I don’t even remember what made me request the audio version of this book by Kate Stayman-London from my library. It took a while to come in, so considerable time has passed since I requested it. I just know that I had seen some good things about it and it looked like something worth reading.
It’s definitely something worth reading. And if you’re into audiobooks, the narrator, Kristen Sieh, does a fabulous job. She does distinct voices for each character and I could listen to her all day.
If you haven’t already heard, the premise of this book is that a plus-size fashion blogger, Bea Schumacher, gets cast as the first plus-size bachelorette on a show called, “The Main Squeeze”, which is definitely The Bachelorette.
Not only will agreeing to be on the show help Bea’s career, but it just might help her get over her best friend, Ray, who slept with her while he was engaged to someone else, then refused to answer any of her calls. Yes, Bea knew he was engaged when she slept with him, so she’s not entirely innocent here, but having spent years pining over someone who was never interested in me that way, I totally identify with Bea’s feeling that all her dreams are finally coming true when he starts kissing her. She probably thought he would leave his fiancée for her, but he was too much of a douchebag to do that, or to even have an honest conversation with Bea about their feelings for each other. So not only is Bea rejected from the person she thinks is the love of her life, she’s also abandoned by her best friend.
Of course, as soon as she agrees to do the show and the publicity starts coming out, Ray reconsiders. It’s only then that he reaches out to Bea, but it’s too late because she’s not allowed to have access to a phone or the internet while they’re shooting the show, so she doesn’t get any of his messages. He tries reaching out to Bea’s real best friend, Merin, who does the right thing by refusing to pass on any messages from him to Bea, and tells him not to contact her again.
So he contacts the show’s producers, which I can’t say was a surprise, because we knew we weren’t going to see the last of him, right? There has to be a juicy showstopper in which the ex shows up to throw a wrench into everything, and we certainly get it.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. Bea doesn’t know any of this until the juicy showstopper because the producers keep her in the dark in order to make sure her reactions are genuine. In the meantime we get hot men who look confused when they realize the bachelorette they’re there to meet is fat, one guy who walks off set as soon as he sees her, some requisite silly antics from some of the other contestants, and a little later on in the show, some contestants making fat jokes behind her back and to her face.
I don’t even watch The Bachelor or The Bachelorette, and I still saw a lot of these things coming, and I was frankly surprised by Bea’s naiveté in some instances. There are some jerks among the contestants vying for her love and some who are too good to be true, but I think it’s pretty obvious from the beginning which one Bea will end up with.
That said, I do have a problem with Bea’s final choice, who ditched her at the first sign of trouble and refused to listen when she tried to explain herself. How are we supposed to believe this guy can commit to Bea through all the challenges life will bring when he can’t even commit to her for the duration of half a season of television? He’s super judgmental of her for dating other men, even though he knew the whole premise of the show when he joined. Fuck him!
The other big part of the story (no pun intended) was Bea’s size. I appreciate that this is a body-positive story that doesn’t pretend that the main character doesn’t feel self-conscious about her body at least some of the time. Yes, she posts selfies to her thousands of Instagram followers, but as she points out, she’s always in control of the angle, the lighting, etc. When the producers want to put her in a bathing suit for an episode, she’s very aware of the fact that, if she walks out in front of those cameras in a bathing suit, she will have no control over how she will be portrayed, and the haters and fat-shamers will have a field day.
Bea is also dealing with some very real fear that she’s just not worthy of love, and I think everyone can identify with that, regardless of their size.