The Rec League: Body Diversity in Heroes

The Rec League - heart shaped chocolate resting on the edge of a very old bookThis Rec League request comes from Briney in the SBTB Patreon Discord:

I just finished another book where the male main character was ripped and I’m tired of this being the model for male leads. Give me the dad bods, the bears, the beefy guys. What books should I read for that?

Amanda: Our discord recommended: Ship Wrecked by Olivia Dade, Role Playing by Cathy Yardley ( A | BN ), and Rhythm by Marie Lipscomb ( A | BN | K )

Sarah: One of Rebekah Weatherspoon’s – Xeni? I think? had a large hero.

The Lady’s Champion
A | BN | K | AB
Shana: Honey and Pepper is a historical m/m with a chubby hero. ( A | BN | K ) The Stand-up Groomsman by Jackie Lau. Role Model by Rachel Reid has a chubby hero.

I feel like the hero in The Lady’s Champion by Marie Lipscomb fits but I’m having trouble remembering. I have COVID again so not operating at 100%.

The House in the Cerulean Sea. Although very fatphobic language is used to describe his body.

Amanda: I also believed we had some in the comments in the Rec League for Plus Size Heroines.

What books would you recommend? Let us know!

Comments are Closed

  1. Rebecca F says:

    I’m Kinda of Chubby and I’m Your Hero by Nore is a two-volume m/m romance manga with a fat actor as one of the leads, who has a fan whose a pastry chef. There is some diet talk in volume 1 and there may be some in volume 2. The first volume is low/no romance, so I assume that’s more in volume 2.

  2. DiscoDollyDeb says:

    HEAVY by Cate C. Wells. Hero is, well, heavy. He’s also in a motorcycle club/gang, so make your decision to read accordingly.

  3. Omphale says:

    Take a Hike by Mimi Grace and Single Dads Club by Therese Beharrie (both M/F) have heroes with padding.

    Tessa Bailey’s Worked Up (M/F) also has a husky hero.

  4. PurpleJen says:

    Oh, I love a chubby hero. Jack Black in The Holiday is one of my favorite romcom heroes of all time, and I’ve been wanting more characters like that in my reading. Love these recs!

  5. SusanS says:

    Weather Girl by Rachel Lynn Solomon has an MMC who is a cinnamon roll (literally), and the FMC loves his soft body just the way it is.

  6. Jill Q. says:

    No recs, but taking notes! I’m also tired of every guy being ripped to the point where I’m wondering ‘is he going to have time for a relationship?’ Those bodies take a lot of work and dedication to keep up irl.

  7. Sarah L says:

    Kissing Galileo by Penny Reid is a bit of a different one – has a male MC who has lost a very large amount of weight, and a major part of the plot is him grappling with body image issues (including e.g. whether skin removal surgery is something he wants, discomfort in a body that doesn’t feel totally his etc.)

  8. Gill says:

    Try Jessa Kane. She’s written a few

  9. Mikey says:

    As a guy, I’m happy to see requests like this, and I’m also eagerly checking out the recommendations! 🙂

  10. Jill Q. says:

    Ooh, I just thought of an oldie but a goodie! This is actually a bit of spoiler (really!) but LIBBY’S LONDON MERCHANT by Carla Kelly.

  11. Qualisign says:

    TJ Klune’s, TELL ME IT’S REAL (At First Sight Book 1). This book has two interestingly non-traditional MCs (m/m). One of the MCs is typically gorgeous but he is simply not intellectually gifted, or even average. The other MC is somewhat heavy. This book has taken up space in my for a couple of years because of how both were treated — and the delight each had in the other person, in no small part because of — and not despite — those attributes.

  12. dePizan says:

    Yes on The Lady’s Champion–ALL of Marie Lipscomb/ML Eliza’s male leads are plus sized. All of them. (And a lot of her female ones too.)(m/f)

    Stripped by KM Neuhold (m/m)

    Role Model by Rachel Reid (m/m)

    The Heiress Effect by Courtney Milan (m/f) – both leads are described as plus sized (although unfortunately the MMC gets teasing from his friends over it)

    Take a Hint Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert (m/f)

    Guarding Temptation by Talia Hibbert (m/f)

    there’s a “Dad Bod: Built for Comfort” series with each book by a different author, haven’t read it though (m/f)

    Most of the recs I can think of are contemporary. I think there’s still so much room for improvement in genre romances. Like why are all the rakes in historicals who drink and gamble all day Adonises with chiseled abs? Or even the bear shifters in paranormal are all fully jacked, even before hibernation season–where’s their fat bear week??

  13. Todd says:

    Olivia Dade’s Ship Wrecked has both main characters plus-sized. The man is American, and trying hard to please the show runners; the woman is Scandinavian of some sort and very independent. They’re supposedly shipwrecked on an island and the show runners are pushing both leads to lose weight, since they’re supposedly isolated from new food sources. The woman refuses, suggests a plot device to explain why they remain happily chubby, and it works out.

  14. Pickle says:

    The Stand Up Groomsman has a short, chubby MMC and he’s totally comfortable in his body. I don’t remember being blown away by the story but I found that aspect extremely refreshing!

