Love Handles (A Romantic Comedy) (Oakland Hills Book 1)

I had a really hard time getting into this book, or warming up to it once I did. I wanted to like this book, but I just couldn't. I stayed with the story to the end, hoping that Bev would have this big triumph moment. She did in a way I guess, but not the way I'd hoped. This is advertised as a Romance/ Comedy, but I didn't find anything funny about the way everyone treated Bev.

IMO- It was so disrepectful, if anything. Plus...I hated the relationship between Bev and Liam, it just didn't seem real to me. Everytime they were together, they seemed to be either arguing or having sex. Bev let everyone walk all over her, even her own family. She had no backbone to speak of, no matter how many times the author tried to imply it.

Let's face it; Liam treated her badly, and all of her new employees mainly treated her like she was a total joke. Her own family treated her the same way, too. Her own father, who blatantly criticized her profession as a pre-school teacher, basically said she wasn't smart enough or tough enough to handle any job. What a way to build your child self-esteem, father dear....what a total jerk! And as if that wasn't bad enough, her brother jumps on that same bandwagon..... along with her mother, her younger step-sister, and her aunt.....who she hadn't even met before her grandfather's death. What's so funny about that? I find that very sad and really disturbing. And why is it that all of these so-called relatives of hers are so stinking rich, and yet not a single one of them even give a crap that she practically lives in a poverty state. It's no wonder that the family is so estranged from one another, but I can't seem to figure out why no one in the family stayed in touch with her, until she inherited the company. After all.....Her only fault was that she was too nice and let people walk all over her.

By the way...I still don't get why she was fired from her teaching job. If it were me, I'd rather leave my child in the hands of someone like her, who genually cares for children, rather than the cold hearted witch who fired her.

After reading this; I won't be reading any more books in this series.

The title is misleading, to say the least. The characters don't pull you in and in the e-reader world, this is a must, especially in a free read, if the publishers want you to buy other books by the author. At least you won't feel that you have to finish it because you paid for it.

I had a really hard time getting into this book, or warming up to it once I did. I wanted to like this book, but I just couldn't. I stayed with the story to the end, hoping that Bev would have this big triumph moment. She did in a way I guess, but not the way I'd hoped. This is advertised as a Romance/ Comedy, but I didn't find anything funny about the way everyone treated Bev.

IMO- It was so disrepectful, if anything. Plus...I hated the relationship between Bev and Liam, it just didn't seem real to me. Everytime they were together, they seemed to be either arguing or having sex. Bev let everyone walk all over her, even her own family. She had no backbone to speak of, no matter how many times the author tried to imply it.

Let's face it; Liam treated her badly, and all of her new employees mainly treated her like she was a total joke. Her own family treated her the same way, too. Her own father, who blatantly criticized her profession as a pre-school teacher, basically said she wasn't smart enough or tough enough to handle any job. What a way to build your child self-esteem, father dear....what a total jerk! And as if that wasn't bad enough, her brother jumps on that same bandwagon..... along with her mother, her younger step-sister, and her aunt.....who she hadn't even met before her grandfather's death. What's so funny about that? I find that very sad and really disturbing. And why is it that all of these so-called relatives of hers are so stinking rich, and yet not a single one of them even give a crap that she practically lives in a poverty state. It's no wonder that the family is so estranged from one another, but I can't seem to figure out why no one in the family stayed in touch with her, until she inherited the company. After all.....Her only fault was that she was too nice and let people walk all over her.

By the way...I still don't get why she was fired from her teaching job. If it were me, I'd rather leave my child in the hands of someone like her, who genually cares for children, rather than the cold hearted witch who fired her.

After reading this; I won't be reading any more books in this series.

The title is misleading, to say the least. The characters don't pull you in and in the e-reader world, this is a must, especially in a free read, if the publishers want you to buy other books by the author. At least you won't feel that you have to finish it because you paid for it.

The story is cute and effortless and held my attention sufficiently. But, it was rife with editing errors. There is no excuse for a published work to use an apostrophe for a plural. The editing just made the book feel half-assed.

I'm not ready to leave a long review, but I did want to give credit where credit is due. I loved this book. It's engaging, witty, has well-rounded characters and a plotline that flows easily. I highly recommend it and I'm looking forward to reading more by Gretchen Galway.

