***4.5 rounding up to 5***

I'm so grateful to be reviewing Jenny's second book, courtesy of NetGalley + St. Martin's Griffin, in exchange for my honest review.


Everly Winters is content with where she is in life, moving through unnoticed, taking up as little space as she can. That is...until someone secretly nominates her for the next season of her favorite TV show, On The Plus Side.

As Everly is thrust into situations that require her to be honest with herself about what she wants and what's holding her back, she finds comfort in the plaid cinnabun working the camera, Logan Samuel. His grumpy demeanor is no match for Everly's delightful aura, and soon their budding connection is sparking like fireworks — and heating up the show's ratings.

Being vulnerable, on TV no less, is difficult enough. But can Everly steer the narrative of her screen time to showcase more of her journey to overcoming self-doubt and embracing change? Or is she destined for public heartbreak that will send her retreating back to the life of invisibility?

Where do I even begin? Jenny really finds her stride in her second novel and it's such a joy to read her writing. Her characters jump off the page, bursting with personality and making you root for them (or against them, depending on what role they're playing in the story).

I loved the concept of this book. I'm a huge fan of Queer Eye and I loved how Jenny took such a familiar format and breathed new life into it, providing a space for the fat community to exist and be 'made over' without conforming to society's fatphobic, and unrealistic, beauty standards. Jenny is committed to writing fat characters whose stories do not revolve around them losing weight to be better versions of themselves because they are perfect as they are. They deserve to find love and to feel sexy and be desired, just like any other character, but she does an excellent job of writing characters who may challenge their self-love, such as Everly's mother.

Jenny handles the relationship between Everly and her mother in a way that feels extremely relatable. Sometimes the pressures put on us from those we love have nothing to do with us and have everything to do with their own unresolved issues and unhealed wounds. And it made sense that their problems were not completely fixed by the end of the book because it takes time, but it was beautiful to see them finally have an open discussion and lay it all out on the table.

And I'd be remiss not to gush about Logan, our lumberjack daddy whose 'hurt her and die' energy leaps off the page and makes you want to kiss him 100 times...and then some. The protectiveness he displays over Everly from very early on is swoon worthy, and he only continues to get more swoon worthy as he thaws out a bit for our leading lady. I loved watching him fiercely support her, and I loved watching him open up bit by bit and be just as vulnerable with Everly as she was being with him.

I loved the lack of a miscommunication trope + NO THIRD ACT BREAKUP!!!! It's like Jenny knew what my two least favorite things in a romance novel are and decided to make sure my reading experience was as pleasurable as possible. Speaking of pleasure...the laundry room scene is one of the steamiest scenes I've ever read and should Jenny ever want to dive into more spice in the future, I'm fully on board.

I knew Jenny was going to knock it out of the park with her second book, but now I can say with full confidence that she did. I can't wait for everyone to read this on December 26!

This review originally appeared on Goodreads.

I was really excited to read this one, because I’m a bigger girl myself and I love to see plus size representation. What I don’t like however, is for it to be such a big deal in the book. I feel like too much emphasis was placed on her being plus size. Otherwise I really liked it!

On the Plus Side is a lovely romance with a plus-sized heroine about loving yourself for who you are. I especially enjoyed how much of Everly's character arc is about her personal growth rather than finding romance--it was a nice shift of focus that still allowed for a warm, enjoyable love story. Very solid read!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc!

I enjoyed this one a lot, from the grumpy but secretly sweet MMC, the fabulous side characters (Jazzy and Stanton, love!) to the plus-size representation, and above all no third-act break-up! This rom-con had some What Not to Wear vibes I loved, but think WNTW made fat. Everly starts off unsure of herself and lacking confidence, and I loved that her confidence builds slowly, and that it was never about her body size. There are some mentions of fatphobia and emotional abuse in the story, but they're kept to a minimum and handled well. All-in-all, a cute story with minimal spice and a satisfying ending.

