Book Review: Out of the Blue by Alison Bliss

Hey friends! Today I have a review of “Out of the Blue” by Alison Bliss, which will be released this Tuesday, February 1st.

A copy of “Out of the Blue” was sent to me by Forever Publishing. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Read on to check out a synopsis of the book, my review, and a learn a bit about the author!

Synopsis

Alison Bliss shares her smart, sexy, contemporary voice in this new rom-com about a curvaceous heroine falling for her personal trainer—perfect for fans of Olivia Dade and Kate Stayman-London.

The course of true love was never supposed to start on a stair climber…

Preslee Owens has never worked out in a gym before. Like truly never. Until today. As she struggles to stay upright on the stair climber, she accidentally broadcasts a vlog that lets complete strangers—and even worse, people in her own small town–witness the hilarious start to her fitness journey. To her surprise and mortification, viewers love it.

The positive reaction leaves Preslee with no choice but to return—and the discovery that her unrequited crush, Josh, works out in the same gym is a big bonus. It also helps that her new personal trainer is making sure she doesn’t kill herself in the process. In fact, Adam has even offered to pretend to be her boyfriend to help make Josh a little jealous.

Having Adam cheering her on brings out a strength and confidence Preslee barely recognizes in herself. And soon she’s enjoying being his fake girlfriend waaay too much. But will her newfound courage allow her to face her biggest fear yet and seize the life she truly wants?    

My Thoughts

I am a sucker for a good plus size romance novel and I might have found one of my new favorites in “Out of the Blue” by Alison Bliss.

One of the major things that stood out to me that made me love “Out of the Blue” so much was the honesty and realness with which Alison wrote about plus size people beginning their health journeys, particularly when it comes to the gym. There was a point Preslee makes about society constantly telling plus size people to lose weight, be healthy, go to a gym–yet gyms and gym-goers are can be very unwelcoming to plus size people. It was very poignant.

A lot of discourse Alison wrote into Out of the Blue about being plus size and the challenges, struggles, and mental wiring society does on our brains, was written wonderfully. And while I loved seeing myself and my own thoughts and issues represented on page, I was also constantly thinking about how I’d love for my straight-sized friends to read this book. A lot of what Preslee goes through is universal, so I know they’d be able to also see themselves, but a lot of it is also so unique to plus size people and I think straight-sized people would learn a lot about the plus size experience.

Okay, moving on to the good stuff aka Adam Caldwell. What a dream boat. Honestly, even though he did a really dumb thing (no spoilers), I couldn’t help but love him throughout the entire book. He’s kind and hilarious and the attentiveness and care he gave Preslee made me swoon. Minor spoiler, but Adam, aware that Preslee felt uncomfortable in the gym, had their first training session be outside. And then every session after that he made sure was in the least crowded area of the gym. Excuse me??? I was ready to marry him then and there.

One of the other million things I loved so much about “Out of the Blue” was the humor. I haven’t read a book that made me laugh out loud in a while, so this was so refreshing. I actually read most of “Out of the Blue” on my downtime at work, and hallelujah for masks because I had the dopiest grin on my face while reading this book. Like, almost the entire time. Alison sprinkles humor into her writing so well.

I was and also wasn’t surprised to find that “Out of the Blue” is technically a fourth book in Alison’s “A Perfect Fit” series. I was surprised because it works beautifully as a stand-alone. I wasn’t surprised because a tiny part of me felt like that might be the case when we were briefly introduced to some characters and given just enough information to make me think that maybe Alison had plans for them in future books. Turns out, those books already exist!

It was so easy to fall in love with Preslee and Adam (especially Adam *swoon*). I’m personally very excited to check out the rest of the books in this series and whatever else Alison has available. She did an incredible job with this funny, sexy, and heartwarming romance. I’m definitely a fan.

★★★★★ (5/5 stars)

About The Author

As the youngest of five girls, Alison Bliss has never turned down a challenge… or been called by the right name. Her writing career may have started out as a dare by one of her sisters, but Alison hasn’t put her pen down since. She grew up on a small island off the Texas Gulf Coast, where most of her childhood vacations consisted of camping or hunting trips to the deer lease. Although she’ll always be a Texan at heart, Alison currently resides in the Midwest with her Iowa farm-boy husband and their two sons. She’s an animal lover, a closet video game enthusiast, and believes the best way to know if someone is your soul mate is by canoeing with them because if you both make it back alive, it’s obviously meant to be.

Alison’s an avid romance reader who enjoys penning the type of books she loves to read most: fun, steamy love stories with heart, heat, laughter. Something she calls, “Romance…with a sense of humor.”

To learn more about Alison Bliss, visit her website at http://authoralisonbliss.com, where you can sign up for her newsletter to keep up with her latest book news.  You can also connect with her on social media.

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