by Heidi Rice, author of Cupcakes and Killer Heels (Harlequin Presents Extra, March 2012)
Now it’s one of those conventions of romantic fiction that the heroes are always buff and gorgeous (because what would be the point if they’re not!) and the heroines are often rather svelte too. And because in my head I’m still 25 years old and a size 8 and I live vicariously through my heroines…. Well, you get the picture… Completely unintentionally a lot of my heroines have been disgustingly slim. Until that is, I met Ruby Delisantro, my heroine from Cupcakes and Killer Heels.
Now Cupcakes, before I started writing it, already had a hero, because he’d popped up in the epilogue to Surf, Sea and a Sexy Stranger. Callum Westmore was my heroine Maddy’s brother. Like Maddy he had spent his childhood stranded in the wreckage of their parents’ disastrous marriage. But unlike Maddy, who had become Little Miss Fixit as a result of the experience, Cal had become deeply cynical about love and marriage.
In short, Cal was going to be a very hard nut to crack… I was going to have to give him one hell of a woman to melt that cold, cautious heart… And I immediately knew that some wispy, skimpy little thing just wasn’t going to cut it. I needed a full-figured woman, someone lush and gorgeous, with generous curves and a generous heart and enough smart, sassy, sexual confidence to blow Cal’s head off.
Enter Ruby Delisantro, my bootilicious cupcake baker from Camden, North London… who looked in my mind’s eye like a cross between Sophia Loren, Nigella Lawson and Beyonce. Yes, Ruby had been carrying around several extra pounds for years, but she’d made a conscious decision to work the weight, instead of bore herself to death trying to lose it!
Ruby was bold and beautiful and also a touch reckless… So when she’s applying lipstick in her car, en route to an important business meeting, and she gets rear-ended by a ‘super-gorgeous’ guy in a sportscar, sparks are soon flying all over the place.
Here’s a snippet from Cal and Ruby’s sizzling first encounter:
His eyes were disguised behind a pair of expensive sunglasses, but the manly dent in his chin and the shadow of stubble defining chiselled cheeks wasn’t doing a thing for Ruby’s breathing difficulties, especially when his head dipped.
Is he checking me out?
‘What’s my problem?’ He threw up his hands, making his muscular torso ripple under a T-shirt emblazoned with the slogan: Barristers do it on a trial basis. ‘What’s your problem, lady? You’re parked in the middle of the road?’
Ruby gulped in air to kick-start her lungs and took a moment to consider her response.
The good news was, Ruby Delisantro loved to flirt. And she was remarkably good at it. She adored the spark and sizzle of sexual attraction, the tantalising tension of verbal foreplay — and a chance to flirt with someone this good-looking didn’t present itself every day. Not only that, but the figure-hugging dress she’d picked up at Camden Market last week turned the extra weight she’d been carrying around since she was seventeen into a major asset.
The bad news was, Mr Super-Gorgeous also had a super-large stick up his backside about women drivers and seemed to be virtually oblivious to her fabulous frock. Which meant he was either gay, a misogynist or didn’t have a sense of humour. Any one of which should have been a major turn-off.
Unfortunately they weren’t. Quite.
Needless to say it’s not long before Cal and Ruby are letting those sparks ignite — both convinced that their incendiary attraction for one another will never be more than a wild weekend fling. Ruby’s a smart woman, she doesn’t want a guy she’s going to have to change and she’d never be foolish enough to fall for someone as cool, calm, cynical and emotionally controlled as Callum Westmore, even if he is super-hot in the sack. Unfortunately for her, there’s a lot more to Cal than meets the eye, and when all the assumptions she’s made about him come crashing down around her ears, their simple weekend fling becomes very complicated indeed.
So how do you like your heroines? Do you prefer them slim and serene, or bold and bountiful?
I would love to read more plus-sized heroines, but I’m afraid that Ruby never came across as one. Maybe a curvy size 14? Or possibly a 16 at most (in UK sizes, so that would be 12-14 US). Did I read that wrong?
I love to read about plus-sized heroines not because it’s easier to relate, but because I have a major soft spot for unusual heroes: plus-sized, petite, quirky, bold, someone with totally different point of view … So this one is a must read, especially if it’s written by Ms. Rice.
