Book Review: Candy Coated Curves by Kat Baxter

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If you have been keeping up with new posts on the blog (or, lack thereof), then you know that I have been in the worst book rut so far, and as usual, the only thing that could jump-start my brain was a super sweet romance novel.

Because I am basically anonymous on the internet, not a lot of people know that I am plus size, but this time around, I decided to get a morale boost by reading some very steamy plus size romance books.

There is already a listicle in the works because I read quite a few of them, and this book is one of my favorites out of the more than a dozen that I read.

One thing that actively pains me when reading romance novels is that there aren’t a lot of books where the girl is genuinely in love with the male lead from the very beginning, so I was very appreciative of that trope in this book.

In fact, from the very beginning, she is very intentional about seducing him, and he, on the other hand, is oblivious to his feelings, even as he battles his own because he feels guilty about them.

Even though this book is very short, so it doesn’t really delve into the dynamics of body positivity and whatnot, our male lead is a fat and very heavy individual who feels insecure to an extent about his body. 

Also See: 20 Romantic Friends To Lovers For Readers Who Love To Swoon

To him, our female lead who is also fat is too beautiful to be with someone like him, so he doesn’t even allow himself to entertain the thought that she might be even remotely interested in dating him.

She, on the other hand, is getting a little exhausted because she has done everything in her power to seduce him, and she rallies for help from her friends, who give her a suggestion that eventually clinches the deal.

Her choice of weapon is to play on his jealousy, and this is successful because he chases after her and they make the beast with two horns and have their happily ever after.

Somewhere along the line they end up in a fake relationship (because of an odd character who kept popping up), but, in my opinion, that entire plot point was negligible at best and you’ll be better served completely ignoring it. 

I like this book a lot because it did what it set out to do, which is to tell a very semi-short story, but I do wish there had been a little more emphasis on the body positivity aspect of things.

And I don’t want to complain because we don’t even get a lot of stories like this, but I have noticed that this is very common in books where the male protagonist is the plus size partner in the relationship.

I definitely think that there should be a little more room for discussions about these issues in the book, but I admit that that might be impossible since it might make the book feel a little too heavy.

And, I do want to mention that the writing is superb, which isn’t really a surprise since Kat Baxter is one of the most prolific authors of steamy novellas (make sure to check out her backlog if you’re in the mood for more steamy plus-size romances).

Related: 10 Charming Small Town Romance Books That’ll Warm Your Heart

There are no triggers as far as I’m aware, but definitely be aware that the book ends with a pregnancy and one character in the book is very touchy and acts offensively from time to time.

Aside from that, this was a pretty good book and I enjoyed it, hence my high rating, and I think you’re going to love it if you have been looking for a steamy novella where both leads are fat and there is an age gap between them.