This Rec League came from Kim. Thanks, Kim!
I just read Rachel Reid’s excellent m/m hockey romance Time to Shine, and am looking for more “golden retriever”-style MMCs. Can be any gender pairing, but my preference is m/f or m/m. If m/f, it should be a golden retriever MMC, not FMC.
I think of the golden retriever hero as joyful/playful, extroverted, loyal, supportive of the other MC, physical/physically affectionate, and not especially book smart. I feel like this character is also usually promiscuous, but in a “I love touching everybody!” way rather than a rake-ish way. I think golden retrievers tend to be paired with reserved/shy or somewhat prickly partners, and the general vibe is usually low angst.
Other examples that I think might qualify include Mr. Impossible (Loretta Chase) and maybe Gouda Friends (Cathy Yardley).
Amanda: Is this a new term for a Cinnamon Roll hero or is this different?
Sarah: Different, I think. Smarter than a Himbo, more active than a Cinnamon roll.
The character archetype descriptions I see online most often for this type of character are “Golden retriever boyfriend,” “Golden (Retriever) Energy” and “Golden Retriever/Black Cat” pairings for the leads. I interpret this as a sunny disposition, energetic, smart and faithful, determined, warm, open and unconditionally loyal. It’s kind of like the sunshine-y inverse of a morality chain hero, who is morally ambiguous, loyal to one person only, and could burn everyone else to the ground.
Maybe the GRE hero is clumsy or knocks stuff off the coffee table with one swipe of his tail (I had a Golden, her name was Tilly, and no coffee table was safe from a solid tail swipe).
Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade is one.
The hero of The Deal by Elle Kennedy has GRE. And Chloe Liese writes GR heroes but I can’t remember their names beyond “Bergman.”
Oh – Wallbanger by Alice Clayton ( A | K | AB | Au )
OH – one GRE hero from Liese would be the lead in Always Only You. ( A | BN | K ) GOOD JOB MY BRAIN.
Elyse: Curveball by Charlotte Stein
Sarah: And The Widow of Rose House has big GRE. In Aarya’s review, she wrote, “Sam is an eccentric and endearing hero who is the human equivalent of a bouncing puppy. He’s adorable, kind, sensitive, and full of lightness. The exact opposite of Heathcliff, which explains why I love Sam so much (sorry, Heathcliff stans. I despise him).”
Amanda: Every time you type GRE, I think of graduate exams
Sarah: Oh me too.
GoldRetEnergy looked silly so I went with GRE.
If I can’t make a portmanteau, I’m gonna make an acronym. I cannot be stopped.
Shana: I feel like the hero in Love Radio by Ebony LaDelle is kind of a golden retriever. He’s positive and playful and super supportive of the more guarded heroine (and his disabled mom). Also, how cute is it that he’s a teenage boy with a love advice show on the radio?
Which books would you recommend? Let us know!
Unfortunately my biggest rec for this is a manga, Ouran High School Host Club. I can’t really recommend it to most new readers in 2024. While it definitely has some progressive ideas about gender for its time, some of the language used (particularly in the Viz English translation) is not great. Also, Ouran for the first six volumes definitely leans more into a satire/spoof of Shojo manga and other media aimed at Japanese women, and Tamaki’s worst qualities are emphasized for comedic effect. His more golden retriever qualities start getting emphasized more at the end of volume six and definitely in volume 9 to the end of the series.
I can think of two college fraternity romances:
In The Amazing Alpha Tau Self Improvement Project by Lisa Henry and Sarah Honey, Marty at first seems like a lovable idiot to the bemused Dalton but he turns out to have emotional intelligence and also has his priorities straight.
In Coaching the Nerd by Eli Easton and Tara Lain, Bubba himself thinks he’s a lovable idiot until super smart Sean gives him confidence.
I definitely run across this a bunch in WebToons. Top picks for this would be Heartstopper, and To the Stars and Back. You could also try Let’s Play, Charles and Vlad (both series I think are not getting finished alas), Second Lead Syndrome, Klimt’s Kisses (idk that I actually like either of those heroes personally), maybe How to Become a Dragon or UnOrdinary (although those are not romances except there are bromances I ship).
