Meet Cassaundra Keaton, an adult orphan raised in the foster system. She's overweight and struggling to survive in a world that makes her feel like she can never fit in. Follow her journey as she learns to trust and love herself, and watch her grow as she finds love. But will an issue from her past rise up to ruin her new life?
About the Cast of Fat Chance
Cassaundra Keaton
Nickname: Cass
Description: She's a little short and a good bit overweight. She's got brown eyes and dark hair, and a good sense of what to wear for her body, partly due to the good counsel of her sister, Chelsea.
BackStory: Cass is an orphan, who spent her childhood watching various members of her family die off until no one was left. Alone in the world, she spent the later parts of her childhood and teen years being shuffled from foster family to foster family until she finally landed in the home of Janet and Jim Keaton, who took her in and made her one of their own.
Andrew Kingsley
Nickname: Drew
Description: He's a cop, so he's got that uniform body. He's fitness-oriented, taking Cass on hikes and stuff throughout the early days of their relationship, and is a hobby runner. With short dark hair boasting a bit of early gray in the temples, his green eyes are possibly his most astonishing feature.
BackStory: Drew grew up in the crowed but happy Kingsley family. A good guy through and through, he's living his life just the way he's always planned to ... with a few minor adjustments thrown in.
When the idea of Cass first entered my mind, I was just totally taken with the idea of getting to know her. I loved her quiet nature, her insecurity, because I could relate so well to her struggles. I'm not an orphan, and I didn't grow up in the foster system, but I did suffer from a very low self image due to family issues and my personal feelings about my body, etc. It was so easy for me to write Cass as she made fun of herself, because I've been there. It was easy for me to write Rick as he verbally brutalized her, because I've been there, too. The music that lifted Cass' spirit, is the very same music that resides in the electronic secrecy of my cell phone, music that I listen to frequently, to remind mysef of my own inner (and outer) worth and beauty.
It was so much fun to write Mac as he took Cass while she was broken, and he helped her piece herself back together. I didn't have much of a mentor in that, and I've had to learn my own self-worth in bits and pieces throughout my life. But I've learned so much over the years and now I can look into my own round face with pleasure. Which is what made Drew so easy to write ...
I've had men in my life who loved me. Some did it in spite of my weight, in spite of the size or shape of me, simply loving me for what is underneath the exterior. Others? Others loved me maybe because of my body, because I've got full breasts like Cass, because I've got her overly round hips, because I've got that "coffee table" booty, and because I've got soft thighs that make a man wonder what's hiding between.
I've been lucky, too, like Cass, in that I tend to "carry my weight well," and I look best when I'm a little round. Still, it's been a great thing to learn how to look in the mirror and honestly appreciate what I see. It's a great thing to look in the mirror and not cry, not despise myself, and not wish for every little thing to be just a little different. I really did waste so much of myself over the years in wishing that I was someone else, or at least looked like someone else, and that's why Cass' story isn't just for "big" girls. It's a story for ALL girls, for all women who have looked down on themselves because the bathroom scale told them too. It's a story for every woman whose mirror tells her she is unworthy of love.
A message from Cass and me, from the other side?
"Get on out there, girl! Big or small, short or tall, you ARE worth something, and there's definitely a Drew for you."
Kj's Review
Cass is overweight and she hates it, beating herself up for it. She has some issues she just cannot get past on her own, so she finds herself a therapist. From being overweight to being verbally and emotionally abused; this is a wide eyed look at the issues that so many woman deal with on a daily basis.
Taking control of her life Cass makes positive strides, with minor setbacks from time to time. She meets Drew and it seems happiness may be possible at long last, what will happen now? Ms. Kennedy has written a story that can be read and again, I can see Cass as being a great example of how to deal with the issues in your life.
I would recommend this book to anyone, with or without weight issues, it’s a terrific story of how we can all win with a little help. If books can inspire us this one is a excellent example. I cannot begin to put in words how wonderful this book is, I just thank Ms. Kennedy for writing it! Fat Chance has hit my list for all-time favorites, a five star read!
Meet Brandi Kennedy
Brandi Kennedy is a romance novelist whose work centers on the contemporary set, sometimes with a playful twist of this or that as she toys with bits and pieces of other genres. She is the author of To Love A Selkie, which is a tragic romance with a twist of the fantasy element. She is also the author of the Kingsley Series, which is entirely contemporary and focuses on the romantic happenings of the fictional Kingsley family.
A woman of varied interests, Brandi loves photography, music of all kinds, knitting, crochet, and of course, mothering her two young daughters. Currently, she finds her home in the heart of Knoxville, Tennessee, among the mountains and the members of her extended family.
.jpg)
