So cute!

I love seeing different representations in books, and I really enjoyed this book because of that. It was fun, sweet and an overall interesting and empowering read about body image and how you view yourself.

Thank you to Netgalley and Forever for the earc in return for an honest review.

Preslee receives some concerning test results and has to take control of her weight before things get out of control. She joins a gym and its super hot personal trainer/owner, Adam, decides to take her on as a client. There was a bet involved concerning her weight loss which obviously caused the conflict in their budding relationship.

There were some great things about this book - the MC and her friends were all larger women who were strong and sassy and fun. Adam was too good to be true. Super hot and positive about all Women’s body types.

I had a few things I did not love -

The focus on the scale and weight was a bit much. I know that in order to improve health, cardio and increased exercise and better eating can work miracles. But, those results can be measured by, and should be, other things such as increased energy and improved test results. It made it seem like once you hit the magic number on the scale all was well. Both Adam and Preslee were too focused on the weight instead of the results and I feel a lot of people do the work (diet and exercise) and don’t hit their weight loss goals ever.

There was a lot of disordered eating, depression and other issues and although talking to a counselor was mentioned in passing I feel like that could have been addressed a bit more.

It was a cute quick read with an overweight MC and I appreciate seeing more of this in romance books. Super steamy too which I love!!

Out of the Blue is the story of Preslee, who after finding out that she is pre-diabetic decides that she needs to lose weight for her health. Her first day at the gym doesn't go as planned and leads to a viral video of her on the stairmaster. After seeing the resulting video, gym owner and personal trainer Adam takes an interest in Preslee and helps her in her weight loss journey.

I adored reading Out of the Blue and would have easily finished the book in a day had my schedule allowed for it. The forward by the author that she drew inspiration from her own weight loss experiences helped focus my mindset when reading her book and made me appreciate it even more. I really liked Preslee as a lead and felt she was written in an honest manner; she wanted to lose weight for her but was also transparent about the fact that men had at least a partial influence. And yes, she didn't always make the best choices, but again, it was honest. I dug the slow burn relationship between Preslee and Adam and stayed interested through the final chapter. Out of the Blue was a big win for me and a book that I would highly recommend for women's fiction readers.

Thanks to Forever for this ARC; this is my honest and voluntary review.

Out of the Blue by Alison Bliss is a cute, easy read. The storyline was a little cheesy at points but I think that’s what made it adorable. I feel this was a Hallmark movie in the making. I had not read the other books in this series, but it all made sense as a standalone. Was definitely hoping for more from this book but it didn't deliver all the way around. Will definitely read this author again.

Adam and Presley’s relationship is so cute and they are perfect for each other, I love the message this story sends about how we are always judging each other and making assumptions on how others see us.

This was one of those books that I really wanted to like because as a more-than-plus-sized woman I am all about body positivity and self-acceptance. That's not what I found in this book. What I found instead was a lot of lip service being given to losing weight and getting fit for your own happiness, but in reality it's to get the guy. I also have a big problem with the amount of disordered eating that is present in this book that is never really addressed. Keeping a Twinkie in your car for a snack is one thing, but crash dieting, excessive exercise, and gaining 20 pounds in a month due to depression are just kind of brushed aside with a "well, that was a silly thing for me to do" attitude. All of these are serious undiagnosed issues, and I think the author missed an opportunity to promote positive mental health in these situations.

Also, this book was relentlessly predictable. I know it's a romance and that all romances follow a formula, but this one offered nothing original. I was rolling my eyes at all of the mixed signals and miscommunication between our leads. Seriously, nobody is that clueless.

I did enjoy the relationship between Preslee and her dad, and would have liked to have seen more interaction between the two.

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for the ARC.

2 stars.

I struggled to get through the first few chapters, let alone the whole book.

Out of the Blue is a story about a plus-size woman, Preslee who after discovering she is pre-diabetic decides to go to a gym to improve her health. She meets the owner of the gym, Adam and they form a bond with him becoming her personal trainer and maybe something more...

