Craving Perfect – Liz Fichera

A Life Less…Hers

Grace is living two lives and it’s beginning to cost her. Is there a way to pick one…that’s perfect?

Not sure how to review this one, as I’m still scratching my head over it.  Don’t get me wrong, it was a cute if you don’t delve too deep into what’s going, but how am I supposed to review that?  Then we have the story told in multiple points of view (which isn’t always my favorite format) where one of those points of view may or may not be real.  Confused?????  Well, I’ll give it a whirl.

Grace Mills runs the Desert Java cafe with her sister Kathryn and wishes for 2 things:  that she was the perfect female (who has blonde hair, a rocking size 2 body and unrealistically small size 6 feet) and that Max Kramer will notice her.  As our story unfolds, she’s managed to get one of those things…he’s noticed her all right, as she takes a massive crash off the treadmill at the gym. 

The one person who does notice her is Carlos Flores, law student, part-time fighter and janitor at the gym.  With some coaxing from his sister, he finally works up the nerve to ask Grace on a date, certain that she is “the one”. 

Callie Collins is apparently the perfect woman.  She has gorgeous blonde hair, a fabulous size 2 body, marvelous size 6 feet with which she can wear wonderful stiletto shoes and the object of every woman’s desire as a fiance, Max Kramer.  Just one problem, Callie is really Grace in disguise. 

By some means of mythical treadmill transportation, Grace get transported into Callie’s body and not must deal with Callie’s annoying personal assistant, Alexandra Summer, her job as a newscaster and the feeling of being less perfect than she was before.

That’s where I get hung up in this story.  Did Grace really need to jump back and forth between her and Callie to really realize that she was worth more as a person that what she looked like on the outside?  I would have thought a few more dates with Carlos and maybe Max showing his true colors at the gym and Carlos sticking up for her would have gotten us to the same place in the epilogue.  The parts of the story that I enjoyed the most were the Grace and Carlos chapters.  Could have done without all the rest.