Clem in An Unseen Attraction by KJ Charles might qualify, although that series isn’t low angst, it’s pretty Wilkie Collins/Dickens/Victorian sensation novel kinda plot intensity. Or Corvin in Band Sinister although he’s not the lead.
I think Alexis Hall’s Glitterland has a hero with Golden Retriever Energy but since he is not the POV hero this book is super not low angst. It’s the clinically depressed black cat narrating, be warned.
Cat Sebastian must have some of these. Maybe the one that’s m/m Sound of Music? Or maybe some of T Kingfisher’s more musclebound sword wielding heroes, although they might all be a little too somber…
When I think of a Golden Retriever energy, I think of Crispin Bonham-Carter as Mr. Bingley in the BBC 1995 version of Pride and Prejudice.
The Fake Boyfriend Fiasco by Talia Hibbert! Queer m/f with a bi MMC. The MMC has tremendous gre energy. And the book is a fluffy, trope skewering delight.
A lot of people have said the hero of my book Fake Flame is a Golden Retriever and I totally agree. (M/F)
Wrapped Together by Annabeth Albert fits this. m/m. one prickly uptight person and the other GRE. low angst, Christmastime story about two shopkeepers in Portland, OR. A favorite holiday re-read.
I met a Golden Retriever puppy on her very first walk yesterday, so little, so very white, so friendly, and so very clearly a GR even at eleven weeks old <3
Marcus in Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade. He gets so much joy from his fanfic and has no clue why the fmc’s weight is an issue for other people.
Emily Henry’s FUNNY STORY might work — hero Miles is a chaotic free spirit who helps the heroine come out of her shell. But I’d say the book has medium angst.
Matty in Brigham Vaughn’s THE HOME GAME. I feel like Cait Nary’s LUCKY BOUNCE as a book had that feel for me, although I’m not sure I would necessarily characterize either of the MCs as golden retrievers, LOL. Ari Baran’s DELAY OF GAME also had that vibe, although again, I feel like that is more the characters’ friends to lovers bumbling rather than either of them being particularly retriever-ish.
I’d say the Bergman book that fits this better is Everything for You—Ren is more of a cinnamon roll
Also Instacrush by Kate Meader, definitely! M/F hockey romance, funny and original
My favorite GRE is Mal in the book Play by Kylie Scott. He’s the drummer of the band, absolutely a bouncing ball of energy that cannot be contained and is just hilarious although he does have an underlying darker backstory.
I’m with @KitBee. My brain went straight to FUNNY STORY as soon as I read the Rec title.
Y’all just made my day!
(also I am now hungry for cinnamon rolls, pls send help)
If you want to try f/f, I think that Edge of Glory by Rachel Spangler has the vibe you’re looking for. Sports romance between two athletes training for the winter Olympics – a brash, goofy GR type snowboarder and an uptight, straight-laced downhill skier.
@kkw – I’m not sure about It Takes Two to Tumble – the m/m Sound of Music book by Cat Sebastian. I don’t remember their dynamic well.
But I’m pretty sure Cat Sebastian described The Perfect Crimes of Marian Hayes as having a black cat / golden retriever pairing.
It’s a wonderful, wonderful bi4bi Georgian romance, between a soft-hearted thief and a prickly aristocratic lady but with maybe a little more angst than Kim is looking for.
Good Boy by Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy is probably too obvious to even mention, but I adore the MMC who is a sweetheart.
Diane, I was just going to recommend Good Boy. M/F hockey romance and the MMC is all golden retriever.
Maybe Liam in Crushed Ice by Ashlyn Kane and Morgan James. It’s MM hockey. The was a sex puppy rec league that talked about this character type, I think.