I couldn't immerse myself into the story- I think the author was trying to take a non-traditional route of introducing secondary characters in greater detail, but it felt like I had to "sift" through the information to learn more about the main character. The book felt "busy" like it should have been a bit longer in order to adequately explain character motivation and plot.

This book was great. It was a pretty simple love story but I couldn't stop reading this. I sympathized with the heroine when her whole family seemed to be against her but instead of crying of giving up her kept on and it made me want to keep reading. I liked the secondary characters as well and I have already read the next book.

I love a good love story but I do not like profanity. Profanity makes it cold and impersonal. I get enough cold and impersonal in the real world. When I read I am looking to escape for an hour and relax. It had good characters but I do not believe the character the author portrayed as a Child Development teacher would use that type of language, I know a whole group of them and the worst they say is s***.

I really think the story idea was good, but not enough heart and soul to the hero. No compassion really. Made it hard to like him. It was a good read, but I felt very diconnected from the characters. I wont read again. I dont miss the characters or want to read about the other characters which I usually love to do. Happy it was free to read but not interested in her other books.

I liked the story line but it would have been better if 25% was cute out. Also if it was more people connection and less narration. I mean it seemed the main people did more thinking then being in contact. I really wanted to like this book more.

The book was good and it is obviously a love story but the guy kept nagging the girl to exercise yet claimed to like her body. Plus the guy was obsessed with her big boobs... well you can either have a toned gym rat or a jiggly girl with big boobs, it doesn't work both ways.

I tried I really tried to read this book. I dread picking up my kindle to read it. I just re read the description and thought...what am I'm missing. I am about 20% through but just don't think I'll finish it. I think I'll put it in my "dead" pile. Maybe at a later date I'll be able to finish it. At this point I feel like I'm trying to run in mud..

I loved it. The characters are well drawn and the bad guy couldn't really be discovered till the end. The fact that they were all too deep in their own worlds and problems to even speak to each other. It is a good start and ending to the 2books. Love handles and This time next door.

I loved the characters in this book! Bev was especially likeable. I also liked the element of light mystery. If it weren't for the sex (which wasn't explicit but was present) and a few cuss words I would have given this five stars.

I liked this book, but I didn't enjoy it. I just couldn't like the main character, Bev. She struck me as silly and scatterbrained. Too much fluff and not enough meat to the story. I'm sorry but I can't recommend this book.

The storyline might have been good, but kindergarten teacher who loves the children just didn't mesh with the virtually overnight change to all the explicit sex content. I know men are said to supposedly think sexual thoughts every few minutes, but the hero was also definitely overkill.

I just couldn't understand why the heroine even wanted the hero in the end. He was a self centred ass, kept talking about her "soft" body in a derogatory way, and clearly wanted her to change and love exercising just like him. Dick. Took me weeks to get through this book and I normally read one of these in a day.

I really wanted to like this story. The story just wasn't enough for me. Neither were the 2 characters. They just never really developed. I like the h better than the H, but just barely. Its a pretty slow story.

I really wanted to like this book, but I really couldn't relate to the characters. Liam was a jerk and it was hard to like him. He kept pressuring Bev, and kept threatening to leave after he was the one who convinced her not to sell out. She was in this horrible situation because of him, and yet he kept dangling his importance to the company in her face to remind her she can't run it without him. I really wish she would have taken the money and ran, because it was disgusting to find out her granddad pimp her out so the company could ultimately stay in the family. Bev was a doormat, a push over, she was annoyingly optimistic, and didn't seem real. She had a fake "I NEED everyone to like me" vibe about her. Well I didn't like her. I hated her. Her actions didn't make sense and her reasons for pushing Liam away was stupid. Although, with his personality, I didn't understand her attraction to him in the first place. These idiots belong together. I would hate to see them sabotage the decency of a normal person.

Side note: This book is boring. I did what I never have done before...I left this book unfinished and read other books. To be more precise I read over 20 stories (including the short stories by this author) before returning to this one. And when I finally came back, I skimmed though it because it's just soooo boring.

Great book. As a plus size woman it feels good to know there are books out there that show that not all men are obsessed with your size. There are men who will embrace and love you just the way you are...curves and all. Great writing and witty throughout the book. Can't wait to read the next book in the series!

