Book 3 in the Chubby Girl Chronicles, a series of standalone novels with hot alpha males and curvy heroines.Joshua Black.What can I say about him?He was my best friend until he wasn’t.He was my childhood until I was no longer a child.Now he’s something else entirely.A man instead of a boy—a soldier instead of a high school quarterback.He’s forbidden thoughts and secret desires. Our situation has … secret desires.
Our situation has changed and so have I.
I’m no longer the love-sick tomboy he left behind. I’m a woman with needs, a secret, and an extra fifty pounds.
We promised through thick and thin, but I’m not sure how thin the lines are or how thick he’s willing to go.
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LOVED!! I have followed Tabatha Vargo for quite awhile on social media but for some unknown reason, I have never read a book by her until now and I can honestly say I am a fan!!
Jenny and Josh have been the best of friends since they were little, where one went, the other wasn’t far behind. Most of their childhood memories are tied to each other. But now that it’s nearly high school graduation time, they are about to go their separate ways. Jenny noticed her feelings for Josh became something more than friendship a couple years ago but didn’t want to jeopardize what they had. She’s concerned about him enlisting in the military but knows this is what he wants to do and is prepared to fully support him and miss him every day he is away.
Josh has always loved Jenny, his best friend, but has come to realize he loves her as more than a friend. He isn’t sure about making any promises knowing that soon he will be far away from her, with him in the military and her several states away in college. Ultimately, he decides he can no longer hide his true feelings and is pleasantly surprised when his feelings are returned.
Can these two nearly lifelong friends make the transition from friendship to lovers? What happens when adult, grown up issues interfere with their HEA?
This story was truly beautiful!! Tabatha Vargo does a wonderful job telling the story of the sweet friendship that bloomed over the years between Josh and Jenny. I was so invested in these two characters that when they hurt, I hurt with them and when they were happy, I was as well. I shared the feelings of every high and low in between that these two experienced and was sad when the story ended. As a full-figured woman myself, I can identify with some of the feelings that Jenny had about herself years after high school when her body changed and she had gained some weight. The insecurities were exactly what I myself have felt. I highly recommend this book and I will definitely be catching up on her other books!!
For me this was an emotional story. Jenny and Josh, best friends forever, found their lives torn apart. Jenny had a good heart but was hurting. Josh was traumatized and fought back happiness. They made a wonderful couple, and every time something happened, I laughed or cried. I don’t want to take away from the story, but I will say it was worth the read. I recommend this story, and I look forward to reading more.
I received a copy of this story through Enticing Journey Book Promotions, and this is my unsolicited review.
I’ve read both On the Plus Side, and Hot & Heavy, and I couldn’t wait for Thick & Thin to release!! You don’t need to read the other books in the series to read this book.
Jenny and Josh have been best friends since they were small. Growing up in the small town of Walterboro, SC, they had other friends, but it’d always been the two of them. Now it’s graduation, and they were going to be apart for the first time ever with Josh going into the military, and Jenny getting a full ride to Texas A&M. After basic training, Jenny and Josh come together in one night of passion, before heading back to their separate lives.
There is so much more to this story, there’s hate, hurt, pride, love, and family. I had tears in my eyes more than once, and there were a few times I wanted to strangle the characters. It’s a moving story about two young people who go through some of the worst things they can go through only to find each other and their love again. This is a well written book full of complex characters and moving storyline.
I highly recommend this story to anyone who’s a fan of HEA’s and second chances.
**I received an ARC of this story and this is my honest and voluntary review.
Ohhhh man….Josh & Jenny. These two took me on quite the journey! I loved watching their friendship from their childhood to adult(-ish)hood, and when Tabatha gave us that twist….WHOA! I hated what the accident caused to happen between Josh & Jenny. I mean he was just so mean and it made me really dislike him. I will say that Tabatha redeemed Josh! Gahhh…I don’t want to give too many spoilers, but this was such a great book! I loved it so much!!!
