool, she's wearing yoga pants . . . to nap in. So when she inherits her estranged grandfather's fitnesswear company in San Francisco, nobody expects her to keep it. Fite Fitness needs a heartless suit to save it from bankruptcy, not a thirty-year-old woman who cries when her students leave for kindergarten.

Someone like Liam Johnson. A former Olympic swimmer, Liam is Fite's executive vice president. Unlike Bev, he's devoted his life to Fite's success. Managing one little preschool teacher—and his attraction to her—shouldn't be an issue. Right?

But Bev's tired of being underpaid and underrated, and refuses to step aside as an obedient figurehead. To everyone's shock and horror, she moves up to San Francisco, sets up an office, and dives into the business. Nothing—not mockery, not exercise, not sabotage, not a disastrously hot night with her aggravating VP—is going to scare her away.

As Liam realizes she's tougher than she looks, he discovers that losing Fite might not be nearly as bad as losing her . . .

A story about the pursuit of love, happiness, and the perfect yoga pants, Love Handles will speak to anyone who's ever had to face what scares her most.

Warning: contains at least two loves scenes and a happy ending.

Read the whole series!

LOVE HANDLES (Oakland Hills 1)

THIS TIME NEXT DOOR (Oakland Hills 2)

NOT QUITE PERFECT (Oakland Hills 3

THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING (Oakland Hills 4)

GOING BROKE (Oakland Hills 5)

GOING WILD (Oakland Hills 6)

OAKLAND HILLS ROMANTIC COMEDY BOXED SET (Books 1-3)

QUICK TAKES (Oakland Hills Stories)

Ratings and reviews

The book actually didn't start out too badly, reasonable introduction to the characters and we get to see Beverley being a wreck at the end of the school year saying goodbye to her pre-schoolers. Unfortunately, from the moment she moves out to take her place at the helm of Fite Fitness it all deteriorates rather rapidly in to quite a dull read with nothing to really recommend it. The romance angle is over wrought, initially it had legs with the push and pull between Bev and Liam(?) but then it falls quickly in to soul searching cliche on both sides which just becomes annoying. The housebreaking and sabotage of the presentation by an unknown perpetrator is just there with no building of tension about why it is happening and who is responsible; even worse the characters seem to shrug it off as being no big deal. As for Bev she is quite simply too nice to be true. I suppose that's why she was a pre-school educator because only really, really sweet and nice people can work with children - she certainly seems to use bribery to get her own way which is more manipulative than nice but whatever. The inner workings of a fashion house were quite interesting but little time is spent on this which is a pity as they were the best bits of the book. Overall it is just a series of set pieces and woe-is-me moments stapled together until we can get to the Happy Ending where Bev completely changes herself from Couch Potato to Fitness and Business Guru to get her man - bleuurrrgghhh.

I really enjoyed the light read. Read it in one night. But the author could use a few more descriptive words. It took me a while to get a feel for any of the characters, even Bev and Liam.

I didn't think the flow of the story and the writing we're that great. It has super potential to be so good but whomever edited the author either did a bad job or the author refused to listen. It's a shame.

About the author

GRETCHEN GALWAY is a USA Today bestselling author who writes mystery, fantasy, and romance. Raised in the American Midwest, she now lives in in Sonoma County, California.

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