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Curve #2

Plus Size Player

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Julie Murphy's If the Shoe Fits meets Talia Hibbert's Take a Hint, Dani Brown--USA Today bestselling author Danielle Allen brings another steamy, witty novel about finding the perfect partner--and how sometimes what you're looking for is right in front of you.

“I only spend time with people I enjoy. I only do things I want to do. I only have sex with people who get me off. So, my time is never wasted and my energy stays high.”

Nina Ford doesn’t like to put all her eggs in one basket. She works multiple jobs, she enjoys multiple hobbies, she dates multiple men.

In her thirty years of life, Nina has never come across a man who has all the things she’s looking for.

She loves fun and excitement—and she has a man for that.

She loves confidence and humor—and she has a man for that.

She loves intelligence and ambition—and she has a man for that.

She loves passion and romance—and she has a man for that.

She’s always been content rotating a few men in and out of her life to get her needs met. But when an opportunity presents itself, Nina finds herself in a bit of a predicament. Because if everything she’s ever wanted in a partner collides with everything she’s ever wanted in a career, her eggs are bound to get cracked.

Like her back.

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

364 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 10, 2025

1979 people are currently reading
12031 people want to read

About the author

Danielle Allen

79 books2,960 followers
Diversity in Romance Advocate.
Life Coach.

XOXO

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5 stars
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,038 reviews
Profile Image for Brittany.
94 reviews1,796 followers
June 22, 2025
DO I LIKE CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE? Danielle Allen ate this up. BIG DADDY RUSS is a time that you NEED TO EXPERIENCE.

READ IT NEOWWWWWWWW
Profile Image for Shawnaci Schroeder.
463 reviews3,735 followers
July 16, 2025
4/5

- Laughed out loud so many times while reading this book! Danielle Allen can truly do no wrong! Her books are the perfect rom coms for summer. I do wish this book had been a tiny bit shorter and I felt the same way about the first book in this series, but I honestly don’t know what I would have even taken out! It was all so good!
- Love how we were able to read so many of their conversations and banter. I really felt like I was part of their relationship while reading!
- This book was spicyyyy! I knew it would be but whew! Spicy romances are my favs in the summer so this was perfect.
Profile Image for mina reads™️.
633 reviews8,425 followers
July 6, 2025
I sort of feel terrible giving this such a low rating but I truly did not enjoy my time with this. Which surprised the hell outta me because I loved book one. For me the romance just did nothing for me, there were some cute grand gestures and plenty of "hot" sex but I found myself skimming the sex and unmoved by the gestures because the dialogue between russ and nina just gave me nothing. There was far too much summarization, "we did this and we did that and i laughed so much that day and we connected so deeply over this topic" like okay I would like to laugh too, I would like to see more of those conversations and moments that grew their relationship to the level of emotional intensity that we see throughout the book.

Also, on a personal level I resented the fact that we missed those beginning stages of their relationship: the first meeting, the first date, first fuck. I feel like seeing those initial moments would have helped me care more for them as a couple as things progressed but I simply never got attached to them. In addition to all that, their relationship was very lustful and while I appreciate an FMC getting some good D usually, I just didn't care much about their sex life because I didn't care about them as a couple. It felt like at a certain point every shared scene was a sex scene or they exchanged some dirty talk that left nina soaking her panties. I just wanted to feel more than I did for them as a couple. I never felt excited turning the pages, or anticipated their next scene together, I just felt bored throughout.

Then, I cared soooo little about the fashion element of this story as well, in theory I'm exceptionally happy for all of nina's career successes achieved in this book but I found so much of it tedious to slog through. The book felt repetitive and drawn out in many ways. Not a read I enjoyed unfortunately but I feel bad about potentially swaying people not to try it. I don't believe it's completely terrible on a technical/craft level, it just wasn't my cuppa. So despite my qualms, try this book if you like stories about influencers, forbidden workplace romance elements, lots of sexy times and want to see a beautiful black woman treated well and spoiled by her man
Profile Image for ⋆⭒˚。 emmi⋆m ⭒˚。⋆.
70 reviews68 followers
June 1, 2025
Yes! Yes! AND Yes!! 🥵🪭✨😍This book gave✨PLUS✨some. Powerful romance. Loved this book!! Vibes give [Self-love. Humor. Sexy. Complex] Nina is THAT girl 🫶🏾 Bold. Strong. Curvy. Confident.✨& Rus Rus Rus….✨

🎧| MacMillan audio & Narrator, Wesleigh Siobhan 🤌🏾✨👏🏾👏🏾

#earlyreadcopy
Profile Image for April.
405 reviews134 followers
June 8, 2025
I absolutely loved this sexy, empowering, & passionate story! From the first chapter, I was completely hooked. Nina’s journey felt both personal and powerful as she navigates relationships, exudes confidence, and dives into the complexities of dating. She was truly an inspiration to all women, and especially plus size women..

