‘Teddy Bears’ is the most adorable bah-humbug to the-joys-of-Christmas holiday story. It is quite impossible not to feel for Brian McKay. He’s such a nerdy dork he both made me smile and broke my heart. To say this man has body issues would be a gross understatement. He doesn’t like the way he looks and can’t believe anybody could possibly find him attractive. In fact, he is so certain he’s destined to be alone he’s even given up on dreaming about a happy ending. His dislike of Christmas runs very deep and is rooted in bad childhood memories, and as the day comes closer, Brian gets ever more grumpy.

Enter James Olsen who is everything Brian desires and admires in a man and therefore completely out of Brian’s reach—right? Wrong! When James looks at Brian he doesn’t see an overweight and unattractive nobody, he sees a man he wants to spend time with. All he needs to do is convince Brian that he is really interested and not just feeling sorry for him.

The story of Brian’s slow realisation that not only is James really attracted to him but he also deserves that interest is wonderful and very well written. Rather than through a blinding moment of insight it is James’s wooing of Brian through an interest in his hobbies, an obvious attraction, and a genuine date, that Brian comes to accept his own worth.

I loved how this book was both very sexy and almost innocent at the same time. The contrast between the free-for-all nature of the bathhouse and Brian’s almost prudish self-consciousness was both poignant and very clever.

Brian being willing to settle for the memory of one good night with James all but broke my heart. His subsequent journey put it back together again in the best possible way. Brian’s belief in Christmas miracles came through James, for me it came through Brian’s courage and Brandon Witt’s wonderful writing.

Between Brian finding his happy ending and Spike and Angel (read the book if you want to know who they are) this story was nothing short of adorable. As Christmas stories go, this one is a keeper!

With starry Texas nights, red candy suckers, Dolly Parton songs, and a wildly unforgettable heroine -- "Dumplin" is guaranteed to steal your heart.

-- from the book jacket

 

So, I purposely didn't copy the blurb from the back cover for the beginning of my review. The back cover implies that the main character, "Willowdean", is proud of her body and not self-conscious at all. This is not true, but also not realistic. She has a lot of issues, but don't we all...

No matter how old we are, I think most of us have something about our bodies that we hate. For me, it's my belly. No matter how skinny I was growing up, I was always afraid to wear a bikini because of my belly. Of course, I look back now and laugh at myself. I should have taken advantage of my bikini-worthy body while I could. I look at old pictures and I have to laugh at myself. I was skinny and I don't look like I had a belly at all. Then again, our self-image and what other people see tends to be quite different.

Willowdean has issues with her body, and she is heavy. But she still enters herself in the beauty pageant that her mother once won. Her mother is heavily invested in the pageant and participates in the celebration every year. Her mother is also always trying to get Willow to go on one diet or another. The interesting thing about Willowdean is that when a boy shows real interest in her, she only sees the bad. She worries what he will think about her body and sees only the fact that he is "too good looking" for her. And she worries a lot about what other people would think.

This was a fun book to read and I think gave a realistic look at how teenage girls see themselves. I liked most of the characters and enjoyed watching their development.

Recommended to:

Teenage readers, especially girls. This is a YA book, but I think readers of many ages would enjoy it.