I think of the Havili men in A.J. Sherwood’s books as Seeing Eye Dog Golden Retrievers. Just the absolute sweetest, super affectionate, but also know 10 ways to kill someone with a strand of hair. There are 2 M/M series – Jon’s Mysteries and Mack’s Marvelous Manifestations. If you want the Cinnamon Roll/Black Cat in general, can’t really go wrong with A.J Sherwood.
SILVER SILENCE by Nalini Singh. M/F. This book might not work without reading the entire series (and I really don’t have the patience for that anymore), but it’s the only Nalini Singh that I re-read with any frequency. Valentin is just the biggest cuddly bear.
SWEET TALK by Cara Bastone. M/F. All of the MMCs in the Love Lines series are pretty Cinnamon Roll, but Elliott in SWEET TALK is the most GRE.
A WEEK TO BE WICKED by Tessa Dare. M/F. I think this is a maybe for this rec, because Colin really has some stuff to work out.
So many good recommendations, several which I’ve added to my TBR. 🙂
@kkw re: T. Kingfisher’s Saint of Steel books: iirc, Galen in Paladin’s Hope (m/m) had GRE. And maybe also Isthvan in Paladin’s Strength (m/f)? I need to re-read those books, they’re wonderful fantasies as well.
Added CW for the Saint of Steel series: there are occasional gruesome moments, and the MCs have varying degrees (on page) of trauma.
Not a romance, not a book, but I can’t help but think of Danny Rojas in “Ted Lasso” as the perfect example of this. He’s even described by Coach Lasso as “a raven-haired golden retriever.” Perhaps there’s some fanfic out there.
I just finished a longer novella that might fit: ORIENTATION by Kate Canterbary. It’s an m/m story set at an independent school involving the gym teacher, an extroverted golden retriever type whose last boyfriend cheated on him, and the new middle school science teacher, an introvert with anxiety.
Much of the story involves the golden retriever MC adjusting and accommodating for his partner’s anxiety, but he has issues of his own because of the cheating ex, and his partner is equally supportive when it’s his turn.
It was a very sweet story; honestly it was too low angst/conflict for my taste, but the leads were both so lovely that I finished it anyway, and I left it feeling like this was a strong, healthy couple who would stay together, which is not usually how I feel about novellas.
I thought of another one! And it’s interesting to me that most of my recommendations are for a golden retriever athlete. I don’t know if that’s because jocks tend to lend themselves to this characterization or just my random reading tastes.
My recommendation is You Should Be So Lucky by Cat Sebastian! It’s the 2nd in a series but it’s pretty stand alone.
M/M historical romance set in mid 20th C New York, between a recently traded baseball player in a batting slump and the jaded, grieving reporter assigned to write a feature on him.
There’s some angst – both h/h are dealing with loss. At the beginning of the story, Eddie is a golden retriever with his tail tucked between his legs because of the batting slump and not fitting in with his new team but he recovers his bounce as the story goes on.
Quick content warning on Good Boy by Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy. I agree that the MMC has gre but I also thought he had a serious entitlement issue and that took me out of the story. He’s one of those romance MCs who gets what they what just by declaring it to be true and then wearing down their love interest’s resistance.
I just read a book review for a poly romance in which one of the leads is described as having golden retriever energy.
https://joyfullyjay.com/2024/09/review-complete-me-by-beck-grey/
What came to mind…
By AJ Sherwood (M/M Urban Fantasy): A Mage’s Guide to Human Familiars – one of the MMC actually describes the other as a Golden Retriever.
By Honor Raconteur (M/F YA): Human Familiar series (very very slow burn), the MMC definitely has a GR vibe – although also being an amazing warrior. Several books in, when he runs into something he can’t handle, it is treated with respect.
By Avon Gale (M/M Hockey): Power Play – I always think of Max as a golden retriever, although he might lean toward the himbo? His life is hockey and he’s not sure of anything else. While Power Play is 3rd in series you can definitely start there (I did).
The Astronaut and the Star by Jen Comfort! She’s a prickly black cat and he’s totally a golden retriever. They have to live in close quarters all alone on the lunar training base!
I was thinking All the Feels from Olivia Dade fits even more than Spoiler Alert.