The Wiener Across the Way- Amy Award
Narration: Dual 1st person POV
*Spice*: .5/5
Trope: Grumpy cinnamon roll x sunshine, Fake dating, He fell first and He fell harder, Sports Romance (football), FOund Family
Enjoyment: 5/5
Overall Rating- 5/5
I NEED A DECLAN KINGMAN IN MY LIFE, PREFERABLY AS MY HUSBAND.
Imagine Taylor Swift and Travis Kelsey, but in a big girl edition. I was eagerly awaiting Ev’s book, fully expecting the love guru to be my favorite. Boy, was I wrong. I don’t know why I do this to myself, knowing full well that the quiet guy is always my type.
Anyway.
Declan Kingman is a grumpy cinnamon roll—the best kind of guy there is. He has a reputation for being the meanest guy in the league, taking after his dad, Bridger Kingman, and honestly, he’s not all that bothered by it. However, he has a giant soft spot for his family and the biggest gooey center for Miss Kelsey Best.
Kelsey Best is your plus-sized pop star who is adored by most people in the country, especially Declan and Jules. Kelsey’s entire ethos is centered around body positivity and not changing yourself for anyone, especially physically. She also has an adorable sausage dog—Wiener the Pooh. Thanks to Wiener being a brave dog, trying to fight off a rattlesnake, our lovebirds had their meet-cute.
What you need to bear in mind with all the books in this series is that they are all interlinked. You could read them individually, but it will spoil the other stories for you. With this one, I love how much Declan takes after his dad. Declan is used to being Mr. Grumpy. It’s not working in his favor when it comes to sponsorships and brand deals, so he really needs to reform that image. Kelsey just got out of a very public (and kinda toxic) relationship and needs something to redirect all the media attention. So when they have their meet-cute (thank you, Pooh), her agents have the brilliant idea that she and Declan should have a fake relationship to get the press off her back and help Declan reform his image. Only thing—Declan loved her from the minute he saw her and wanted none of it to be fake. So he went along with it, hoping to show her that he really does love her and wants to be with her, hopefully getting her to fall for him as well. When Kelsey hits the end of her energy stores, Declan takes her away for some much-needed R&R (wink wink, hint hint), and just takes care of her. He threw her phone into a lake just so she wouldn’t have any chance to think about the outside world or anything else besides recharging and relaxing. And throughout it all, we have good ol’ Kingman family goodness.
The thing with these books that I’ll never shut up about is the way Amy writes her women. They’re sexy. They simply exist. There is no mental trial and tribulation they need to go through with themselves to fully love and accept themselves. They’re strong women, with a strong sense of self and self-worth. Her writing doesn’t shy away from describing them as they are. Typically, in romance novels, we’re used to the FMC being a dancer, or doing a sport and typically thin. They’re always described as petite and small compared to the MMC. I’d like to point out here that there is no hate here for that. When Amy writes her women, she writes them as plain and simple as if they were real—and that can be a bit jarring if you’re not used to it. She will simply say “his hand went over to the swell of my belly.” I had never read a sentence like that and I must admit, as a bigger girl, it was a bit of a shock to read because I had never seen it before. Amy writes normal women. With normal bodies. And men who love and respect them. Not men who have a weird fetish about being with a bigger girl.
What’s also great to see—and this goes for all her books—high-profile relationships, in the public eye. The Kingman men are all football players, the oldest of the brothers all playing professionally. You hardly ever see a professional athlete with a plus-sized partner. In fiction novels? It’s even more rare. The representation is just top-notch work from Amy. And as Declan says, he wasn’t born small, he was made for a bigger woman. And as big brother Chris said, what’s the point of all those muscles if he can’t use them to carry his woman?
Men after my own heart, I tell you.
Amy’s books make you feel warm and fuzzy inside. They just make you feel happy, seen, and represented. I will always and forever say that you should go read her books. They will never disappoint.