  15. Emily B says:

    I feel like there’s a lot of novella length, big guys almost as a kind of fetish type stories (Jesse Kane comes to mind), but if you’re looking for something with a bit more, er, plot, I second Rachel Lynn Solomon’s Weather Girl – mmc has a dad bod and is a bit self conscious, but the fmc loves it. Also Olivia Date has several – she’s known for having plus size heroines in most of her books, and I know Shipwrecked has been mentioned for also having a heavier mmc, but I would also mention Teach Me, where the hero is not plus size but is described as very average (no mention of rippling muscles here), and there’s not a huge focus on his body in general, but also her short story Cover Me has a larger mmc. Also Xeni by Rebekah Weatherspoon has a thicker hero.

  16. MsPym says:

    Something Fabulous by Alexis Hall (mm) has a very confident in his lusciousness main character but you have to be in a very specific madcap-Heyer mood for it to land right. He is very confident in his bod.

  17. PamG says:

    Carla Kelly’s historical heroes are often more realistic than the typical muscley types common in current romance. My favorite is Mrs McVinny’s London Season which features a middle-aged naval officer hero whose self-deprecating references to his receding hairline and somewhat expanding embonpoint are a major part of his charm.

    I’m also a fan of Ship Wrecked, Role Playing, and Kissing Galileo. The latter in particular is a thoughtful and nondidactic exploration of issues around weight, its loss, and its effect on emotions and relationships. I really hope that y’all have many suggestions, because the ridiculous predominance of muscley hero types is one of my pet peeves.

    Also, on a side note, I’m having a horrible time typing comments. The comment field keeps going into a fugue state and even threw me out completely in the middle of my first attempt to write a comment. I don’t know if this an ad issue, but it is a major annoyance.

  18. missroyalcake says:

    @dePizan Zoe Chant has stand alone shifter romance called Dad Bod Dragon. I haven’t read that one yet, but have loved other stuff by them – it’s a shared pen name for several authors including CE Murphy – a long time fave since the Walker Papers.

    And I just looked up the Walker Papers, which started in 2005 – how in the heck did that happen?

  19. Aunt Dimity’s Death (Nancy Atherton) is a mystery rather than a romance, but there is a romance subplot, and the hero is carrying a few extra pounds. (However, by book 4 or so, he is biking to work and has gotten leaner.) Refreshingly, the mystery is not a murder, but there is a delightful ghost. It’s a charming, heartwarming book, and has been one of my top five comfort reads for nearly 30 years.

  20. Brigit says:

    Seconding/thirding Marie Lipscomb; I love the entire Vixen’s Rock series for the non-stereotypical body types.
    And there’s an entire “Dad Bod” series @ amazon. While the quality… wavers, IMO, I liked Karla Doyle’s _Dad Bod Wingman_, Kylie Marcus’ _Sweet for the Dad Bod_, and Reagan Philips’ _Dad Bod Next Door_.
    Oh, and not to forget the _Short Kings_ series, while we’re rec’in body diversity romances!

  21. MaryK says:

    @PamG – Yeah, the comment box reloading happens a lot. So much that I usually type my comment in Notes and then copy and paste into the comment box.

  22. Big K says:

    The menswear guy on Twitter just did a thread of well dressed big dudes. A coincidence? Enjoy! https://x.com/dieworkwear/status/1715074386322174334?s=61&t=BfjZVPmq-uj7spk27YVLbQ

  23. Karin says:

    What about small guys? Mary Balogh has a number of heroes who are short or slightly built and not muscular. A Precious Jewel, Lord Carew’s Bride and Slightly Dangerous come to mind. There’s also My Lady Notorious by Jo Beverly and Angel Rogue by Mary Jo Putney. Cordelia’s Honor(Lois McMaster Bujold, sci-fi romance) has a hero that is shorter than the heroine.

  24. Maeve says:

    @missroyalcake: She got the rights back and is rereleasing with new covers!

  25. Penny says:

    The Hate Project by Kris Ripper, m/m, Oscar is short and chunky and he and Jack have amazing chemistry and hot sex. Good depression/anxiety rep (maybe too good? Like it made me a little stressed out).

  26. Sally says:

    Connie Willis’ novella Miracle is really charming and has a plus-sized hero. There is some fatphobia from secondary characters, early on, but not from the heroine.

    It’s a little bit of a spoiler, (my apologies, I don’t know how to do the spoiler tag) but
    *spoiler* Bethany Mangle’s All the Right Reasons has a secondary romance with a plus-sized male character. *spoiler*

  27. K says:

    Similarly, would love a rec league on books where the hero is shorter than the heroine (or even just her height). I know there are m/m romances like this, but it seems positively forbidden in m/fs. And I swear, the swooniness with which tall heroes are depicted…I mean, for goodness’ sake, it’s a couple of inches of extra shin bones, not a character trait or the proverbial “10,000 pounds a year.”

    Love, A Person Who Is Taller Than Their Husband

  28. lovesotterz says:

    Sierra Simone and Julie Murphy’s new one, Holly Jolly Ever After has a big hero. He has some internalized insecurities but is super attractive to other characters in the novel.

  29. omphale says:

    @k Skye Kilaen has a novella Knock Me Down M/F featuring a short king (like a whole foot diff). Very cute.

  30. Brigit says:

    @K:
    Lisa Freed: King of Rhythm
    Allie York: King of the Nerds
    Karla Doyle: King of Her Dreams
    Rose Bak: King of the Reunion
    Those are al in the Short Kings series

    Nalini Singh: Rock Courtship

  31. gerund808 says:

    I can’t remember if the football hero in Kristen Callihan’s “The Game Plan” was a bear….

Comments are closed.

$commenter: string(0) ""

By posting a comment, you consent to have your personally identifiable information collected and used in accordance with our privacy policy.

↑ Back to Top