Fat Girl Blog Tour! (+$50 Visa or Amazon GC Giveaway! )

Title: Fat Girl

Author: Leigh Carron

Series: Perfectly Imperfect #1

Pages: 328

Date Published: June 24th, 2014

Publisher: N/A

Format: Kindle Edition

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Source: Goddess Fish Blog Tour

Synopsis:

Years after fleeing small-town Springvale, Illinois, Deanna Chase has picked up the pieces of her shattered heart and built a new life for herself as a child advocacy lawyer. Her food addiction is quasi under control, her secrets are buried, and she has even made a tenuous peace with her plus-size body. Until…

Micah Peters—the very sexy and now famous man she fled— walks through her office door and sends Dee reeling. His demand that she help a young boy caught in a custody battle will reunite her with the past she left behind. Torn between duty and self-preservation, Dee isn’t easy to convince.

But when obligation wins, the former lovers get more than they bargained for—a searing passion that burns hotter than ever and startling revelations about what really happened the fateful night she left.

Will the truth set Dee free to love again? Or will past hurts and lingering insecurities destine her to walk away from her heart again, this time for good?

~Guest Post!~

When I heard the name of Leigh's book I was absolutely thrilled! I love books about curvy, witty heroines. One topic that came to mind when thinking about the subject though, is Fat Shaming. Often coming up in the media, this is a hugely charged issue with proponents on both sides. I thought it would be great to hear from Leigh directly and get her thoughts about Fat Shaming. Take it away Leigh!

We’ve heard the horrible reports of people, women mainly, being verbally accosted on the streets or on the beach about their weight. Folks who think they have the right to pass judgment and to hurl ugly insults as if being “plus size” means you’re made of Teflon. Screw sticks and stones…words hurt and they stick to our psyches and stain our souls.

But it’s not only these incidents that shame us about our bodies. It’s also the seemingly innocent comments made without realizing the damage they cause.

“Oh my God, you lost so much weight. You look amazing!”

The message here is that she is now a better and improved version of herself. Not amazing before, but amazing now.  We would never say the reverse. “Oh my God, you gained so much weight. You look amazing!” Because we are ideal body obsessed. And that’s the real shame.

We have made progress toward embracing different cultures, different personalities, different life styles and choices. But we do not extend that same diversity-acceptance to body types, shapes and sizes. This isn’t a new phenomenon.  A curvy Marilyn Monroe was once the epitome of beauty and skinny was considered unattractive.

And guess what? That wasn’t right either.  Both promote one as being better than the other. Why do women need to be cookie cutter versions of each other? Why is there shaming of any body that doesn’t fit the ideal? And why the hell is there an ideal anyway? Because feeding our insecurities feeds big profit.  

$20 Billion: The annual revenue for the weight-loss industry.

108 Million: The number of people on diets in the U.S.

85%: The percentage of female consumers of weight-loss products and services.

And let’s not forget the clothing retailers such as Lululemon and Abercrombie, outspoken in their message of exclusivity, who get rich off of fat shaming and falsely pumping up the self-esteem of women and girls seeking to belong, to fit. We are smart, we hold important jobs, raise families, make key decisions daily, yet we allow ourselves to fall into this trap. Our obsession to be “ideal” an emotional prison. The best way to break out of the cycle and empower ourselves is to respect and appreciate all body types. Not change the arbitrary standards of beauty, but do away with them.

By putting up our middle finger at the rhetoric.

By not allowing others to get wealthy on making our self esteem poorer.

By recognizing the only shame is in the shaming.

By accepting ourselves as being amazing…not when we lose weight, but right now, exactly as we are.

~Try an Excerpt!~

“Hello, Deeana.”

His voice, deeper with age, packs an unfair sexual punch. Just like the rest of him. 

As handsome as he was at eighteen, it didn’t come close to his appearance at thirty-three. People magazine has called it right. Micah Peters is the Sexiest Man Alive. No amount of shock or disdain could deny him that.

Partly Brazilian, on his mother’s side, he is blessed with exotic good looks. Short black waves carelessly styled, caramel skin that doesn’t pale even in winter, and espresso-brown eyes fringed with the darkest, thickest lashes I have ever seen.

Like his body, his facial structure is harder—more masculine, more defined. And the inky stubble framing his strong jaw and full, gorgeous mouth only adds to the instant, powerful impact.

But I’m not that naive girl anymore. I’ve taken my knocks and know all too well that the quality of a man’s character doesn’t lie in the quality of his looks. The fact that time has been unjustly charitable to him only fuels the resentment I’ve kept secret and locked away for fifteen years.

It takes every ounce of my trained composure to push civility past the bile rising in my throat. I lean against the wood frame for support and manage to say, “This is a surprise.” The fake calm of the words burns my tongue.

If he’s affected, it doesn’t show in the easy strides that move him toward me. The delicious aromas of leather and earthy cologne fill my senses. As he comes closer still, I struggle not to breathe him in. Mustn’t let him think he has any effect on me either.

Without smiling, his dark gaze slides over my every feature, studying them one by one, as if comparing them with his memory. “It’s been a while,” he says.

Not nearly long enough to forget or forgive. “Several years,” I reply.

Now he smiles. A mocking grin that tells me he knows I remember just how long it has been. That I remember the very night I left him—and everything else that mattered to me—behind.

~Meet Leigh!~ 

About Me: An American living in Canada. Chocolate snob. Recovering yo-yo dieter. Devoted mom and wife, blessed with a brilliantly witty daughter and unintentionally humorous husband. My wacky family feed my creativity and fuel my passion. Most nights, you will find me either curled up with a great book or, more often, sitting at my computer, tapping out the countless visions in my head. 

To me, there is nothing better in a narrative than perfectly flawed but strong characters and intense romance that is sexy, deep, and sensual. Mm…I liken such stories to a box of Godiva. Decadent and delicious! You can’t stop at just one. In fact, I’m now hard at work on my next novel—A Naked Beauty, the conclusion to Fat Girl. 

Leigh will be awarding a digital copy of Fat Girl to a randomly drawn commenter at each stop. A Grand Prize of a $50 Visa or Amazon GC, an autographed copy of FAT GIRL and an invitation to discuss the book with the winner via phone or online will be awarded to a randomly winner. All prizes will be awarded via rafflecopter during the tour.
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