Going into this I was excited to read about a plus-sized main character, only I was extremely disappointed.

You see, I think I would've liked this story if the body positivity in this book was actually positive. Already a couple of chapters in and it's implied that the only reason Preslee is plus-size is that she didn't care about what she ate and because she never worked out. Yikes...

The secondhand embarrassment was just too much at times. I don't have anything against clumsy characters but everything about Preslee's character was unpleasant. The love interest, Adam talks about sniffing her just shortly after meeting her too??? The story kind of turned into an "I want to lose a lot of weight in a very short time for a guy" story which was just not it.

The internal monologues of both main characters were painful to get through, and I ended up skim reading most of the book.

I wouldn't recommend this book as I found the characters unlikeable, wasn't engaged in the plot, and the representation wasn't done well.

ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: February 1, 2022

Additional information
Cheating? No
OW/OM? No
HE? Yes

This story definitely has the cutesy part down. I will say it does get exhausting sing stories with such similar outlines. I wasn’t bored with the bike so that was a bonus. It’s a bit of a slow starter and you may not get into it immediately but just give it some time and see where it goes from there.

This Contemporary, RomCom is about Preslee, a plus size women who upon finding out that she is prediabetic is looking to make a change. With her new found goal in mind, she joins a local gym and in doing so meets Adam, her personal trainer…and perhaps more?

I was initially drawn in by the book premise and the tagline, “The course of true love was never supposed to start on a stair climber…” I had recently read another book I really enjoyed with a similar premise / feel – so when I saw this one, I was definitely interested in trying it out. I felt that the idea behind it, would make for a very cute romcom set up.

There were a few things that really did not work as well for me personally. To start, the pacing and flow of the story felt very slow for me at the start, which made it hard to get into and hold my attention to start. I went into this, hoping for / expecting a more body positive spin – I didn’t get that feel in the story though, which is again on me. I’m all for health and wellness journeys, I just prefer a more body positive feel to a story. I want them to be focused on health, and feeling good – not losing a certain amount of weight in a short time period or losing it for a guy.

Unfortunately, this book didn’t turn out to be for me. As I firmly believe, not every book is intended for every reader – but I’m sure there are many who would enjoy this one. I think the writing was solid, and I’m curious to see other works from this author.

On a positive note, I liked the fact that the main character was a plus size person – I always appreciate seeing leads that are varied. I also liked the clumsiness of the character – I found her to be relatable and it added that cute, hallmark-y feel to the lead. I also enjoyed the fact that the book was told from a dual POV – I enjoy seeing into the thoughts / lives of more than one character when reading a story. Finally the premise was one I was really intrigued by.

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever Publishing for the opportunity to view an early copy. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

This was an awesome friends to lovers trope with realistic characters. One can always relate to little white lies which take on a mind of their own.. but eventually lead to love.

This book was a cute, easy read. The storyline was a little cheesy at points but I think that’s what made it adorable. I got a Hallmark meets She’s All That vibe (IYKYK). I liked the dueling POV and the fact that the main girl wasn’t some perfect model type and was more natural. I laughed at how clumsy she was because I can relate 🙋🏻‍♀️Most importantly, I liked how relatable it was because I’m pretty sure every girl understands the struggle with self esteem and their weight.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC of this book; I appreciate getting an early peek at this book.

I mostly enjoyed this story; the main characters were great and now knowing that this book is number 4 in the series, I better understand how some of the other characters seemed to drop in unexpectedly. This is definitely a stand alone novel, but I think reading the previous books would have added to this story. I appreciated the author's note that she had never exercised and went to a gym and I think this added some credibility to the story; however, Preslee's goal of losing 40 pounds in 3 months was so unrealistic it was hard to get past. The character's banter was realistic and fun.

Overall, 3.5 / 5 stars.

