We want to thank Maggie for sending us this request. It was long overdue and I was surprised that we hadn’t received something similar sooner.
I am very new to the romance genre, and would love to read some books with some plus-sized heroines, especially if thatâs not the entire plot of the book. I donât need beautiful fat ladies hating themselves, but a little insecurity is totally reasonable. Hopefully you can help!
Amanda: First, I want to say that this is tough because women’s sizing in fashion is all sorts of fucked up. A clothing designer may consider anything above a size 6. Torrid (known for plus-size fashions) starts their sizes at a 10. According to Wikipedia, the average American woman is a size 14. So for this, I don’t think any of us are recommending books based on a heroine’s dress size because I don’t know if “plus-size” has any universally agreed upon definition where numbers are concerned.
Also…fuck women’s fashion and their lack of a standard, universal sizing chart. And give us more pockets!
Sarah: Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie, obvs. ( A | BN | K | G | AB )
Carrie: Bet Me! Same with If the Dress Fits by Carla Guzman.
Elyse: Savor You by Kristen Proby ( A | BN | K | G | AB ).
Amanda: Dumplinâ by Julie Murphy ( A | BN | K | G | AB | Au ). This book is more YA, but itâs so sweet. Highly recommend it if you also love Dolly Parton.
Rebekah Weatherspoon! I read Haven ( A | BN | K ) and it has a great heroine.
Sarah: A Whole Lot of Love by Justine Davis ( A | BN | K | G ) (ugh, the title but the book itself its charming).
Amanda: Cream of the Crop by Alice Clayton. The heroine is an advertising exec who loves artisan cheese. A woman after my own heart.
Sarah: Take Me by Bella Andre – one of her earlier titles but I really liked that one. ( A | BN | K | G | AB )
Glutton for Pleasure by Alisha Rai (I think that’s the right one) and Wrong to Need You – Sadia is curvy too ( A | BN | K | G | AB ).
Amanda: Elyse, what about The Princess Trap? ( A )
Elyse: Sheâs never explicitly described as plus sized but she is larger.
Or maybe curvy is the right word?
Ranting aside, what books would you recommend? Who are your favorite plus-size heroines?
Would Jemima J qualify?
@MariaF
Yes! Pleasure for Pleasure is it.
“One Night with a Billionaire” by Jessica Clare (Note that this is the last of her “Billionaire Boys Club” series and although technically a stand alone, really reads better if you’ve read “Beauty and the Billionaire” (featuring a virgin hero, a former Rec League request) and “The Wrong Billionaire’s Bed.”) There’s another one tickling my brain ….
@Min: I have many books like that – I don’t remember the particulars, but I remember the bitter aftertaste. No worries!
I’m curious: I can’t think of a single book with a plus size hero. Literally the only thing that comes close is one of those Jude Deveraux books where only the true love can tell twins apart, and one of the heroines finds the identical twin of her love interest to be a little “beefy.” Any plus size heroes around?
I seem to remember that Avery from Lisa Kleypas’ “Brown-Eyed Girl” describes herself more than once as “curvy” and definitely not slim/skinny. However, the reason I remember this is that there were several repetitions along the lines of “Oh, I’ll never find love, men don’t want curvy smart-mouthed redheads like me!” and I kept setting the book down and saying “REALLY?”
Gretchen Galway has several plus size heroines. I enjoyed Love Handles, and it seems to me her non-Oakland Hills books involve larger heroines as well. I really enjoy Galway because her characters seem so grounded and real to me. Her stuff is pretty funny as well.
I second Amy Andrews’ Playing it Cool and the more recent Playing House which features one of those short size twelves with imperfect proportions.
I also 4th or 5th Ruthie Knox’s Truly. I think it’s my favorite book by a favorite author. Cosway’s Painted Faces is another favorite. Chunky, working class girl next door meets beautiful transvestite lounge singer with a past. Snarky dialog. Dublin. I loved it.
