Title: The Very First Bite
Author: Cynthia Langston
Publisher: Cynthia Langston
Published Date: August 8, 2012
Buy on Amazon: Paperback / Kindle
Author Website: http://www.cynthialangston.net
Synopsis:
The Very First Bite chronicles the toils and triumphs of Lanie Albers, who has just ten weeks to mentally and physically prepare for the ultimate day of reckoning: her high school class reunion.
With twenty
pounds of extra weight, a dead-end job and a boyfriend who won’t commit,
the prospect of revisiting old classmates has Lanie reeling with panic.
Not to mention the loose ends she’ll finally have to face, like Chad,
her first love, for whom she suspects she might still have feelings.
And Candace, her lifelong best friend, who abruptly ended their
friendship seven years ago with no explanation.
By examining the ghosts
of her past, Lanie begins to prepare for the revelations and
confrontations of the big night. She also launches a desperate campaign
to lose weight: an uproarious battle with fad diets and disastrous
workouts, most of which lead her right back to the cookie jar.
My Thoughts:
Cynthia Langston's The Very First Bite is a fun and entertaining novel that many women will easily relate to. Every year across the United States, women receive their High School Class Reunion invitations. When Lanie received hers in The Very First Bite, she immediately felt a mixture of excitement, dread, curiosity, and depression. Excitement and curiosity to see where her old friends (and enemies) were in life, yet dread and depression knowing that she is still somewhat single with no engagement in site and 20 pounds overweight. With ten weeks to go, Lanie decides that she is NOT going to be that loser that everyone gossips about to make themselves feel better. She is going to lose that pesky 20 pounds that snuck up on her and dress to impress everyone. Lanie's life may not be perfect on the inside, but she wants it to seem like everything's great to those she reunites with.
My hunch is that many reading The Very First Bite will see something of themselves reflected in Lanie. Cynthia Langston really does a terrific job in making Lanie the poster child for every lady that has self esteem and body image issues. Lanie is desperate to lose her belly jiggle and fat rolls, and will do just about anything to get rid of them. She quickly flies through diet after diet that all ends badly. How many reading this has tried fad diets? I have to raise my hand! Atkins- check. Weight Watchers- check. Hydroxycut- check. Slim Fast- check. When nothing else works, hitting the gym for exuberant amounts of time and pain- check. All the while congratulating yourself with a bowl of ice cream for doing well that day. Crash diets are all the rage these days. Nobody wants to make a permanent lifestyle choice that will lead to weight loss and healthy living, they instead want a quick plan that will leave them looking like Jennifer Lopez in two weeks. You can admit it, I know that you've been there! And because you know what I'm talking about, you are going to LOVE Lanie and her various dieting catastrophes.
At the Very First Bite is not just about Lanie's war with food. Cynthia Langston creates wonderful friendships for Lanie. Throughout the book, Lanie flashes back to her high school days with her bff Candace and boyfriend Chad. College and miles broke up her courtship with Chad. Years later, Lanie still views him as 'the one that got away.' Lanie hopes to see him at the reunion (rumor has it he is divorcing) and knock his socks off.
Candace is another story altogether. Lanie and Candace quickly became inseparable as teenagers. Throughout grad school they shared an apartment together. However, one day Lanie arrived home to a cleaned out house with all of Candace's belongings gone. No bye, see ya later, nice to know you, or explanation was left. For seven years Lanie has wondered what went wrong and why Candace lost interest in their friendship. The Class Reunion is a way for Lanie to show Candace that she is doing just fine without her...even though the wound remains fresh.
Cynthia Langston's The Very First Bite is a witty and funny story about one women's struggle with life in general. I definitely recommend it and dare you not to laugh and cringe at Lanie's crazy antics!
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