Fashion design major Cat Mitchell has a closet full of gorgeous clothes - and not a single thing fits. After two years of runway modeling for easy cash, an accident shattered her lower leg bone and her self-esteem in just one swift fall. Ten months of no exercise, prescription steroids, comfort eating and yoga pants meant returning to campus as a size twelve instead of her former size two. When her gorgeous long-time friend with benefits sees her for the first time after her accident and snubs her in front of all her friends, Cat’s self-image hits rock bottom. Her sorority sisters all insist that she looks gorgeous, but all Cat sees is the roll of her stomach when she sits down, or the dimpling at the back of her thighs that wasn't there last year. Cat’s therapist prescribes something radical to stop the downward spiral - nude modeling for a nearby college's human form drawing classes. When Cat faces her fears and bares it all for the class, she realizes that she's posing naked in front the most gorgeous, buffest guy she's ever seen in her life. He asks her out after the class, and after one steamy night together, Cat's absolutely smitten.
Nate’s pretty close to perfect – he takes Cat rock climbing when he discovers that it makes her feel strong and becomes a great chef after he learns that the perfect pesto sauce makes her swoon. Cat starts to feel like her old self again - confident and beautiful - as long as Nate's around. Even when he discourages her from entering the Real Woman Project, a design competition for plus-sized apparel, she reasons that he's just trying to prevent old body image wounds from splitting wide open again. But when Cat goes home with Nate for Thanksgiving, she discovers something shocking from his recent past that proves that he hasn’t always been so encouraging of women of all shapes and sizes. Cat has no idea what to think, but she does know one thing - this might destroy their relationship before it's even had a chance to get off the ground.
Before Cat can figure out whether the real Nate is the sensitive, adoring guy she fell in love with, or an undercover asshole, she'll have to finally feel comfortable in her own skin - even if it means leaving him forever.
My ThoughtsI really liked Picture Perfect! It was a very real feeling story and one that is easily relatable. I liked the balance of feelings in it too! One minute you're all hot and bothered, the next depressed, then back again. I highly recommend this book, it's a quick non-put-downable book!
Giveaway
Hi there! Thank you so much for having me over to your blog! I’m totally honored and excited to be here talking about cliffhangers, whether I love them or hate them, and why. First, I’ll talk about them as a reader, then as a writer.
Before we throw down about cliffhangers, let’s have a definition, shall we? Per Wikipedia:
A cliffhanger or cliffhanger ending is a plot device in fiction which features a main character in a precarious or difficult dilemma, or confronted with a shocking revelation at the end of an episode of serialized fiction. A cliffhanger is hoped to ensure the audience will return to see how the characters resolve the dilemma.
As a reader
So, here’s the thing: My tolerance of a cliffhanger is inversely proportionate to the amount of time it takes me to get my grubby little hands on it. So, for example, if the cliffhanger occurs at the end of:
A story with weekly installments on Wattpad? You’d better believe I’m going to be on that site each and every week, hitting refresh until my precious next bit of story here. The Cliffhanger efficacy rating here is HIGH. That little cliffhanger did exactly what it was supposed to do – bring me back, begging for more.
A novel whose sequel is coming out in a few months? Eh. This one could really go either way. If I loved the story, a few months isn’t too long to wait, but if I’m merely curious, I could forget about ever having cared at the end of a few months, you know? The Cliffhanger efficacy rating here is MEDIUM, or, less scientifically, “EH.”
A novel whose sequel is coming out a year or more later? Honestly, I don’t know that many humans whose attention span is long enough to wait a YEAR for a plot resolution. This can be even worse when you’ve made us love your characters, but then given us the ultimate frustration of not knowing what happens to them. In this case, it’s most likely I’ll give up because I bought a book and feel dragged along with it only to discover that I have to wait to find out what happens. So the Cliffhanger efficacy rating here is LOW, just because I have no patience.
Which is all a fancy way of saying: If I don’t have to wait that long, they’re actually pretty okay.
As a writer
Look. I’m just like 90% of writers out there – we get some kind of sick pleasure out of watching our characters squirm, and hopefully, out of hearing from our readers, “Must have more now!!!’
But.
If that was the only thing I listened to when considering whether to write anything, I’d be an egomaniac and an not-so-great writer, because after all, isn’t a writer’s main goal readers? If I know doing something to my story will alienate my readers, because I know it would alienate me, why would I do that thing?
I know that I’m supposed to want to write cliffhangers because the idea is that it’ll keep readers invested in the story. But I do think there are other ways to accomplish that. Strong, memorable characters with complex relationships, a compelling plot with just enough loose threads to make the reader wanting more, but not desperate for more.
So that’s a NO on cliffhangers, I think.
What about you all? Do you like cliffhangers? Have you ever liked one when you didn’t think you ever would?
Author Bio
Alessandra Thomas is a New Adult writer who swears she was in her twenties yesterday. Since she's not, she spends her time looking back on her college years fondly, and writing sexy stories about guys and girls falling in love and really living life for the first time. When she's not writing, you can find her with a spoonful of ice cream in one hand and the newest New Adult release in the other.
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3 comments:
cause it sounds absolutely wonderful :) on my tbr
It's just my type of book. i love realist YA. I just had a conversation with a lady at my job. her young daughter wouldn't buy a bathing suit because a few kids made her feel self conscious about her legs.
I really don't like cliffhangers...especially Gail McHugh's Collide was especially bad for me. now I,m down with waiting a year for a book read in a day...wait a year...no problem, but usually the book ending is a lil tidier. In Collide I felt like my heart was wrenched out , diced in a million pieces, and pureed.
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