The book is a good romance read. The story has a good story line. The characters are good, and they have good chemistry.

Thank you to Netgalley and Lydia Michaels for this ARC.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I love a curvy woman romance. I feel some authors can get too caught up in the "ideal woman." I love that Lydia gave Mallory curves, stretch marks and dimples, because let's be honest ALOT of us women have actually them. I love that the author gave Mallory insecurities about her body, again that we women have. I love that the author gave us a smoking hot man who loves every inch of his curvy woman. I love that Mallory grew into her confidence and over came her slow self-esteem and realised she wanted to do it for herself and not other people. This was a truly great book to read and I fully recommend it.

I love a curvy women romance especially when there is a mountain man involved. I don't love a romance where the woman isn't confident in her skin. However, I've amended that with this book because Mallory's insecurity seems authentic - like insecurity that many deals with regularly. Her body image issues are for sure causing her to miss out on opportunities and see the good in her life. At the same time, this decision brought her to this state in her life and able to meet Fin.

This book was short and sweet - with the right number of pages - not too long and not too short

I am already ready to read the previous book in this series as this one was so enjoyable.

Ok. Well. I was really intrigued by the blurb of this book! I love a curvy heroine and they are basically my catnip. But this one! OMG - The heroine struggled a lot with insecurities and had the wrong notion of why she should lose the extra weight. I was really frustrated about that and her whole line of thought. The hero was ok - he was an easygoing pushover (sorry). The only thing that made me read the book was his family and Kelly, but otherwise, the sort of book that drives me nuts.

Mallory has always had a difficult relationship with her weight and low self-esteem, which has been made worse by a recent visit to her doctor. Determined to reinvent herself and lose weight, she moves to a small town, where she encounters Finn, a handsome logger who is determined to become her friend. Finn doesn’t see any issue with Mallory’s physical appearance, and as they become closer friends, deeper feelings start to develop - but Mallory’s self-esteem issues run deep, and with Finn’s ex still lurking in the background, things aren’t going to be plain sailing for them.

This was quite cute, and I enjoyed reading it. The relationship between Mallory and Finn was quite sweet: I loved the build up and how genuinely close they became ad friends. There was a really gentle, domestic tone to it and they had a nice, easy chemistry - I really felt like both of them were in this relationship for the long run, but particularly Finn. Finn was a really good hero: he was so adorable, a real ray of sunshine, and I just loved how he wanted her to take care of herself and for her to be happy. He was so patient and understanding with her. Finn was just a huge part of why I enjoyed this book so much.

Mallory was a little harder to like. It was tough for me, because I had a lot of sympathy with Mallory: her insecurities were familiar to me and there were parts where I really felt for her, but the focus on her weight - from a negative perspective - started to feel very heavy for me. Her self-hate was quite grating and at points hard for me to read, as was the general sense that fat = bad. I don’t think the book really countered this narrative effectively, and I didn’t really buy Mallory’s switch to loving herself near the end. I get that Mallory’s weight was a huge part of the novel and her character, but I really think this could have been toned down. Some of the language Mallory’s character used in her thoughts genuinely upset me, as a bigger reader.I also thought that the ending let it down a bit for me - the book felt very rushed to a conclusion and their reconciliation felt very hurried.

That said, I really enjoyed reading this book, and I would never say otherwise; the writing is good, cosy almost, and reading it felt very comforting, a bit like a hug. The romance was very nice to delve into and that part of the book was very easy to enjoy, as was Finn’s character. But I really think that the body image, weight loss angle of this book could have been handled better; there were points that were more sensitive than others, but Mallory’s negative self-image got quite heavy and I didn’t expect that going into it. I would still recommend this to readers looking for a small town friends-to-lovers romance, but I would urge caution if you’re sensitive to issues around weight and self-image. I voluntarily read and reviewed a copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a free copy of this book.

Content Notes: Fatphobia, body image issues, references to bulimia / purging, vomiting, sexual harassment, mild violence, on-page sex, unprotected sex, implied infidelity / cheating (hero’s ex).

DNF at 13%.

I was so excited for a fun romance featuring a plus-sized heroine, but unfortunately the main character's self-loathing and fat trauma were so extreme in the first chapters that I couldn't stick around to see where it went. Hopefully her arc includes her coming to self-acceptance and pushback against all the fat-shaming she experiences, but while I understand that bullying, substandard medical care, and self-consciousness are very real lived experiences for people in large bodies, I can't say I enjoy reading about it to such an extreme degree in my leisure reading.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review.

Quick Summary: Book 2 did not disappoint.

My Review: Beautiful Distraction by Lydia Michaels was a well done romance. Just as with book one, it was a fast-paced emotionally charged book about two people who sincerely wanted to be appreciated, valued, and loved. M was refreshing to see as a plus-sized character. Her insecurities and issues were all to real. With that said, her lack of confidence and constant negative self-talk got to be a bit much after a while. F was a nice male lead. I loved that he saw M in the light that he did. He gets all kinds of points for that. Overall, their romance was beautiful (just as the title says).

On to book 3!

Rating: 3.25/5
Recommend: Yes
Audience: A
Series: Yes

Appreciation is extended to the author, to the publisher, and to NetGalley, who provided an ARC of this title in exchange for an honest review.