An incredibly relatable story of plus-size Everly and her journey to accept that she doesn’t have to be less to be accepted in the world. My favorite thing about Everly’s narrative is that she accepts her body as is and it’s the mental aspect of being fat that is hardest struggle to overcome, especially when you aren’t surrounded by people who understand the lived experience. I think the author accurately taps into the nuance of how different relationships approach conversations about fatness. Sometimes people who think they’re doing something out of love hurt us the most and sometimes all it takes is one person in your corner to start changing your perspective. Also the romance portion of this novel is top notch! #teamLoverly

This book had me hooked within the first few pages. It's not often you have a plus size main character who isn't desperate for love and attention. The characters were well written and I felt connected to them . Jenny Howe did pretty darn good with this one.

This book definitely hits hard on self-love and self-discovery. I think the author did a fantastic job of portraying the FMC and the insecurities that a plus-size person experiences. It was a great plot and the characters were great. This is a great forced-proximity, grumpy-sunshine type novel. If those are the tropes that you go for then this is a perfect book for you.

4/5 stars

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC!

This book is full of powerful emotions, heartfelt messages, and inspiring advice. It was an easy read but still had strong themes that really spoke to me as a plus size gal myself. Although James and Sady made me furious, Everly's journey made up for those negative feelings I definitely recommend, especially if you like Queer Eye. Full review on Instragram, booknerdysam.

On the Plus Side was an absolute joy. I’m also a plus size person and I loved Jenny L. Howe’s representation of the day-to-day challenges and insecurities facing plus size people. Not only that but it was a delightfully sweet romance with a hot, loveable male MC.

This book isn’t released until December, but I couldn’t wait to read it. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press, St. Martin's Griffin for this complimentary ARC. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Thank you to the publishers, NetGalley and the author for an ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.

Y'all. I absolutely LOVED this book. I have a soft spot for rom-coms and this did not disappoint. I fell in love with Everly and her path to self love throughout this book.

As a person who has struggled with my weight and self esteem for my entire life the character's internal struggles (opinions/expectations of society for plus size individuals, self worth and her fat phobic mother) were something I could deeply resonate with to and it hit home. This book made me feel validated and also helped me gain self love and acceptance for myself.

I highly recommend this book and I look forward to reading more from this author.

This book was everything and more. I think it takes a special balance to represent the plus sized community and do it in a way that is authentic and empowering without skipping around the hard stuff. This book does that. The attraction between the characters it was real it was gradual and it had nothing to do with her size/appearance. This made it so much better! I enjoyed this book very much and think audiences will too. Thank you so so much for this amazing ARC.

I loved this book. I thought it was super fun and cute while dealing with issues of self doubt, body image and body shaming. I love how all the characters have well developed personalities and are so easy to relate to. It drew me in and had me right there rooting for Everly every step of her journey. I would have like to have had at least some different POV, especially Everly's.

I have lots of exciting new titles from Net Galley right now, but when I saw that I got approved for On the Plus Side, I immediately bumped it to the top of my list. I LOVED The Make-Up Test last year and couldn’t wait to read Howe’s second novel. Unfortunately, I didn’t find it nearly as charming as her debut, but it was still a good reading experience.

I felt like the romance was under-developed and lacking in the appropriate tension and steps along the way for me to feel properly invested, and the writing of the reality show drama felt a little ridiculous and too present in the story. Christina Lauren’s The True Love Experiment did a much better job with a similar storyline. An underwhelming sophomore novel, but I’ll stay loyal to Howe in the future.

On The Plus Side
by Jenny L. Howe

Every Winters is living life under the radar. Blending into the background in her personality and neutral wardrobe. She’s got a crush on her coworker and she’s not about to let him know. She’s hiding from living a full life. Her deceased Grandmother would want her to live out loud and pursue her art, but she’s afraid of being ‘too much’. As Her Mother would say.

When Everly is nominated for her favorite makeover show, On The Plus Side, she’s excited yet overwhelmed by being in the spotlight. She finds camaraderie with grumpy Logan, the cameraman, and soon their budding friendship becomes more.

