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"Group of stories in which the heroine or hero just happens to be a person of size"

I squealed and danced through my apartment when I opened the package and saw the title and cover of this book. I am a large lady and Such A Pretty Face was designed to make me glad of that fact.

This is a group of stories by various authors in which the heroine, or hero, just happens to be a person of size. Ms. Martindale has done a superb job of meshing different textures and flavors thus making of them a literary stew of the richest sort.

I don't believe that I found even one story less than enjoyable. I truly loved each one. My husband told me that it is books like this that make me feel as if I can go out and overcome any obstacle. Be a large size Xena maybe?

First, there is the wonderful poem by Jane Yolen, "Fat is Not A Fairy Tale". Following it you find the delightful, "Worse Than The Curse" by Elizabeth Ann Scarborough. Next, Martha A. Compton brings to the mix the ever so yummy, "The Fat Cat's Tale". If you feel a bit parched while reading, "The Search For A Sipping House" offered by Joette M. Rozanski, quenches your thirst in the form of a fresh take, yes - fresh, on vampires. While "Casting Against Type" by Jody Lynn Nye may have brought back my acting days, it did make me laugh... a big hearty belly laugh.

Stories like these make one wonder and if you've ever wondered how you'd fare in the event of, say, Nuclear War then you may find "Nuclear Winter" by Selina Rosen to be comforting. Much like warming yourself by the fire after you have finished a sumptuous supper. As for the act of wondering itself, "The Djinn Game" by Patrice E. Sarath seems to have stuck in my head while gifting me with the occasional, seemingly inexplicable, chuckle. "The Stoop Ladies" of Barbara Krasnoff might turn to watch if they hear me, offer me refreshment and whatever I may need.

These are just a few. If I go on mentioning every tantalizing treat this review could end up the length of the book. A delicious treat fit for the fiction equivalent of Bon Appetit.

Leann "Buzzy" Arndt / April, 2000
Copyright © 2000 for Paranormal Romance Reviews

Reviewed by PNR Group Member
Posted June 7, 2002

Think all heroes have washboard abs?
Think all heroines wear Size 3 Junior Petite?
Think again!

Come join Gene Wolfe, Elizabeth Anne Scarborough, Jane Yolen, Jody Lynn Nye, and Sharon Lee & Steve Miller, who along with nineteen other authors, introduce you to some of the funniest, wildest, sexiest, most powerful, and normal (considering these are science fiction, fantasy, and horror stories) fat people on earth and a few other planets.

Meet a pirate named “Valkyrie” and a cardsharp named “Fat Moriah”. Meet a xeno-fitness instructor and an earth-mage who don’t apologize for taking up space. Meet fat cats on a mission and a very different kind of vampire. Meet characters for whom “plus-size” is about body size and heart.

Brought together in this first-of-its-kind collection are stories that raise the set point on adventure and redraw the picture of “the hero” along the way. Tales of power and abundance that prove that heroes and heroines come in all sizes.