A curvy Black woman serial dates via apps and the bartender who mentors her throughout the process.
Five-Star Review: Curvy Girl Summer by Danielle Allen
Hi Librarygoers!
This is the summeriest summer book to ever summer. It’s fun. It’s flirty. It’s a hot girl summer, grown woman edition. It’s the perfect book to read if you’re not ready to embrace Fall (it was 100°F here this week so I don’t have this problem!).
It gets really real with a string of really bad dates. There’s a mysterious man who seems off limits. There’s ex sex that makes you say literally never ever again (but also thank you for blowing my back out).
It’s all of the single lady nightmares except it ends with an HEA instead of deleting Hinge because you’re absolutely fed up with men who think ‘WYD’ is an appropriate way to start a conversation with a stranger. Or worse a baby eggplant pick. Curvy Girl Summer has grown woman energy and I hope you love it as much as I do.
Here are the stats!
I received this as an arc (advanced reader copy), hence starting it before the pub date.
Note: If you purchase books linked here via Bookshop, I may receive a small commission.
CW: Fatphobia (not from the MC), complicated grief. Also, there is no cheating.
What is this story about?
Imagine you (Aaliyah - great name ;-) need a boyfriend for your thirtieth birthday.
Not because you necessarily want one, though you do, but because you told your family you have a boyfriend when a “well meaning” uncle confronted you. According to him, you really should be concerned with ‘getting your life on track’ because a) you’re overweight and b) you’re getting too old to find a man to take care of you, even though you’ve been supporting yourself for years.
Instead of saying “please go play in traffic old man” you said “I do have a boyfriend”. Then you actually have to find said boyfriend.
So you end up at a bar where you get stood up by a blind date (that you didn’t want to attend in the first place!) and end up chatting with the bartender (Ahmad). Your conversation is fun but he’s absolutely wearing a wedding ring and not a contender. At some point in the evening, you agree that you’ll join a dating app, have your dates at the bar, and let him coach you through the dates.
And a string of dates they are. Week after week, you show up to date guys you “vetted” and then they end up horribly. But one thing is consistent, Ahmad. The two of you are banterful and spend a lot of time teasing each other outside of your dates.
Your friendship deepens and so does the mystery around the bartender. Not to mention your self-imposed boyfriend deadline, which happens to coincide with a luxe thirtieth birthday party you’re throwing yourself.
What is the tone of this book?
This book starts off as exasperated woman hunting for a man to shut up her family and morphs into organically falling for one another. If you know (and love) Danielle Allen it’s not as spicy as some of her other books but it literally starts with a bang to tide you over on the slow burn. Aaliyah is a very determined main character and Ahmad is learning to live after grief. The two of them coming together is fun and it’s beautiful how much they are perfect fitting puzzle pieces for one another.
What made this work for you?
When I say this is a summer read, it’s a summer read. It’s a beach read. It’s a ‘stuck in the airport because of torrential downpours and city wide flooding’ read. It’s the perfect story to get lost in when you want to live in O.P.P., other people’s problems.
The emotions this book most often caused to evoke were anger (dumb ass ex), irritation and disheartening (her elder relatives), and then pure unadulterated lust-to-love vibes (Aaliyah and Ahmad working towards a couple name).
Aaliyah’s issues with her family wanting her to “settle down”, with trusting men, and with being bad at picking men that don’t suck via a dating app, are not uncommon problems for women who mirror her story in real life. It felt comforting to live through some of her issues without living through her issues AND have a ton of fun while doing it. I laughed so much while reading this. Some of my favorite lines are just Aaliyah and Ahmad roasting each other back and forth.
I’m really a fan!
Why do you recommend this book?
I didn’t realize dreamy bartender plus also app dating mentor was a concept I wanted in books but it is. The Holly Dates by Brittainy C. Cherry is my winter comfort read with this concept and now Curvy Girl Summer is my summer equivalent. You will have a marvelous time reading Aaliyah and Ahmad’s story!
Favorite Lines/Scenes
“I’m not looking for a mind reader. I’m looking for a man who can read me.”
“There’s got to be an easier way than dating. I want the shortcut. I just want to find my person and start our lives together.”
“Have my dating stories taught you nothing? Behind professional athletes, doctors, nurses, call center employees, truck drivers, military members, and bartenders, the top cheating-ass man is in IT.”
“This isn’t anything but the fact that you walked into that bar and changed my fucking life.”
Have you read this? Are you moving it up on your TBR? Does it remind you of any other books you’ve loved? Let me know what you think.
Loved this novel. Danielle is a friend and a fave!