Operation Fit-ish by Shannon Myers

​ROMANTIC COMEDY

Publication date: 09/30/2016
Kindle Unlimited: Yes
Cliffhanger: No

After not finishing Operation Annulment, I decided to give the author another chance because I had a bad cold when I was doing that review, and I was super grumpy. (Hard to imagine, right? I’m usually such a ray of pure sunshine) So, I read Through the Woods when I was healthy again, and enjoyed it much more than Operation Annulment. Then, with the cold virus from hell well and truly behind me, I picked up Operation Fit-ish and was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. Mostly.

First, the stuff I loved:

• Dakota is a much different character than her sister, Kate from Operation Annulment. I found Kate to be a real stick-up-butt type. But Dakota is much more of a free spirit. She’s nerdy and proud, and when her jackass boyfriend dumps her in a totally rude and crude way, she allows herself only one evening of wallowing before picking herself up and going to the gym to get in shape, not for a man, but for herself. Kudos, Dakota. Kudos.
• I, like Dakota, am a huge Thor fan. Not really the comic book Thor, but the Chris Hemsworth version. He’s yummy. So, in my head while reading, Zane looked just like Chris Hemsworth, which is NEVER a bad thing.​

• The author has a nice, easy, flowing writing style that very quickly sucks you in and makes you feel like part of the world she’s created. You feel for Dakota and want to see her win. I give the author major credit for that. I’ve read plenty of books that were technically well-written, but that I just couldn’t seem to get invested enough in to finish reading. I was definitely invested in Dakota and Zane’s story.
• Dialogue is cute and funny. Side characters are interesting, but also didn’t overpower the main characters.
• I love that Dakota is a nerd. She wears superhero T-shirts and is part of a comic book club. It would’ve been easy for the author to also make her an awkward introvert, too, but she didn’t go the obvious cliche route with Dakota, which I really appreciated.

Now, for the stuff that I didn’t really care for: 

• Dakota makes a really huge assumption about Zane’s, um, experience with women that I thought was absolutely ridiculous. I would’ve jumped to a hundred other conclusions before I even THOUGHT of that one. (Yes, I’m being vague. I don’t want to spoil anything)
• Zane resists getting physical for a long time with Dakota, and for good reason. When he finally caves (and we all knew he would, because, hey, this is a romance), it’s when Dakota is drunk. For a guy who had been so upstanding for so long, this seemed like an odd choice to me. Why not at least wait until she’s sober, dude? AND it was unprotected sex because he “assumed” she was on the pill “or something.” There was never a conversation about birth control or disease prevention between the two of them, so I have no idea why he’d assume something like that. The whole thing just irked the crap out of me, especially when Dakota panicked the day after they had sex when realizing he hadn’t used anything. (Or even asked her if he should)
• Dakota puts herself in mortal danger not once but TWICE by trusting her ex. The ex gave no indication at ANY point in the story that he was trustworthy. Both incidences made Dakota seem TSTL, which is a shame, because she hadn’t been up until that point in the story.    

Long-story-short, this is a cute romantic comedy with a relatable heroine who is far from a typical, “cookie cutter” heroine. Is the story perfect? No. Few are. Is it worth a read? Yep. I think so.  

Does this book contribute to or help crush the romance stigma?
It’s clean and sober. No rehab needed. 

Other reading suggestions
If you read this one and like the author’s style, check out Operation Annulment. Maybe you won’t find Kate as annoying as I did.

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