Book Review: Skinny Bitch in Love

Kim Barnouin is a successful author, speaker, and lifestyle coach who has guided many women to healthier eating through her ‘Skinny Bitch’ lifestyle books and associated cookbooks. Skinny Bitch in Love is her first foray into full length fiction and it’s a success.

Barnouin spins a delightful and upbeat tale of romance in her new novel. Clem is a vegan chef who aspires to open her own restaurant. Just when she’s picked out the perfect locale, a cocky yet charming fellow leases the lot out from under her for his soon-to-be-opening steakhouse. Drama, hilarity, and passion ensue.

While Barnouin’s tale follows the “sworn opposition drawn together by passion” trope, she doesn’t lay out all the cards on the table and deliver a predictable story arc. Instead, she keeps the reader guessing right to the end of the novel, using the push-pull dynamic of Clem and her love interests (there are multiple suitors) to build suspense. Whoever you’re rooting for Clem to choose is likely to change a few times as the story progresses.

I really liked this book, and I look forward to Barnouin’s next novel. I also appreciate that Barnouin didn’t attempt to hijack her novel and turn it into a full on propaganda piece for her vegan lifestyle philosophy that she pushes in her non-fiction pieces. True, the protagonist in Skinny Bitch in Love is a passionate vegan, but it’s entirely reasonable inside the storyline and Barnouin resists the temptation to make this plot point any larger than it needed to be. A great summer read!

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