I've read This Time Next Door which was a fabulous read all the way through so I had high hopes for Love Handles as well. Unfortunately I found myself skimming most the material finding it to be unimportant for the story line. I would have liked more one and one between Liam and Bev and less about their fitness wear company. There were a few cute scenes that were heart warming but I feel $3.99 was too much for Love Handles.

I'm 60% in and I don't think I'll bother finishing this, largely because I really dislike the so-called hero Liam. He is such a douchebag, undermining the heroine whenever he can, humiliating her in front of her employees. Why? I couldn't really see the point of his behaviour. I liked Bev, the heroine, and I was actually quite enjoying the story but Liam kept butting in and eventually I just got sick of him and his perpetual sabotaging of Bev. It's not badly written though it is too long and could do with some drastic editing.

Honestly...not a well though-out, well-written, or particularly engaging story. Formulaic. Easy read, which has a nice happy ending. Could be better, but if you're looking for something with real entertainment value, look elsewhere.

If a scene doesn't develop a character or further a plot line, it shouldn't exist. I can't get past all the unnecessary extra scenes and random dialogue about events and people that have nothing to do with the story. A good writer focuses on the reader's need to know something, not the writer's own need to express it. If you can't do that yourself, you need an editor to do it for you. If this book had an editor, it would be 20% shorter and wouldn't have second-grade grammar errors like incorrect there/their/they're usage. I do like the story, but it's painfully slow to progress. You don't get a good understanding of the characters' motivations, so you have trouble getting behind their actions. I can't force myself to finish it.

It seemed like a hurried ending. A marriage and pregnancy so fast. It sounded like 'and they lived happily ever after' - the end. What was all the cursing about? I liked the different relationships and the story line.

I could not get into this. It seemed a bit hard from the very beginning for me. It was one that I kept putting down and had a hard time picking back up. I think the hero, Liam, was a total jerk. Maybe he was upset because the company wasn't left to him but it doesn't seem to be a good enough excuse for his behavior. He was so hateful and self-serving. It seems like he could have got what he wanted if he had used another approach.

It seemed like every time she tried to make an advancement he would cut her off at the knees. I had a hard time believing that employees would have acted the way they did to the new owner. One that had the power to fire them all. They seemed to be making fun of her and he continues to make her the butt of his sense of humor. The episode of sending her for the coffee was a good example. I would have poured it over his head and then cleaned house. if the business went down the tube they would also be out of a job and she wouldn't really lose anything she did have a month before anyway. She just seemed to take too much crap off of all of them. it is one thing to be nice and another to be a doormat.

I quit reading. I just couldn't stay with it. I couldn't picture the heroine either. Was she overweight, too big in the butt and bust or was she just a stacked tall gal? Just wasn't for me. I didn't see anything funny about this "comedy". Maybe I didn't read long enough but I just didn't want to spend any more time on it.

I'm so glad this book was free. I got as far as page 27, and didn't bother reading any further, just deleted the book from my iPad and my library.

This is a romantic comedy? Really? It must take a while for the humor to appear. I was bored to death with the unpleasant characters, as well as the (oh so typical these days) foul language. No thank you. One of the worst novels I've ever attempted to read, and I read constantly.

From what I've read of other negative reviews of this book, I'm not alone in wondering now this got labeled a romantic comedy. I could have tried to read further, but the boredom and irritation wasn't worth the trouble.

Hey, authors, those of you who insist on foul language in your books, it's really not necessary and it offends a lot of us.

I won't even be attempting to read another Gretchen Galway book. I learned my lesson with this one.

Great book. As a plus size woman it feels good to know there are books out there that show that not all men are obsessed with your size. There are men who will embrace and love you just the way you are...curves and all. Great writing and witty throughout the book. Can't wait to read the next book in the series!

I've read This Time Next Door which was a fabulous read all the way through so I had high hopes for Love Handles as well. Unfortunately I found myself skimming most the material finding it to be unimportant for the story line. I would have liked more one and one between Liam and Bev and less about their fitness wear company. There were a few cute scenes that were heart warming but I feel $3.99 was too much for Love Handles.

I'm 60% in and I don't think I'll bother finishing this, largely because I really dislike the so-called hero Liam. He is such a douchebag, undermining the heroine whenever he can, humiliating her in front of her employees. Why? I couldn't really see the point of his behaviour. I liked Bev, the heroine, and I was actually quite enjoying the story but Liam kept butting in and eventually I just got sick of him and his perpetual sabotaging of Bev. It's not badly written though it is too long and could do with some drastic editing.

