The narrators did a good job with this audiobook. I liked the main character but i don’t know something was missing for me. This was a good book.

This one was fun and I'm sad I waited so long to read it. The characters were great and the relationship was one you couldn't help rooting for. I'm not sure I liked how quickly their miscommunication issue was solved and they went back to normal, but alas, it was still a good story.

This was a sweet story, full of finding yourself, falling in love and making a difference. It was full of new friends, grumpy grumps, who are secretly softies. It’s about helping those in need and healing from trauma. Rose and Angus are so sweet together, they both fit all the missing pieces to each other’s tattered hearts. This was a sweet slow burn, small town romance. I adored the relationship between Rose and Angie and how it grew from friendship. They worked through their insecurities, and other problems, and it was sweet and heartwarming.

Many thanks to Netgalley, Dreamscape Media and the author for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

After winning a lottery and suddenly getting a lot of attention from people who never cared about her before Rose decides run away. She finds herself in a charming small town and decides to buy a house, and settle there for good. There she meets Angus, a vet who is a contractor and who is recommended to her to make her new house into her dream home. While deciding and learning how to manage her new wealth, finally getting to pursue her dreams and creating her dream life, Rose starts to fall for grumpy Angus.

The beauty of this story is various. Let's start with the obvious, this is the story of 2 plus sized people falling in love. In this world where people where every single plus sized FMC is required to go through a 'glow up' which primarily involves losing weight to get into a healthy and flourishing relationship, this story stands apart with accepting and beautiful conversations. Second and the most important one for me is Rose does not want children in the beginning of the book until the very end of the book. We have an accepting partner who leaves it to the person with the birthing body to make that decision and there is not sudden onset of motherhood feelings leading to a surprise pregnancy in the epilogue. The absolute best thing ever.

There are a good few side characters that I loved so I am absolutely glad this is a series of connected books all set in the same little town of Galway (I kept thinking the story to be in Galway in Ireland, every time I listened and then I would be like no the American accent - look at the accent haha).

I am glad the characters grew out their past and stuck together, because I was rooting for them for a change. The book also dealt with a good few mental health issued in relation to PTSD, depression etc in Veterans and the limited resources available to look after them.

TW: Fatphobia, bullying, conversations about Sexual assault, abuse, physical violence, suicide, PTSD, Mental health issue etc.

When Rose wins the lottery, she moves to a small town in North Carolina hires Angus to work on her new house. As their unlikely friendship becomes love, Angus becomes determined to help Rose overcome what he believes are financial troubles. However, Rose's multi-million secrets could mean the end of a beautiful relationship.

First of all, this is a stupid title for a book. Second of all, I thought the plot was bleh. (I don’t honestly remember what I was about 7 months later, but I do remember hating it.) This one is a hard no for me!

The audio itself was great. However, I just didn't get on with the overall discussion about sexual assault. It was too much. I was exhausted by it. It's not the book's fault. Just not something I wanted to spend a ton of time on.

I squealed seeing this curvy girl romance, and thought it was such a great story!

I loved that Rose was so comfortable with her body and felt confident in many ways.

WHAT TO EXPECT
-friends to lovers
-forced proximity
-plot twists
-slow burn
-opposites attract
-found family
-curvy FMC
-cinnamon roll MMC

I enjoyed the audiobook format and only wished for a bit more romance but it was a sweet story overall and the narration was a good choice.

*many thanks to the Publisher, Dreamscape Media and Netgalley for the gifted copy for review

I'm so in love with this book. A curvy girl steamy romance. YES! I am totally here for this type of book. Also a big burly MMC love interest. Sign me up.

Thank you, Netgalley, for the ARC!

Curvy girl romance? ***Takes out wallet.*** Curvy girl romance ~with~ a big and bearded contractor? ***Slams card down.***

I haven’t even started the book yet and I’m already screaming inside.

And let me tell you … oh my god. This was the best book I’ve read in so long. I could not — and didn’t want to — put it down. I will be ranting for a while so hold on.

