The Curvy Heroine in Historical Romance
Suddenly You by Lisa Kleypas is a historical romance novel (of the bodice ripper variety) published in 2001 that features a plus sized leading lady. According to the Romance Writers of America (RWA), Suddenly You is a trailblazer because it is one of the earliest (if not the first!) depictions of a plus size heroine in a historical romance novel. For context, the first historical romance/bodice ripper is widely considered to be Kathleen E. Woodiwiss’ 1972 The Flame and the Flower. This means that it took 29 YEARS for a plus size heroine to lead her own historical romance novel. Let that sink in.
The Curvy Heroine in Contemporary Romance
Fast forward to 2004, Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie is published and we are off to the races with a plus-size contemporary romance heroine. Another, RWA traiblazer. At least the wait was shorter this time! Other plus size heroines did feature in contemporary books prior to the publication of Bet Me, but they usually came in the form of contemporary chick-lit novels rather than romance novels. (I highly recommend you read THIS article by Jennifer Weiner about her years-long battle to have plus-sized women depicted on the cover of her chick-lit books.) What’s the difference between romance and chick-lit? Although chick-lit does include romantic plot lines, it is much more focused on the heroine’s journey, and there is no guaranteed happily-ever-after (HEA). Romance is not romance without the guaranteed HEA.
The Curvy Heroine in Fantasy
The 2000s also brought about the rise of curvy heroine in urban fantasy romance books. Urban fantasy novels often follow the stories of heroines (human or part human) falling in love (and in conflict) with magical beings. Think, Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Dark-Hunter series, specifically, Night Play published in 2004 (a few months after Bet Me) which tells the story of curvy Bride McTierney and wolf-shifter Vane Kattalakis.
Around a decade later, in the 2010s, we arrive at the more “hardcore” genre of monster romances. The heroes are no longer palatable vampires and werewolves, but humanoid monsters or full out monsters (e.g. aliens, orcs, krakens, dragons, gargoyles, etc.). Monster romance was largely popularized by Ruby Dixon’s Ice Planet Barbarians which commenced publication in 2015, and which showcased its first curvy FMC in Barbarian’s Taming (2016). Thereafter came an EXPLOSION of monster romance. Here we must also credit Amazon’s KDP platform which allowed indie romance authors to publish romances that were less than popular with mainstream romance publishers.
The Curvy Heroine Today
It goes without saying that in the 2020s the curvy heroine is here to stay! Season 3 of Bridgerton (based on Julia Quinn’s historical romance, Romancing Mr. Bridgerton (2002)) features a curvy Penelope’s love story and is a MEGA hit worldwide. We are now not just reading about curvy heroine, but actually seeing them!