Honestly...not a well though-out, well-written, or particularly engaging story. Formulaic. Easy read, which has a nice happy ending. Could be better, but if you're looking for something with real entertainment value, look elsewhere.

If a scene doesn't develop a character or further a plot line, it shouldn't exist. I can't get past all the unnecessary extra scenes and random dialogue about events and people that have nothing to do with the story. A good writer focuses on the reader's need to know something, not the writer's own need to express it. If you can't do that yourself, you need an editor to do it for you. If this book had an editor, it would be 20% shorter and wouldn't have second-grade grammar errors like incorrect there/their/they're usage. I do like the story, but it's painfully slow to progress. You don't get a good understanding of the characters' motivations, so you have trouble getting behind their actions. I can't force myself to finish it.

It seemed like a hurried ending. A marriage and pregnancy so fast. It sounded like 'and they lived happily ever after' - the end. What was all the cursing about? I liked the different relationships and the story line.

I could not get into this. It seemed a bit hard from the very beginning for me. It was one that I kept putting down and had a hard time picking back up. I think the hero, Liam, was a total jerk. Maybe he was upset because the company wasn't left to him but it doesn't seem to be a good enough excuse for his behavior. He was so hateful and self-serving. It seems like he could have got what he wanted if he had used another approach.

It seemed like every time she tried to make an advancement he would cut her off at the knees. I had a hard time believing that employees would have acted the way they did to the new owner. One that had the power to fire them all. They seemed to be making fun of her and he continues to make her the butt of his sense of humor. The episode of sending her for the coffee was a good example. I would have poured it over his head and then cleaned house. if the business went down the tube they would also be out of a job and she wouldn't really lose anything she did have a month before anyway. She just seemed to take too much crap off of all of them. it is one thing to be nice and another to be a doormat.

I quit reading. I just couldn't stay with it. I couldn't picture the heroine either. Was she overweight, too big in the butt and bust or was she just a stacked tall gal? Just wasn't for me. I didn't see anything funny about this "comedy". Maybe I didn't read long enough but I just didn't want to spend any more time on it.

I'm so glad this book was free. I got as far as page 27, and didn't bother reading any further, just deleted the book from my iPad and my library.

This is a romantic comedy? Really? It must take a while for the humor to appear. I was bored to death with the unpleasant characters, as well as the (oh so typical these days) foul language. No thank you. One of the worst novels I've ever attempted to read, and I read constantly.

From what I've read of other negative reviews of this book, I'm not alone in wondering now this got labeled a romantic comedy. I could have tried to read further, but the boredom and irritation wasn't worth the trouble.

Hey, authors, those of you who insist on foul language in your books, it's really not necessary and it offends a lot of us.

I won't even be attempting to read another Gretchen Galway book. I learned my lesson with this one.

They say opposites attract and in "Love Handles" they certainly do. Bev Lewis, preschool teacher and self-professed "nice" person, inherits her recently deceased and long-time estranged grandfather's failing fitness wear company. Liam Johnson was his right-hand man and like a son to him, or so he thought, until he found himself left out of his will. Regardless, Liam loves Fite like it's his own company and can't bear to see it continue to fail, which he figures will happen for sure if a woman with no business experience at all takes the helm. He's convinced that he can get Bev to leave the running of the company in his capable hands. Recently out of a job, Bev wants to take on this new challenge and turn her grandfather's company around, but she knows she can't do it without Liam's expertise. Neither one expected to like the other, let alone be so attracted.

This was a fun contemporary romance with two very likeable main characters. While trying to prove herself to her family and save her company, Bev finds an inner strength that she never knew she had and Liam, while getting to know Bev, finds his softer side. Together they make a great pair. I wouldn't necessarily call this a romantic comedy, as I didn't find myself laughing, but it is definitely a solid romance.

If I could make one constructive criticism, it would be that someone re-proofread the book, as I found multiple typos throughout. These are not something that would be caught with spell-check, but they might with a grammar check. Most of the time it was a spelling error that resulted in a different (but real) word (like "his" instead of "this"). However sometimes it was a missing word like "the") or other small grammatical errors. These mistakes didn't bother me nor do I feel they detracted from the story in any way, but I thought they should be mentioned in case it bothers some readers.

