CURVES FOR DAYS – Laura Moher
A Perfect 10
Big Love from Galway, Book 1
Sourcebooks Casablanca
ISBN: 978-1-7282-7805-6
August 22, 2023
Romantic Comedy

Galway, North Carolina – Present Day

Alice Rose Barnes has a problem most people wish they had. She won eighty million dollars in a lottery, and she is feeling miserable. People are coming out of the woodwork wanting her to help them and she feels trapped in her apartment in Indianapolis. She decides to leave town in the middle of the night and go wherever she can to find solitude. Oh, and she drops her first name to remain anonymous. When Rose’s car slides off the road during an unexpected snowstorm outside Galway, she is rescued by a big burly man who gets her out. He also directs her to a bed and breakfast where she plans to spend a couple of weeks. But Rose is impressed by the small town and its friendly people and decides to stay.

Rose ends up buying a rundown house that will need to be fixed up. With plenty of money she uses sparingly, she has an unlimited budget. And the contractor that is recommended to her is none other than that burly man from her first night. Angus Drummond thinks Rose is a little crazy to put money into the house when it appears that she doesn’t have a lot of money. You see, Rose is not telling anyone that she is rich. In fact, she worked in a local Galway diner until she started college. Her plan is to spread the wealth to the people in town—but anonymously. Angus thinks she is way over her head financially. How will he feel when he learns the truth? They’re also finding themselves attracted to each other. At what point will Rose trust Angus with the truth about her financial status?

Rose is a curvy woman and let’s just say that people have not been kind to her because of her curviness. It is one of the reasons that she distrusts people, especially after those she thought liked her were only using her. After her mother died from cancer several years ago, Rose had a pretty much solitary life except for her job at a diner—and an old man she became friendly with. She was there when he died. But while he was dying, he shoved a sack at her and told her that it was hers. Later, she looked inside to find a lottery ticket—the winning lottery ticket for eighty million dollars. How could so much money bring misery? But Rose plans to brighten the lives of those less fortunate.

Angus is a veteran and one of those guys who likes to help others. He offers counseling to vets with PTSD and would love to expand on it but there’s a funding issue. He also sees Rose as another one to help. While he thinks that she is probably getting herself into debt with the way she spends it on the house, she refuses to talk about finances with him. He’s a proud man and as such, does understand that she wants to be independent. Meanwhile, Angus can’t get his mind off her sexy curves. Just when he’s about to go crazy lusting after her, they both finally voice their feelings. Rose and Angus are about to get lucky with each other.

I really enjoyed CURVES FOR DAYS because Rose and Angus are two real and remarkable people. Their story is entertaining and will keep readers glued to the pages. This is why I’m giving it A Perfect 10 from RRT. You will fall in love with our couple and be rooting (as I did) for them to get a happily ever after. Rose didn’t have the best life growing up, but she was loved by her single mother. Angus was raised by his grandparents after his mother died. But both learned something from their growing up: giving back to others. Their bantering and bickering enliven this tale and make it a fun read. If you love a well-written romantic comedy, then you won’t want to miss CURVES FOR DAYS.

Patti Fischer
Romance Reviews Today

I love this book! Both Angus and Rose are my dream main characters. Rose is fat and she learns to embrace her curves, she's feisty, honest and has a heart of gold. Her goal is to use her sudden millions to take care of those in need. Angus is a lumberjack of a man who is grumpy and feels unworthy of good things in his life. But inside he's a cinnamon roll who feels things deeply and personally.

I loved the romance between Rose and Angus. They have a silly meet cute that leads to them tolerating each other, thanks to Angus' grumpiness. But the more they orbit around each other the more she chips at his walls and uncovering smiles and Angus humor. They become friends who are both afraid to take it a step further. The PINING from both ends was glorious. To top it off, the consent in never ending. Angus picks up on Rose's trauma when it comes to intimacy and fully puts the reigns in her hands, going as slow as she needs to and always asking for permission, never pushing. When their intimacy may be slow paced, but that doesn't take away from the steam factor.