Good point Ros, I figured Ruby was a size 16 – and when they talk about plus-size in the UK they usually mean anyone above a size 12 (even though the average size is a 16)!! But I didn’t account for the difference in UK and US sizing – and the US definition of plus-size. Sorry about that… Hope I haven’t mis-sold her with this post. But that said, I definitely saw her as a woman with curves and a bit of meat on her, more Sophia Loren than Twiggy!
Cheers Natalija, glad you enjoyed it.
Oops, sorry Natalija, that should have read ‘hope you enjoy it!!’
Heidi, I think the term is used differently when you’re talking about models (where plus sized is size 12 upwards) and plus sized clothes or plus sized women. Most plus sized clothes ranges start at size 18 or 20 in my experience.
No problem Ros, will ask Amy to make changes to the post, don’t want to confuse anyone!
I love your books Heidi, always have. Would be nice to have a few more voluptuous women as heroines though. Im lucky my DH loves me the size I am and theres a lot of me to love! Its lovely for me to read about women who are on the plus size to be loved and found sexually attractive, and not left to be written for a \unique\ market!
My thoughts exactly amanda!
In the end whether your heroine is voluptuous or not is really down to who they are as characters. But I loved writing Ruby because boy did she know how to work those curves – and boy, did Cal appreciate that about her. LOL! Made for one hot book, I can tell you.
Mmm. I loved Ruby Delisantro. As a voluptuous woman of the world myself, there’s a svelte and lissom twenty-six year- old alive and well inside me, still bursting to get out.
This is why I usually, as a rule, prefer the heroine I’m reading to be slender. She’s my avatar. The fantasy me.
IN the case of Ruby though, I was totally at one with her lusciousness,her generosity and authority as a woman.
What a woman!
Sounds good, Heidi and will definitely add it to my To Read-shelf.
However, I have to say this (though I know you probably can’t do amything about it): if the heroine is plus-size, then why don’t they put a plus-size model on the cover? Judging by her arms, this woman looks far from being a plus size herself!
Absolutely Anna, in the end the books I read as well as the one’s I write have a large dose of fantasy in them… Which is why I love them, I have more than enough reality in my real life, thank you very much… But at the same time I want my characters to be believable whatever there size and I just couldn’t picture her as anything other than lush…
That’sa good point Lia, while Ros has pointed out that Ruby may not have been everyone’s impression of plus-sized, the girl on the cover looks a bit skinny to me too!! But I was happy that they got the colouring right, and to be honest, when it comes to covers I tend to be looking more at the hero than the heroine – and he’s yummmy!
But I might add, my idea of svelte and lissom is clearly not shared by the average movie star. I like to see the human skeleton covered with smooth, vibrant flesh.
I feel so sad for those skinny, scrawny little chicken arms and legs you see poking out of those beautiful gowns on the red carpet on Oscar day. And oh those pathetic, bony little shoulders. They must be so uncomfortable to cuddle. Poor Brad Pitt must worry his eye is going to be poked out by some of his leading ladies.
So true Anna, my husband once said cuddling up to Madonna would be like cuddling a bicycle… Got major brownie points for that!! LOL.
And if I was Brad, I’d be a little scared of that right leg… Just saying!
Great post Heidi and your book was KILLER ! Loved every second of it.
Desere
Cheers Desere, so glad you enjoyed it! As you can probably tell I had a lot of fun writing Cal and Ruby’s story…
Heidi – I adored Ruby and Cal’s story and LOVED reading about Ruby who was the quintessential gorgeous plus-sized/voluptuous beauty. She oozed such charisma and sensuality, the book was the equivalent of dining on a particularly luscious steak washed down with a robust merlot and followed by triple chocolate delight!
More plus-sized heroines please
xx Abby
I love your description, Abby… Triple-chocolate dessert!! May have to quote you on that… LOL
Ruby was plus sized? How did I miss that? lol Guess I was too busy drooling over Callum
Personally, I don’t pay much attention to the figure of the heroine, when I’m reading a book. There’s enough obsessing over weight going on in real life imo. So to that effect, it doesn’t bother me if they are skinny or curvy. I have to like her personality, and that’s what I remember Ruby for. She was great!
Oh, svelte is all right I suppose but I think a red blooded man would rather get himself around womanly curves than a bag of bones. So I’d go with voluptuous heroines rather than the slender types.