This Rec League comes from our very own Elyse, who was inspired by a particular scene she recently read. And of course, a new catnip was discovered and she wants more of it.
Elyse: So after completely falling in love with Felicity on Arrow and also reading Look to the Stars, I want a smart, slightly awkward heroine who doesn’t realize she’s being wooed.
There’s a great part in Look to the Stars where the hero is like “I was courting you.”
And she says, “Wait, is that what you were doing?”
And he’s like, “Well now I feel super bad about myself.”
Amanda: I feel so bummed out because I can’t remember anything I’ve read that has this.
Then again, I’ve been traveling and my allergies have made an awful appearance.
Sarah: Girl from Mars by Julie Cohen ( A | BN | K | AB ) is like that, as is the Six de Los Reyes book, Love and Other Chemical Reactions.
Does anyone know of a similar romance with a heroine who’s oblivious to being wooed?
Midsummer Moon by Laura Kinsale has a touch of this.
(And now I want recs because this is 100% how it went down with my partner- him wooing, me cheerfully oblivious to his existence. It’s worked out pretty well so far!)
Oh I love this! Let’s see. I feel like Jo Goodman employs this trope… Never Love a Lawman and If His Kiss is Wicked come to mind. I also think Kristen Ashley has done this… maybe Law Man? The one where her neighbor is a police officer?
In terms of the sexy/awkward heroine who doesn’t know she’s being wooed– I think Neanderthal Meets Human by Penny Reid fits that perfectly…
Also seems like this is a big trope in YA. I can remember reading several books where the awkward girl can’t figure out why the super hott/campus stud is talking to her and wants to be around her etc.
Excited to see other people’s recs!
One of my favourites: Tinker by Wen Spencer. Girl genius running a salvage business, marrying an elven prince by accident after going on an absoutly akward date with Mr. Not-Right.
Penny Reid’s Elements of Attraction series has a super awkward heroine with a touch of social anxiety that likes to hide in cabinets. Hero is the hot stud athlete who is nursing a crush on his lab partner and she’s totally clueless. Great series even though I found the heroine frustrating at times. First person POV and it’s definitely NA.
Ravished by Amanda Quick – sort of.
Oh man, I relate to this trope so very much – I’m extremely oblivious to wooing.
Here’s my fave comic on the subject – https://www.autostraddle.com/saturday-morning-cartoons-bad-reception-284398/
Penny Reid’s Neanderthal Seeks Human is exactly what you are looking for. A HUGE part of the books is this scenario exactly. Highly recommend it.
A rich vein of these in manga; some with an ” oblivious” tag, like TV Tropes, most tagged with variants of “dense”.
Eg https://www.mangaupdates.com/series.html?category=Dense+Female+Lead
Ooh, I’m very much looking forward to all the recommendation comments here.
@Jiobal – I’ve owned a copy of Tinker for years but haven’t gotten around to reading it. Now it’s been bumped up to the top of my e-TBR. 🙂
These two are fantasy, but they make great use of this trope:
Summers at Castle Auburn by Sharon Shinn
Bastard daughter spends the summers at court and the off-season with her herbwitch grandmother. Lots of court intrigue, and I was really surprised by the ending!
The Trouble with Kings – Sherwood Smith
I seriously go back and re-read sections of this book on a monthly basis. Princess is abducted and shenanigans ensue.
This trope is a great re-read trope for me because I *love* the dramatic irony when the heroine is completely clueless, and the hero is barely containing himself. He he he.
The Oracle Glass by Judith Merkle Riley (one of my favorite books, set in 17th century Paris) has this. The heroine (club footed datheists philosopher turned fortune teller) doesn’t quite get she is desirable for her brains.
A Civil Campaign by Lois Mcmaster Bujold. That dinner party when Miles loses it and she realizes what’s been going on. Lol.
And Emma!
I second? third? the Neanderthal Seeks Human recommendation (and ALL Penny Reid’s books). Also, there was some good Olicity in the new Arrow book. (Arrow: A Generation of Vipers by Clay & Susan Griffith)
Flipping For Francie by Jane Graves, a cute short stort that fits the bill
Flipping For Francie by Jane Graves, a cute short stort that fits the bill
Flipping For Francie by Jane Graves, a cute short stort that fits the bill
Just a heads up that I went to check out Penny Reid’s Neanderthal Seeks Human and it’s free on Kindle on both the UK and US sites. Looks good too 🙂
What about Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell?
Maybe Mr. Impossible by Loretta Chase? It’s so obvious he’s not actually stupid, and he’s giving her exactly what she wants all the time so she can be not bored, as she is by regular courting. She seems extremely clueless all the way. At least, I think it’s in pretty much the same amount of obliviousness as Ravished by Amanda Quick (and those are two of my all-time favorites, I reread them all the time).
Mariana Zapata, specifically The Wall of Winnipeg and Rhythm, Chord, and Malykhin. Although really all of her titles.
Definitely Kristen Ashley, too, like mentioned before. Law Man, Sweet Dreams, to a degree the second in the Magdalene series (Soaring?).
Maybe Aly Martinez? The third On the Ropes book…
Keeping the Castle by Patrice Kindl has hints of this. It’s a lighthearted/humorous historical. The heroine is more than a bit oblivious, I remember there’s a scene where the hero sends her a puppy as a present and she mistakenly believes it’s from his cousin. Might be more YA than Romance tho, I read it years ago so I don’t remember it very well.