The Corinna Chapman mystery series by Kerry Greenwood stars a former finance wizard turned baker living in Melbourne. Greenwood’s description of Corinna pulls no punches and eschews those hazy fake-fat descriptions. She is an unembarrassed size 20 and she gets the best boy friend. It’s manna in the desert (or dessert) of ladies living large.
Finally, I want to second @KarenF’s Carla Kelly rec because Ms Kelly’s heroes are generally “real” men whose heroism is determined by thoughts and acts rather than pecs and abs. In fact, could that be a future Rec League? I’m not looking for heroes with dramatic scars or other afflictions to ratchet up the angst, rather guys who are physically ordinary. Flat tummies are nice, but six and eight packs–hell I may have read a reference to a freaking twelve pack recently–and giant muscles everywhere are not only unrealistic in men who don’t hold a second job nurturing their muscles but also are not that devastatingly attractive in the extreme form. At least not to me. In fact, I may only want the muscles to be irrelevant to the hero’s attractiveness rather than nonexistent. Does that make sense?
I second Penny Reidâs Grin and Beard It. I liked this book a lot and the series in general. It’s book two of the Winston Brother’s series so she’s also a side character in the subsequent books.
Ok, Sarah Morgan has book that was originally titled Ripped; however, it has since been rereleased and retitled. It starts with the heroine participating in her ex boyfriend’s wedding while wearing a too-tight yellow (?) tube dress, which splits while during the ceremony. I found it to be hilarious but, as always, ymmv.
Jasinda Wilder has a series titled Big Girls Do It. This has been languishing in my TBR for some time so I am unable to attest to its readability.
Fabulous Rec League! I’m busy one-clicking over here, for the books that I haven’t already read!
Hope I’m not repeating, but Sarra Manning’s “You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me” is about a 20-something Brit who, although having lost some weight over years on a strict diet and exercise plan, still has body issues and considers herself fat and unlovable. She learns differently!
You guys seem to have all missed the Perfect Fit Series by Sugar Jamison. The fact they’re plus size is part of the story but these girls have it going on. I think Dangerous Curves Ahead and Thrown for a Curve were the best of the series.
Love this topic! I want to chime in on the Bet Me sub-discussion since it’s probably the first rec that jumps to a lot of readers’ minds:
I hate that mirror scene.
I know it’s written into a lot of books with a “plus-sized” heroine, so it’s a popular trope, but the idea of it is so condescending and creepy to me! For those who have never read it, basically the hero drags a woman in front of a full length mirror and tenderly points out everything he feels is beautiful to him about her body (of course he especially loves everything she’s insecure about).
I have read Bet Me 5+ times and I have to quickly thumb past that part while my skin crawls. There are lots of reasons I hate it, but the main one is that its so objectifying to take a body piece by piece and comment on it.
I get that it’s supposed to be romantic, but I nope so hard that a man would get the notion to do that.
The whole situation gives me cringe after cringe. Anyone else have strong feelings about the romantic/discomfiting mirror scene?
I love most of Crusie’s books, but Bet Me is the one that left me cold. I disliked the mirror scene for the reasons stated by Sam, and I also hate the fact that her horrible relationship with her mother is left unresolved, other than her mother being mollified that Min is validated by winning a conventionally attractive man. I also hated Min’s friend who constantly attacked Cal, supposedly in Min’s defense, but it really felt like she infantilized Min and robbed her of agency and the ability to make her own decisions. It felt to me as if this friend was the mirror image of the mother, assuming the worst of Cal, because the underlying assumption is that he could never actually be attracted to Min.
Oh, and I’ll suggest the YA “The Upside of Unrequited” by Becky Albertalli, which has brief cameos from Abby, Simon, and Nick from “Simon and the Homosapien Agenda,” the book on which “Love, Simon” is based.
Megan Mulry’s “If the Shoe Fits” has plus sized heroine (a source of discord with her stepmother). Competence porn and real estate porn. All excellent. Hero sort of a bozo but good grovel.
