Hi, Taylor Corrien here, Chief Story Stylist and your guide through The Curvy Fashionista Book Club!
This past Wednesday, we wrapped our final discussion of Can’t Get Enough by Kennedy Ryan, and whew… this book gave us plenty to talk about.
Not only did we have our loyal Book Club members in attendance, but we welcomed quite a few newcomers into the conversation and to the TCFStyle Society. Between the different opinions, shared and lived experiences, plenty of laughs, and yes, even a few tears, this was one of those discussions that reminded me why reading together hits differently.
Can’t Get Enough by Kennedy Ryan opened up conversations about the many forms love can take and just how impactful our platonic, familial, and romantic relationships can be. We talked about love showing up when you least expect it, what happens when capacity, compatibility, and chemistry all exist under one umbrella, and the reality that sometimes loving someone requires sacrifice.
And because this is TCF Book Club, we definitely had more than a few opinions about who should be doing the sacrificing.
Spoiler alert: From here on out, we’re getting into the details of Can’t Get Enough. If it’s still sitting on your TBR or you haven’t finished yet, consider this your warning. We’re talking plot twists, relationship mess, sacrifices, and yes… that coat closet.
Spoiler Alert: Who Is Our Plus Size FMC?
Now that we’ve finished the story, we can really get into our plus size FMC, Hendrix Barry.
Hendrix is the kind of friend, boss, colleague, and lover movies are made about. Her larger-than-life personality, nurturing spirit, confidence, and consideration for the people around her were some of the things our Book Club loved most about her.
Then there’s Maverick, our MMC, tech mogul, billionaire, and a man who notices all of those things about Hendrix before he is even fully back on the market.
Complicated? Of course.
Maverick has recently separated from his girlfriend of three years, Zere, who also happens to be Hendrix’s colleague on a TV show featuring one of Hendrix’s clients.
See where the mess might begin?
As readers, we watch Hendrix wrestle with her consideration for Zere while navigating the very mutual attraction developing between her and Maverick. Her decision to date him isn’t instant. She is deeply aware of what that choice could mean for her client’s television debut if Zere takes the news badly.
Spoiler alert: she does.
But romance is only one part of what makes Hendrix such a compelling character.
Hen is notoriously “The Rich Aunty” of her friend group. She has built a family in Atlanta with her friends, their partners, and their children, becoming the kind of aunty we either wish we had or are lucky enough to cherish.
That same warmth carries into her professional relationships. With her assistant, she can handle business and still make room for real advice and care. With her business partners, she is responsible and dependable while still leaving room for girl talk.
Hendrix reminded us that being a boss doesn’t require becoming rigid or removing yourself from the people around you. There can be softness, friendship, boundaries, ambition, and leadership all in the same room.
And yes, the TCF Book Club had plenty to say about that, too.
Sacrifice… And Its Price
If you saw my Instagram Reel last week, then you already know the distance between Hen and Mav did not last long.
Let’s just say Zere had a birthday party.
There was a coat closet.
And Hendrix was fully de-robed.
So… yeah.
These two were not staying away from each other for long.
As a group, there wasn’t much debate about whether Hen should move forward with Mav. Zere’s frustration with the relationship quickly became difficult to separate from the way she chose to handle it. Ultimately, she decides not to move forward professionally with Hendrix.
Were we surprised?
Not exactly.
But Hendrix is still taking a pretty significant risk for love, especially because her decision could affect the trajectory of her client’s career.
Then Maverick finds himself facing an even bigger decision.
One of the current owners of the basketball team Maverick has dreamed of buying challenges Hen’s venture capital fund for Black women, claiming its mission is discriminatory because it exclusively funds businesses led by Black women.
Suddenly, Maverick has to weigh a lifelong dream against standing beside Hendrix and protecting something that reaches far beyond either of them.
For Maverick and his father, there is no question.
The consequences of powerful white men successfully challenging a fund created to support Black women entrepreneurs matter more than the purchase of a basketball team.
And that hit differently for Hendrix.