The characters: Angus and Rose. Wonderful voice actors. The absolute best duo I’ve read in so long. On their own, they were so sweet and well-developed. Together? I envisioned myself in that relationship. The way they talk about each other was poetry. They’re out here describing each other as the Caribbean, as sunsets … like? That beginning enemies to lovers vibe with him being absolutely obsessed with her while she is so so smitten with him? Is that too much to ask for? Everything about this was absolute goals.

Why is Rose me, though? A fellow curvy queen. Girlie really spoke truths about my body issues and romance anxiety. She gets it.

And Angus … my new fictional husband. He has rightfully earned that title. That man can do what he wants to me (although he’d let me run the show ahhhh that smut was hot my godddd.) The cover needed him on it cause we were robbed of a visual.

So much happened in this story — and I’m glad because I didn’t want it to end — but everything was so well-written, flowed beautifully, and ahhh I’m so incoherent. For those wondering if there’s a third act conflict, it exists but it makes sense so I’m not mad about it.

All the best stories leave me unable to actually formulate how much I loved this story. Take that as you will.

I will be waiting for the sequel!!

In enjoyed this story a lot.
The characters where great, my only problem was the male mc that was a therapist but didn't really work on his own problems.
But the chemistry between the characters felt good.
And the narrators did a great job.

I absolutely adore the cover of this book and it instantly made me want to read it. I'm not going to lie, as a fat girl a lot of the negative thoughts Rose has at the beginning of the book were triggering. The book does not shy away from difficult topics and most are handled with care. I was very frustrated by Angus not being better at communication despite being a therapist. I do think Rose and Angus had a wonderful connection and I enjoyed reading their story. I also listened to a good portion of the book and thought Paul Bellantoni and Michelle Price did a great job at bringing these characters to life.

There were parts I liked and others I didn’t. I liked that she was a bigger girl and comfortable with her body. This was a good part of the story. I also liked that she was willing to give up most of her money. She did the things she’d always wanted but also was very charitable. The romance was just okay. A little to heavy on the “I have to be the man and pay for everything and take care of you” stuff though. I’m all for traditional roles but it took it a little too far.

4.5 rounded up to 5
please note that the trigger warnings and topes/themes may contain spoilers
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
FMC: Rose- after coming into a world changing secret, Rose leaves her previous life in search of her next adventure. She ends up in Galway and ends up deciding to stay. Her path keeps crossing with grumpy contractor Angus and she keeps trying to figure out what she did wrong to get on his bad side.
MMC: Angus- a big and burly grump contractor in Galway who is thrown for a loop when a curvy and mouthy stranger keeps crossing his path. Now he’s contracted to fix up her new house and will be in forced proximity for moths since she plans on living in the house while he works.
POV: 1st person, dual POV (edited to add audio book is also dual narration! with easy to listen voices at any speed)
HEA: yes
spice: several open-door spicy scenes
TWs: fat phobia, body shaming, bullying, rape (moderately graphic on page, recounted (not MCs)), slut shaming, mental health- anxiety/PTSD, suicidal thoughts (not MCs), suicidal actions (not MCs), death of family (recounted), death of friends (recounted), divorce
standalone: book 1 in the Big Love From Galway series Laura Moher omg more
final thoughts: I was so sucked into reading this book! The story was great and mostly cozy with some serious topics strewn about and discussed in a great way. While there is a 3rd act breakup that lasted way too long, because stop they’re so cute together, this had so much that I love in a book and so many wonderful tropes. I love the way the characters were written and how complex they were, the side characters were fun and dynamic, Rose’s character growth with self-love and understanding was so beautiful.

read this book if you love

💓 slowburn
🏝️ forced proximity (contractor on her house)
😬 angst
🌀 plot twists
💞 friends-to-lovers
🧑‍🤝‍🧑 great side characters
🤐 miscommunication
👮 blue collar MMC (contractor)
🔀 opposites attract
🏡 small town
🥰 nicknames
🫡 big MMC
🤩 curvy FMC
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 found family
💼 workplace romance
🌍 world building
😠 grumpy/sunshine
🤫 hidden truth/keeping secrets
🍪 cinnamon roll MMC

What a lovely romance novel! The story 8s fresh and well developed. The audio added a fantastic layer to the the story line and experience of the reader. This was my first Laura Mother novel, but I look forward to reading more. Thank you for the opportunity to listen to this story.

