Book: Violet By Design by Melissa Walker
Rating: 4 Stars
Summary:

I was going to get out of the modeling business for good.

But now I’m having trouble sticking with my decision. After all, if it wasn’t for modeling, I might still be the invisible wallflower. Hot guys like Paulo wouldn’t be interested in me. And I’d never have seen Brazil or Spain-and now France! On the other hand…

I also wouldn’t have to choose between my best friend from home and my agent’s shrill demands. Or anguish over my body the way only runway models do. Not to mention all this trouble I’m getting into for speaking out in the press about eating disorders.

Maybe the life of an international model isn’t for me. But if I quit for good, I might always wonder…What if?

Overall:

Violet Greenfield has gone from a nobody to an international runway model. After returning home to get away from the modeling business for a while, Angela approaches Violet about modeling in Brazil and Violet jumps at the chance to travel internationally.

Things start out brilliantly until Violet’s insecurities once again get the better of her. Violet manages to get all the shows, all the clothes, and all the guys but once again the designers and her agent have to have her perfect and Violet can’t handle it.

Weight becomes a greater issue in this book and Violet is unable to keep her weight exactly where the designers and her agent want it. The only way she can think of to vent is to post on her blog. Little does she know that her friends and teenagers are not the only people reading. Her dilemma becomes fodder for the press and Violet gets in deeper than she can handle.

When she is asked to do a campaign promoting better health for teen girls, Violet thinks that it may be the beginning of a new type of modeling world. That is, until she is told that she needs to lose five pounds and keep the weight off for the shoots. It’s too late for Violet to back out but she begins to feel like she is betraying herself and all the teenagers that look up to her when she poses for the shoot. And all the while she is losing herself, she finds herself losing her best friend and possibly the love of her life, Roger.

Will Violet’s career be able to last through her insecurities and weight issues or will it and she break under the pressure? Will she be able to fix things between her and Roger or did she blow her only chance?

Violet By Design is the followup to Violet On The Runway and is followed by Violet In Private. This second installment in the series is by far the best so far but I have high hopes for Violet In Private.