This Rec League request comes from Reader Kate, who is in search for heroines who aren’t always described as petite. Here’s her email:
I’m 6’1″ tall and I often feel underrepresented by the tall ladies in romances, so I’m putting out a request for romances with very tall heroines.
I’m also genuinely curious about the number of romances out there where the heroine is taller than the hero. I can only think of one which is Susan Napier’s Mistress Deception (which I loved, and possibly found on this site).
I’ve compiled some books with tall heroines based on things I’ve read, book descriptions, and recommendations from fellow readers. I’m not sure if any of the heroines are taller than the heroine, but I believe most of the heroines are above 5’8″.
Contemporary Romances
Just One of the Guys by Kristan Higgins ( A | BN | K | G | AB | Au ) – Chastity is a journalist who is 5’11” while not in heels and she wants to work on embracing her femininity.
Saddled and Spurred by Lorelei James ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) – A former beauty queen turned rough and tumble cowgirl! James’ books are also on the erotic side.
Truly by Ruthie Knox. We had a great guest review of this romance and I also found this lovely quote from Goodreads reviewer Duchess Nicole:
Ruthie Knox nails it with this quirky, fun, sexy story. May is a fantastic heroine, and one I can easily relate to. She’s a giantess, and all her parts match her size. Being a tall girl myself, I can easily relate to May’s insecurities. It’s not often “tall” translates into “willowy”, as so many romance books will have you believe. More often than not, we tall girls feel large and clumsy. It’s great to be with a guy who’s tall…not necessarily because we only find tall guys attractive, but because they make US feel dainty and feminine. This was a point May made very well, if only in her head.
A Gentleman in the Street by Alisha Rai ( A | BN | K | AB ). I read this book a while ago, so I can’t for sure say the heroine is tall, but it did show up on a number of Goodreads lists featuring tall heroines. The heroine, Akira, is a badass bisexual billionaire.
All Summer Long by Susan Mallery ( A | BN | K | AB ) features a tomboy, firefighter heroine and a hero who was a former underwear model.
Historical Romances
It Happened One Autumn by Lisa Kleypas ( A | BN | K | AB ). This is my favorite book in the Wallflowers quartet and features a sassy, American heiress.
The Lady Hellion by Joanna Shupe has a tall heroine who disguises herself as a man to get some info. Redheadedgirl also gave it an A-.
We’ve featured Once a Soldier by Mary Jo Putney ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) in a couple of our Books on Sale posts. Here’s how the heroine is described in the jacket copy:
Knowing herself to be too tall, strong, and unconventional to appeal to a man, Athena Markham has always gloried in her independence. But for the first time in her life, she finds a man who might be her match.
And come on, her name is Athena!
Sarah recommends Devil’s Bride by Stephanie Laurens ( A | BN | K | G | AB | Au ). The heroine is sometimes referred to as “Long Meg.”
Additionally, both Sarah MacLean’s No Good Duke Goes Unpunished ( A | BN | K | G | AB | Au ) and Eileen Dreyer’s Never a Gentleman ( A | BN | K | AB ) also feature taller heroines!
For paranormal romances, it’s harder to pin down since a lot of them have supernatural characters, which sometimes make them 6’0″ or taller.
Do you know of any taller heroines, especially ones who may be taller than the hero?
Into the Night by Suzanne Brockmann has a very tall heroine. If you like sexy, strong, capable protagonists and heroes – and who doesn’t?! – in an action/suspense setting, she often has diverse casts of characters, including in stature.
Searching for Dragons by Patricia Wrede is a YA novel, so not a straight-up romance. But it has a lot of romance elements, and is one of the reasons I ended up as a romance reader as an adult. Lighthearted, funny, sweet fairy tale with a heroine who is the exact same height as the hero (both are tall) which is used as short-hand for them being exactly equal, exactly right for each other.
In “Some Brief Folly” by Patricia Veryan the heroine is a very tall and immensely capable women.
In my favorite Urban Fantasy series “Charming” by Elliott James the heroes romantic interest Sig is very tall, the same size he is, and she is stronger than him. Which never seems to worry him. The romance is rather slow in that series, but I love it. Also I like the way the characters evolve.
Love this thread! It’s right up my alley, being 5’11 myself.
Years ago, I bought Johanna Lindsey’s Heart Of A Warrior because the heroine was described as 6 feet tall. I ended up hating the book, but that’s another story.
Recently I read and enjoyed Marie Harte’s Roadside Assistance featuring a tall and statuesque heroine (though not taller than the hero).
I also love Kat Latham’s Unwrapping Her Perfect Match
Shelly Laurenston has many tall heroines in her books. My favorites are Dee-Ann Smith (6 ft 2 inch I think)
from “Beast Behaving Badly” and Sara Morrighan from “Pack Challenge”.