I can see how some people would love this book. It's competently written (especially for a debut) and very earnest. The pacing started off strong and the book mostly kept me interested in what would happen next. I love the fat rep - it's great to see fat rep that's not just a woman with a voluptuous hourglass figure on the cover. And in the first half, the way that Rosie and Angus develop a working relationship, friendship and then romance is lovely and their chemistry is excellent. I can certainly imagine how one could fantasize the base premise into a story - that part feels very fluffy and escapist - haven't we all imagined what we'd do if we won the lottery? There are some very serious topics touched on - PTSD from military service, poverty, sexual assault, bullying, death of parents among them. While they are treated with care, there is not a lot of depth and in some cases it felt almost clinical. And although I could not relate in most ways, it was interesting to have a female main character who was so naive and inexperienced in life because of her history (particularly her social isolation). It was a good reminder about how one's circumstances might affect their life experience.

Back to that over-the-top earnestness: it brings an unsubtle idealism that does not work for me. There is lots of diversity in the background characters that I'd characterize as mostly neutral and feels mostly like set dressing. There is also a lot of overt finger wagging and do-goodery that reduces the impact of the message for me, especially with one character who feels like a proto-villain. Ultimately, what we have is two misguided saviour-types finding each other and giving each other a bit of a lesson in the process but I'm not sure that's actually the intended moral of the story. On a related note (and this is a me problem), the money stuff just gave me the icks in almost every respect - the way Rosie gifted her money and Angus's presumptuous assumptions about Rosie's money took me out of the story every single time. I almost DNFed heading into the inevitable third-act conflict because I knew it would piss me off (and it really did - I was so very annoyed with Angus but I'm glad at least it was clear he was in the wrong.)

I'd say this is a sweet and simple romance that will totally work for lots of people, especially if you are happy to just escape into the intention of the story.

I will auto-read any book with fat rep. Thirtysomething Rose wins the lottery, and her world of solitude is turned upside down. Everyone is coming out of the woodwork to snag a piece of her spotlight. In the middle of the night, she sets out for a new life. She ends up getting stuck on the side of the road in North Carolina. Enter Angus (my newest book boyfriend). He’s big and grumpy. He helps a cute stranger (Rose) when she gets stuck, and then begins to see her around town. The two end up spending alot of time together when Rose hires someone (who turns out to be Angus) to help fix up her new home. What starts as silence turns to friendship turns into something more. But while the two begin to open up to each other, Rose is still conflicted on sharing all her secrets. I loved this one. The story was warm and heartfelt, while dealing with tough topics.
The romance was a slow burn, but the chemistry was swoony. I’m looking forward to the next book in the series.
Recommended if you like: -plus size rep -dual POV romance -enemies to lovers -slow burn -forced proximity -small town settings -home improvement

TW: PTSD, sexual abuse while in the military, mention of parental death, bullying, rape, body shaming

A sweet slowburn! Lord of chemistry and likeable characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Rose is alone with no friends no family and with a lot of trauma still affecting her. Once she wins the lottery she wants to leave her life behind and go somewhere no one knows her so people don't show up wanting something. She wants to just live a simple life.

She starts driving with nowhere set and she ends up in a bad snow storm and gets stuck and with a local helping her out and getting her to the town for the night she decides to stick around. The more she explores the town and gets to know the locals she decides this is the place for her. And the guy who helped her that night is also someone who keeps to himself. Angus he's had a hard past and still has PTSD from the military and he works with other vets to help them. People say he's a grump and he is but once you start getting to the deeper levels you know he has a heart a gold and is a sweet guy.

This is a cute story and I love the curvy girl rep but there are some parts that fell flat for me and could of been cut. But all in all it was a solid read

Thank you Netgalley for this audio arc in exchange for an honest review.

thank you to netgalley for the advanced reading copy. I really enjoyed this and will be getting copies for my shop.

I love a good plus size romance but at 20% in I found myself annoyed with both main characters. Angus has some kind of issue and gets unreasonably bent out of shape if someone does him a favor and Rose has clearly been living under a rock her entire life. Oh and Angus is a licensed therapist AND a licensed contractor.

I also did not get any serious vibes from this cover and dealing with PTSD and other military trauma was not what I was looking for at this time.