I loved all the positive fat rep. Once our heroine, Rose, trust those around her, she embraces wearing the lacy underwear, rocking the swimsuit, and wearing what she wants. And Angus appreciates every minute of it, and when he builds up the courage lets her know just how much her curves make him weak.

While this book has tons of laughs with the banter between Rose and Angus, it also focuses on more than a few heavier subjects. Poverty, PTSD, assault trauma, loss of family, bullying and even suicide.

Overall, Curves for Days by Laura Moher is fantastic. A small town romance filled between MCs in their thirties with the grumpy/sunshine trope, a size difference, starting over, new friends, found family, home renovations, helping others, lacy lingerie, pool days, Thank-you Snickers, a cuss jar, camping, and a happily ever after with the perfect epilogue!

This COVER 😍 love a story with a curvy heroine that does not disappoint!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️

After losing a dear friend, and winning the lottery, Alice Rose Barnes is struggling - everyone wants something from her, and no one did before she was rich.

She packs up her stuff, and ends up in the small town of Galway, and decides to go by Rose now. Rose quickly realizes this place is a perfect fit for her, and buys a home - a fixer upper.

Rose asks for a contractor she can trust, and is sent Angus Drummond, a big, bearded man she encountered on her way into town (in a meet-disaster).

These two “enemies” quickly become friends as they get to know one another, and slowly become more.

I loved the (mostly) open communication between Rose & Angus - about their pasts, their doubts, and their insecurities. This showed a mature, adult relationship, which was refreshing!

As for the audiobook - the female narrator totally hit it out of the park! I wasn’t as much of a fan of the male narrator, he didn’t seem to fit with the character.

What you’ll find in Curves for Days:
⭐️ Grumpy sunshine
⭐️ Forced proximity
⭐️ Curvy heroine
⭐️ Starting over
⭐️ Hidden wealth
⭐️ Found family
⭐️ Small town
⭐️ Dual POV/first person

Thank you to NetGalley, Sourcebooks Casablanca, and Dreamscape Media for advanced ebook and audio copies. All opinions are my own.

2.5 stars.

"Curves for Days" by Laura Moher contains a mix of good and bad. I appreciated the fat representation here, not just where the main female character, Rose, is concerned, but also for the main male character, Angus. Rose has a vast, incredible heart. She truly cares about other people, no questions asked. She is a real ray of sunshine, and I loved her as a character. Unfortunately, she is so down on herself and critical of every little thing, including her looks and her weight at times. It turned me off quite a bit. As a fat person, I understand that not every larger-bodied person has good self-esteem about themselves, but it felt like a "have your cake and eat it, too" situation on the part of the author. I also loved the small-town vibe of Galway. If only all small towns were as friendly and fat-accepting as Galway (minus the nasty, crusty, musty old diner bitty who fat-shames Rose every single time she sees her)! I think Rose and Angus have a fantastic start to their relationship. I enjoyed reading about their growing friendship-come-relationship as Angus comes out of his grumpy shell to help her fix up her house, and as Rose lets her guarded walls down to accept love and affection.

Apart from some slight spice, the main character's penchant for cursing, and some heavy trauma-dumping in the name of moving the plot, "Curves for Days" could pass for a young adult novel in the way that it is written. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it all feels a little juvenile and slow to unfold. Some of the dialogue in this book is really bad. I absolutely detested the third act and solidified my disdain for Angus as a main character. He is such a toxicly masculine, misogynistic character that it turned me off of him completely. It's not just one of those "brooding, possessive alpha male grump" types of books, it's cringeworthy and reductive and caveman-esque in the most derogatory way possible. The worst offense of all: there is a moment in the third act that made me mark this book down by an entire point. After Angus finds out Rose's secret, he spirals, questioning anything and everything about their relationship. At one point, he says, "For all I know, I'm the second worst s3x she's ever had." Now, this would be a bad/cringe statement anyway, BUT HE IS COMPARING HIMSELF TO ROSE'S R-PIST. THE WAY I GASPED IN HORROR. My jaw *literally* dropped when that line was said over the audiobook. I even backed it up to make sure I heard it right. How could a woman write such a potentially triggering line?! Angus *clearly* knows the difference between r-pe and s3x because he repeatedly condemns her r-pist's actions throughout the book... so there is no need for this line to exist. I have no doubt that before meeting Rose, Angus would sit in his work truck listening to Joe Rogan, Ben Shapiro, and Andrew Tate spew their garbage on his lunch breaks. He strikes me as the type.