Most of the ones I thought of were already named, but there’s also “A Breath of Scandal” by Elizabeth Essex. The heroine is described as tall and athletic. Very early in the book, at her first formal ball, she punches out her dance partner, who touches her inappropriately, and the hero is immediately attracted because she’s not like all the other insipid misses he’s met. Several of Essex’s books have athletic heroines, who are on the tall side iirc.
Yes, people listed most of the books I thought of too! And I’ll admit to writing really atrocious Vickie Bliss/Trojan Gold fan fiction at some point in my 20s. Oh, was it bad. But I recently reread the real Vickie Bliss stories (thankfully can’t find mine!) and they hold up quite well to time!
I think the heroine in Shannon Stacey’s FULLY IGNITED (Boston Fire #3) was pretty tall – her name’s Jamie and she’s a lieutenant in the department. Honestly, there wasn’t a lot of high conflict – but that’s what I like about Shannon Stacey and the whole Boston Fire series. Good people who work things out. I’m especially happy to read that right now at this point in time, because I want that to be true in the world and I’m kind of looking for less conflict around me.
And the heroine in LAST HOUR OF GANN was described as distinctly zaftig, but was she also tall? I don’t remember.
I feel like one of the heroines in the classic Amanda Quick Regencies is tall, but it’s not Harriet in Ravished (the paleontologist). Can’t remember who it might be, but I do think there is one.
And I know I picture my heroine Theresa in FIRST TO BURN as tall, she’s a former college soccer player (which comes up in an action scene), but I did a search on the text and nowhere do I actually say how tall she is. That surprised me, since I had a mental image of an army doctor I knew who is 5’10” or 5’11” as my model. (And I’m 5’3″ish so that’s TALL to me). But she’s definitely tall in my mind, I’m just surprised I never said how tall she was.
I’ll make sure I’m more specific about details like that in future books, because that was an interesting question to look up and realize I hadn’t included.
@Cat G hadn’t thought of Suzanne Brockmann until you mentioned it and that jogged my memory. Not sure if this is what the requester wants since I can’t remember if the heroine is short or tall BUT the hero in Brockmann’s Over the Edge is specifically called out as short if I recall correctly. I loved this book – one of my very favorite of Brockmann’s but TW for mentions/descriptions of child sex abuse in one of the character’s backstory.
Sorry but I should also mention another TW for Over the Edge of rape in the underlying suspense storyline that doesn’t involved either main character.
I think the heroine of Love Song for a Raven by Elizabeth Lowell is tall and has always felt like men see her as one of the boys. The hero is taller than she is, but she still worries a lot about not being tiny and “feminine”.
I recommend the Dr. Benjamin Bones Mysteries series by Emma Jameson. Setting: England just on the eve of WWII. The heroine is at least six feet while Ben Bones is about 5’7″. She is local gentry where he has been assigned to civilian service in a small town in Cornwall. First book: “Murder Can be Deadly”. Three books in series so far. Very slow burn ‘friends to lovers’ so you’ll need to read all three books to see any romantic progress. And it does progress, I promise.
Thanks @Sandra, Benjamin Bones and pre-WWII England (esp. Cornwall) just set off my catnip alarm.
Tracy Anne Warren’s Seduced By His Touch includes a heroine who is both tall and NOT willowy.
1) For the First Time by Kathryn Smith. The hero is a soldier who is immediately smitten with the heroine and vice versa. There was only one issue I took with the book, a brushed off attempted assault later in the novel, but overall I enjoyed it.
2) To Seduce a Sinner Elizabeth Hoyt. 2nd in Legend of the Four Soldier Series. Heroine is described as bespectacled, tall, with not the best eye for fashion. She has had a tendre for the hero for quite sometime and has told no one. Hero is a former soldier (described as tall and lanky) whose betrothed leaves him on his wedding day and the heroine offers to take her place and he accepts. Watching them get to know more about each other, after marriage no less, is sweet. It’s one of my favorite Hoyt books, and historical romances overall.
I don’t think anyone has mentioned A Season for Love by Blair Bancroft. It’s a traditional Regency (ie, no sex) and features two romances, one between a Duke who needs an heir and a tall, unfashionable widow, and the other between the Duke’s somewhat estranged daughter and the widow’s younger brother, a Viscount. I don’t remember much about it now, but I rated it with a B at the time I read it, and I have to say, that after reading the description, I’m thinking this one is due for a re-read LOL.
Oops! Emma Jameson’s first Dr Benjamin Bones Mysteries book is, “Marriage Can be Murder”, not “Murder Can be Deadly”. Mea culpa. 8-(