Chubby & Charming (Big & Beautiful) Paperback – December 1, 2015

As a fellow big girl who found her dream man, I absolutely loved this book and can't wait to read the others. Your writing is intimate and descriptive in the best ways. Thank you for sharing with us!!

I absolutely loved this book. I loved the main characters including all the side characters. Mary E. Thompson did a wonderful job of writing a story full of true feelings. The characters were well developed, and the story was beautifully written with tons of emotions.Xander is a business man, working remodeling homes with his co-worker Drew. He has a problem with an insurance issue, and calls his insurance company. Happily the one that answers his call is Mandy. They both like the sound of each other’s voices. They plan a date to meet each other, but it does not go well, because Mandy thinks that Xander is being judgmental of her size.Mandy is a a young big and beautiful woman, but has a lot of insecurities. She finally accepts a second date with Xander, and they realize that they have an attraction to each other. A relationship develops, but Mandy still doesn’t completely trust Xander’s feelings.He takes her to meet his parents and they accept Mandy with open arms.Xander’s mistake was taking Mandy to meet his friends. Misunderstandings occur, and the couple breakup, but they are both heart broken, Xander is determined to regain Mandy’s love, and finally succeeds, and the couple finally obtain their HEA.

After reading some of the reviews, I was a bit disheartened at some of the comments. Maybe after being intimate Mandy would get over some of her body issues, but, I'm a girl that's been overweight her whole life, I totally get why some people can't let that stuff go. I have been married to the same man for over 20 years, and I still have body issues, so I can relate to Mandy's character. My husband still has to reset my mindset about my body. With all of that being said, I loved this book. I could relate to both characters (Mandy and Xander) since I see reflections of both of them in my personal life. I loved that Mandy's character thought the same things that I have thought about myself over the years. The fact that a writer puts those thoughts into words helps me think that I'm not the only one who's had those same body image ideas. The constant reassurance that Xander has to give Mandy is sweet. He's patient with her and treats her tenderly when she's having a 'not so secure' moment. The ever-present friends giving Mandy an emotional boost when she needs it is very sweet. This book may not be for some, but for me, it was great read.

Mandy works as a customer service rep. She has a smooth voice and likes her job and helping people. When Xander calls in, Mandy is able to help him out and her voice captures his interest. He asks her out and she says yes. What Xander doesn't know and what Mandy lives daily with is the fact that she's not skinny and doesn’t say no to a good cupcake. What will Xander say when he finally sees her face to face for the first time? If it doesn't matter at first to him, won't it later on?The first few chapters of this novel were amazing! Mandy was interesting and different as the main character. Enter Xander, the hottie who wants to meet her. There's tension. There's excitement. What will happen?! Then they meet and like each other a lot. The rest of the book is about them being together and the only point of tension is Mandy's insecurity about being with such an attractive HWP male. It's hard to build a story around that. I kept waiting for the complication to settle in and the story to pick up. Even the climax was all in Mandy's head and a complete disappointment and letdown.Halfway through the book, almost every thought Mandy had was on sex and how hot Xander is. We get it. Mandy likes Xander because he's sexy. There are paragraphs and paragraphs devoted to her thoughts about his body and I ended up skimming through most of them after the first couple. Mandy spends so much time thinking about herself, Xander, and her worries about her weight that there is no time left for subplots or plot points.I was disappointed in Mandy and her lack of character development. She is shown as a woman who's trust has been broken in the past regarding men and relationships. Great place to start, but she doesn't change. Throughout the book she drops her trust of Xander any time he remotely seems like he might be pointing out the fact that she's overweight and that he's not. Mandy never gets over this fear. She never gains confidence in their relationship.SPOILER:Mandy acts and thinks like she's very much in lust/love with Xander and all it takes is something small for Mandy to lose confidence in Xander. Does she really love him, then? Mandy and Xander breakup over nothing (just a miscommunication) like they're teenagers in high school. The climax scene at Xander's friend's house was very high school. There were even fat jokes!Xander was unrealistic every time he showed up and said or did anything. I wanted more realism from him, not a Stepford Wives boyfriend! Only in his initial pursuit of Mandy did he seem authentic as a person.

I absolutely loved this book!!!! I stumbled upon this book by searching for new authors! Mary E Thompson writes about REAL women. I've finally found an author who writes for people like me.So here's the run down on Chubby & Charming! Many works for a company as a customer service rep. She sits at a desk answering phone calls so the people that she talks with don't know exactly what she looks like. She's on the bigger side. She deals with body issues. At work she has another customer service rep that picks on her. Outside of work she spends her time with her 3 best friends. One day she answers a call from Xander. Xander is trying to get a bill taken care of and Mandy is just the one to help him out. Xander asks Mandy out and she agrees to meet him at bakery, where her best friends and her meet every week. Mandy assumes that Xander is just like every other guy and wouldn't be interested in a bigger girl. So Mandy and her friends find a new place to hang out (they start hanging out at a new bakery in town "Bite Me") so that Xander wouldn't find her.That's all I'm going to say. It has love, sex, and a whole lot of laughs. It's about a woman finding out who she is and a gentleman who's there to help her.