All in all I really enjoyed reading this book and would definitely read more by this author.

**Please note that I received a free copy of this book through another website but writing a review was not a requirement of receiving the copy.**

Liam and Bev were destined to be together. Problem is, they're both to stuborn for their own good. Both want the same thing, to save Bev's grandfather's company. Liam thinks he can scare Bev away. Bev thinks she can keep Liam at arms length. But they are so cluless. Mean while there's a sabater on the loose. Toss in their disfunctional families and we're off to the races. Things get down right dirter. In more ways than one. I loved this book. I couldn't put it down.

Profanity alert. I thought the premise looked cute. I failed to read the sample though. I should have, even in the first few pages there was a lot of bad language, maybe the fitness industry takes its' cues from less than savory characters... The f-word, along with a variety of other profanity, appeared before I even got to the end of the first chapter. It was like this was a big part of their everyday vocabulary and not there for the occasional need to emphasis. Even the book's cover looks cute, not vulgar... but this proves the old adage that you can't judge a book by it's cover.

Anyway, I don't like this sort of language and wish the book had been written on "a higher plane". I don't think I will be reading anything else from this author.

Beverly Lewis wants to prove to her family and her new employees that she's not quite the push over they all believe her to be. When she inherits her grandfather's failing fitness clothing line business, Fite, she is thrown into the caustic world of the fashion industry. Something she knows nothing about. The closest Bev gets to exercise is when she was chasing down small children on the job, and the only thing she knows about fitness wear is that they are great for pajamas.

No one expects Bev to actually run the company, especially the Executive VP of Fite, Liam Johnson. A former Olympic gold medal swimmer, with the body to prove it. He wants control of the company and will do whatever it takes to get it. Even if it means cozying up to the new owner. He has no doubts that he can handle a 30 year old used-to-be kindergarten teacher. It won't take him long to have her packing up and leaving the company to him, preferably before it is completely bankrupted!

Add in a venomous aunt, self centered mother, tough as nails half sister, quirky neighbor next door and you have quite the drama. Especially when there is someone around that will do whatever they can to make sure Bev doesn't want to stick around.

Nice little plot twists along the way. Plenty of romantic tension too. A very enjoyable read.

I received a complimentary copy of this book to review.

This book was cute and sweet but could have been so much more. It started off pretty good until the relationship started but kind of frizzled out. Finding out wrong doing in the company was joke and how she dealt with her mother was also a joke. Trying to prove how much she loved him was a joke. These things could have been handle in a way that could have made this book spectacular, but the author fell short & rushed the story and the ending. I'm being generous giving this a 3 because at least half of the book was good. The last half was mediocre.

This story is about Bev, a young pre-school teacher who unexpectedly inherits a fitness wear company when her grandfather dies. The problem is Bev knows nothing about running a company and has very little interest in fitness. Yet, she decides to step in and run the company, much to the dismay of her mother who was hoping she'd sell it to her at a cheap price, and to some of the employees who wonder how long she'll last.

Enter Liam, a former Olympic swimmer who was hoping to run the company himself. He finds himself completely annoyed by Bev at first, and then of course he finds himself attracted to her. It's almost a bit too predictable.

What keeps the story interesting is a few little surprises throughout it and readers will find themselves rooting for Bev to succeed and for her to find love with Liam.

This is the first book I've read by this author (I was given a free copy to review), and while I enjoyed it, it definitely did not have a lot of depth and was a bit predictable at times. But it is a nice, light read.

This story is about opposites being attracted to each other. Bev inherits a fitness wear company from a grandfather she barely knew. Bev decides she is going to run the company. Liam is an olympic medalist in swimming and the vice president of the company. Liam is athletic and Bev is not, she has love handles and curves. Liam wants to run the company, but would he sabotage Bev's work and her home?? there is some supense in the story. Is it Liam or Bev's estranged relatives or somone else. Besides being a love story this story to me was a lesson in being yourself, and believing in yourself. I recieved a free copy of this book in order to review it. By Loves to read

It is a solid little romance Mills and Boons type story.Bev has inherited her grandfathers sports wear company, a fact neither her family nor new employees like. The story is about her standing up for what she wants regardless of what anyone thinks. I felt the dialogue was sometimes unrealistic, perhaps overly dramatic and even immature at times. The last few pages were a little rushed in bringing all the loose ends together. I think this is type of book which is well suited for an afternoon on the beach or cuddled up in front of the fire, nothing too mind boggling just the simplicity of relationships.I received a free copy of this book for my review.

