Wendy the Super Librarian‘s review of The Man Most Likely by Cindi Myers
Contemporary Romance released by Harlequin American 12 May 2009
I’m certainly not alone in my desire to see more full-figured romance heroines. Unfortunately when such a book does come along it’s either false advertising (note to authors: a 5’10” heroine who wears a size 10 is not fat 🙄 ) or the conflict for the story is all about the heroine’s weight. Cindi Myers’ latest gets it mostly right by delivering a true full-figured heroine (girlfriend wears a size 16); and while a good portion of the conflict does center around her size, the author doesn’t make that the sole source of conflict.
Angela Krisova has a good life in the resort town of Crested Butte, Colorado. She owns her own business, the boutique candy shop, The Chocolate Moose, and is a vital member of the local community theater. She moved to town nursing a broken heart, but life is pretty good. Oh sure, she’s single, but being in a relationship isn’t everything. Besides, she’s used to people looking right past “the fat girl” and underestimating her. She’s past letting it bother her. Or is she?
Bryan Perry is the kind of guy Crested Butte is full off. A Peter Pan ski bum. However, he’s growing weary of that life and eating Top Ramen every night. He has a college degree in hotel management, so takes a job at the Elevation Hotel hoping to work his way quickly up the corporate ladder. His dream is to one day own his own small hotel. His first assignment? Pull off the local community theater fundraising dinner, and for that he has to work with Angela. When they talk on the phone, his hormones kick into overdrive. Anyone with a voice that sultry must be a walking sex goddess. So imagine his surprise when he meets her in person and she’s….well….fat. However, our boy quickly recovers. It certainly helps matters that Angela is smart, funny, and charming. Before that first meeting is over he has fallen hard and fast. Now to convince Angela that he’s the perfect man for her.
What I enjoyed about this story is that both Bryan and Angela were fighting against how other people saw them. Angela is the funny, fat girl. The one relegated to playing the “sidekick” in local theater productions. The girl everybody underestimates and nobody really sees. Bryan is the irresponsible good-time party guy. When his friends hear that he’s taken a job at the hotel, they start placing bets on how long he’ll last. Certainly a guy as carefree and fun-loving as Bryan won’t last two minutes in a structured corporate environment.
Perceptions and how people see each other (or not see) make up the bulk of the conflict. Can a relationship between the drop-dead gorgeous former ski bum and a festively plump chocolate fiend really work? Or is it doomed for failure? Angela might play the part of the funny, confident, take-charge modern woman, but years of criticism, hurt and insecurities don’t just vanish overnight – no matter how good of an actress you are. And is Bryan strong enough to take a chance on true love when up until this point his whole life has revolved around finding the next party and having a good time?
I’m still looking forward to reading a romance featuring a plus-size woman where her size is a non-issue, but then for that to happen I think society as a whole would have to undergo a radical shift. That being said, The Man Most Likely is a very sweet story that features two characters that I genuinely liked. These were nice people. Nice people bristling against expectations, scared of stepping into the unknown, but ultimately brave enough to put their hearts on the line. When it comes to romance, it just doesn’t get much better than that.
Grade: B+
Summary:
With her voluptuous, plus-size figure, Angela Krizova knows she doesn’t fit the male fantasy of the perfect woman. That’s fine, because Bryan Perry isn’t her idea of the ideal man, either. The gorgeous ski-bum-turned-corporate-exec is just the type she avoids like the plague.
Except he won’t take no for an answer. With Bryan pursuing her as if she’s the most desirable woman in Crested Butte, Angela’s starting to believe it just a little herself. Is the most irresistible guy in town really falling for her? Or is he the man most likely to break her heart?
Read an excerpt.
Other books in this series:
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 Coming July 14, 2009 |
“note to authors: a 5’10” heroine who wears a size 10 is not fat “
Nothing makes me more crazy than that. Janet Evanovich’s Lula makes me nuts with this. She describes her as around 200 lbs then has her sitting on grown men (over 6′ tall!) and knocking the wind out of them or having them beg for mercy. Yeah, not so much. At my heaviest I was 3 lbs away from 200 lbs and there is NO WAY that would have happened! I’m not delusional, I know I was heavy, but not heavy enough to keep a 200 lb. grown man on the ground by sitting on him!
The other thing that makes me nuts is when the heroine loses 20 lbs before the HEA. Why can’t she stay the same weight and get her HEA?! Yes, I’ve lost 20 lbs (and working on 20 more) for my health, but why does the weight loss have to be part of the HEA?
Sorry, soapbox issue there LOL I think I’ll give this book a try!
Tracy S: Well then I’m happy to report that the heroine does not magically lose any weight (at all) at any moment during this story. So weight loss is not tied into the HEA (which I really should have mentioned in the review, because like you that also makes me crazy!).
Oh, that sounds like a cute story! And I’m so happy to hear that the heroine doesn’t magically lose weight at the end. Yay! It’s something that drives me crazy, too, like the “ugly duckling” who by the end of the novel is a stunning beauty every man wants.
Thanks, Wendy!
Long time lurker here. Just wanted to comment that it’s one of my pet peeves when the full size heroines lose weight before HEA. A lot of books seems to reflect that the heroine would only be happy once she’s down to single digit size clothing. Glad to know that the heroine,Angela, is happy with the way she is.
BTW, do you have any rec’s on books with full size heroines?
Thanks.
Taja: I did think it was a cute story. There were moments where I wanted Angela to be a bit more secure, but years of hearing “Oh she’d be so pretty if she just lost some weight” are kind of hard to forget about overnight. In the end, the conflict is really about how compatible they are together. Are they both strong enough people to stand up to how other people “see” them?
Arani: It’s more like Angela knows who she is. She knows that she’ll never be the “type” of woman that others “expect” to see a guy like Bryan with. She’s never going to morph into a super-model clone. It’s that “expectation” and the “perceptions” that fuel the insecurities that pop up in this story.
As for book recommendations – if you like erotic-romance there’s In Too Deep by Portia Da Costa. Also, there’s a Jennifer Crusie book…..I want to say it’s Bet Me? Haven’t read it, but pretty sure that one has a “full-figured” heroine.
As another one who’s “full figured” and I”m 5’11” ther’s nothing to tick me off faster than a heroine that just isn’t comfortable with herself and before they have their HEA she just has to lose weight in order to make everything ok. As for Lulu, I stopped reading the series, because of her, and those comments like that, even if I sat on a guy who weighed 200 he’d still be able to move and I’d outweigh him probably. It’s simply a matter of musclemass and placement.
Oh and by the way the not only am I comfortable with myself for the most part, yeah I’d like ot lose a little, but it’s not the be all and end all of everything. But you know what? The SO likes me as is too.