Curvy Girl Summer

Aaliyah James is almost thirty and tired of casual hookups, flings and situationships. After a one-night stand with her clingy ex, she decides she wants a partner and a shortcut to finding one.

Her family sees the clock ticking. When they suggest her personality and her body are too big to land a man, she answers that her boyfriend loves her curves. She has no boyfriend. What she does have is a big, fancy birthday celebration she has been planning, and seven weeks to find someone worth bringing to it.

Her first blind date goes badly. Ahmad Williamson, a charming local bartender, consoles her with a drink and some playful banter, then suggests she try a dating app. She takes his advice and starts swiping. The more time she spends around Ahmad, though, with his warm, funny, easygoing manner, the less interested she is in checking her messages.

This is a contemporary romance with an open-door heat level, a comic tone and a plus-size heroine. Its central question is whether the right man is on the app or already pouring her drinks. The pace is quick, driven by a fixed deadline and the misfires of online dating.