Rock Creek, Pennsylvania - Present Day

Leena Riley left Rock Creek as soon as she graduated from high school and didn’t look back -- until now. Recently fired from her job as a plus-size model in Chicago, the only choice Leena could make was to return home with her pride beaten and a fake smile intact. She needs a place to live and a job, so she grabs the first HELP WANTED sign she sees after hitting town, which just happens to belong to her old schoolmate, Cole Flannigan, now the local veterinarian. Cole is not her ideal selection for a boss, especially since their old rivalry goes way back to the time Leena punched him after he made fun of her size in grade school. But today, Leena has no choice except to swallow her pride and demand that Cole hire her. After already losing several receptionists who quit, Cole has to hire someone, even if it's Leena. His veterinary office isn’t the most stylish location in town, and the girls who’ve worked for him so far have left his employ faster than ever when things got messy, as they are wont to do around unpredictable animal patients.

Leena’s modeling career earned her a good living, but she was never the famous sought-after fashionista she led her sister, Sue Ellen, to believe. Now, down on her luck, Leena has no choice but to crawl home to her sister and move into the same old doublewide trailer where she grew up. But thankfully, Sue Ellen works out a deal for Leena -- if she models for a new ad campaign at the trailer park, she can move into one of the newer mobile homes rent-free. That’s one problem solved, now Leena just has to make it through her days working for Cole. Two years Leena's junior in school, Cole is well acquainted with her temper, so he takes her bossiness in his office with a grain of salt. It’s not as if anyone else is beating down his door to take the job, and his waiting room has become a literal zoo with no organization. But as far as Leena is concerned, she’s only in Rock Creek long enough to save enough money so she can return to Chicago and resume her career.

BIG GIRLS DON'T CRY zips along at a lightening-fast pace and is a humorous tale filled with quirky characters in a small town. The third book in Cathie Linz’s Girls series (GOOD GIRLS DO, January 2006; and BAD GIRLS DON'T, November 2006), this novel stands alone, bringing back several characters from the previous books. Leena is a contradiction in personalities. Even though she's been modeling in front of cameras for years, she comes back to Rock Creek without one ounce of self-esteem, and she continually puts herself down and taunts other's to do likewise. As a reader, I can sympathize with Leena, but her lack of confidence and continual self-incrimination is wearing. As for Cole, we don’t really see into his thoughts about Leena; he stays quite distant for most of the book while Leena's self-destruction is front and center. Both of them grow fond of each other, but love doesn’t really come into the equation until the very last chapter, which makes it hard for me to accept it as real and lasting. Cole and Leena speak more about their feelings to their friends and acquaintances -- but never confide in each other. Oh, there is lots of sex, but it's driven purely by lust, and nowhere are there any exchanges of devotion. Leena and Cole never really connect emotionally, and their story falls flat.

The secondary characters in this series are many, including Leena’s sister, Sue Ellen, and her friends, Skye and Temika, who all try to help Leena fit back into life in Rock Creek. Even so, Leena insists on conducting her very own pity-party. I have enjoyed Ms. Linz’s novels for years, and I am sure that chick-lit fans will enjoy Leena’s story, but it was a disappointing tale for me. I really liked the idea of Leena's character, but I just could not identify with her self-destruction and the lack of true passion between her and Cole. The prevalence of one-liners and snide jokes throughout the beginning chapters makes for fast reading, but I would have liked a little more emotional interaction and less slapstick humor. All this aside, BIG GIRLS DON'T CRY ends nicely, and the story does redeem itself in the final chapter, when the emotional value finally increases.

Diana Risso