When you’re accustomed to being the person who sacrifices, helps, fixes, shows up, and makes yourself available to everyone else, having someone willing to do the same for you can feel foreign.
Mav shows Hendrix that she is finally in a relationship where she isn’t the only one willing to sacrifice.
Risk can come with a price. Sacrifice can leave you wondering whether the decision was worth it.
Sometimes?
It absolutely is.
Ten Toes Down
The characters in our September read are no strangers to standing on business. Once a decision is made, they mean it.
Throughout the story, Hendrix is carrying two major worries: her aging mother’s struggle with Alzheimer’s and whether her professional relationship with Zere O’Malley can survive her relationship with Maverick.
Hendrix hopes everyone involved can move forward like adults.
Spoiler.
Zere is on 10 and absolutely refuses to do so.
As a group, we knew there was no way a character as reactive as Zere was going to be okay with the situation. Her behavior becomes increasingly messy, especially when she alludes to Hendrix not being Maverick’s “type.”
Well…
I guess she found out the hard way that Maverick likes women who are “larger than life.”
But this is where our Book Club conversation got interesting.
Because beneath all the messiness was a real question about boundaries.
Zere wants to end her professional relationship with Hendrix. Hendrix decides the situation has officially reached its “grace cap.” Maverick remains down for whatever Hendrix decides, just as he has been from the beginning.
But is Zere completely wrong?
Is she being immature, or is she protecting a personal boundary?
Was Hendrix insensitive for dating Maverick in the first place?
Is Maverick genuinely in love, or is he another man who moved “on to the next” a little too quickly?
There are a lot of ways to look at this situation, and that was part of what made our discussion so good. Nobody was walking away completely unscathed.
Ultimately, these characters showed us that sometimes standing ten toes down on a decision or boundary means accepting that somebody else may not like it.
And your needs still matter.
The Book Club loved Can’t Get Enough, and Hendrix gave us a plus size FMC worth rooting for, debating over, and talking about long after we closed the book.
Now, if you missed this conversation and you’re thinking, “Wait… I have thoughts,” that’s exactly why you need to come hang with us inside the TCFStyle Society.
Because we’re already moving on to our next read.
What’s Next? Our October Book of the Month
It’s spooky season, so obviously we needed a little fantasy in the TCF Book Club.
And not just any fantasy.
We wanted a curvy, out-of-this-world FMC, a little paranormal chaos, some romance, and preferably a man who raises several questions about what exactly qualifies as our “type.”
Enter I Accidentally Hired a Shadow Walker by Jessica Cage.
We voted on our October pick during our last Book Club meeting, and the room went UP when we read the description.
Our plus size FMC, Jericha Brown, has been pushed into a career pivot that leads her to hire Raymond Statton, quite possibly the biggest jerk she has ever met.
Annoying man? We can work with that.
Except Raymond is also a Shadow Walker who can travel between dimensions.
Oh.
That could be a problem.
Except Jericha happens to be hiding a few spiritual gifts of her own.
Now we have a story.
Personally, I want to know how many chapters it takes Raymond to fall for Jericha. I’m giving him five. Tops.
And when we meet inside the TCFStyle Society for our first October discussion, I already have a question for the group:
Would you date a non-human if he checked all your other boxes?
Because I need answers.
If you’ve been reading our Book Club recaps from the sidelines, consider this your invitation to stop lurking and come join the conversation. TCF Book Club gatherings are part of the TCFStyle Society, where we can get into the books, the characters, the mess, and all those opinions that deserve more than a comment section.
Grab your copy of I Accidentally Hired a Shadow Walker, start reading, and come prepared to discuss.
RSVP and join us Wednesday, October 14 at 4 p.m. PT / 7 p.m. ET for our first TCF Book Club discussion of I Accidentally Hired a Shadow Walker by Jessica Cage.
I’ll see you there.
And seriously…
Would you date a Shadow Walker?
Check out our TCF Book Club Monthly Reads here:
This article, We Wrapped Can’t Get Enough, But Before We “Fall” Into Spooky Season, We Need to Talk About It first appeared on The Curvy Fashionista and is written by Taylor Corrien.
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