@Prathi
Totally agree, the characters in Bet Me were not the high point of Crusie’s romance novels for me. And excellent point about the friend who was convinced she was the gatekeeper to make sure men liked Min in the way she felt was valid.
Honestly, best character in that book was the barfy little boy who was obsessed with fish. Maybe he was a plot moppet but I just adored him.
Christa Kelley has a series of BBW bear shifter. the 3 I read are Bear in Charge, Bear in Need, Bear in Hiding.
Jacqueline Sweet, Honeybear Pie, also part of a series BBW bear shifters
I am also positive I’ve read a series about 3 brothers, wolf shifters who live in the southern USA and all of them adore BBW but my spreadsheet didn’t mention that detail and I think I read them before I started documenting on Goodreads.
I can see I have to add BBW as a tag in Goodreads.
I was reminded by Hera’s that Jude Deveraux has a plus-sized heroine in Wishes. Fair warning though it was published in 1989 so you know there is going to be some crazy sauce in it.
On the subject of tall heroines, I have a different experience. I have read a lot of romances about tall heroines but short ones I have trouble finding. Short like plus-sized seems to be a relative concept. I have to roll my eyes when the heroine complains she is soooo short, you know, 5 foot 4 inches. Which is of course average height. I defy anyone to find any real descriptions of sex between a short (say 5 foot tall) woman and even an average height man which would require some accommodations. Apparently there is no possible way to make that hot so oh well lets just make her taller.
A favorite of mine are the mysteries by G. A. McKevett. The plots have romantic and comic elements, and the heroine is a former police officer turned private detective. Iâve enjoyed every one.
Elisa Braden’s The Truth about Cads and Dukes is an historical featuring an overweight heroine. (I also like that the book’s cover reflects this, though I do wonder what the heck she’s wearing.)
Full disclosure: Jane is short and plump (I didn’t realize that was an advantage over tall and plump), but her bigger issue appearance-wise is that she’s plain. She’s also shy and a bookworm, and what I like about this collation of cliched characteristics is that they displace the weight issue, which barely registers.
@Diana — I understand your feelings about representation in books, but as a short, curvy, big-boobed not necessarily hot lady who is currently experiencing “boo-hoo, this wrap dress just… literally drapes open to the navel on me… can’t teach math in this!” it’s not all roses. (Trying to find dresses that work with breastfeeding/pumping. I think no dresses for me for a while đ )
Great recs in this thread.
@ Kate K.F. Do you mean UNWRAPPING HER PERFECT MATCH by Kat Latham? The heroine is 6’1″ and full figured.
Fit Series by Rebekah Weatherspoon is favorite of mine.
@Elizabeth, yes, that’s the one. I remember fondly the scene where they have sex I think in a tent and she’s in beautiful green lingerie and slightly spilling out which he loves. After this discussion, that seems like a pretty common larger than normal heroine trope but it worked for me there.
I need to go back to Kat Latham’s books. At one point I think I read three or four in a row then took a break because she’s one of the contemporary authors that really works for me alongside Elizabeth Harmon with her ice skating books.
Eloisa James has some heroes who are described as having a bit of heft to them – Rees, Earl of Godwin, is dishevelled and rumpled and has a bit of a tummy to him, I remember. But the heroine is one of those tiny wafty ethereal things so you have to put up with the descriptions of how delicate she is in order to enjoy a hero without a six-pack. (Alas, I have size 11 feet. I have never worried if I’m too delicate to attract a man, but I have worried about them not being to fill my shoes.)
In between appointments with no time for research, so help me out if I’ve got the wrong book, but I’m thinking it’s Emma Holly’s “Cooking Up a Storm” that has the “Juno-esque” heroine. It’s definitely one of her classic Black Lace eroticas from the late 1990’s-early 2000’s (it may be a different one, but IIRC, a lot of Holly’s heroines run towards curvy/fleshy). They’re now in e-books published by E-bury. Expensive, but so well written.
PS – has SBTB ever interviewed Emma Holly?
