Worth the Weight

The Worth Series Book 1: A Copper Country Romance

By: Mara Jacobs

Narrated by: Emily Beresford

Length: 10 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's summary

A new body...A new life...An old flame?

Lizzie Hampton is literally a shadow of her former self. Having lost half her body weight, she's headed to her small hometown to test out her new body on an old flame. Just a harmless fling to get her self-confidence back before she returns to the city and the new man in her life.

But Lizzie's plan has a few bumps in the road. Finn Robbins can't believe Liz is back in town. Desperate to be the holder of her innocence eighteen years ago, he never got the chance. Now she's back and he can finally check her off his to do list. But her friends, his son, and the mysterious Annie may have something to say about that.

©2012 Copper Country Press LLC (P)2013 Copper Country Press LLC

Okay, I get all the low reviews now

Both the hero and heroine have been treated poorly by others. The hero has been extremely hurt by his mother and ex wife. But the heroine always loved him. Always forgave him. She didn't judge him. But she was the one person he kept on pushing away and hurting.


SPOILER....
And she did TONS to completely fix his life and save his children. And how does he repay her??? He walks out on her again, and again, and again! He says EXTREMELY CRUEL and HATEFUL things to her in a public setting. He acts rashly after eavesdropping part of a conversation. He doesn't bother to get the whole story. He doesnt give her a chance to explain. She just spent months sacrificing and working hard to serve his family and he can't even trust her enough to listen for 2 minutes to explain.

In the end she forgives him multiple times without the hero having to do a single thing other than start mumbling a "I'm sorry" at her door before leaving her yet another time before she can explain anything. She ends up selling part of her business and moving back to town and making a big purchase so she can be his first client in his dream business. She does ALL the work. ALL the forgiving. ALL the sacrificing. Yes The hero has sacrificed and served his kids. He is a good Dad. The hero sacrificed for and served his ex-wife. But with the heroine he never did anything other than jump to conclusions, leave her, and speak cruelly to her whenever he thought she might have done something less than perfect. Yes he deserved a HEA in general because of the cruddy hand he had been dealt by life. But he never did ANYTHING to deserve the heroine. He should have been the one to make a big grand gesture.

I also dont get why everyone thinks her plan to have a summer fling was so evil, while his plan for a fling was considered okay. Only the heroine was judged. She was the one who had to bear all the crosses and make all the big gestures and be completely understanding. Also her "friends" are the one whose gossiping brought on all drama. They were instantly forgiven -- as if they hadn't done anything wrong. They just weren't that great of friends. And I don't plan on reading their stories.

It was good

This story was good, not too realistic though, and I probably won't listen to it again. I wasn't impressed with this narrator, at least not in this book. The characters were okay, especially Stevie and Annie, but I just wasn't drawn in like some books.

Worth the Purchase!

I've already read the entire series but when I saw the books were available in audio I had to start listening! Being from "The Yoop" and missing home, it was great to hear the Yoop accent in Emily Beresford's narrating. My only complaint, and it is a very minor one, is the pronunciation of Sauna. Being a Finlander and always hearing it pronounced "sowna" when I lived there and when I visit still, I would have loved to hear it pronounced that way in the narration. Other than that, kudos to Mara and Emily on a great listen. Keep the books coming Mara so I can feel like I am home again.

Good story!

Read very well and easy to keep up and the writer does a really good job of making the reader understand the characters back stories.

4 Solid Star's

Finally getting the chance to fix this review.

I really wanted to read this book because of it being a plus size character. As a plus size woman myself I like to read about women in my size or smaller it makes the book more realistic in my mind even though I know it's fiction.
I really enjoyed the story I'm glad is a happily ever after. Her girlfriends were supportive and judgmental. Like most girlfriends are. One of the down points for me in this book was how she hated herself or felt really low of herself because she was fat but then when she lost the weight it was like all her problems just disappeared.
To me that's not realistic, even in fiction in my opinion. I think The author could have shown maybe more of her struggles of losing the weight how she kind of overcame some of her obstacles that maybe made her gain the weight in the first place. But other than that I really enjoyed this book it showed that love can stand the test of time even when you May not have thought you were in love in the first place.

Definitely worth reading through I know there are some parts that kind of mess you up and make you not want to finish it but hang in there it's a really good book.

Now I'm off to read the second book in the series because I love Katie and I hope she gets her happily ever after.

Suspend Disbelief and it Works

This is a lighthearted contemporary romance, which has a few unbelievable moments, but is still really good over all. I won't give any spoilers, but the characters can be annoying at times, but if you are looking for something light and distracting, then it fits the bill. I enjoyed it enough to get book 2 which I also enjoyed, maybe more then this one. I will get book three when it comes out as well. If you as looking for something great- maybe take a pass- but if you want light, fun romance to fill some time then I recommend it.

Great Sale Beach Read

Light, fluffy, beach read. Not particularly realistic, but OK. Not likely to want a relisten anytime soon. There do appear to be more in the series, and they are probably worth the listen. Decent narration. No glaring errors. Not a thing wrong with it. Nice solid 3. Great time-passer if the audiobook is on sale or a cheap Whispersynch purchase. I paid $1.99 for teh audio after "buying" the Kindle version for free. These lower cost options have made it so I will give new-to-me authors a listen, but I would save cash and credits for more expensive/memorable purchases.

Read Don't Listen

Would you try another book from Mara Jacobs and/or Emily Beresford?

Definitely not if read by Emily Beresford. Her male voices were awful. They all sounded the same, and did not sound male at all. I might try reading another book written by Mara Jacobs.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

Predictable. But seriously how many times are you going to let a guy dump you and you keep coming back. I had hoped by the end of book that I'd like Finn but didn't. Although I didn't much care for Lizzie either.

How could the performance have been better?

The narration needed better distinction between male characters and a way better male voice.

Could you see Worth the Weight being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

Not without a lot of re-writing.

Any additional comments?

This was the first book I've read (listened to) by Mara Jacobs. The book had potential for a lot of depth. However ever you want something light and easy for distraction this is probably it. Worth the Weight was okay.

Not Worth My Time

I hate books in which the main female character is portrayed as a shallow, self-centered twit, with basically no redeeming qualities. Lizzie didn't have to be perfect but planning to have sex with her teen-age crush because he wasn't important was just sleazy. Yes, Lizzie wanted to try out her new, slimmer body on a nobody before seducing some rich guy. I lost interest after a few chapters - not worth my time.

Sounded more fun than it was

What would have made Worth the Weight better?

If the main character wasn't a self absorbed b**ch. I disliked her so much! there was no way to continue the story

Has Worth the Weight turned you off from other books in this genre?

No