I have been wanting to read this series for some time, which means of course I started with book 4 lol. But, it really is a a stand-alone with the other characters popping up and making me want to read their stories even more. Now, on to Preslee and Adam…I LOVED them! The story is real and timely, and just wonderful. Both have their own obstacles to overcome and I loved going on their journey with them!

The plot is interesting. I really like the world building and how author created a safe space to hold conversation about the ED. I enjoyed this book but unfortunately not as much as I thought I would. The beginning was a little slow paced, in my opinion. And, The romance was a little flat. Nonetheless, it was nice, quick read.

Alison Bliss more like Alison “Miss”. All joking aside this book just tried too hard for me. A plus size protagonist? Yes we love body inclusivity. Only learns to love herself when she gets fit? Come on man. A hot, hard bodied personal trainer? Gimme. Gains 20 lbs in 4 weeks cuz he and his love broke up? Not a great role model. Wanting to lose weight to get the guy? Really? Oh and let’s throw in some binge dieting to lightly touch on eating disorders but only the starving kind, not the kind that leads to 20lbs weight gain in a month. Maybe I’m just touchy but the relationships around food, the fake wokeness from the main male character (like his internal monologue was painful) just really took me out of the story. Also Preslees fears that everyone would leave being based on like 2 people was just ugh

Woo this was a wild ride. First of all the name Preslee, terrible. Reminds me of Lee press on nails. But more than that Preslee was just a pretty annoying lead character. Also who leaves a Twinkie in a car in the Texas summer heat then eats it? Ewwwww

I guess I just couldn’t get over her self hate and whininess. But that didn’t seem to bother Adam who see,Ed to have serious white knight syndrome. I guess he’s into that. And it just so happens that all of the friends Preslee didn’t know she had happened to be women of the same size (why is this even brought up or relevant?) who all snagged hotties (their words not mine) who didn’t care about their shape, size or figure. I have a feeling these characters may be from other books from the same author but this is the first book I’ve read from Alison Bliss so I don’t know. Seems a little odd they all thought she was a friend when Preslee is walking around crying about having no friends.

I found the romance pretty dull. Adam calling everyone sweetheart, darling or baby, just made me want to hurl. Mostly he was just there to comment on his ever increasing boner.

This just didn’t work for me. If you want a similar story with more charm I recommend the Korean drama Oh My Venus!

Love a book with a realistic sized MC! The title and cover are super cute too. The writing is well done. The only thing is that it wasn’t clear that this was part of a series. I didn’t know until after!

I really enjoyed the earlier books in the series so was excited to dive into this one. It was cute and I liked both main characters but it did drag a bit for me and at about 70% in I did skip to the ending. So this one wasn't my favorite of the series but definitely recommend readers give the series a try as the earlier books were really fun reads.

Pub date: Feb 1, 2022
In one sentence: Antiques dealer Preslee goes viral with a stair climber mishap, and gym owner Adam agrees to train her for real.

Out of the Blue was a cute story, and I'm so glad to see more body positivity in romance nowadays! I liked Preslee a lot, and it was fun seeing her work at the antique shop. She had good chemistry with Adam, and I also enjoyed Adam's focus on fitness and strength over thinness. The side characters were a little underused - they seemed to disappear and then pop up at random times. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

Thank you to Forever Books for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Out of the Blue was a sweet story of self acceptance and finding love. It wasn't a favorite, but it was enough to hold my attention. Preslee is on a journey to lose weight and lead a healthier lifestyle - Adam offers to help train her at his gym for free although his motives aren't entirely pure. He wants the promotion and new clients Preslee will bring in, but doesn't want to reveal this to her. As they train together, Preslee sees the added benefits of exercise and healthy diet. but also forms a relationship with Adam. She learns to take are of her body and her heart.

There was a lot of dialogue in this book and some unexplained plot lines that detracted from the story. Preslee's insecurities wore thin after a while - although I know IRL these types of things don't disappear overnight. I did appreciate Adam's stance on fat shaming and diet culture.

Thanks to NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.