Book Review Tour - Woman of Substance by Annette Bower

Welcome to my stop on Annette Bower's Book Review Tour for Woman of Substance.  Please make sure to leave a comment or question below for Annette to let her know you stopped by.  Annette will be awarding a $25 Amazon Gift Card to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour. You Can follow her tour stops here, the more often you comment, the better your odds of winning. 

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Woman of Substance

by Annette Bower

Publisher: Soul Mate Publishing

Release Date: December 11, 2012

Genre: Contemporary Romance

ISBN:  978-1-619351-10-3

ASIN:  B00AN9TE8W

Book Description: 

"You will never understand what it means to be fat.” With those words, grad student Robbie Smith begins the Fat-Like-Me project. In order to support her thesis, she puts on a fat suit to measure people’s reactions to the new her.

Accused of embezzling funds, Professor Jake Proctor returns home to spend quality time with the only father he has ever known. There, he meets an intriguing overweight woman who reminds him of his late grandmother. She’s witty, charming, and cares deeply for those around her, including his dying grandfather. When Robbie meets Jake while she’s in disguise, she deceives him for all the right reasons. But how long can she maintain the deception before Jake discovers that she is not who he believes her to be? 

Excerpt:  

“Even though the sun streamed into Frank’s window, Jake tucked a blanket around his grandfather’s shoulders. In the corner was the brown corduroy recliner that had been in their family living room for as long as Jake could remember. On the bulletin board was a collage of family photos. Pictures of Jake bent over a birthday cake blowing out various numbers of flames on candles and his grandma always beaming with pride. Jake tearing Christmas wrap off of a parcel. Jake leaning into his grandmother’s shoulder while watching TV on the cabbage-rose upholstered sofa. Jake dressed in his graduation gown holding onto his degree. Jake posed with the elders of the !Kung San people in the Kalahari Desert. Fastened in the corner of the frame, Jake wrapped in a blanket in his mother’s arms. He peered closely at his mother’s photo. He had her brown eyes and dark complexion. She had died before he had taken his first steps and the man, not a father but the sperm donor, either didn’t know or didn’t care. Jake’s grandparents were the only parents he knew.

On the bedside table was a photograph of his grandparents with their arms around each other. He knew they were proud of his education and career, but his grandmother had wanted to see him settled into family life before she died two years ago. He had disappointed her.”

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AUTHOR Bio and Links: 


Annette Bower writes about women in family and women in love and women’s quest for love. Her short stories are published in magazines and anthologies in Canada, United States and in the United Kingdom.

Her first sweet contemporary romance Moving On, A Prairie Romance is e-published by XoXo Publishing™. Her second novel which is a blend of sweet romance and women’s fiction, Woman of Substance is e-published by Soul Mate Publishing.

Annette Bower lives and writes stories from a high rise where she can see the immediate hustle and bustle of downtown Regina and experience the changes in the grain fields throughout the Saskatchewan seasons.

Website: www.annettebower.com 

Blog: www.annettebower.com/blog

Twitter: @bowerannette

Facebook: http://tinyurl.com/arezhhm

Author of Moving On A Prairie Romance with Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/Moving-On-Prairie-Romance-ebook/dp/B006SHAWES

Christmas Wishes with XoXo Publishers with Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/Christmas-Wishes-ebook/dp/B00A6GGJY4

Books available at:

XoXo Publisher: 

http://www.xoxopublishing.com/Products/index.php?route=product/product&filter_name=Annette+Bower&product_id=310

XoXo Publisher:

http://www.xoxopublishing.com/Products/index.php?route=product/product&filter_name=Annette+Bower&product_id=251

ARE:

https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-movingonaprairieromance-667850-149.html

ARE:

https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-christmaswishes-988698-173.html

BookStrand:

http://www.bookstrand.com/moving-on-a-prairie-romance

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My Review 

We're all used to being judged on a daily basis; our bosses judge our performance, our friends judge our behavior and our loved ones judge how we respond to them.  While our society has made strides in judging people based on race and gender, we still have issues based on judging a person's physical appearance.  Are they fit and thin or are they overweight and out of shape.  Annette Bower's contemporary romance, Woman of Substance, touches on this topic, how it affects us, and on our capability to love and be loved based on the size of our bodies.  Set in Saskatchewan with likable characters, a touch of professional jealousy and just the right amount of emotional angst, Ms. Bower reminds us that when it comes to love, size doesn't matter, only your health does.

Grad student, Robin "Robbie" Smith is determined to complete her thesis and obtain her master's degree.  When one of her research subjects tells her she'll never understand what it's like to be overweight, Robbie hatches a plan to confirm her results.  She dresses in a specially made "fat suit" to see if people treat her differently when she's overweight. While not surprised with her first day's results, she finds herself becoming friends with an older man.  She never planned on becoming emotionally involved or on falling in love with his college professor grandson.

Jake Proctor has come home to spend time with his dying grandfather.  When an overweight woman befriends his grandfather, Jake finds himself remembering his grandmother, who also had issues with weight.  While no longer a child, Jake is forced to remember his embarrassment over his grandmother's weight and realizes how much more important "Robin's" friendship for his grandfather means.  Finding himself attracted to her is completely unexpected.

The scenes between Robbie, Jake and his grandfather Frank are well written and really drew me into the story.  As Jake and Frank get to know "Robin", the young overweight woman, they find themselves going down memory lane and remembering the best times they had as a family and how much they miss Frank's wife and Jake's grandmother.  While "Robin" knows it's not honest to include them in her research, she doesn't want to risk hurting Frank's feelings by telling him the truth, or ruining her growing friendship with Jake.

Ms. Bower did a great job with both Jake and Robbie's emotional growth.  As Jake is forced to look back on his life, due to the short amount of time he has left with his grandfather, he realizes how much time he's spent away from family, how he let his fear of peer pressure dictate how he related to his grandmother, and how much he wants a family of his own.  Meanwhile, Robbie realizes how difficult it is to live in a society where being obese is considered to be the result of a woman who either can't control her appetites, is too lazy to exercise, or just doesn't care.  She also sees how it impacts a woman's choices when it comes to love.

Will Robbie be able to tell Jake and Frank about her unintentional deception?  Will Jake realize he's just as in love with Robbie as he is with Robin?  You'll have to read Woman of Substance to find out.  I enjoyed it and I think you will too.

My Rating:  4 out of 5 Crowns

FTC Disclosure:  I received a complimentary copy of this book as a part of a book tour in exchange for a fair and honest review.  

Don't forget to leave a comment or question below for Annette to let her know you stopped by.  Annette will be awarding a $25 Amazon Gift Card to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour. You Can follow her tour stops here, the more often you comment, the better your odds of winning.