Thank you to NetGalley, Laura Moher, and SOURCEBOOKS Casablanca for the complimentary ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for my review.

I wanted to enjoy this one - positive fat rep, ptsd rep, small town - it was really checking the boxes for me. The execution just fell flat.

My big issue with this is that it was SO much heavier than the blurb or cover would lead you to believe due to the PTSD, family issues, bullying, rape, etc. Like there was a LOT of trauma here. I don't have triggers, but some of this was difficult to get through. I don't fault the book for telling that story, only the marketing of it that has you expecting something more along the lines of a rom-com. I think if I'd had realistic expectations of what I was getting, I could have enjoyed this more.

I really ate this up... yes it is pretty predictable... yes it has the tropes... but it is very well written, well paced, and just so sweet!!!

Rose has won the lottery & she needs a new place to live, and boy does she find it. Galway is perfect for her, the people are welcoming and kind and she finds the perfect fixer-upper. Enter Angus, the perfect handy man and ultimate love interest.

I read this in just over one sitting and I loved every minute of it... can't wait for further additions to this series from Galway.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for providing an advanced readers copy of this book.

I really enjoyed this book by a new author (to me). The story, the characters and the witty dialog – WOW! Alice Rose Barnes was used to being invisible or bullied because of her weight. That is until she won an eighty-million-dollar lottery, a ticket given to her by her beloved diner customer just before he passed away. Now everyone wants something from her. Sneaking away in the early morning hours she ends up in Galway. The town, the people, this is just what she needs. Finally, a home for her with help from Angus Drummond, the contractor who will remodel her home. Angus, former military, is a very tall and muscular man and finds that Rose is just right for him. As they work together, a slow attraction builds between them, but he worries that she is having money issues. She is, but the issue is that she needs to do something worthwhile with the money. After the time and love they have shared, will he be upset or understand how the money affected her decisions? I received an advance review copy at no cost and without obligation for an honest review. (paytonpuppy)

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own.
I got an ARC of Curves for Days when it was available to “Read Now” on a whim, thinking it looked cute. And while it’s hard to tell romance marketing these days, this is one of those times where picking a book on a whim paid off. This book is so freaking cute, and gave me all the small-town cozy vibes, with an actually affirming narrative centering plus-size characters, touching on tough issues without losing its light touch.
Rose is a woman after my own heart: she’s a bit prickly and vulnerable given the people who tried to use her when it was convenient for them, but she’s also brave too. I totally relate to her wanting to hide out in a small town, but I also loved how she ended up really coming into her own in that environment too, really finding herself and picking herself back up after all the stuff she’s been through.
And Angus?! I love that he’s also plus-size; that alone is a win, given the general lack of masculine body diversity. But he’s also on a similar/complementary path to Rose, dealing with PTSD as a veteran, and wanting to do his bit to repay his debt to society, serving as a therapist for those in the military. Like Rose, he’s also multifaceted, being a bit of a grump on the outside, but having a big heart and wanting to help others.
Their romance is also super cute. They have a great dynamic together, and I love how they play off each other. Their romance is a slower burn, but it’s not lacking in tension or chemistry, even if the sex scenes themselves definitely rank on the lower end of the spectrum.
This is such a delightful read, and I’ll definitely keep an eye out for whatever Laura Moher writes next! If you’re looking for a fun, body positive small-town contemporary romance, I recommend checking this out!

