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 that’s not the entire plot of the book. I don’t 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: Dumplin’ by Julie Murphy ( A | BN | K | G | AB | Au ). This book is more YA, but it’s 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: She’s 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?
@ViVi12 yup, That was the only One.
Room for Improvement by Stacey Ballis – a little more chick lit than romance because the hero is off page most of the book and she sleeps with 2 or 3 guys before her hfn.
But I remember that it was a lot of fun – unapologetic larger heroine who’s a fashion designer on a new Trading Spaces like tv show. Hijinks ensue.
I really liked You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me even though it really isn’t about a plus-size heroine. She is in the process of losing weight for not-so-great reasons and I liked her journey to figuring out how she wanted to live almost more than the romance. I definitely loved Bet Me but I agree the heroine wasn’t really plus-size, she just had horrible body image because her mother had been nagging her her whole life. I also really liked Dumplin.
Isabel, the heroine of Susan Mallery’s Three Little Words is described as curvy and has realistic struggles with Spanx.
A lot of good recs here and I also recommend Cream of the Crop and Sweet Disorder.
@ket I meant no offense, I apologize! Hope you find a beautiful dress that suits you. And congrats on the baby!
Having read so many short, curvy, big breasted heroines, to me they’ve become a sexy stereotype :).
Oh, and yes, short is also a relative term. To me, anything under 5 ft 5 is short, but I’m sure that’s not the case. I’m 5’9 and was always disappointed to see that all the tall guys were pairing with much shorter girls…
Thank you all posters for the wonderful recommendations!
A bunch of Alisha Rai ones have been recommended already, but her newest, Hurts to Love You, is probably the most blatantly plus-size of her heroines, and the hero loves it (there’s a part where he ogles a roll on her back and it’s cute). It’s very good and you should read it.
I haven’t read all the comments yet, but the first thing that popped into my mind was Tessa Dare’s One Dance with a Duke. It has been a few years since I read it, but I remember the heroine having a love affair with food. I believe she was on the heavier side and my brain kept picturing Tracy Turnblad from Hairspray (the original broadway Tracy) as I read it.
Bearly a Lady by Cassandra Khaw features a bisexual, plus size woman who shape shifts into a bear. She’s also in the fashion industry.
Plus size hero: check out the original cover of Suzanne Brockmann’s “Get Lucky.” (He’s a Navy SEAL, so he is in fact super fit, but the cover artist was clearly confused.)
https://www.amazon.com/Lucky-Tall-Dark-Dangerous-Book/dp/0373079915/
In a moment of serendipity, I just read a review for a book called A GENTLEMAN REVEALED by Cooper Davis. It’s apparently set in an alternate historical world (Regency? Victorian?) where homosexuality is completely accepted. Anyway, the book is about the courtship of two men—one of whom is overweight and has been bullied because of it. Unfortunately, at least in the review I read, the book was not considered all that good—but another hero on the “beefier” side, nonetheless.
@NT: It’s because of you I spent my entire evening reading Lord of Danger. I adore you very much. <3
Earthly Delights by Kerry Greenwood is not strictly a romance, but there is a strong romantic plot between plus-sized baker Corrina Chapman and Daniel, ex-Israeli soldier now private detective in Melbourne. Corrina is perfectly happy her size and is definitely loved quite dearly by her Daniel. I love that her shape and his religious beliefs are integral parts of their characters, but are never the focus of the story.
@PamG and @Sarah (post 74) ~ thanks for the recommendation of Love Handles
by Gretchen Galway; I see it’s currently free to Kindle readers.
On the topic of plus-sized heroes, I’ll recommend the male/male romance The Weight Of It All by N.R. Walker.
Even fewer plus-sized heroes, I think. Lord of Pleasure by Delilah Marvelle has a hero who is “large” at the beginning of the story and slims down to win the girl of his dreams. Several of the heroes in Christi Caldwell’s “Sinful Brides” series are described as large men.
@ Scifigirl1986 – I had forgotten One Dance with a Duke!
I recently read and enjoyed Bare Pleasures by Lindsay Evans – hero is a former stripper and while the heroine has a few insecure thoughts about her body – they are not the main focus of the story.
As another poster mentioned, the heroine’s mother and sister constantly harp about her weight but the hero thinks she’s perfect in Say Yes to the Marquess by Tessa Dare. I think the heroine of Dare’s Romancing the Duke is described as plump and curvy.
While not stated outright, the heroine of Suzanne Brockmann’s Into the Night is not slender or little (this is the fifth book in the series though and I highly recommend starting at he beginning).
I wanted to add another mystery suggestion–police procedural rather than cozy–Julie Smith’s Skip Langdon series. beginning with Edgar winner, New Orleans Mourning (1990) Langdon is your tall version of the big girl, a New Orleans cop, and, iirc, is tormented by her mama on the basis of weight and class. I read these books as they were released, and I was really impressed that Langdon was an actual big girl heroine with body related issues. Plus sized heroines were rare at the time. However, weight was never the major focus of the series. Skip is dedicated, angsty, and intense but not whiny. The writing was really evocative of person and place with music and New Orleans descriptions to die for. I also appreciated the strong characters, conflicted morality, and very dry humor that typified these books.
I’ve been buying individual books when they show up in Amazon sales, knowing they’re keepers but not sure how well they stand up. I also can’t recall a romance arc; they’re just really good books. I also love the Talba Wallis series that spun off from this one.
The Heiress Effect by Courtney Milan is a favorite (that whole series, truly).
Not a romance per se, but Nina Kiriki Hoffman’s A Fistful of Sky is utterly marvelous. It’s an urban fantasy, and truly a delight.
https://amzn.to/2FQ92Zy
“Not Your Cinderella” by Kate Johnson is a take on the romance between Meghan and Harry, with a twist. A curvy bartender in a pub catches the eye of nerdy Prince James who is studying for his PHd at Cambridge University. The heroine comes from a large, poor family that resides in public housing. The depiction of the Royal Family is somewhat believable.
This Time Next Door by Gretchen Galway. The heroine is tall,curvy and could even be considered a bombshell, but I felt she was self confident in her skin.
Another vote for the Heiress Effect by Courtney Milan, Jane is one of my favourite heroines.
Hey guys!
I really love this website and am so thankful for all the intelligent and interesting discussion on here, not to mention the recommendations! I specifically am thankful for this rec league, but I also have a question.
I have read many romances where the heroine is supposedly fat/plus sized/chubby/etc. and the journey ends up with the hero telling her that she’s just curvy, she’s not fat, she’s been telling herself lies because society sucks etc. And I get it. This happens and is important to talk about. Far be it from me to say this isn’t an accurate representation of a lot of people’s experiences. I like a lot of these books.
However, some people *are* fat/plus sized/chubby. I am! I find that a lot of these books are (for me) unsatisfactory because they don’t acknowledge this reality that people can be fat (not just big-boobs-and-butt) and also be beautiful. Or that people can be fat and simultaneously worthy of love without others having to reassure them they *aren’t fat*.
Does this make sense? Do you guys have any recommendations for books like this – where the hero doesn’t end up solving the problem by telling the heroine she isn’t fat? Have I just been reading the wrong books? I would appreciate any recs you have 🙂
@Natalie I have no recommendations but I had to write to say ‘me, too’.
I am overweight (and not in the big boobs and curvy hips way) , and feel exactly the same way you do about this theme.
<3