Oh my heart is doing the happy dance right now for Joshua and Jenn. What started as something innocent as friendship that turned into more at the wrong time. Josh was leaving to the army and Jenn was leaving to attend college in Texas, so when were they going to have the time to really explore themselves as more than just friends!
I enjoyed this book so much the dynamic of this story and the couple it revolved around. The ups and downs and tribulations they both went through and the things they experienced.
I had a blast reading this book, I enjoyed how they went from being best friends, to lovers to enemies to lovers again.
The fact that Jenn went from being skinny to a thick girl won me completely.
This series and this couple have my heart! The stories are all so real and you can’t help but feel for the characters in them.
We finally get Jenny and Josh’s story, and it is everything my angsty heart loves in a painful second chance romance! This pair of friends is perfect for one another but of course there’s just about every obstacle in their way. Some huge secrets, some pushing one another away and a lot of heartache inbetween, they may finally get their second chance and HEA.
Loved everything about this one. She NAILS small town teenagers and friends to lovers tension.
Highly recommend!
What a storyline! I loved that Tabatha provided us a before and after point in this storyline all revolved around what happened between these characters. Childhood best friends Jenny and Joshua are always together, and their senior year they start to realize they might have actual feelings for each other, although they never divulge them with each other until after Josh leaves. But after an accident, Josh pushes Jenny away, but Jenny has a big secret to reveal and he never gives her the chance. Finally back in town though after the death of his father, Josh has to deal with his previous actions and face Jenny, but when she shows up with a son, it turns Josh’s world around because he wants that so desperately with her. As the book goes on, the truth eventually comes out, and while I wanted to shake these two the entire book, I’m glad they were able to turn it around and get the HEA they needed.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.
You can never go wrong with a book from Tabatha Vargo! Another home run! Elizabeth @ Carolina Chic’s Read
Ok. First confession… I have not read the other books in this series… now I’m going to. I seriously love anything written from Tabatha Vargo. She is real and gritty with her stories! I felt so many emotions while reading … ALL THE FEELS!!!!
Josh & Jenny have this forever love that blossoms when they are in their late teens. The explosions of how their lives are changing actually alters the corse of their lives. It’s a great story with such intensity you are not going to put it down…. Five Candilushous Stars
Such an awesome forever friend’s love story! Ashley @ Carolina Chic’s Read
Ok so have to start off by saying this is my first book by Tabatha Vargo on her own and I haven’t read any of the other books in this series but that all changes now!!!! This book had so many emotions you will not want to put it down!
Josh & Jenny have been friends since grade school and when at the end of High School these two finally decide to give into their feelings the world works against them. These two have obstacle upon obstacle to see if they can find their happily ever after together. Keep your tissues handy and make sure you do not have anything else to do as you will not want to stop turning the pages!!!! I can’t wait to read more!!!
This was my favorite in this series. Loved their youthful friendship turned something more. Turning eighteen and moving in with the next phase in their lives was supposed to be exciting. But on the other side of the world Josh was facing a harsh reality and when he came home he was not the same boy. He was a man who pushed her away and said horrible things. But unbeknownst to Josh, Jenny was facing a life altering situation. The strength she showed? Wow. She let everyone believe lies rather than telling the truth. Maybe it was the coward’s way out or maybe it saved her. Either way, when they meet again years later, the hurt and resentment bubble over. Yet somewhere along the line it changes and sparks of the real Josh and Jenny start to shine. Soon they are better than they were at eighteen, stronger and wiser. But the secrets they both hold could destroy them. Telling the truth shouldn’t be this hard when it’s the one you love.
Tabatha Vargo has done it again with this book i loved the first two chubby chronicles and this one was just as awesome.
I loved how we got a backstory of Jenny and Joshs friendship and how intense their friendship was and just how they grew and were both fighting thier feelings for each other.
But nothing compared to their story when they left high this was emotional and raw and god my heart broke for what Josh goes through being in the military and then what Jenny goes through coming home from college.