Not a novel, but Michael Jacobs’ 2009 play Impressionism IS this trope. Perennially anxious, relationship-shy gallery owner gives traumatized war photographer a job in her gallery. He keeps trying to display a Chagall travel poster for the Riviera that she thinks is tacky. Several conversations with various couples and individuals later, he says something along the lines of “Woman! I’ve been inviting you to the Riviera with me every morning for the past X years!!” “Oh,” she says, replacing a lock of hair behind her ear. “Is… is there anything else I’ve been missing?”
This is one of my favorite tropes. It’s sort of Darcy-ish when you think about it. My recommendations are for historical: Edenbrooke by Julianne Donaldson. YA: Enthusiasm by Polly Shulman. Mystery: Murder in Thrall by Anne Cleeland (the whole series is great, but she figures out the wooing mid-way through the first book). A recent read: Stealing Mr. Right by Tamara Morgan. They are married, but she doesn’t realize that he LOVES her.
And strongly agree with the Kristen Ashley’s Law Man. Any Penelope Reid.
Can’t wait to check out the other recommendations!!
Howl’s Moving Castle, by Diana Wynne Jones, popped into my mind when I was trying to think of books that would fit the description. It’s YA fantasy, but I love the romance. Sophie spends most of the book in the body of an old woman, and she starts out thinking of Howl as a somewhat a shallow vain flirt, and seeing how she is oblivious to his courting is really sweet.
I think The Viscount’s Scandalous Return by Anne Ashley fits. It’s been a few years since I did a reread.
In Sally Thorne’s The Hating Game she’s definitely clueless that he’s into her, but he’s been socially awkward enough that she thinks he hates her, so I don’t know that it’s flirting per se.
The Perfect Rake by Anne Gracie has some “He Knew From the Start” aspects too, and a truly delightful scene where he is arranging a carriage ride in the park with her and her beautiful sisters and she thinks he’s trying to cut her out and sit next to all of them and meanwhile he is gleefully manipulating things so they end up walking alone.
I’ll put in my vote for Penny Reid, Mariana Zapata, and Sally Thorne’s The Hating Game. All good choices for this trope I adore!
It’s the “socially awkward” part that makes this challenging. There are lots of stories, starting with “Pride and prejudice,” in which the hero keeps slaying the heroine’s dragons (figuratively speaking), and she doesn’t notice/realize until the end of the book. That would include Linda Howard’s “Cry no more,” and lots of Betty Neels’ books. Then there’s the ones where he slays the dragon, but she thinks he’s just being, you know, a white knight or something, like Carla Kelly’s “Mrs Drew plays her hand,” or Georgette Heyers’ like “Arabella” and “Frederica” and “Black sheep.” The only one I can think of, off hand, with the geeky/bluestocking heroine is another Amanda Quick, “Deception.”
Thought of another one…
The Nadia Stafford trilogy by Kelley Armstrong. “Dee” is a hit woman and “Jack” is a hit man she thinks comes to visit her to keep tabs on her. When she almost gets killed at one point he is so angry, but she thinks it’s because she messed up not because he is scared of losing her. The payoff doesn’t come until book 3, but make sure you have a fan handy. You’re going to need it.
Thought of another one! Sanditon by Jane Austen and “A lady.” Someone finished this book that Jane Austen left unfinished when she died. I love the way she honored Austen and put in her own style, too. And the heroine is super smart, despite her obliviousness to the wooing!
@Lucy, THANK YOU SO MUCH for the heads up on a currently recced book being free! Yay, so fortuitous.
Charming Sir Charles by Anna Campbell. Heroine is her niece’s chaperone and is convinced the hero is about to propose to the niece.
You’re welcome, Sue C!
I have to agree with The Hating Game rec. I read it a couple of months ago, and it was the first book – let alone romance – that I had enjoyed in a long time due to an extended bout of reader’s block (it IS a thing).
I also recommend Anything You Can Do by R.S. Grey – the heroine (Daisy) and her friend’s brother (Lucas) have been competitive their whole lives, and Daisy thinks they hate each other. They haven’t seen each other in years until they find themselves working together and in competition for power. Daisy is quite childish pushing the competition way further than necessary, but likeable enough to root for.
Another vote for “The Wall of Winnipeg”.
Simply Love by Catherine Anderson. Such a clueless heroine… I remember finding the first part of the book hilarious. (… now I have to reread it to see if it aged well!)
A Counterfeit Betrothal by Mary Balogh. The heroine asks her childhood friend to agree to a fake engagement in order to force her estranged parents into proximity for the wedding planning. I loved the hero, who spends the book teasing the oblivious heroine. However, her parents irritated me no end, especially the mother.
I was going to suggest Deception by Amanda Quick, but someone beat me to it. Actually, Amanda Quick does the romantically oblivious heroine a bit.
If you want to widen the field to “I like him, but I had no idea he’s courting me”, there’s plenty to chose from.
This genre is totally my catnip! I second the Penny Reid and Mariana Zapata books and have a couple to add. I’d say these fall less into cluelessly awkward and more cluelessly getting her sh*t done and not thinking about a man while he is pining away beside her.
Julia Justiss’ – A Most Unconventional Match
Jessica Sims – Desperately Seeking Shapeshifter
In The Duke’s Arms – Carolyn Jewel (Christmas in the Duke’s Arms collection)
Also I think a lot of the Linnea Sinclair books could fit this.
This has been my catnip since I read Anne of Green Gables as a kid. And then had to wait until I got to Anne of the Island for the payoff. This rec league is going to blow my book budget again.
The new Julie James novel The Thing about Love.