Dnf this book at 8%
I just can't continue reading it.
At first, I was really excited to devour this book because I live and breath plus size romance but I just can't get through with this story.
The chapters are quite long and it's very narrative.

I absolutely adored this! I am a sucker for any book with a plus sized main character and this book was just so much fun. I went into this not knowing anything about it except it was a romance with a fat main character and I kinda liked it better that way. I got to be surprised by everything as it unfolded. I got to fall in love with the story and the characters as it happened.
I absolutely adored the characters as well. Everyone in this book was so sweet and wholesome. I would give both kidneys to move to Galway!
This book is definitely one to give a shot! It was to sweet and sexy. You are going to love Rose and everyone else from Galway.

You know that friend that is just so amazing, you think they deserve the earth, moon, stars, whole universe? But, they just get maybe the state of South Carolina (no offense SC love you xoxo) when they start dating someone? That’s kind of how I felt about Rose with Angus. I loved Rose. LOVED. She was just so kind and helpful and spirited. Angus just didn’t click for me. I tried audio, I tried reading, but it just wasn’t there for me. Regardless, Rose is a winner (not just talking lottery) and I enjoyed a majority of her new friends in town.

Our girl Rose ends up with a winning lottery ticket. She has no family, so she’s looking for home. She finds it in Galway at a b&b with Sabina, then at July’s and decides let’s fix this house up. Along the way Angus, our PTSD, solider crisis counselor and fixer upper, helps with the home. Along the way, Rose does not tell a soul about the money, and finds a way to navigate her new life.

Curves for Days has great representation for body positivity and PTSD. It barrels into the norm instead of shying away as a taboo topic. I truly enjoyed that aspect. Also, Michelle Price, who read Rose’s POV was spot on. I loved listening to those chapters.

Overall, a good read, but just didn’t really enjoy the love interest. I see this is a series and I’m excited to see who gets their story next! Out 8/22.

Rose Barnes won the lottery & every relationship in her life turned upside down. Determined to not let herself get hurt again she moves to a small town in North Carolina and purchases a house that is the definition of a fixer-upper. Enter our soon-to be love interest Angus, and there our story begins.

I loved Rose. I completely understood her. I’ve seen some people complain about her weight constantly being mentioned but I personally didn’t mind it. I’ve read other books with a “plus size” main character who has her weight mentioned once or twice & just dropped as if the writer was like, “i did our part mentioned she’s fat, that’s enough.” But in real life, despite how happy we are with our bodies, the plus size community can’t just fade in with everyone else.

Angus was the perfect love interest, until he discovers Rose’s secret about her lottery winnings. He works with people who have traumas, but apparently he cannot think of a single reason why Rose would keep her winnings a secret.

I would definitely recommend this book to people who like the grumpy/sunshine trope & a medium amount of spice in their books.

A charming novel about a lonely woman who finds her heart in a small town. Rose, who grew up in poverty, inherited an $80 million lottery ticket - but it hasn't brought her any joy. So she takes off from her home in Indianapolis and wanders until one snowy day, she hits the brakes in Galway and finds herself being pushed out by Angus, a huge man who works as a counselor for other veterans. And as a contractor- the contractor for the house Rose buys. They slowly build a relationship (they both tell this story), chipping away at both of their issues, until they realize it's more than friendship. Don't worry- there's some serious steam here! Galway is a gem of a town, but there is need here, a need which Rose sets out to help. I liked this for the characters- not just Rose and Angus- but the rest of them as well. This is very much about a woman overcoming her issues (especially trust issues) and coming into her own. My quibble: don't like the cover or, frankly, the title, which feels exploitative. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. I really enjoyed this heartwarmer.

*I received a free ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

THIS BOOK WAS SO GOOD!