Can Everly find her old self, the one that doesn’t care about what others think, the artist, and confident plus size person she used to be?

I thought this book was well written and an easy, fun read. Loved all the characters, history, and development of relationships.

Thank you @netgalley @stmartinspress @jennylhowe for an electronic book ARC (Advanced Readers Copy) in exchange for an honest review.


#jennylhowe #ontheplusside #romance
#womensfiction
#literaryfiction #fiction #NetGalley
#reviewer #bookstagram #bookreview #bookreviewer #kindlebook #ebook #arc

I sadly am deciding to DNF this book
Third-person point of view is just not really my thing, but I would love to come back to this book to try again at a later time. The characters are all very loveable.
While it wasn't my type of book I would still recommend it.

On the Plus Side is centered around Everly and her journey towards self love, acceptance and taking her life back by following her dreams. The fat representation in this novel was outstanding and highly realistic from the way her mother acts and speaks to that of the Sady the produce for On the Plus Side show. I also appreciate the grieving process we see Everly go through for various reasons; her grandmothers death, her loss of self which includes her sense of style, dreams, confidence and ability to be assertive to not let other take advantage of her.

I was worried when we started seeing a potential love triangle occur, sorry but I’m so over that trope, and it’s clear that Jenny (the author) is as well because we see it only through the lens of Sady who is using this love triangle as tool to manipulate viewers.

Great book. Easy read.


A special thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Publishing Group for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I loved this book so much. it's about loving the skin you're in and finding all the closed off pieces of yourself. the heart of it was definitely a journey of self discovery but i loved everly and logan so much. they were so sweet together. i also thought the reality show had some really intriguing and intense twists, overall this book was so good and i'll have to check out jenny's other book as well.

A special thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Publishing Group for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Everly has hidden and self-censored: if nobody notices you they won’t reject or make fun of you. She gets nominated for On the Plus Size, a reality show like What Not to Wear that follows fat (reclaiming that word) women as they get wardrobe, make up, career makeovers and encourages personal empowerment. Logan is one of the camera men and he finds himself attracted to Everly. But this is not your average romcom. It goes deeper than that. We watch a romance build but we also watch her bloom and face the real struggles of coming out of her herself and accepting, embracing her fat self.

That’s not to say that this doesn’t have its light and airy engaging love story. And there are some nice sexy bits. But Everly wants her story to be more than a romcom and more about her real struggles to emerge and empower herself during this ‘makeover’.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Jenny L. Howe is a strong writer. She is engaging, descriptive and has great pacing. I enjoy reading her writing and I like that her concepts are not always something I have read before. My favorite part about this story was the sub-plot with Sady; I think it added a lot of tension and drama, and with Logan's connection to Sady, I really was not sure what was going to happen. While I could connect and invest in Everly & Logan's story, I was not always drawn in by it, as I felt like maybe they could have used a bit more tension and build. However, I still found it very cute, and sweet. I loved some of the quotes and I appreciate how Howe represents a healthy romance in her writing.

Totally think this book is a good fun read and bonus points for the care that the author gives to this book about #bodypositivity and the being unapologetically yourself regardless of size. I definitely think author #jennyhowe did a great job with the main character Everly, a likeable and genuine character in need of big beautiful bold fairy godparents Stanton and Jazzy. It’s giving Queer Eye meets What Not to Wear with the behind the scenes drama a plus-size The Bachelor. Couldn’t give a full 5 because I wanted a little more development before the big surprise from Everly. I got a little too many intros to people in the beginning. I had a hard time keeping up with so many characters so soon. I’m partial to a slower build and growing with a character, but the chemistry and spicy development was there and adorbs. I didn’t realize I was #lumberjacksexual until this book. Refreshing to have a romance with a positive message that was a good old fashion good read. Definitely lends itself to spin-offs and character arcs…would love to read more. My vote is for a Jazzy and/or Stanton love match.

Shot out to #stmartinspress and #netgalley for the ARC for an honest review - I’m all about that life!