Per usual.. The narration was absolute perfection. Wesleigh Siobhan brought every flirtatious moment, internal thought, and sizzling scene to life with her usual infectious energy and authenticity. I could physically feel the chemistry between Nina & Rus, between Danielle Allen’s pen game & Wesleigh’s voice. She truly brought life to these characters!

The comic relief was a huge standout for me, I can’t tell you how many times I laughed out loud. Nina was hilarious and her energy was contagious. How can you read this and simply not be in a better mood afterwards? And the way she matched energy to those that spewed negativity her way, was unmatched!

Definitely.. Positively recommend this confidence boosting, extra spicy romance that will leave you swooning! The audiobook is a must listen, but even if you read it instead I recommend immersive reading, as this audiobook is simply an experience you don’t want to miss. Thank you Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for this advanced listening copy. All opinions are my own.

Publication 🗓️ : 6.10.25

Professional Reader100 Book Reviews
Profile Image for Anayah.
480 reviews
July 2, 2025
Oh boy was I wrong. This was perfect!!! I loooooooove a book with good chemistry. My goodness.

Pre-read:
I suspect this will be another 4 star read for me. 😌
Profile Image for Jessica .
2,561 reviews15.9k followers
June 19, 2025
If you want a spicy forbidden romance, this one is for you!

The heroine is a fashion influencer who has always had a roster of guys she dates and spends time with, but now she's catching feelings for one of them. She's trying to juggle this relationship while landing a really important contract with a brand to be a brand model. The heroine is a plus size model, so she faces quite a bit of adversity from the industry, her peers, and complete strangers she just meets while she's out. I did love how much the hero worshipped and adored her, and their chemistry was insane!

I don't normally love books about influencers, so that wasn't my favorite part of this book. The first half of this book really just followed the heroine through her job and dating a few men, so it felt more on the women's fiction side. But once we got her to admit her feelings about one man and the forbidden aspect came into play, I was hooked!
Profile Image for Bethany (Beautifully Bookish Bethany).
2,695 reviews4,619 followers
April 8, 2025
4.5 stars rounded up

Danielle Allen delivers another extremely steamy, messy contemporary romance with a plus size heroine, this time one who likes to date around and has not intention of settling down. We don't often get the girl as the player, so it was a refreshing change and Nina does not pull her punches. She's a successful plus size fashion influencer with a rotation of men, convinced she will never find one who will give her everything she wants. But "the fun one" is starting to give her a run for her money...and then they find out he's the CEO of the company she just signed an agreement with, including a no fraternization policy.

The physical chemistry between these two is intense (and they seem to have a thing for semi-public locations that had me worried what would happen if they got caught!), but they're both equally passionate about what they do. It's a sexy, messy book with heart and a plus size heroine who loves herself and her body, and is confident in who she is no matter what microaggressions she has to deal with. I will continue to read from this author! The audio narration is fantastic, and those spicy scenes are VERY spicy y'all! I received an audio review copy via NetGalley, all opinions are my own.
Profile Image for amarachireads.
804 reviews150 followers
February 2, 2025
Ahhh this book was such a fun read! Okay so at first i was like how this player plot going to work but trust the process its good! I love that this author writes unapologetically Black characters and it comes out great in the book. We have the fmc who doesn’t want a stable relationship and instead has a group of men in rotation for her different needs. Of course theres one in particular that is a little above everyone. She keeps her date away from her job and is surprised to see one at a work event and finds out that he’s her boss.

I liked the social media plot and how relevant that was. I really liked the fmc, she was sure of herself and communicated well. I liked seeing her go from this player to being in love. I also loved the commentary on plus size women in the modeling field. This book is smutty so prepared lol. Overall a good read, thanks to Bramble for this arc!