Rose Barnes has lived a difficult life, and a lottery win should theoretically help her thrive. Instead, it drives her out of the town she's lived in for 32 years in search of a fresh start. She finds herself stuck in the snow in the town of Galway, NC where a burly (and grumpy) man helps her get unstuck. After a few nights at the local B&B, Rose decides this is the perfect town for her fresh start. She buys her dream home, hires a contractor to fix it up... and who is it but Mr. Mountain Man himself, Angus Drummond! Their initial antagonism turns to friendship and then to something more, but Rose and Angus are both dealing with their own secrets and traumas. What will happen when Angus discovers Rose's biggest secret, and will they get their HEA? (Of course they will, this is a romance!)

I loved how the author balanced some very intense themes with the fluff and happiness inherent to the romance genre. There are a lot of trigger-worthy topics in here, including suicide, grief, sexual assault/rape, and fatphobia, so I definitely recommend you look up trigger warnings before you pick up this book! But if you are not sensitive to those topics, what you will find is that this book is mainly about hope. It's about friendship, and love (of all types!), and finding oneself after trauma and grief. The story is so inherently hopeful that it balances those deeper, darker topics.

I also appreciated that this book moved at a good clip. I get that that writing style isn't always everyone's cup of tea, but my ADHD brain was THRIVING. I powered through this in about 4 hours, partially because of that fast-paced writing style and partially because it was just so dang good!

I definitely recommend this book, and I think it brings something new and fresh to the romance genre.

Listen, if I had a dollar for every illustrated cover book packaged as a romcom that is really masquerading as trauma central, I wouldn't need to play the power ball at this rate. Additionally, I'm always looking for books with great fat rep and I have concerns about this one.

It would be easier to review this book if I just laid out the CWs - let me just add, these were not provided to me with the ARC, I'm doing the courtesy of laying them out for whoever chooses to read this review because there's some serious trauma unfolding in these pages and people ought to have a heads up before they venture forth.

So, lets start with the MMC, Angus, a retired army vet turned contractor and therapist, which is a strange and unusual combo but lets set that aside. Angus had PTSD from his time in the army, which blew up his first marriage, and he's turned to therapy and now works with other vets in similar situations. He's also incredibly grumpy and kind of rude to the FMC, no explanation given.

FMC Rose, is alone, no family, no friends, her only friend dies before the book starts and she inherits his winning lotto ticket which makes her a multimillionaire to the tune of $80M. She leaves town and settles in the small town of Galway to get away from all the people suddenly coming out of the woodwork to harass her about her new found wealth. She has a traumatic backstory, she dropped out of high school when she was being severely bullied after the first guy who ever asked her out on a date raped her on their date and then spread vicious rumors about her, her mom died of lung cancer a couple of years later, she has never dated much less had sex with anyone since, oh and in Galway, not a soul knows about her wealth, which is understandable at the beginning, less so when she and Angus fall in love, are all but living together, and she still is hiding her financial status from him.

Part of my issues with this book is that I think the author is a professor of sociology and this book seems to be overflowing with so many different trauma (Rose is bullied, has suicidal ideation, one of Angus' clients dies by suicide) and all these traumas isn't going to make up for lack of plot development and character development. The entirety of Rose's character development rests on her trying to do good things with her money. The entirety of Angus's character development rests on him keeping some kind of an invisible scoreboard so that he never feels like he's doing less than his share.

Not to mention, there's this cranky old lady who eats at the diner that Rose frequents and apparently despite the fact that this lady tells Rose to her face that she's too fat for her own good and needs to watch her diet and exercise more, they are going to be friends...???

I hope I didn't miss any CWs, but those feel like the biggest ones. This book could have been good but I do think the author needs a developmental editor because everything in the book just boiled down to all this trauma and that's not plot or character development.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I am always up for reading a romance with a plus size female main character and when I saw the cover of this one, it was no different. Okay, so I may have judged the book by its cover.

Unfortunately it steered me wrong this time. Didn’t love this one. It was a cute idea, a woman winning the lottery and escaping to a new life where she meets someone. But the whole keeping the secret of her winnings for a long time and the drawn out problem and reaction didn’t work for me. Felt like the dialogue was a little off and the pacing too.

