Picture Perfect (Drop Everything Now, #1)

by Alessandra Thomas

Fashion design major Cat Mitchell has a closet full of gorgeous clothes - and not a single thing fits. After two years of runway modeling for easy cash, an accident shattered her lower leg bone and her self-esteem in just one swift fall. Ten months of no exercise, prescription steroids, comfort eating and yoga pants meant returning to campus as a size twelve instead of her former size two.

When her gorgeous long-time friend with benefits sees her for the first time after her accident and snubs her in front of all her friends, Cat’s self-image hits rock bottom. Her sorority sisters all insist that she looks gorgeous, but all Cat sees is the roll of her stomach when she sits down, or the dimpling at the back of her thighs that wasn't there last year. Cat’s therapist prescribes something radical to stop the downward spiral - nude modeling for a nearby college's human form drawing classes.

When Cat faces her fears and bares it all for the class, she realizes that she's posing naked in front the most gorgeous, buffest guy she's ever seen in her life. He asks her out after the class, and after one steamy night and six weeks of perfect dates together, Cat's absolutely smitten.

But when Cat goes home with Nate for Thanksgiving, she discovers something shocking from his recent past that proves that he hasn’t always been so encouraging of women of all shapes and sizes. Cat has no idea what to think, but she does know one thing - this might destroy their relationship before it's even had a chance to get off the ground.

Before Cat can figure out whether the real Nate is the sensitive, adoring guy she fell in love with, or an undercover asshole, she'll have to finally feel comfortable in her own skin - even if it means leaving him forever.

(This book contains sex and adult language.)

• ASIN: B00BYLQIQE
• Publish Date: 17 November 2013 (first published 21 March 2013)
• Publish Status: Active
• Format: eBook (Kindle)
• Pages: 306
• Language: English

Reviews

[Angie]

I absolutely loved Picture Perfect! It made me cry from sadness, and then from happiness, and then I started crying again when I sat to write this review. It was just seriously amazing! Cat's journey toward self-acceptance is one that I think is highly relatable to just about everyone, no matter what your size or body type. Cat use to be a model, but after an accident shattered her lower leg, she gained sixty pounds. Now, she's back at school, her clothes fit different, her body moves differently, people look at her differently. Everything is just different, and she's having trouble adjusting. The guy she had been seeing before the accident snubbed her, and that was just the final straw. But Cat isn't one to mope around, feeling sorry for herself. She reached out for help, and that's how she winded up posing nude for an art class and meeting the man who will change her forever.

Don't worry, Picture Perfect isn't one of those fixed by the power of love books. Yes, Nate does play a part in Cat's coming to terms with her new body and self-perception, but it's ultimately her that takes control of the situation. Cat starts by talking to her best friend. Hooray for supportive friends! She then goes to see a counselor, who suggests the nude modeling to regain her confidence. And then Nate enters the picture and is completely smitten with Cat. They have a real connection, have fun together, and he helps her find activities that make her feel strong and capable, but don't put a strain on her bad leg. They just work, and you can see Cat becoming more and more comfortable with herself after meeting him. But, good things never last.

Of course there's the inevitable fight in Picture Perfect. Things with Nate seem too good to be true, and then Cat finds something that just crushes her. It completely rattles her self esteem, but I liked how the author used the fight as a way for Cat to take back her life. She may feel sexy and confident with Nate, but she also needs to feel that way without him. Cat took those feelings and channeled them into her goals. I also loved how Nate wasn't totally villainized (I mean, they do have to get back together for a happily ever after!). It just goes to show how sometimes we get caught up in our own problems, that we don't even see how others are affected by the same pressures as us. Nate's explanation is what caused the first tears to flow. Then their make up made cry from happiness.

Picture Perfect was just wonderful. It's all about loving yourself, and accepting who you are. Our minds and bodies aren't static things, they change all the time, and we must adapt. Cat kept clinging to the skinny, super hot girl that she was, that she was totally missing out on what life could be just because she's a few sizes larger. The romance was sexy and sweet and amazing! And I loved that the author included some parts that show how men are affected by standards of beauty just as women are.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.

[nitzan_schwarz]

While I did enjoy the story, it didn't get me the FEELS I expected it too, being someone with body image issues myself. I didn't connect to the characters that much, and I felt the change in Cat at the end was really instantaneous and out of the blue. I mean, her entire self worth was build on that other person, so it should've taken her a bit longer to find strength out of it all, shouldn't it?
And suddenly she's speaking of understanding she's beautiful and that the new body size is exactly the body size that fits her best... Girl, as someone who's been struggling with body image for about as long as she's been alive, and has only been able to find some form of peace with it after 5 years of working out and still not being there, it really threw me off.