Ellie

A Curvy Girl Romance

By: Sadie King

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

A steamy quick read instalove

Ellie
Only Brennan Jacobs could make me agree to a five-mile fun run. I’ve had a crush on him ever since I can remember.
But this body wasn’t made to run. The training is grueling, the other runners are mean, and every time I see Brennan I’m hot and sweaty, and not in a good way.
But I’m determined to finish, no matter what the cost.

Brennan
I’m back from the military to take care of Mom, and I’m at a loose end. When I set up a charity fun run in Dad’s memory, one of the perks is getting to spend time training with Ellie Smith.
She’s smart, she’s funny, and she may just be running away with my heart.

Ellie is part of the Curvy Girls Can series. Short, sweet and steamy instalove stories about women with big curves, big attitudes, and big dreams and the OTT possessive men who are man enough to love them. Each story comes with a guaranteed happily-ever-after, no cliffhangers, and all the feel-good vibes you love.

Curvy Girls Can is part of the Maple Springs world. A fictional small town where you’ll find short and steamy romance stories.

Maple Springs series:
Small Town Sisters
Candy’s Café
All the Single Dads
Men of Maple Mountain
The Carter Family
Curvy Girls Can
Biker Brother’s Curvy Christmas

Authors note: Ellie is a short instalove story that can be read in about an hour. If you love a quickie, then dive on in!

Gross

Here is your dramatically grossed-out review:

⸻

I picked up Ellie by Sadie King thinking I was in for a dark, edgy romance. What I got instead felt like being trapped inside a perfume store that only sells desperation and bad decisions.

From the very beginning, the tone is heavy — not in a deep, meaningful way, but in that sticky, uncomfortable way where everything feels sweaty and chaotic. The chemistry between characters isn’t slow-burn tension; it’s more like someone spilled gasoline on page one and tossed a match. There’s very little emotional build-up, so instead of feeling invested, I mostly felt like I needed a shower.

The dynamics are intense to the point of absurdity. Every interaction is dialed up to eleven — dramatic declarations, possessiveness, exaggerated reactions — and it becomes exhausting fast. Rather than romantic, it feels claustrophobic. Instead of butterflies, it’s secondhand embarrassment.

And the dialogue? Oof. At times it reads like it’s trying so hard to be provocative that it circles back around into cringe territory. I found myself physically recoiling at certain lines. Not scandalized — just… deeply uncomfortable.

If you love over-the-top, no-holds-barred, shock-factor romance, this might be your thing. But for me, it felt less like a guilty pleasure and more like I accidentally walked into someone else’s very loud, very messy relationship and couldn’t find the exit.

Two stars — one for commitment to chaos, and one because I survived it.