Read for:
- Black romance
- Boss/employee
- Plus size rep
- Smutty scenes
- Influencer/model fmc
- Forced proximity

4.25/5
Profile Image for Kennedy.
107 reviews11 followers
June 25, 2025
I get that body shaming is a real part of being plus size, but whew, it felt like the same point was being made over and over. I wanted more depth, less repetition. As for Nina and Russ… I wasn’t really feeling their connection. It felt more like straight up lust than actual chemistry, like 80% of their time together was just them hunching 😭. I needed something more emotional to root for. Cute concept, but kinda fell flat for me.
Profile Image for Cydney.
412 reviews27 followers
June 11, 2025
Plus Size Player was IT!

I loved Curvy Girl Summer, but I really ached for the fatphobia shown to Aaliyah and how she struggled to grapple with it. Baby, Nina wasn't having NONE of that! I'm paraphrasing what she said: she might be big, but she'll never be the bigger person! When people went low, Nina went to hell. I loved that for her. Nina was smart and confident and knew exactly what she deserved and what she wanted. I loved that she stuck with her roster of mens until she was ready to let them go and not a second sooner. Even the way she pushed back against her mom when it came to her career was very refreshing and unique to her in a way that made me root for her endlessly.

Russ was so bae. He was truly so special. Even when he got on my damn nerves I loved him so very much. I thought Ahmad was the perfect man, but Russ did not play about Nina or people disrespecting her. The way he just wanted to be in her orbit and took what she gave him until he felt like it was the right time to ask for more was delicious. He also had a very tender caregiving side to him that balanced out how assertive and fun he was so I felt like he was very dynamic and balanced so that when he started to panic at a certain point it was clear that it was his panic and anxiety speaking, not him.

This book had me kicking my feet in the air and giggling and cheesing at 3am. I was addicted and read this in one sitting! Danielle Allen is truly one of the funniest authors around right now. She has such a skill for storytelling and creating characters that are very realistic and close to my heart as a plus sized Black woman. This series is one of my favorites of all time!

Thank you so much to Tor Publishing Group, Bramble, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC!

5 ⭐️s
3.5 🌶️
Profile Image for Ro_Monique_.
134 reviews6 followers
June 10, 2025
Soft DNF @ 50%.

Thank you to NetGalley, Bramble Books, and Mcmillian Audio for the advanced listening copy of Plus Size Player. This story follows Nina, a vivacious and confident woman. She’s finding success in her career as a model and content creator, while navigating the dating scene and discovering what she wants from love. Russ is top of her roster and I can only assume secures the number one spot.

For me, this book was a little too long. Halfway in and I was not grasped by the simmering connection between Nina and Russ. There were plenty of hot spice scenes though! Additionally, there were three too many instances of Nina being body shamed by strangers, both men and women in this story and it was off putting.
Profile Image for chasc.taylor_reads.
358 reviews23 followers
August 19, 2025
4.25 Stars ✨

RUSS 🤤😮‍💨

This was such a fun and spicy read—exactly the kind of palate cleanser I needed! I’ll admit, I went in with low expectations after finding Curvy Girl Summer pretty mid, but Plus Size Player completely won me over. The pacing was great, the humor landed, and I really enjoyed both main characters. I devoured this in a single day! I’m so glad I gave this author another chance, and now I’m already looking forward to book three.
Profile Image for Wobilba.
832 reviews122 followers
June 5, 2025
“I might be fat but I will never be the bigger person”

Plus Size Player is a story about a plus-size a woman being an unapologetic badass star of her own story. Listening to this story was like eating dessert and hungering for more(and boy did i not want it to end). The story celebrates self-love, hilarious mishaps, body positivity and steamy moments that will leave you needing multiple cold showers.

As usual Wesleigh Siobhan was phenomenal in bringing this already amazing story to life.

I can’t wait for the next book in the series.

Story: 4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Narration: 5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Heat Level: 4 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️


PS: Only reason i did not rate this a 5 star was because of what the MMC gave up so they can be together(almost ruined the story for me). It’s a pet peeve of mine and i personally do not find such acts as romantic(I believe there's always a better way).
Aside that this was an amazing story.

Thanks to Macmillan Audio and Netgalley for the ALC!
Profile Image for Darriona.
130 reviews37 followers
April 3, 2025
4.5 ✨ Thank you Bramble Romance and Macmillan Audio for the ARC and ALC! Danielle Allen does it again! I loved this story so much. I knew I was going to love Nina's character because she was THAT GIRL! She was a girl who was dating for fun and I loved seeing her navigate her roster with her choices. Dating with options isn't often something we see in romance books, but I do like how it was shown in this one. We even saw in Curvy Girl Summer! It's very realistic. Obviously Nina had her fave amongst her options. He was definitely as fun as she described.