Oh well, can’t win them all! This book releases on Aug 22nd.

2.5 stars. Rounded up to 3.

I needed to read this book as soon as I saw the cover. I loved the plus size representation, but I’m mixed on how I felt about the book. There were things I really enjoyed, but others that I felt slowed the story down for me.

4 stars! what a beautiful and fun debut!

i was soooo excited for this one and it was just so cute! i absolutely fell in love with rose and angus! they were such sweet characters. i also looove reading a fat heroine and of course i did cry when all the doubt and sweet reassurance came up!!! i couldn’t help myself!!!

the book was just wonderful though and i really found myself so excited when i got to pick it back up. it was warm and enjoyable between the characters, their development and their romance.

rose was such a strong and kind character while angus was broody with a soft center. the side characters were all such a joy and i really can’t wait to read the author’s future books!

i think for how the book was going, i was surprised at rose’s description of her past rape. it kind of got me out of left field and broke my heart a lot. it was something i sympathized with but felt was kind of a sharp turn in a book that was otherwise pretty lighthearted. the description was minor and contained to one chapter with no other flashbacks. the rape is mentioned (internally by one of the leads) a couple of times after through the rest of the book.

tw: fatphobia, internalized fatphobia, minor description of rape, death of a parent (minor description), death of very minor side character

thank you netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in return for an honest review.

It's nice to see representation of other women outside of just the usual thin for a change. I appreciated that the main character, Rose, really cared about wanting to help others with her money.

Unfortunately, the execution of the story itself didn't work for me. The writing felt hollow and lazy. The pacing was inconsistent and abrupt, effecting any tension that the writing was already failing to build. You don't really get to sit in a scene long enough to be invested in the moment. The odd timeline jumps of the story/events feels as if someone is continuously pressing a fast-forward button.

I think the plot would've benefited from tightening up. Cutting down on the amount of sensitive topics. They were talked about in a way that was very surface level. Keeping the focus strictly on Rosie's self-discovery journey and the "found family" aspect could've leveled up the story and strengthened the character developments (which were very minimal).

Quite frankly, the book overall had better potential if the romance wasn't there at all. Rose and Angus were better off as friends. Once they got together, their dialogue/banter became so dry and cringeworthy. They had about as much romantic chemistry as tapping two un-wired lamps together in the middle of a deserted Bed Bath & Beyond. The intimate scenes came across as these awkward how-to's on sex and anatomy that rivaled a 7th grade health class. Also, I simply can't take a story serious after there's been a moment of trauma and it goes directly into sex. That's never romantic or sweet.

Now for the main reason I didn't enjoy this book: Angus, the love interest.

He was barely tolerable when they first met and started to eventually become friends but then he became really annoying and insufferable the further I read.


Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for providing a copy for an honest review.

This was one of those times when I seriously judged a book by its cover. I saw it and knew I had to read it. I was in love. Unfortunately, it was a bit of a roller coaster once I got into it. I'm not familiar with Moher as an author, but if I had to guess I'd say this is one of their first books. Which is okay! It just meant that some of the dialogue (both inner and... outer?) felt a little forced and stilted. It was also clear within the first couple of chapters what the major conflict was going to be, and where the book was headed the entire time I was reading. I also weirdly struggled with what season we were in? Or I guess the passage of time?

That said, this book was also like a big warm hug. Rose's ability to be genuine and caring after what the world had thrown at her was refreshing, and some of my favorite moments were when she was just being herself around her friends. I actually enjoyed her POV more than the Angus POV, which was unexpected, but a delightful surprise. I love moody lumberjack who is a softie on the inside, and Angus did treat our Rose with care (for the most part), so I appreciated that too.

I know there are some readers who don't bother looking up content warnings when it comes to romances, but I would definitely check them for this book. There's a lot of heavy topics for something that is guaranteed to have a happy ending, you know?

2.5 stars rounded up