When Bramble and Macmillian Audio sent me an advanced audiobook copy of Plus Size Player (Curve 2) by Danielle Allen, I was excited, yet nervous. You see, I often feel left out of bookish communities because I am not an avid romance reader. Everyone knows me as the speculative fic and Afrofuturism girl, but ever since the imprint Tor ( one of my fave speculative fic imprints) announced their new romance imprint, Bramble, I held on to a sliver of hope that I would come across a romance that would make me swoon. And now I can say, the day has come y’all. I’m in love with a romance book!
This book resonated with me because I see a lot of myself in the main character. I’ve DNF’d so many books because the woman characters were making their love interests their entire world to the point it’s overkill. I especially detest it when the main characters are enchanted or fabulous in their own right and these women just fall over themselves over a man. I don’t feel it’s worth it. Plus, it doesn’t do anything for me as a reader. After reading Plus Size Player, I have a better idea of what I should look for in romance. If you have read this so far, keep reading for my non-spoiler review.
Plus Size Player by Danielle Allen Review
Our main protagonist is 30-year-old Nia, who is a plus-size beauty that has learned to use her social media platform to elevate herself. She comes as she pleases and she has a slew of men drooling over their feet to get closer to her. But our girl Nia is not easily impressed or moved, making her the perfect voluptuous siren. She jokes about having a rotation of men on speed dial that want to court her and she’s not lying. She keeps her boos listed in her phone by how they make her feel. There’s a guy that makes her laugh and a few others, but the one that grabs her attention the most is the one she labels “Fun”. Her fun date is with the one and only Russell Long, (ahem), who takes her on adventurous outings that keep her on her toes.
To keep her suitors and her professional career separate, she doesn’t share her professional accounts with her dates and is vague about her line of work. For the most part, the men don’t pry too much about her personal life. She’s a stallion, and she knows it! Nia is not interested in being attached to a man unless she can get everything she wants. Nia doesn’t apologize for being a bit “extra”. She feels she deserves the world and any man who wants her exclusively has to prove it.
And boy, these guys try to prove their worth to her! But as life has it, Nia gets caught up trying to balance her work and personal life and gets entangled in a professional mess she can’t smile her way out of. Please note, this book is spicy as hell. Baby, they are smangin on-page, off-page and under the pages, ok? I experienced the audiobook and let me tell you, I was smiling for weeks.
Thank you, Danielle Allen, for creating my first book boyfriend. And major shoutout to the narrator Wesleigh Siobhan, for entertaining throughout this story.