This story was pretty low stakes even with the little drama that it had. Most of the issues came with the conflict of careers, but I love how Nina didn't allow a man to dictate her choices when it came to her career.

Overall I really enjoyed this story. It was a fun read and I'm really excited to see what Jasmine has going on! And, as always, Wesleigh Siobhan did an amazing job narrating! She never disappoints.
Profile Image for Gina Loves 2 Read .
122 reviews32 followers
June 25, 2025
When the FMC has a fun one, a smart one, a romantic one and a funny one....you already know you're in for a treat! I thoroughly enjoyed this book!
No heavy topics....just FUN!
Nina was confident, and I loved that for her!
Russ was EVERYTHING!
This book is perfect to bring with you to the beach! It screams Summer! 🏖☀️👙🌸
Spice 🌶🌶🌶🌶
I'm looking forward to the 3rd installment in this series!! 🤗
Profile Image for Tonya Smith.
128 reviews39 followers
June 17, 2025
Listen to the audiobook. The Narrators did a great job.
Profile Image for BookmarkedByAlia.
231 reviews187 followers
July 9, 2025
4.25⭐️
The perfect book that got me to my 2025 reading goal of 52 books!!🎉
If you liked (or didn’t like) Curvy Girl Summer, I think you’ll love this one! Not as many uncomfortable fat shaming moments that the first one brought. This one was pure fun!! Hilarious, sweet and all about a man who wants and “takes care” of his girl…whew!! 🥵🔥🌶️
I’m even more excited for Jazz’s story now with the lead up that was sprinkled in this one.
Profile Image for JBucky.
394 reviews33 followers
June 14, 2025
“I’d been fostering men until they found their forever home. It never occurred to me that they were also fostering me until I found mine.” -Nina Ford

Let’s start with Danielle Allen wrote this book down to the GRISTLE!!!!!

Russell Long & Nina Ford came out the gate SWINGINGGGG!!!! The chemistry between the two was instantly felt!!! I love the way they were both written & the way their story developed!

Nina is without a doubt among my all-time favorite FMCs 🔥👏🏾👏🏾🥰! Top 5, FOR SURE! Although Nina was a force all by herself, Russell did not do any playing when it came to Ms. Nina Ford, okay!

I think it's a very original writing style and brilliant idea that the stories "Curvy Girl Summer" and "Plus Size Player" are sort of happening at the same time!

I could say a lot more, but I don’t want to give away the book. I’ll finish with, I'm eager to read Jazmin's story, especially in light of the recent happenings. Additionally, this audiobook being narrated by Wesleigh Siobhan…. TOOPPPPPP TIERRRRRRR, MMHMMMM! She always gives the characters SOOOO much life, in my opinion!

****Recieved as an ALC from NetGalley****
Profile Image for suonnahbooks.
335 reviews638 followers
June 7, 2025
Plus size player by Danielle Allen
ARC from Macmillan audio
Release date: June 10th 2025
-AHHHH I missed Danielle’s writing she puts you right into the story and the FMC’s mind
-Nina is a confident boss ass plus size woman and that’s on her PERIOD
-I relate with her closeness from her mom and friends
-I love how comfortable Nina is in herself , dating, career, sexuality is amazing I love that
-i’m cackling she has a man for everything one for fun, one for smarts, etc i LOVE HER
-Russell sounds FINEEEE OUF , im so giddy and blushing rn how do books make me feel this way
-I love their banter , also back and forth yesss i loveee their connection
-he got her shoes HE DESIGNED I’m shook and went on a helicopter ride for a date
-He is so caring and attentive, I adore seeing a plus size black woman like Nina be loved on
-I AM DELULU FOR RUSSELL
-THE SPICE OUUU GIRL YESS 🚁🔥
-ouuu the drama and forced proximity
-I could cut the tension with a knife IM OBSESSED
-can this book be a movie plzzzzz
-we love a boss man that takes charge yes lawd
-the spice geez ouuufffff ❤️‍🔥
-the dates and scenes truly came to life
-this book was AMAZING I couldn’t put it down
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Profile Image for lacie.reads.
125 reviews8 followers
June 15, 2025
Just not my cup of tea. I tried and struggled to make it through this entire book. I felt like everything was forced and too much to be realistic. I get it it’s a fictional story, but having so many body shaming instances back to back from the start of the story, repetitive and unnecessary dialogue, and strange pacing, I just couldn’t do it. I stopped reading at 50% and then read the final chapter. Honestly, even that was a letdown. I LOVED Curvy Girl Summer and I look forward to Big Girl Blitz but this one didn’t do it for me.

