Summerhouse Publishing, $3.99, ISBN 978-1-936950-09-6
Paranormal Romance, 2011

Breathmate? I’ve come across soulmates, matesouls, mated souls, and even solemates (in a self-published effort, obviously), but this is the first time I’ve come across breathmates. And I’m afraid I don’t get it.

Okay, we have genies, sorry, Djinns here. Adanto, our Djinn hero, wants to inhabit the treadmill used by our big voluptuous heroine Maggie Abbott. Maggie begins using the gym because she has to lose forty pounds or her health will go under. Not that she is too thrilled about it, of course, but she’s going to learn that there are plenty of enjoyable ways to work up a sweat with her Djinn boyfriend.

The first half or so of this story has me scratching my head because it’s pretty much a middle finger to skinny people just because they are perky and… well, thin. I’m sure there are many annoying skinny people out there, but when Maggie is the one who fires the first sarcastic and not very kind shot, she has no high ground to stand on when it comes to telling people to love the fatties. The second half of the story seems like a wish-fulfillment fantasy as Maggie not only has plenty of great sex but she also loses weight and becomes such a wonderful person beloved by everybody.

Sweat & Seduction can be a pleasant read if I am looking for a vicarious escapist fantasy, but the whole thing feels really paper-thin in terms of plot and characterization as well as romance. As a result, this one is a cotton candy kind of read – it’s fluffy, it may be temporarily enjoyable, but it leaves me wanting more at the end of the day.