Perfecting Kate - by Tamara Leigh

Kate Meadows may not be living the "perfect" life, but she has always been fairly confident with who she is.  Even though she struggles with her frequently renewed vow of "Thou shalt embrace singledom and be unbelievably, inconceivably happy," she continues to search for "the One."  When she and her fashionable housemate, Maia, are approached to be part of a roommate makeover article, she gives in, and finds herself enjoying not only the attention from the makeup artist, Michael Palmier, but also the attention she gets from the makeover.  However, as Michael continues to suggest additional things she should fix, and her client Dr. Clive Alexander continues to express doubt over her "improvements," she starts to wonder whether there's something deeper she needs to work on perfecting.

This book started out rough for me.  The character's description of herself as "twenty-nine years young (and holding, five foot seven (on tiptoe), 110 pounds (wrung out)...." felt so unrealistic that it immediately turned me off to the story.  (Seriously, 5'7" and 110 pounds would put her BMI at 17.2 - Underweight).  She later admits that those measurements were a stretch, and she's more like 5'3" and 125 pounds, much more realistic, and still healthy.  But the damage of her initial self-assessment was already done for me.  I couldn't get past her, and by extension the author's view of what constitutes beauty.  Kate does eventually realize that no matter what she does to change her appearance, that it can't change her heart, and she takes on a different project "Perfect Faith," which helps elevate the book to where I at least managed to finish it.

I give this book 2 stars.  I liked Kate, and wanted her to like herself - without all the crazy surgeries and cosmetic changes.  There's nothing wrong with wanting to be healthy, and pushing herself to exercise was a noble goal, but I couldn't get on board with the overall focus of the book on unrealistic outward appearances.

Please consider rating my review (NOT the same as rating the book!)


You can find Perfecting Kate HERE.
You can find the Tamara Leigh's website HERE.

I received a copy of this book from Waterbrook Multnomah, in exchange for my honest review.