seriously romantic: one and only by jenny holiday

when cameron mackinnon comes back into town in one and only, responsible plain-jane jane denning is on babysitting duty for her bridezilla friend's fiancé's troublemaking little brother. the problem is that cameron's reputation is kind of unearned. all the rumors and stories about him are just rumors and stories. and jane quickly finds that while cameron keeps encouraging her to take risks, spending time with him is fun and exhilarating and way better than any other bridesmaid's duties her friend can come up with.

the bond that grows between cameron and jane is sweet, and it's a true case of first impressions not being what they seem. i liked both characters, though a part of me wishes that cameron's first impression of jane hadn't been so dismissively detailed. basically describes her as a chubby woman with hair and eyes the color of wet mud. which isn't so flattering. and less so when you realize as a reader that you're the same clothing size as the main character and kind of feel bad about yourself for a second. i don't need my reading material to make me feel badly about myself. and inevitably that's what these books with the "chubby" or "plus-sized" heroines always do, which is why i really don't enjoy them. unless the focus is not at all on the character's weight, which is rarely the case.

i get why authors try to make their main characters true to life and real. that's great. but here's the thing, i hate when these "real" characters or "chubby" or just plain "fat" characters have to deal with other characters or internal judgment. the thing is, jane wants to lose some pounds to be able to fit into the dress she ordered, but she doesn't actually go around feeling bad about herself. and that's great. it's just that as a reader i'm still thinking about the visual cameron gave us when he first met her, even though throughout the story he tries to make it better.

the other issue then, is that the cover model does not reflect who the character is supposed to be. jane is more comfortable in jeans and a nerdy t-shirt so the super girly, thin woman on the cover with reddish hair,  doesn't fit the actual character description. so then the purpose of writing these "real" characters seems a bit lost, because you're still using traditional images of beauty to sell your product. and don't tell me the no one judges a book by its cover stuff, because then why wouldn't you put a woman who looked like the main character on the cover? honestly, i thought the cover was pretty, and it really was one of the reasons i was looking forward to reading the book. and then i was so struck by how it felt like false advertising.

anyway, i enjoyed jane and cameron's story. i just also had a lot of thoughts about the other stuff.

**one and only will publish on february 27, 2018. i received an advance reader copy courtesy of netgalley/grand central publishing (forever)  in exchange for my honest review.