Curvy Girls Can't Date Quarterbacks: an emotional young adult romance

Curvy Girls Can’t Date Quarterbacks by Kelse Stelting is the first book in The Curvy Girls Club series. Rory Hutton has struggled with her weight for a long time. She’s been called a big girl, “plus sized” and forced to try every diet imaginable and she can’t stand it anymore. On the day Rory gets devastating news from her doctor, Merrit Alexander, Emerson Academy’s resident Mean Girl, runs her mouth off that fat people simply need to lose weight. Rory snaps and it leads to the worst decision of her life. She bets Merrit that she can get Beckett Langley to ask her to the homecoming dance. Beckett is the school’s star quarterback with a line of girls just waiting to date him. She has had a crush on him for as long as she can remember. With the help of her fellow curvy girls, Rory sets out to get Beckett’s attention. Once she does, she learns the real Beckett. The Beckett who is more than just a great quarterback, a Beckett who feels deeper than anyone thought possible. As their relationship progresses, Rory realizes she has one big problem: Beckett doesn't know that their relationship is based on a bet. How can she tell him the truth without risking losing the first and only guy she loves? Can she prove that curvy girls deserve a happily ever after too? 

Why did I wait so long to read this book?!?!? I added it to my To Be Read list and forgot about it. Until an ad for the book popped up and reminded me. I started reading and could not put it down! I read well into the night as I was hooked on Rory and Beckett’s love story. If the story premise sounds familiar, it should. A similar storyline is the plot of the 1999 teen comedy, She’s All That. However, this story takes a deeper and more emotional turn than the movie. I was angry during the first 25% as a curvy girl and woman who has always struggled with her body image, my heart broke for Rory. I felt Rory’s pain and frustration. I laughed, sighed and grinned during the middle 50%. Beckett and Rory are perfect for each other. And I ugly cried, sobbed really, at the final 25%. It is a great story about how it can take just the right person to break through the self-doubt to find the confidence and beautiful sexiness you always hoped was there. Yes, it is a Young Adult novel with a bunch of teen drama and immaturity but there are life lessons to be learned that even adults can learn. I look forward to the rest of the series! I highly, highly, highly recommend Curvy Girls Can’t Date Quarterbacks. 

Curvy Girls Can’t Date Quarterbacks is available in paperback, eBook and audiobook