True rating: 2.5⭐️
Profile Image for R Michelle.
97 reviews
April 19, 2025
I'll start by saying the plot was very good, I also really enjoyed the narrator. I felt the sexual content came on fast and I was not able to connect with the main characters emotionally because all they did mostly was have sex. The phatphobia was a bit much me.
Profile Image for Chelsea.
173 reviews1,564 followers
April 10, 2025
This was my first Danielle Allen novel and WHAT A KNOCK OUT!

Nina is a plus sized GODDESS! She’s confident, successful, and has men tripping over themselves for her attention.

Russ is an infatuated love drunk dream. The way he cares for Nina, worships her, oh to be on the receiving end of his love!

This book was HOT HOT HOT and a lot of fun!

Thank you so much Net Galley, Danielle Allen, and McMillan Audio for an ALC of this phenomenal story!
Profile Image for Crystal (Melanatedreader) Forte'.
366 reviews166 followers
June 11, 2025
I finished a book today 🎊🎊🎊💜💜💜 I’m still in the feels… Daniel got me ready to fall in love again… ask me how I feel in an hour 🫠🫠🫠🫡🫡🙃 The heat is definitely on fire in this book but the representation in Nina’s character is beautiful. Self esteem out this world, secure in her self worth, and will make these men move around if they are not carrying the energy she likes! That roster was something serious! Not to even mention big daddy Russ brought all the BDE… yea read this if you like 🥵😩🙃
Profile Image for MJ.
244 reviews17 followers
June 21, 2025
I loved reading Nina’s story. Romance, spice, women’s empowerment and self love. Nina didn’t let any negativity hold her back as she pushed forward to achieve her dreams. Of course Russ found the woman of his dreams in her! I look forward to the 3rd book of this series, because I think Jazz’s story is going to be emotional
Profile Image for DeannaReadsandSleeps.
570 reviews336 followers
May 24, 2025


author danielle allen + narrator wesleigh siobhan = unbeatable combo.

this was sexy and romantic and fun! nina and russ were DELIGHTFULLY freaked out. also, nina was just a treat of a mc to follow, and it enjoyed they way she constantly stood up for herself no matter the setting. one thing she wasn't going to tolerate was any type of disrespect. also, i loved watching her win both her personal goals and her man. their chemistry?????? yeah. at one point people were watching me applaud while we were stuck in bumper to bumper traffic. my only complaint was similar to the last book, in that sometimes the conversations go on much longer in some scenes than necessary, and that some of them can get quite repetitive, but overall, this was a fantastic second book, and i can't wait for the third.

like y'all...i really ate this up.
Profile Image for Alaina.
291 reviews55 followers
July 29, 2025
it took me so long to finish this only because i was procrastinating since i liked it so much. i didn’t want it to end 😩 as curvy girl summer was my book of the summer last year, plus size player is my book of the summer this year! the way danielle allen writes is almost addicting she makes me genuinely laugh and swoon and all that. i cannot waaaait for book 3!
Profile Image for Book Riot Community.
1,026 reviews287k followers
Read
June 4, 2025
Book Riot's Best New Romance Books Out in June:

If you loved Nina in Curvy Girl Summer, get ready for her antics in Plus Size Player, which runs concurrently with the other book. You don’t have to read Aaliyah’s book to get into this one, but I recommend it because it’s a pretty good book (even if those two aggravated me oh my god).

Ahem.

Nina is a player. She has a man for all moods, but one of her regulars is starting to hit more and more of her buttons for the perfect partner. Unfortunately, he turns out to be the CEO of the company she just signed a modeling deal with, and the company has a no-fraternization rule. Whoops. —Jessica Pryde
Profile Image for Breeee Ranae⚜️.
266 reviews67 followers
June 10, 2025
Happy Pub Day 🥳

I loved this downnnn🌶️🥵

Second installment after Curvy Girl summer following Nina a plus sized model & influencer. Nina is dating multiple men as she shouldddd. A whole roster boo. She eventually falls for the fun guy Russell. When I tell you these ppl couldn’t get enough of each other I was jealous LMAO.

The plot twist Was crazy didn’t even see that coming & they STRESSED me out. The audio was chefs kiss Wesleigh Siobhan always eats down.

Highly recommend this one.

Thank you Netgalley & Macmillan Audio for the ALC
Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,038 reviews

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