I thought of anotherâwhich I donât think has been mentioned yetâAlisha Raiâs THE CABIN: full-figured heroine (with what might be described as a âgiftâ for both healing and destruction), enforced proximity in said cabin with injured hero who likes her curves.
I loved “One and Only” by Jenny Holiday, which features a curvy heroine. She has some insecurities about her body, but it’s not the focus of the whole story. It’s an enemies-to-lovers romance — the heroine is a bridesmaid in her best friend’s wedding, and when the groom’s bad boy brother comes to town, she volunteers herself to keep an eye on him as a way to get out of doing increasingly ridiculous wedding-related stuff. I thought it was delightful. Great dialogue, super sexy, and the heroine is a YA fantasy author!
Stace: I liked the Sugar Jamison books too. It’s been awhile since I read these but I remember them being light and funny. There was at least one where the heroine is very tall (6 ft?). I feel like she hasn’t written anything in a couple of years, I hope she is still writing.
I don’t remember it to well after all this time, but I also found BET ME to be extremely disappointing. Every character bothered me in some way and I remember struggling not to rage-quit several times. It’s only upside is that the hero is a “feeder”, and it was such a missed opportunity to explore a less well-known fetish… but its this aspect of him cramming her full of doughnuts all the time that made me feel that all she really was to him was a chance to explore his fantasy.
Defying the Odds by Kele Moon has a heroine who thinks she’s “dumpy” but is described as plump and beautiful, and the hero is super into her curves. Not much self-pitying on her part, no weight loss discussed, and the hero helps her love and accept herself as a whole (the weight is a pretty minor part of it).
(CW for abuse as part of her backstory.) It was a HaBO a few weeks back and I snarfed it in one go! It’s a yummy read.
Good in Bed! Classic Jen Weiner
@Lora. You beat me to it. I was going to say Good in Bed as well. It’s more chick lit than romance but I love it.
Gretchen Galway’s Oakland Hills series has a range of body shapes (for FMC and MMC’s alike), but the first two feature curvier/larger than average ladies. The entire series is on my reread shelf – good dialogue, range of plot devices/tropes, and a quirky mom/grandma/well-intentioned-but-nosy neighbor too!
Katie Graykowski is another author with a variety of body types in her series. The first book in the Lone Star series (set in Austin, MMCs all connected to a pro football team), Perfect Summer, has a tall, curvy FMC and is another one I’ve enjoyed rereading (as are most of Graykowski’s titles).
I remember JEMIMA J featuring a plus-size heroine, but I have a worried feeling it might not have aged well on a re-read.
Jilly Cooper’s LISA & CO. (short stories) featured a heroine who was ashamed of her large thighs until a man she liked bought her fishnets and she felt super sexy in them and was finally happy with her body. I remember being so charmed by that one and having to be talked out of fishnets when I was, admittedly, probably far too young for them. đ
I saw The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli recommended further upthread. Her new release, Leah on the Offbeat is a YA romance with a plus size bisexual heroine and also features the characters from Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda and Love, Simon (the movie adaptation). It’s very sweet.
Just chiming in to second a bunch of recs.
You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me by Sarra Manning is a twice a year reread, I LOVE it.
Wishes by Jude Deveraux was the first book I’d ever read where the heroine had feelings about her body like I did.
Kiss Chase by Fiona Walker – I adore this story.
Jemima J was something I loved at 18, but hasn’t aged very well (and it’s more body-shaming than anything positive).
Wasn’t the lead from The Wall of Winnipeg and Me by Mariana Zapata plus sized at the start of the book? (I love that book, but hate her slut shaming dialogue between her female characters, ugh.)
Agreeing with all of the comments about Bet Me being underwhelming. I never got it, either.
The hero in Delphine Dryden’s Principle of Desire is described as sloppy and soft – which might as well be obese in romance-landia, home of the chiseled abs – but he’s also the perfect kisser.
I have major doubts about how all these super height mismatched couples having sex standing up…
@Hera @Tam Yes!!! Plus size heros- where are they? I’ve only ever read one đ