Review: Fat Girls & Fairy Cakes

Fat Girls & Fairy Cakes by Sue Watson

Format: Trade paperback, ARC
Pages: 349
Published: Sept 15, 2011
Publisher: Rickshaw Publishing
Genre: Chick-lit, Fiction

My Rating: 4/5

Summary (from amazon.com):

TV Producer Stella Weston is over worked, over weight and under fire.

Having battled uphill for years to balance her career with her family life, she is repaid by being put out to pasture on a religious gardening programme complete with a nervous vicar, his nymphomaniac wife, and 22 stone Britney wannabe gardener, Gerald. Miles away from her husband and daughter she somehow turns the show into a comedic triumph, only to once more fall foul of her evil and twisted boss, stick thin MJ. Stella decides enough is enough but soon finding herself husbandless and penniless, she realises discovering the courage to quit is sometimes the easy part.

Desperate, Stella throws herself into her one true love, cakes, and asks the question: can you really turn a passion into a profession?

What follows is a series of comical disasters, hilarious holidays, failed dates, super cakes, accidents, injuries and near death experiences.

Full of spirit, heart and girl power, this is a high quality chick lit novel that will have readers everywhere laughing, crying, and reaching for the mixing bowl.

Review:

**NOTE: A copy of this novel was provided by the author. However, no compensation was made and this review reflects my honest thoughts and feelings**

"A story of love, loss, friendship and cake"

What more could you want, really? It's not often that I can find all of my loves in one compact novel, but this one had it.

When Stella finds herself down and out, husband having left her and her job prospects next to nil, she does what any woman would do... drowns thier sorrows in all things sweet (as in food). Having a nature talent for sponge cakes, Stella puts into motion a journey that will change her life and possibly for the better.

I love a story about the underdog. Always wanting them to come out on top and to stomp on all of those that brought her to the bottom in the first place. Fat Girls & Fairy Cakes (which I later learned was a cupcake) is, quite possibly, the perfect chick-lit book. It really is a book about 'love, loss, friendship and cake' and each and every part of the book is enjoyable.

Sue Watson brings to life the characters in this book and it made me want to meet them, cheer with them, cry with them and fight with them. Through her amazing descriptions, I was craving all things homemade... the mouth-watering fairy cakes (cupcakes) that Stella and her team would create had me wanting to rush out and buy up some for my own personal enjoyment. What a treat to come to the end of the novel and find all the great recipes so I can, actually, enjoy these in my own home and really bring the story to life.

Overall, Sue Watson's debut novel is a must-read for any woman who has ever felt that urge to do what your dreams tell you to.