I recieved a copy of this book and I am so glad I did, the main characters are as opposite as can be. Beverly is a woman who inherits her grandfathers fitness clothing business and knows nothing about it and tries to figure out why he did this but she is tired of her life and job and goes about trying to make a success of it. Bev is the type woman who could care less about fitness fashion and is more comfortable in sweats from a discount store. Liam is a VP of the company is all about making this company a success and will do whatever it takes to make it work. Liam feels he will have no problem handling Bev...until they become involved...then both their worlds change completely as much as they fight it the picture becomes all too clear. This is a relaxing read and great to see chicks rule I did enjoy it

To say I can't get enough of Gretchen Galway is an understatement. Hands down she is one if my favorite authors. Her characters are real. I love opening a book to find the main character to be absolutely normal size! Ms Galway mixes it up and turns up the heat creating scenes you hope never end. Fantastic dialogue and banter make you cancel appointments and forget deadlines so you remain engaged with the characters.

Love Handles was a typical opposites attract love story. The characters were interesting enough although a little predictable. I would recommend it for a quick easy read with some romance involved. And there are a few plot twists too.

I received a complimentary copy of this book to review.

Foul language turns me off. It has gotten ridiculous in today's world. I have seen a woman yell at her toddler, calling him an "m-fer" in two sentences. The kid was toddling around in his diaper! What is she going to do when she really gets upset with him? Even the reviews for another novel free for Kindle mention the excess of profanity, and it was supposedly a medieval romance! I remember a World War II veteran being interviewed on TV and he said some mild word, maybe "damn", in a reference to Nazis, perhaps, and then he apologized and asked if it was okay that he has said that on TV. I never heard my dad nor any of the REAL men we knew use a cuss word.

This book is a wonderful example of fun, engaging and enjoyable light reading. Bev is a great character and her family is wonderfully, selfishly, disjointedly dysfunctional. Throw in love and lust and mayhem and enjoy the shenanigans!! Well written fun.

While I can't say that I've ever owned a fitness brand, this book is relateable. The main character is determined to shake her preschool teacher persona and make herself an actual fitness heiress. During the book, you see Bev and Liam grow as people and together. The obstacles they face are realistic. The plot is well thought out and you get a good twist at the end.

I am struggling to write this review. The story is well written, but there is too much profanity, vulgarity, foul language, or whatever you want to callit in the book. I don't talk like this and really don't see the need to. Since I started reading this book I have sturggled to keep reading it and have decided I just can't finish it.

You will enjoy this story of love and forgiveness. That brings joy love and happiness to each and every person they touch in different ways as well as try bring a family back together with love , forgiveness and second chances

She hated exercise. She loved teaching. But her supervisor did not want her to love the children, just teach. So she was now without a job. But her new company VP did not want her and thought to undermine her. But it did not work

Character build was great. Storyline was funny, charming, and pulled me right in. The little plot twists were sometimes unexpected and tugged at your heart strings. Highly recommend for a light read.

I purchase this as an ebook and as audio. The story was funny and delightful. I enjoyed our heroine's stuggles to make her own path.

The hero was total alpha male. But likable .... lovable.

Loved the drama in the family and how it is resolved. The evil bad guy was a shock. I hadn't figured it out.

Good story.

Loved this story. It was funny, sweet, with some suspense, a nice plot and great characters that were very easy to like!!! I read this as a part of a boxed set but wanted to give each of the books an individual review because I enjoyed them so much! Can't wait to get to read the rest of the books in this series. This author has the writing touch that makes the characters in the story come alive which I enjoy very much!

AMAZING!!!!!!!!!

Absolutely smashing. I loved it and I am sure anyone who has even a slightest taste for romantic comedies even the movies will drown into the book and not want to come out till after the epilouge. But they would still drown clutching further at This Time Next Door and Not Quite Perfect. So check it out. Give it a try. Oh and don't forget the yoga pants.

I really liked this book, especially because there was a mystery to the story also. Then the fact that the handsome guy was a bit insecure and had a rough childhood with his dad. And I think Bev proved she was stronger and smarter than given credit for.