For some reason this book just hit me in the feels and i loved everything about it, the story was written perfectly.
Loved loved Jenny and Joshs story and it just made me want to read Devin and Lilly’s story all over again
This is the first book I have read from this author and find Jenny and Josh’s character’s realiistic. Childhood best friends who always done things together. This is a great coming of age story and how the slightest decisions can altertheir lives. How they deal with it and how they need one aother to cope with their struggles. I didn’t read the first of the series book and I can tell the 2 characters there also interweave in this book.
Wow this story broke my heart over and over again. Josh and Jenny both fight their attraction and then when events lead to Josh kicking Jenny out of his life for good, he starts a future for both of their families that will take years to heal. I loved Jenny and how strong she was, she made her way after Josh tore her heart to shreds. She truly is a kick butt woman!!! Josh is hurt and I understand him acting out but I wasn’t so happy with him through most of the book. He allowed the judgments from the town override the woman he knew all his life. His heart was broken too. You have two people broken but one rises above her circumstances and I loved her so much. This book was simply amazing and it was great seeing the characters from the previous two books in this series. I highly recommend all three of the books. Great Characters, Amazing Stories and an incredible author.
A very well written story with it’s great characters and a very emotional and heart wrenching story about two life long best friends.
One moment changes their friendship to a possible heart stopping romance, but neither of them could have anticipated the future they would come to face – leading to them becoming enemies. When one tragic moment changes Josh’s life forever and he pushes Jenny away he had no idea it would lead to her harboring a secret for years to come that could change his life for the better.
This emotional romance has all the feels and will pull at every single one of your heartstrings as these two go from best friends to lovers to enemies to lovers to their HEA with a couple of surprises along the way.
Highly recommended!
Typically the vows of a marriage go, -“I take thee, to love and to hold, In sickness and in health….”
But what are the vows for best friendship? When two kids who have grown up together, played together, laughed and cried and puked and rode together for 12 years like our Joshua Black and Jenny Michael’s, how do they honor their vows…..
“He was my best friend and I knew him better than he knew himself, and yet, Josh was much more than my friend. He was my first time riding a bike and mud pies in my back yard. He was summer days fishing and mudding with four wheelers behind my house and laying in the grass watching the lightening bugs blink in the darkness around us. He was the reason I knew how to ride a horse and days filled playing in the hay on his daddy’s farm. He was video games and candy. He was everything—my childhood.”
How do you pledge allegiance to these rocks of companionship and camaraderie and buddy- bestie dynamics?
You promise, with everything in your soul and body, that you shall be there for each other…ALWAYS!!
To share rides, call each other, trust in each other and when life takes them on separate paths after school, to miss each other, call as much as they can, NEVER FORGET each other and come back TO each other. That’s how you do it and stick to it!!
“Never leave me again. No matter how hard I push you away.”
Alas!! man Proposes & God Disposes…
Such is the tale of heart eyed BFFs in love, meant for each other young, spirited couple, full of passion and zeal……till life slaps them in the face..
“There is no us. There will never be an us. Let it go.”
I generally stay away from YA but I’m telling YA, I COULDN’T STOP READING this story. From the first spin of the tire in the mud swamp, I was covered in their budding love. Laughing and jumping with joy with them, for them
As the twist comes right in the middle of the story, tabatha touches upon very sensitive topics which should be addressed more vehemently in and around us.
“My body was disgusting, and I wasn’t sure I would ever get naked around another human being again. ”
My heart broke when Jenny hurt
My tears flowed when Josh cried
My gut churned when victims from the fallout were the innocent news.
There’s also the topic of physical Insecurity in women after they become maturer…it was heart wrenching to read but I see it everyday on social media interactions, how rampant and uncontrollable it is.
I loved this book, this entire series written so honestly and without any sugar coating at all.. It pinches at the tender most places in the heart and soothes it with overflowing love
5 stars for Gummy Bear Candy