Caro Carson's Blog - Posts Tagged "cinnamon-roll-hero"

Cinnamon Roll, Anyone?

I love romance novels, whether reading or writing them. That happily-ever-after ending is an absolute must. I can handle having my heart torn apart in the middle of a book as long as I know the right people will end up together in the end. The path to that happily-ever-after follows a trope--a classic plot line, like Cinderella--but with each author's own unique take or twist. Other classic tropes are the marriage of convenience, the fake fiancée, and enemies-to-lovers. But a relatively new term to me is cinnamon roll. What kind of story is that trope?

It turns out this trope is one I've been writing! Instead of a ruthless alpha male who must learn how to love someone, this hero's outer strength doesn't prevent him from knowing his inner feelings--and when it comes to the heroine, his feelings for her are warm and sweet. In short, his heart is a gooey cinnamon roll. He may not act on those feelings for a dozen different reasons, and those feelings cause him pain, because the heroine can't or won't return his love for any of a hundred different reasons, but from the beginning of the book, the hero thinks the heroine is pretty special.

The Slow Burn is my newest cinnamon-roll romance. Lieutenant Caden Sterling is a firefighter who rescues humans on the job and horses off-duty. The heroine is new to town, taking over as the coach of the Masterson University swim team, and Caden is bowled over by her when they first meet at a CPR class. He must fight his own feelings, though, because it turns out that our heroine is facing an unexpected pregnancy. Her boyfriend has abruptly left her--and the country--so Caden is determined to be the friend she needs right now. Just friends....

You can guess that this situation can't last forever, especially not after our firefighter delivers his heroine's baby on the side of the road. Caden wages a campaign to fight his way out of the friend zone and win the heart of the woman who's had his from the get-go.